Foreign Domination: Dealers face growing bias against American-made cars

[Buick61]

Why American?

Dealers Find 'Made in Detroit' Is Often a Hard Sell

Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, December 21, 2006; Page D01


Farshad Elmi Anvari has the diamond-studded ring to prove that he can move Chryslers and Jeeps off the lot. He is so good that a colleague has scrawled on his cubicle window: "Farshad the Great!" The Iranian-born salesman is hoping to earn a third diamond this year. All he has to do is sell 100 Chryslers and Jeeps. He has had to push hard this month to make his goal, with four deals still to close.

And he'll need help from wary consumers like Ann Mazzotta, who went to the Fitzgerald Auto Mall in Gaithersburg for a sedan to replace her worn-out Honda. She liked the look of a Chrysler PT Cruiser convertible, and she climbed inside. After a moment, she emerged, curling her lip and shaking her head: When it comes to cars, she doesn't buy American.

"Pretty much, I wouldn't consider it," Mazzotta said.

The mall, a fixture along North Frederick Avenue for more than 30 years, is spread over a 6 1/2 -acre hill with two showrooms -- one at the top, the other below. In the old days, Chrysler and Oldsmobile crowned the hill, but -- in a symbol of changing fortunes in the U.S. auto market -- Toyota now sits at the top peering down on a showroom that sells Chryslers and Hyundais.

Mazzotta came to the auto mall to check out the Hyundais. The PT Cruiser was just a momentary distraction. She hasn't owned an American car in 13 years; that's how long she had the Honda Civic she wanted to replace. She ultimately went back to Honda and left with a new Civic. "Maybe it was my comfort zone," she said.

Decades ago, American car buyers wouldn't give foreign models a second look. But the grip was broken by years of shoddy U.S. craftsmanship, a focus on gas-guzzlers, and a steady stream of attractive models from manufacturers in Europe and Asia. Now it's the designs from Detroit that don't get any attention.

"American car companies can't just make cars as good as the Japanese," said Karl Brauer, editor in chief of Edmunds.com, an car-shopping Web site. "They've got to surpass them. They have to make cars even more desirable."

Detroit automakers have learned their lessons and made significant strides in improving the quality of their vehicles. Over the past 15 years, the U.S. automakers have closed the gap in quality with Asian competitors, according to J.D. Power and Associates. But there is still the problem of consistency. "They've proven they can do it. But we haven't seen them demonstrate that on a consistent basis," said John Tews, a spokesman for J.D. Power.

And perceptions persist. Anvari said U.S. carmakers are blamed unfairly for their sins of the past.

He wonders how U.S. customers can be so closed-minded to their country's own car brands. "If I was American-born, I would buy the Chrysler," Anvari said. "By buying the car, I'm helping my people move forward."



Full text

*The title in the print edition is different than the one used online for some unknown reason. I used the title from the print edition as the title of the thread.*

[chevydlrmn]

It will be so difficult to repair the damaged perception. I would never consider a PT cruiser no matter what the circumstance.

[genjy]

U.S. automakers have to make cars that appeal to the public. Make cars people want to buy and they will buy them.

It's hard for people buy something that isn't appealing to them and expect them to "take one for the country." If an Accord is more appealing to the public than a Taurus, who can you blame?

[GMFreak8]

Ugh, it's sad when an Iranian is more loyal to U.S. businesses and products than most U.S. citizens are. I'm so sick of the obvious bias that Americans and the media have towards U.S. made products. It's not only cars anymore, it's everything. If the product is from Japan by a Japanese company it's viewed as a great thing, if it's American made by an American company, it's viewed as cheap and crappy. I've gotten into countless arguments with people over this exact issue. It amazes and sickens me how many people rather buy foreign products than products from their own country. We won't wake up until it's too late either. There's less and less manufacturing plants in the U.S., yet at the same time we're building countless malls filled to the brim with cheaply produced imports. We're becoming a service only country, and a country can't continue like that. Hell even services are being outsourced to foreign countries now. You call tech support, you get an Indian, you buy software, it's been written in India, you call your bank, you get an Indian or a jamaican. Even the government is started to turn to outsourcing and foreign businesses now. A law was just passed in South Carolina and a few other states that now allows the government to invest in Foreign businesses. It's ridiculous. It makes me want to buy American, and support American businesses even more.

