Detroit Shifts Gears Against Japanese

American Automakers Have Lost Ground And Are Doing Everything To Come Back

(CBS)  At Ford's Wayne, Mich. assembly plant, cars are run through a battery of quality tests. Clarence Hayes' job title is "squeak and rattle" tester:

"I visually check for any loose or any improperly installed parts," he said.

Jim Stone puts cars through a 20 minute soak test.

"And as you can see the spray, it saturates the car. Any small defect or any small concern that's on this car — it will find it," Stone said.

In his 40 years at Ford, Stone admits quality hasn't always been job no. 1.

"When I first came in here and I started thinking on my own — I tried to think on my own! — I was told that I was not paid to think. I was paid to do," he said. "We got the feeling that: it's a part you put in, don't worry about it. Now, it's that if the part don't fit, stop the line, get it to fit, find out what the root cause is."

Changing plant procedures isn't easy, but changing customers' attitudes may be more difficult. Spear says perception is a hard thing to turn around.

"If someone goes in and has an experience that doesn't disappoint, they won't tell anybody. If they have an experience which absolutely delights they tell one person. And if they have a disappointing experience they tell nine," Spear said.

Five years ago, GM brought in Bob Lutz, a living legend in the auto industry, to help improve the look and quality of its vehicles. With sharp new cars like the Cadillac unveiled at the auto show, Lutz believes GM is now as good as the other guys. But he admits that may not be good enough.

"At equal vehicles, most U.S. consumers today, especially on the coasts, will say, 'Okay, this Chevrolet is as nice as my Camry. As nice. Why take the risk? I'll stay with the Camry," he said.

"Toyota may no longer be the best in the world in quality. Several domestic brands that score higher than Toyota — doesn't matter. They have the reputation. They have good resale value. So how do we get those people to consider us when the default position is Toyota or Honda? It means we have to do something more. We literally for a few years, I like to say, have to be more Catholic than the Pope."

Can American carmakers pull back in front in the race for quality? The stakes have never been higher. With Detroit losing billions of dollars last year and laying off 70,000 employees, plant workers like Jim Stone now understand it's not just a matter of surpassing the Japanese — it's a matter of survival.

"Because if we don't build it right, then you're not gonna buy it," Stone said. "And if you don't buy it, then we're out of a job."

[mgd1943]

While your coverage was good, I thought Consumer Reports comparison of the Equinox vs the Honda CRV was unfair. This particular Honda may be better in those respects than the Chevy, but to generalize from that one example is absurd. JD Powers listed four American nameplates that beat Toyota and Honda in initial quality and/or 3 year reliability, and GM and Ford both have models competing with Camry and Accord that have reliabilty better than or equal to both. Ben Franklin said that if you have a reputation as an early riser, you can sleep till noon. GM and Ford's problem is more reputation than quality.

[bildooreilly]

American automakers just build cars to suck you into their other racket "parts and repair."

[dmorg4]

I dont think any body can say american cars are bad cars these are very good cars quality
the problem is the japanise have an unfair advatage in the market place pure and simple
the america cars are made better than japanise cars you look detriot uses real steel they are not thin as paper like the imports i think they need some tarifs to protect the america industry and if they let in the chinese cars the american industry will be gone for sure

[StanJasek]

Toyota is getting ready to announce a second genration 80 mile per gallon Prius for the 2008 model year!
The European Union and even our Washington politicians are discussing a "carbon tax" or carnon controls to reduce CO2 and factors affecting climate change.
Where is the Detroit Big Three in this conversation?
Do the Big Three executives read? Comprehend? Understand?
As Americans we have enormous oppportunities in the auto industry, and can take leadership in all these areas....where are the leaders?
Stan Jasek
Muskegon, Michigan

[zindo-2009]

American car makers are hooked on replacement part. In my life I have had two Chevys, Ford, Two Dodge cars, Jeep Liberty, Isuzu pickup, Pontiac, Honda and Toyota.

ALL and I do mean ALL the domestic cars were nothing but money pits. My 1995 Isuzu had the o2 sensor replaced at 18k miles. My Honda and Toyota have not seen the dealership since I drove them off the lot two years ago.

DaimlerChrysler is tiring from what I hear, they are buying back 3 year old cars and making the top brass drive them so they can see what's wrong with them. I think they need to get five year old cars since most people finance for that long.

