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Worst Move By An Auto Maker Ever?

5K views 83 replies 54 participants last post by  All_Texan 
#1 ·
Making a 90K VW
i know its a nice car but lets be honest who would take it over an A8L no this is IMO so dont flame me too badly
eli
 
#3 ·
Re: Worst Move By An Auto Maker Ever? (MK3)

Quote, originally posted by MK3 »
Making a 90K VW
i know its a nice car but lets be honest who would take it over an A8L no this is IMO so dont flame me too badly
eli

I would because I have a good VW dealer here in town while the closest Audi dealer is about 4 hours away.
 
#4 ·
Re: Worst Move By An Auto Maker Ever? (blackmagic3393)

Quote, originally posted by blackmagic3393 »
That's pretty bad. Also Jaguar selling out to Ford. Jaguar Taurus.

It was probably the best thing Jag did. Without Ford, Jag probably wouldn't be in the US. Ford capital has helped them develop the XK8 and the new XJ. Their mistakes have been the execution of the X-type and canning the F-type.
 
G
#7 ·
Re: Worst Move By An Auto Maker Ever? (MK3)

Wow...this is...bad.
The Phaeton is a bad move, sure, but the worst? Not even.
Try Nissan's over-expansion without watching expenses which led to the company's take-over by Renault. Or Mitsubishi's 0/0/0 campaign that brought about the current financial mess. Or Daimler-Benz's failure to perform due dilligence on Chrysler before purchasing the company.
And those are just some recent failures...
 
#10 ·
Re: Worst Move By An Auto Maker Ever? (MK3)

Quote, originally posted by MK3 »
Making a 90K VW
i know its a nice car but lets be honest who would take it over an A8L no this is IMO so dont flame me too badly
eli

Wow! You really think this? This topic is totally brand new and has never been discussed before, thanks for bringing it to our attention!!
 
#14 ·
Re: Worst Move By An Auto Maker Ever? (bgluckman)

Quote, originally posted by bgluckman »
Try Nissan's over-expansion without watching expenses which led to the company's take-over by Renault.

Yep. I 100% agree with this, and this is the sort of thing people need to realize when they talk about "bad moves". The spending spree that led to Nissan's near-demise in the late '90s is what paid for the "best" cars Nissan has ever built in the early '90s - stuff like the Skyline GT-R, Silvia, and Sentra SE-R. It all sounds like it was worth it to us enthusiasts, but it almost drove them out of business.
 
#15 ·
Re: Worst Move By An Auto Maker Ever? (AKADriver)

Quote, originally posted by AKADriver »

Yep. I 100% agree with this, and this is the sort of thing people need to realize when they talk about "bad moves". The spending spree that led to Nissan's near-demise in the late '90s is what paid for the "best" cars Nissan has ever built in the early '90s - stuff like the Skyline GT-R, Silvia, and Sentra SE-R. It all sounds like it was worth it to us enthusiasts, but it almost drove them out of business.

So your saying that by catering to the enthusaists by developing awesome sport cars they almost went bankrupt??
There has to be more to it than that.
Does anyone have more info on why Nissan went almost bankrupt? What I heard was that they had a lot of platforms..?
 
#16 ·
Re: Worst Move By An Auto Maker Ever? (mAdD INDIAN)

Quote, originally posted by mAdD INDIAN »

So your saying that by catering to the enthusaists by developing awesome sport cars they almost went bankrupt??
There has to be more to it than that.
Does anyone have more info on why Nissan went almost bankrupt? What I heard was that they had a lot of platforms..?

Because the focused on low-profit and low sales sporty cars and failed to provide knock-out mass market cars to pay the bills.
ENthusiast cars are halo vehicles as a general rule that should not provide for the company. Prestige makes like Porsche can get away with it because its their central business case.
Now Nissan has solid, desireable mass market cars that make the sporting models just that much better. i.e. one platform providing for a number of vehicles, like FM.
 
#18 ·
Re: Worst Move By An Auto Maker Ever? (blackmagic3393)

Quote, originally posted by blackmagic3393 »
That's pretty bad. Also Jaguar selling out to Ford. Jaguar Taurus.

