History repeats itself

All day today at work, I've been casually thinking of how to best phrase what happened on Monday.

Then, today via email, I received a poignant theft of my very thoughts by the crafty folks at Despair.com who say it best:

Yesterday marked the end of one era, and the dawning of a new. An American Giant- General Motors- finally collapsed under the weight of decades of poor management decisions, unsustainable labor agreements, and other unfortunate missteps. And now- thanks to the unvolunteered-but-nevertheless-mandatory financial contributions of a third-of-a-billion tiny little people like you and me- that colossus of heavy industry is now majority owned by the US Government. That's right. The entire fate of one of the largest corporations in the history of Capitalism now rests in the hands of the one group potentially even less qualified and capable of leading it a more efficient, more consumer-oriented, more quality-focused future- The United States Government.

Good God, man! If the US government can fix up GM, why can't the IRS audit itself? I shouldn't have to pay taxes to an organization that can't tell me how effectively they're handling the money. /rant

It's interesting that only under the strong arming of the US Government that GM can magically find the organizational skills to shed itself of dead weight (Hummer-potentially sold to a Chinese company, Saab-three potential buyers, Saturn-a half dozen potential buyers, and the WAY overdue death of Pontiac). Here's a question: Why didn't anyone have the testicular fortitude to do this a year ago? Here's another: Why did the government have to flush $15 billion down the proverbial taxpayer toilet to figure out that GM wasn't going to emerge on its own?

Anyone hazard a guess as to where they might have found a clue? History...yep, that's right, good old history. This wasn't GM's first management issue where the end result was near collapse. Let's face it, bankruptcy isn't the end in this case. Another point is that GM (and Chrysler) should have gone bankrupt six months ago (or earlier) and found the road to recovery by now. As it is, GM will be in a tough spot to catch up to the foreign car companies (no news here) who already have one hell of a head start. It's like WWII all over again in some aspects. The US companies setttle on being 'one of the best' while the competition innovates and eventually takes over-even after being tariffed and bombed back to the stone ages. There's a reason we didn't win in Vietnam-the same reason we'll never win in Iraq...Americans don't take the time to learn about other cultures well enough to either fit in or fight appropriately. We simply think that making something bigger, faster or cheaper is the answer. In the end, cheap falls apart and it doesn't go any faster...and bigger simply translates into harder to innovate or move around.

It high time GM reincarnated...hopefully this time around they watch their competition a lot more closely. They're not just there taking market share from GM-they're benchmarking other successful companies and innovating in far less expensive, more time efficient ways. As long as American companies fail to realize what's happening in their own backyard-this chapter in history will continue to repeat itself over and over...try following the obvious lead gift-wrapped in benchmarking from Toyota. It's called 'inventory control' (kan ban) and 'continuous process improvement' (kaizen). GM, like most Americans, was stuck in a mental belief that the American way is the best.

Yet few realize that back in 1945, the US bombed Japan literally back to the stone ages and for the better part of 30 years, they've pretty well succeeded in kicking our ass in nearly every method of production since. Assembly lines have a learning curve, that much is certain...manufacturing has a learning curve, that much is certain. But taking 30 years to not quite get it is a bit of a stretch. This had to happen...it was inevitable.

If GM is banking on the Chevy Cruze and the little one-the Beat....well, they've just started digging again. Neither car is an improvement over the Aveo or Cobalt when they first debuted. The designs, materials and powerplants are unsuitable given what people are buying. Compare what Chevy will offer with the Beat to a Mini, a 3, Focus, Civic or Yaris...or the oddly shaped Versa. Less technology for more money=failure (especially with the now dated design).

The second phase for GM and Chrysler? Update the crusty dealerships. When the gas station down the street is cleaner than the local GM dealership-it's a sign. In an age where image seems to be 'everything', why is it that Toyota, Mazda, Nissan and Honda have the cleanest, most modern dealerships in town? Compare the local Pontiac GMC dealership in town to the Nissan dealership next door. The GM dealership hasn't been renovated in 15 years (literally-I asked four years ago when my GM car was being repaired on a TSB). The Nissan dealership was nearly torn down and rebuilt-now brand new, clean, modern and attractive. On any given Saturday they have more foot traffic than the Pontiac dealership next door.

Across the street from said GMC/Pontiac dealership is a Chrysler dealership with a blue ceramic tile roof. It's one on the Chrysler hit list... I think it's the oldest dealership in town and it's age is not concealed well. To its immediate right, a Chevy dealership that's ten years too late for a remodel. And to top it all off, the local Toyota dealership is being moved next door. It's literally four times the size of the Chevy dealership and it'll be brand new. This is coupled with the Lexus dealership that is only three or four years old (same owner as the Toyota dealership). I know I wouldn't go to a place that was a clean as a 1980's truck stop and I'm far from being a snob.

If GM is smart (hypothetical, I'm not getting excited about it) they won't 'revive' Pontiac or Oldsmobile. They're dead-leave them buried. We're all better off without the Aztec and the Achieva. Don't bring out another 'hail Mary' by starting another car company. The days of 'everybody's doing it' are over. Even Mazda knew to throw in the towel when the Millenia didn't take off-it wasn't their niche. They build small sporty fun to drive cars, not luxury cars or large trucks. Nissan is likely to give up on the Titan/Armada due to a lack of sales and Toyota has only the Tundra/Sequoia.

Chrysler will most likely dissolve into Fiat if they execute it the way I suspect. It might be better that way-replace the abysmal Chrysler cars with substantially less abysmal cars built by Fiat at almost no additional cost. They'll have to crash test the Fiat/Chrysler models but that's a small price to pay to gain an obese dealer network and fully functional assembly plants in the US. Fiat can play this one savvy and reap the rewards...Chrysler will survive in name only.

I bought a new car on Saturday and didn't for a second consider an American car company. I considered only Japanese cars. Why? Quality, Cost and Dependability. For the money, no American car company can offer me a car that's small, reliable and inexpensive to maintain. I believe this is why they continue to fail....Rinse. Lather. Repeat. I'm not anti-American, I simply want a quality product and American car companies fail all three points rather consistently.

I hope both GM and Chrysler are at least successful enough to sell stock so that my tax dollars might be used for something less wasteful...and then maybe the dollar will be worth something again.

The Despair.com shirt can be found here.