[kronoo]

American automobiles and trucks are pre-designed for certain parts to fail at at specific milage. Parts like transmissions etc... Tests have been done to design parts to only last for so long so they will have to be replaced in order to maintain service revenue.

[edjohn66]

This article did a good job skipping the conventional notion that the unions are causing all of the problems. Let's face it: the Big Three suffer from engineering problems and poor decisions at the top. If the average worker had a greater say on what happens, the U.S. auto industry would be MUCH better off right now. And the average unionized U.S. autoworker doesn't really make much more or less than your average European or Japanese auto worker.

There is one big difference: health care. Imagine how competitive EVERY American industry would be if we had UNIVERSAL HEALTHCARE?

[guesmanj]

Your story titled "Detroit Shifts Gears Against Japanese" was interesting and on the mark in many areas. I also agree with many of the comments posted by other readers, specifically the point of loyalty to American manufacturers and workers. But, your story failed to mention the most troubling aspect of the American automobile made today. While Asian and European manufacturers alike continue to improve quality and safety features, they offer cars that get far better gas mileage than anything American made. The best illustration of this is a chart Al Gore uses in his documentary titled %u201CAn Inconvenient Truth%u201D. The chart clearly shows not only Japanese leading the way in miles per gallon (MPG), but how European and other Asian nations to include China are catching up. Meanwhile, a lot of people here to include our automakers are still mired with the mentality that bigger is better and 25 MPG is OK. The bottom line is last year I needed a new car and searched my sole for the right thing to do. I asked myself, why should I invest my hard earned money in something lacking in reliability, safety, and MPG? My new Honda Civic Hybrid is averaging 43.7 MPG for over 40,000 miles, is a joy to drive, and I feel very safe no matter the conditions or traffic I%u2019m in. I go to bed a night feeling great knowing that I%u2019m doing my part to lessen the impact on our environment, while keeping money out of the hands of terrorist nations.

[mbartles]

The author's misspelling of braking twice in one paragraph is pretty sad.

[pjkbp]

I drive the same route to work..21 hilly miles to work .. the same as a cooworker who has a Honda CRV... I get a easy 22 to 24 miles per gallon... he said he has never gotten over 21.
I own a Buick CUV that weighs over 4,000 pounds has a 185hp v6 engine. The CRV is wieghs much less and and has a 4 cyl engine.
The Buick is much safer .. roomy..comfortable.. smoother shifting .. quiet... and after 5 years it only was to the dealer once for a minor leak in a A/C part which was fixed by GM during a routine inspection for free.

The US media refuses to bring up the most obvious topics.. since they are owned by the Japanese.

American auto makers have been kept out of the Japanese market forever.
The US autos are also kept out of the European market... while they more than freely sell in the US.

[pjkbp]

I'll put my 92 Amerivan Made PONTIAC BONNEVILLE up against anything made by anyone. It has no rust .. it has it's original exhaust .. total repair bill for driving in the worst conditions in the US, the Pgh area 75K miles, is less than $300. I runs like new and has better looking paint than a brand new TOYOTA. I have yet to find a Japanese auto to come close to this reliability.
Did you know GM was sued by Toyota so that GM would not be allowed to advertize that their cars and trucks are built with galvanized metal and stainless steel exhaust. Toyota claims that GM would have a unfair advantage if they advertized advertize that their cars and trucks are built with galvanized metal and stainless steel exhaust.
I feel this is totally wrong.
In Japan they put a $12,000 tax on all US autos.
HOW MANY TOYOTAS WOULD SELL HERE IF THEY COST $12,000 MORE?
DID YOU KNOW THAT THE PLANTS THE JAPANESE BUILD INT HE US ARE PAYING NO US TAXES?
DID YOU KNOW THAT JD POWERS DEPENDABILITY RANKINGS FOR BUICK ARE MUCH BETTER THAN TOYOTA, HONDA , NISSAN AND ALL OTHER JAPANESE AUTOS AND MATCH THE RELIABILITY OF LEXUS A MUCH HIGHER PRICED LINE.
The US auto market is stacked against GM and FORD.
If it's so good for Toyota to build plants in the US .. why don't they let anyone build plants in JAPAN? Imports in Japan .. for all makes .. is approx. 1%.
JAPAN IS A CLOSED MARKET ...
THE US MARKET IS MORE THAN OPEN AND WE ARE STUPID FOR LETTING THEM TAKE ADVANTAGE OF OUR OPEN MARKETS WHILE KEEPING US OUT.

