Mises Economics blog: "Mismanagement at the Big Three"
It was a dead heat. General Motors sold 9.37 million vehicles worldwide in 2007 and lost $38.7 billion. Toyota sold 9.37 million vehicles in 2007 and made $17.1 billion.Yikes. (HT: Q&O) You know, I don't know how this whole Detroit bailout is going to unfold, but there's one thing that Congress should demand as a condition: everybody in upper management has to go. I mean, look at those numbers! In the spirit of Christmas, put a fruitcake in Rick Wagoner's executive chair - it couldn't possibly do worse.
That was the second best sales total in GM's 100-year history and the biggest loss ever for any automaker in the world.
For Toyota, that was roughly $1,800 in profit for every vehicle sold. For GM, it was an average loss of $4,100 for every vehicle sold.
1 comment:
The Ford Taurus shows the idiocy of both companies. Ford by not putting any money into improving the Taurus, the best selling car in the US between 1992-1996, and basically ceding that niche to Toyota's Camry. GM compounded the problem by making its Taurus beater a car so bad that the workers at the plant tasked with building the Caprice/Impala groaned audibly at the introductory photo op.
So you have one company that lets it's fifth best selling nameplate ever become a car that only can be rented if everything else at Enterprise is taken. And GM for not even understanding that you don't replace a four door family sedan that is economical and front wheel drive and almost two and 1/2 feet shorter with a two and 1/2 ton car that looks like Dr. Frankenstein put it together from the parts shelves in Detroit.
So you end up with a badly designed and poorly built car that costs too much to make to be profitable. Hmmm, I smell money burning!
Though I would love to have a '94 Impala with the LT1 out of the Corvette.
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