American vehicle makers are in the middle of a very hard market environment — overseas companies are attacking them with strong products and good prices, and more of them are coming onto the market each day. |
Detroit needs to increase its competitiveness by focusing on things it does well, like Ford's F-Series pickup trucks, and they need to discard brands that have outlived their usefulness, like Buick, Mercury and perhaps Pontiac. |
Even though their reliability is better, they're certainly not convincing people that it is. |
Given equal prices, most consumers would pick a vehicle from a manufacturer they trust first, although some still will be swayed by a lower price. |
I think it has to be looked upon as a play to get new buyers in the franchise. |
It has been cleverly positioned to speak to those emotions particularly appreciated by younger buyers. |
The common thread in Nissan and Infiniti models is superior delivery of power, style and innovation. The company's strongly focused product effort suggests a route struggling domestic companies might follow. |
There are a group of people out there who really like Pontiac and what they're doing. They're just aren't very many of them. |
There's an image issue here. Even though the quality of many American cars is as good, if not equal to those of the Japanese, people don't believe that, and a lot of that has to do with public perception — it takes a long time to turn public perception around. So if they don't produce hits, they'll have more problems. |
They are right on the money. |
What they've got to do is talk about fuel efficiency. |