[tibu987]

I no longer drive, but I notice many of the American cars with rust spots all over them, parts hanging nearly off. I see this to a much lesser degree on the foreign cars.
I am a firm believer in " buy American", but one has also got to get a good buy for thier money. The U.S. maufacturers have taken second place for a long time when it comes to quality control.
And the cost of that policy is now showing up.

[feelfree1]

Detroit automakers' motto should be "too little, too late". The Japanese have been beating them to the punch for decades.

[olebd]

Years of bending over for inflated union powered wages and benefits have taken monies away from R & D in the American auto industry thus causing quality to tank.

[turbokat1]

By the way...my Olds Achieva is going strong at 146,000 miles. I drive 32 miles round trip to work every day doing well in excess of 70mph.
My Achieva hasn't seen a mechanic for more than regular maintenance since last spring. Oh..also by the way, I'm a woman.

[turbokat1]

I have never owned a vehicle which did not originate in Detroit and don't plan to...ever.
In addition to my unwavering preferance for "American" cars, I've always known that even though many foreign based vehicles are now being assembled here, the final profit from their purchase goes to enrich the economy of their country...not mine.

[nothappyatall]

By the way, ever notice American car odometers rollback over to zeros at 100,000 miles but cars like my Honda have another digit so it will actually display my 196,000 miles?
That says a lot- American cars- 100,000 miles junk em- planned obsolescense that shows by the odometer design that they didn't intend the car to last beyond that rollover point.

I bought My Honda for $500 when it had 129,000 on it, had Honda work on the engine and not one problem of any kind, but now years and 60,000 miles later I decided to do a total restoration on the car- new paint, clutch needed renewal so I decided to tear the engine and trans down replace all bearings, seals, rings, hone the cyl's etc and the car will be like brand new for about $3000 in parts, heck of a lot cheaper than $25,000 for a new car that if anything goes wrong I'd need a computer technician mechanic to even figure it out.
The '82 Honda CVCC is VERY fixable by the driveway mechanic with a minimum of metric tools, it's one of the nicer cars to work on and even today exceeds MPG and emissions requirements for NEW cars due to the unique engine design HONDA came up with. It was getting 38 MPG

[nothappyatall]

Detroit's answer to economy cars was stripped down boxes like the Yugo, there's another car out that is more reasonably priced but when you add "extras" like the $1200 A/C, power steering, the power brakes, $1200 for the automatic trans etc the cost comes up to almost $20,000

You look at a cool retro car like the Cooper Mini, nice car and looks like it would be cute and fun to drive but it's $25,000 for that little thing- it's a BMW...

[nothappyatall]

I own two cars, one is an 82 Honda Civic wagon with 196,000 miles on it, love this car, I can fit a whole sheet of plywood in the back like a mini pickup, it drives nice,I am rebuilding the engine now and mostly restoring it. Honda engines for this car were built TOUGH with 5 main bearings on the crank instead of the typical 4, the engine runs smooth like a sewing machine.

I also have a Chevy Corsica, '89 with 309,000 original miles and it never had engine or trans work done, only the normal wear or age stuff for those miles- ball joints, tires, hoses, belts, starter, alt, batt, muffler twice , headlight switch, repainting.
I bought the car off a co-worker 6 years ago for $100, it had 290,000 on it he drove it to/fro work 60 miles a day commute so it was all highway miles and he changed his oil EVERY 2,000 miles,the above repairs were the ONLY ones I've had to do. SO I vote for the 89 Corsica 4 cyl as the best American car IF maintained by changing the oil frequently.
It starts up immediately in all temps and never let me down, runs well, little rust at all and it gets 35 MPG.
I'll NEVER buy new, $25,000 for four wheels and a seat is insane.

[nothappyatall]

Domestic cars were always built cheap since the 70's because most people don't keep them longer than about 5 years ANYWAY before trading it in for the latest greatest new STYLE. Detroit has the American public sold on the concept that they have to replace these $25,000 machines about every 4-5 years to keep up with the latest STYLE. They are also built now so high tech that the average Joe can't repair their own cars- it's all electronic computer controlled, metric fasteners requiring metric and special tools, everything is so JAMMED In under the hood you have to remove 5 components just to get AT something like a starter to replace it.
There's even an American car whose design was so poor you couldn't replace the spark plugs at the back of the engine without pulling the engine out- you couldn't get at them.
$300 book labor cost to replace a headlight on one car model because you had to remove the entire fender to get at it.