In his latest rant, Forbes columnist Jerry Flint questions the design strategies of Ford Motor Co. and General Motors. He thinks their global-strategies for new models will fail, as much of it is based on slapping domestic badges on their European models... not unlike what the companies did with the Contour/Mystique and Catera. This philosophy even extends to trucks, usually considered the last bastion for the domestic automakers: GM developed the Chevrolet Colorado and GMC Canyon from one of its trucks marketed in Thailand.
But Americans don’t want European cars from American automakers, according to Flint... they want 'American' cars. And they're getting them from foreign automakers. The blatantly big and bold Chrysler 300 and Dodge Magnum were developed by German-owned Chrysler. The Tacoma pickup had been developed by Toyota for the American market from scratch and, Flint points out, currently outsells the above trucks two to one.
With all the new vehicles rolling out of Detroit in the coming years, though, does Flint's still have merit? Or is he right on target?
[Source: The Car Connection]
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