[91z4me]

Its amazing how a person not from this country can see things that US born citizens cannot.

[Ming]

I'm a hard core GM fan, but I would consider an "Import". Just not a Toyota.

I hope that GM can find a way to turn this around. Perhaps the power of celebrity is needed.

In Japan, celebrities hawk everything on TV ads, including dryers, rice cookers, and of course, cars. And not just second rate celebs and singers, either. You get Arnold "Shuwa-chan" selling vitamin drinks and Pierce Brosnan selling cigarettes. I remember thinking the ad for the Cavalier my girl bought back in the late 1990's with the actress from Back to the Future (forget her name) selling it. She liked that commercial a lot.

GM needs a huge cultural "revolution" of sorts to stop the exodus away from its American brands. More of like what helped revive the status of Cadillac. Its either that, or start dropping brands like Pontiac in favor of Saab brand development.

[Randle2I]

Nothing new in the article. People want what they think they can trust, and they want to know it's a good value. Those are things that Honda provides plenty of. The detriot automakers, especially DCX, need to step their game up all across the board. Ford & GM are doing this, Chrysler, Jeep, and Dodge are seemingly still stuck in reverse.

[Bvonscott]

Originally Posted by Buick61

Decades ago, American car buyers wouldn't give foreign models a second look. But the grip was broken by years of shoddy U.S. craftsmanship, a focus on gas-guzzlers, and a steady stream of attractive models from manufacturers in Europe and Asia. Now it's the designs from Detroit that don't get any attention.

"American car companies can't just make cars as good as the Japanese," said Karl Brauer, editor in chief of Edmunds.com, an car-shopping Web site. "They've got to surpass them. They have to make cars even more desirable."

B.S. The imports have just as much focus on gas guzzlers as any. Those "attractive" models are in the eye of the beholder, I for one find them ugly. And "shoddy" raftsmanship? Give me a break, I've owned three GM's in that time with few problems, along with many that I know. This article is bias pure and simple.

And that last quote just proves to all of us that edmunds is biased, and will never give american cars a good review. We already have proof from studies and awards that american car quality has surpassed the Japanese.

[General STL]

Sometimes, it seems as if it's impossible to get the "image" back. But hopefully, this will prove to be cyclical and the U.S. Auto industry will once again rule the automotive world. Along with the perception issue, we have to realize that the foreign companies have yet to give their customers a reason not to buy from them. GM and Ford slipped and fell hard on their face with quality.........that gave people reason to go out and try a Honda or Toyota. What has Honda or Toyota done to make there customers loose faith in them? Nothing. Until this tide turns, it seems as if Detroit will only attain stability. Just my thoughts.

[mgescuro]

The only way to change American's perceptions of American cars is to build cars that not only match the imports, but surpass the imports.
But with the cost structure of American automakers these days, it's not gonna happen any time soon.

[Bvonscott]

Originally Posted by genjy

U.S. automakers have to make cars that appeal to the public. Make cars people want to buy and they will buy them.

It's hard for people buy something that isn't appealing to them and expect them to "take one for the country." If an Accord is more appealing to the public than a Taurus, who can you blame?

Excuse me? You bring up the taurus which is ugly but then leave out tons of other domestics which have a much better design than imports. For the Accord: the Aura is much better looking. So give us all a break.

[Geotpf]

Originally Posted by Ming

I'm a hard core GM fan, but I would consider an "Import". Just not a Toyota.

I hope that GM can find a way to turn this around. Perhaps the power of celebrity is needed.

In Japan, celebrities hawk everything on TV ads, including dryers, rice cookers, and of course, cars. And not just second rate celebs and singers, either. You get Arnold "Shuwa-chan" selling vitamin drinks and Pierce Brosnan selling cigarettes. I remember thinking the ad for the Cavalier my girl bought back in the late 1990's with the actress from Back to the Future (forget her name) selling it. She liked that commercial a lot.