*Cocks the shotgun*
FIrst off, Jag being bought by FOrd
- saved Jag from extinction
- provided cash infusion for new models
- improved reliability by, oh, a million percent.
And also:
NO JAG SHARES ANY PLATFORM WITH A FORD TAURUS. GET IT IN YOUR FLEEPING HEAD!!!!!!
They Taurus platform is dead as of next year.
 
#20 ·
Re: Worst Move By An Auto Maker Ever? (mtrainVR6)

Quote, originally posted by mtrainVR6 »

Because the focused on low-profit and low sales sporty cars and failed to provide knock-out mass market cars to pay the bills.

But they did have quality mass market cars.
The Maxima (of that time) had impeccable build quality, a quality interior, semi-adjustable suspension, a great engine, and a quality suspension (full independent suspension). It was the only midsize sedan of the time to offer a limitd slip differential as well.
The Altima had a quality interior as well, with cool stuff like passive rear steering (dynamic toe-out), and a powerful motor for its class.
The Sentra....well that was a dark horse (apart from SE-R).
The Pathfinder was a quality SUV and had lots of heritage and cachet.
So what was wrong exactly apart from poor marketing?
 
#21 ·
Re: Worst Move By An Auto Maker Ever? (mAdD INDIAN)

Also Vovlo and Jag going to Ford is not a bad move.
Ford gave them free reign to develop cars and they could tap into the corporate parts bin too.
Volvo came out with some sweet cars under Ford and their quality has gone up. Plus they are benefiting from the Mazda3.
Same with Jag, they came out with hte redesigned XJ, and this time their cars are actually reliable! Apart from the X-Type they have had good products.
Aston is performing the best though under Ford. They have come out with some beautiful machines.
Kudos to Ford for managing their upscale brands correctly. Now its time to fix Lincoln!
 
#23 ·
Re: Worst Move By An Auto Maker Ever? (mAdD INDIAN)

Quote, originally posted by mAdD INDIAN »
But they did have quality mass market cars.
The Maxima (of that time) had impeccable build quality, a quality interior, semi-adjustable suspension, a great engine, and a quality suspension (full independent suspension). It was the only midsize sedan of the time to offer a limitd slip differential as well.
The Altima had a quality interior as well, with cool stuff like passive rear steering (dynamic toe-out), and a powerful motor for its class.
The Sentra....well that was a dark horse (apart from SE-R).
The Pathfinder was a quality SUV and had lots of heritage and cachet.
So what was wrong exactly apart from poor marketing?

I think budgeting came into play as well. Nissan was building on way too many platforms and this hurt their ability to manage global lineups, which then increased costs and MSRPs -- the Maxima was becoming pricier by the year and by the '00 redesign, some were even calling it overpriced. I don't remember the exact figures, but Ghosn cut Nissan's number of platforms almost in half after he took over.
 
#24 ·
Re: Worst Move By An Auto Maker Ever? (mAdD INDIAN)

Quote, originally posted by mAdD INDIAN »
Kudos to Ford for managing their upscale brands correctly. Now its time to fix Lincoln!

Agreed -- Ford has been doing a pretty good job managing the Euro PAG brands IMO. Lincoln and Mercury on the other hand...
 
#25 ·
Re: Worst Move By An Auto Maker Ever? (MK3)

worst move EVER in modern history was when American auto manufacturers ignored the teachings of W. Edward Deming. he is the man who went to Japan and taught them about management and quality control. the Japanese took his advice and their industry skyrocketed. the Americans ignored his advice until it was too late.

http://www.myped.net/wwwsite/s...jhtml
"W. Edward Deming is famous for the Total Quality Management movement. He is the man whose theories were ignored by America, but he he ended up in Japan working with General Douglas McArthur, and he helped Japan create an economic juggernaut. His methods were highly sought after by his homeland and brought back to America. If somebody in Japan is recognized for the highest quality, they receive the coveted Deming Award. You may be familiar with two of them, Sony and Lexus."
his famous 14 points are here:
http://www.nlma.org/cpp-lf1.htm
and check out his legacy at the Deming Institute:
http://www.deming.org/
what Deming taught the Japanese is largely responsible for Japan and Korea being the manufacuring giants they are today.
obin
 
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