Reply #36: Marketing is definitely the key here! [View All]

[ContinentalOp]

As so many people here have already pointed out, American cars are not as bad as they used to be, some get decent mileage, etc. but the old public perceptions still hold. The US automakers simply do not know how to market their product. It's not the fault of the designers, engineers, or assembly line workers. It's the people in charge that have no clear vision of their company's identity.

To be totally honest, this last couple of weeks discussions on DU have made me feel way more guilty about buying a foreign car than any Big 3 car commercial has. So why don't they use that as an angle? Why don't they try to appeal to our patriotism, without the stupid "big macho truck" angle? Why not market a union-made, environmentally friendly car to liberals? The fact that it doesn't have to be shipped halfway around the world should be a major environmental selling point. But this kind of thinking seems to be the furthest thing from their minds.

Then again, sales are obviously not even the problem as GM is still #2 worldwide right? So again, it's the bad management and bad investments into the financial industry that are causing their financial problems. If they really are facing financial problems and this isn't just a way to crush the union and scam the federal government for a bunch of cash.