GM needs a huge cultural "revolution" of sorts to stop the exodus away from its American brands. More of like what helped revive the status of Cadillac. Its either that, or start dropping brands like Pontiac in favor of Saab brand development.

There are celebrities hawking cars in the US, and pretty much only for the domestics. Lindsay Wagner pitched Fords for years, although she is selling matresses now. Tiger Woods pitches Buicks. Then there's that chick that is in all the Mercury ads (can't remember her name).

Now, getting true A-List movie stars is extremely difficult-most are unwilling to appear in TV ads. Sometimes they sneak off to Japan to make a quick buck, and occassionally they are willing to do unbilled voiceovers, but most are unwilling to appear in ads (for anything) in the United States. The only true A-List star I can think of who has appeared in ads recently in the United States is Catherine Zeta-Jones for T-Mobile.

[stevecmh]

well this really isnt new news but its still just as depressing

[genjy]

Originally Posted by Bvonscott

Excuse me? You bring up the taurus which is ugly but then leave out tons of other domestics which have a much better design than imports. For the Accord: the Aura is much better looking. So give us all a break.

How long has the Aura been out, again?

The Aura may repair the damage that's done since the 80's and 90's. It may not.

[New_Mexico_Sunset_on_Rt66]

Ahh, yet another article on this subject.

I think the opportunity for Detroit is that many consumers do not really consider them when making a car purchase. So there is opportunity there. Detroit has a fresh clean canvass to work with there.

And this perception was something Detroit helped to create. The shoddy products from the 80s continue to hurt them. In the 80s we saw big bulky cars with small underpowered engines. We blame the press. But the press really just echos those sentiments. In some cases, yes, the press goes to far and may not give credit where credit is due. And quite frankly, lately I have been reading some fairly fair reviews. We can't blame the messenger.

I'm old enough to remember the word of mouth getting around in the 80s. The word of mouth was that Toyota and Honda made great products. So consumers began to buy them because their co-workers did, or because their freinds and neighboors did. Toyota and Honda now have a strong consumer base that is difficult for Deroit to hone in on.

The opportunity is that "sexy" products can woo consumers into Detroit products.

I think in general, men tend to be drawn to atractive products that perform. And women tend to be drawn to products that do not break down.

Last year I was at my company gym and heard a young guy in his 30s talking to another employee about how he was looking at the CTS and 300C. He finally chose the 300C. He seemed to me to be an import guy, but he may have already had a bias towards domestics. I dunno. Point being. Those 2 products were attractive.

Deep down what's really at play here is image. It's just more sexy to pull up to the bar at Happy Hour on Friday in your Audi A4/A6, or Nissan Z or RX-8. One because it has a foreign badge on the outside, and secondly, because it does not have a domestic badge on the outside.

I think by GM offering sexy, well-designed, "cool" products, can they begin to establish a new rep and perception. Just like in the stock market it is useless to view a stock you should have boughten, and the missed opportunity to make money. You need to look at what else is out there to buy and make some money. That, I believe is where Detroit is at. You can't look at the automotive landscape and say, "How do we win them back?" But rather the approach needs to be, "O.K., they don't consider us, how do we get them to consider us?"

It seems like a really exciting time in the automotive world right now. The Beetle created some fresh excitment. As did the Mini. Same for the PT.

I for one can't wait until the NG Camaro comes out. But GM needs a few more follow-on products that capture that same level of excitement. A "heritage" Impala would be sweet.

What I see from sneek-peeks of the 200& NAIAS give me hope. The T2X looks cool. And the WTCC has some potential.

GM needs products that force consumers to re-think what a General Motors product is. We need to hear consumers say, "That's a Buick?", or "That's a Chevy?" The Solstice gave us a glimpse of that. So did my Intrigue that I leased in 1998.

We need more of those.

Deep down I believe there is something in the American people that want to believe that they can "kick-ass". I believe, and I hope, that this "anti-American" sentiment will end. Soon. Because I believe that the state of the American auto industry goes hand in hand with how Americans feel about themselves. I believe what is at stake here is more important than just selling a few cars. I believe what is at stake here is the health and well-being of the American culture as we know it.