As you the reader (if you have ever been here before, that means both of you!) probably know, I frequently listen to NPR as I see it being the closest thing to REAL news that the radio world has to offer, in the United States of America anyway. Recently they have been covering, in many angles, and with loads of detail, the American Automotive Company problems. Unless you have been living under a rock you probably know that the big automotive companies in the USA are on the brink of varying degrees of bankruptsy, with Chevy being the worst and Ford being the best.

In their coverage NPR has noted the many different issues with the automotive industry in the USA and why the Asian car companies don’t appear to be having the same problems.

1. There are too many dealerships in the USA for american automakers. Given this fact that competition is fierce, which drives down the prices of the American Brands, which in turn drives down the profit margins, ultimately making the auto maker less profitable – as is evident today.
2. The American automaker dealerships have an amazing amount of vehicles on their lots – vehicles they pay to have there – which vastly increases their monthly overhead.
3. American Auto makers have totally dropped the ball in having foward thinking regarding the needs of their consumer base.

Oddly enough the part that has been missing in the coverage, or perhaps I may have just missed it, was that the American auto industry shake up, in a couple years time, may actually be a good thing.

1. There will be less American auto dealerships, thus less competition, thus better profits for the industry. Turns out this is not so good for the consumer, but really who cares about them right?
2. By actually looking at why asian auto makers and dealerships don’t have overhead problems, successful American companies may realize they don’t need 5 zillion vehicles on their lots.
3. This one guy on NPR today was talking about how he has always purchased American cars since the 50s! What does he drive today? A Toyota Prius. Why? Because American Car Companies haven’t made a hybrid worth driving, or at all. Supposedly that is changing – by 2012.

In closing industry shake ups typically suck for everyone during the shakeup. With any luck the American Auto Makers will learn from the debacle that American Television manufacturers went through in the 80s – that being getting totally owned by Asian Television and electronic companies through better product design at cheaper prices – and will pull through, becoming ultimately lighter, faster, and better companies.

Or they will die.

BTW – I drive a Honda.