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.
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.
ReplyDeleteSo 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.