Archive for the ‘Big Three’ Category

Not so long ago, brand loyalty played a major role in keeping the auto industry healthy. Many of our parents bought vehicles from one particular manufacturer, and they often inherited such preferences from their own parents. Here in the U.S., brand perception was frequently rooted in national pride: 40 years after VJ Day, my grandparents refused to so much as ride in a Japanese vehicle.

For manufacturers, that kind of brand loyalty made marketing easy and economical: why spend thousands of dollars trying to convince buyers that a particular car was right for them, when all they really needed to see was the Ford or Chevy or Chrysler badge on...

Over the past eighteen months or so, the auto industry has been going through one of the most pronounced periods of change ever. While the Japanese and South Korean auto industries have avoided major upheavals, two major U.S. automakers have gone bankrupt, long-held brands have been sold to overseas companies, and other international companies we’d never heard of have now earned name recognition.

And yes, even a quintessential American brand, Hummer, has been sold to a Chinese company.

Yet other upstarts look poised to break into the market and, even if they’re not yet serious contenders, it’s enough to keep the major automakers worriedly...

When comes to Detroit's Big Three, Ford is the belle of the ball these days: the company never accepted bailout dough from the U.S. government, and as a result, Ford's brand and its sales are both doing pretty well. However, one of the company's flagship models -- the Ford Mustang -- has recently been losing ground to one of its primary competitors, the Chevrolet Camaro.

In August, Ford sold 6,289 units of the 2010 Mustang, while General Motors clocked sales of the 2010 Chevy Camaro at 8,680 -- a sizable difference of 2,391 vehicles. This is the third straight month that the Camaro has beaten the Mustang on the sales floor: in June the ...