Car Talk
http://www.autoblog.com/2006/07/07/the-ultimate-kei-mitsubishi-i-hello-kitty-princess-kitty-edit/
I thought everyone should see this; this seems like a good way to solve some of Mitsubishi's marketing woes in America. I can think of several of my students who would buy a Hello Kitty car. Guys couldn't come within 10 feet of it, though, without having serious sexuality issues.
In other Car news, GM is about to be bought by Renault/Nissan. The claim is that they are "entering talks" but realistically- GM is probably at the bankruptcy/sale decision point. Some of their cars are selling well enough to keep them afloat but not for much longer.
The trucks, in particular, probably aren't selling well enough to justify GM's recent massive expenditures. But they're some of the strongest products that GM has-
It's hard to see at first glance what Renault/Nissan gets out of this other than that they really don't compete with GM directly in a lot of markets, except for GM's small European cars. at first glance, Honda or Toyota would seem to be a better purchaser, particularly Honda because the Acura brand has struggled so much in recent years and GM has RWD experience and can provide Honda with necessary luxury platforms, as well as trucks which Honda seems to need. Also GM has been very successful in China where I don't believe Honda is nearly as successful.
Toyota's lineup is noticeably lacking in passion; They could buy GM just for the successful Truck lines and the Corvette and throw the rest away.
Actually, I think the best buyers for GM/Ford would be one of these Chinese car companies. Both GM and Ford have established dealer networks and established brands; Buick, for example, is like the no 1 seller in China as well. The Chinese would have to otherwise build brands and that takes a long time and a lot of expense. There are so many failed brands that have tried to establish themselves recently in the last 10 years, does anyone remember Daihatsu? Their cars were OK but the lack of a dealer network and established brand killed them.
Anyway, I will have to resume this at a later post- - -
I thought everyone should see this; this seems like a good way to solve some of Mitsubishi's marketing woes in America. I can think of several of my students who would buy a Hello Kitty car. Guys couldn't come within 10 feet of it, though, without having serious sexuality issues.
In other Car news, GM is about to be bought by Renault/Nissan. The claim is that they are "entering talks" but realistically- GM is probably at the bankruptcy/sale decision point. Some of their cars are selling well enough to keep them afloat but not for much longer.
The trucks, in particular, probably aren't selling well enough to justify GM's recent massive expenditures. But they're some of the strongest products that GM has-
It's hard to see at first glance what Renault/Nissan gets out of this other than that they really don't compete with GM directly in a lot of markets, except for GM's small European cars. at first glance, Honda or Toyota would seem to be a better purchaser, particularly Honda because the Acura brand has struggled so much in recent years and GM has RWD experience and can provide Honda with necessary luxury platforms, as well as trucks which Honda seems to need. Also GM has been very successful in China where I don't believe Honda is nearly as successful.
Toyota's lineup is noticeably lacking in passion; They could buy GM just for the successful Truck lines and the Corvette and throw the rest away.
Actually, I think the best buyers for GM/Ford would be one of these Chinese car companies. Both GM and Ford have established dealer networks and established brands; Buick, for example, is like the no 1 seller in China as well. The Chinese would have to otherwise build brands and that takes a long time and a lot of expense. There are so many failed brands that have tried to establish themselves recently in the last 10 years, does anyone remember Daihatsu? Their cars were OK but the lack of a dealer network and established brand killed them.
Anyway, I will have to resume this at a later post- - -
posted by SavageATL at 11:05 AM
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