Reply #14: great book - "The Reckoning" by David Halberstam [View All]

[NewJeffCT]

Tells about the original rise of Ford, their near demise in the 60s & 70s due to things like the Edsel and then Japanese competition and then the comeback they made in the 80s & early to mid 90s.

Unfortunately, because so many American cars were shoddily built for years, the Japanese passed them in quality after first passing them in gas mileage. Now, it will take years for American cars to regain their prestige with buyers (there are Buicks all over China, though...)even as they have almost caught up with the Japanese in terms of quality.

My own personal experience with this was when I was when I got out of college & wanted something sporty a year later. A new car on the market at the time was the Mitsubishi Eclipse / Plymouth Laser / Eagle Talon. All essentially the same car with a different name stamp on it and different color choices. However, when researching in either Consumer Reports or some similar publication, the estimated resale value in 4 years was like 45% of original price for the Mitsubishi and 40% of original for the Plymouth & Eagle. The Eclipse was getting a premium on the MSRP, while the Plymouth & Eagle were not.