Not too long ago, many people (including yours truly) wouldn’t have gone near an American car if their life depended on it. Why? Simply because the products on offer didn’t come close to what Honda and Toyota could cook up, two automakers renowned for their high-quality, reliable and innovative machines.
We all know what happened next. The Big Three teetered on the brink of bankruptcy, and the Canadian and American governments swooped in at the eleventh hour to save GM and Chrysler. Today, the three American manufacturers seem to have picked up the pieces, and we can conceivably envision a bright future for them.
During their darkest hour, the major Japanese players had a golden opportunity to snap up large chunks of the market and literally annihilate their American rivals.
Had that logical scenario played out, the auto world would be quite a different place today. But it didn’t.
Ironically, Honda and Toyota failed to dominate the field because they fell in to the same trap as their American brethren. Ask anyone remotely interested in the auto industry, and you’ll hear something along these lines.
While the other automakers are evolving, the Japanese are stagnating. Obviously, the strength of the yen and the devastating effects of this spring’s earthquake and tsunami played a part, but you can’t blame everything on those two factors.
Allow me to digress. Today, few cars can actually be called “bad”. We all have our preferences, of course, but generally speaking, they all get the job done quite well, i.e. get you from A to B.
That’s why it’s become so hard to stand out from the crowd. Korean firms Hyundai and Kia have made monumental efforts and managed to attract the attention of consumers (and their wallets). Kind of like the Japanese did some years back…
To me, it’s obvious. Innovation is the name of the game.
GM, Ford, Chrysler, Toyota, Honda – they’re not all that different. They’re all fighting the same battle, but at different points in time.
An automaker can’t call the shots while complacently resting on its laurels and rely solely on a reputation carved out in the past to determine its future.
We all know what happened next. The Big Three teetered on the brink of bankruptcy, and the Canadian and American governments swooped in at the eleventh hour to save GM and Chrysler. Today, the three American manufacturers seem to have picked up the pieces, and we can conceivably envision a bright future for them.
During their darkest hour, the major Japanese players had a golden opportunity to snap up large chunks of the market and literally annihilate their American rivals.
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| The Honda Civic is no longer one of Consumer Reports recommended buys. (Photo: Sébastien D'Amour/Auto123.com) |
Had that logical scenario played out, the auto world would be quite a different place today. But it didn’t.
Ironically, Honda and Toyota failed to dominate the field because they fell in to the same trap as their American brethren. Ask anyone remotely interested in the auto industry, and you’ll hear something along these lines.
While the other automakers are evolving, the Japanese are stagnating. Obviously, the strength of the yen and the devastating effects of this spring’s earthquake and tsunami played a part, but you can’t blame everything on those two factors.
Allow me to digress. Today, few cars can actually be called “bad”. We all have our preferences, of course, but generally speaking, they all get the job done quite well, i.e. get you from A to B.
That’s why it’s become so hard to stand out from the crowd. Korean firms Hyundai and Kia have made monumental efforts and managed to attract the attention of consumers (and their wallets). Kind of like the Japanese did some years back…
To me, it’s obvious. Innovation is the name of the game.
GM, Ford, Chrysler, Toyota, Honda – they’re not all that different. They’re all fighting the same battle, but at different points in time.
An automaker can’t call the shots while complacently resting on its laurels and rely solely on a reputation carved out in the past to determine its future.