American cars have always made a statement, they are symbolic of what America and its people represent. They are big, shiny and beautiful. They are distinct, powerful and representative of a culture and way of life.

Our country has always been known for the cars we make, and our cars are branded as ‘So American’ because that is how we make them – ‘American’.

The car companies had been the drivers of our countries growth in the 20th century, however at the start of the 21st century. Their operations for a change seem to fragile, manpower incompetent and design out of place. In the 20th century, it seems that the big car companies controlled the country and moved mountains, not anymore.

When I say not anymore, it comes from the fact that General Motors, Ford and Chrysler have always done so well that a blip in their performance makes one feel that all is lost. And actually speaking things are really bleak, the place these companies faltered was in giving away too much in their hay days, CEO after CEO kept giving concessions and privileges that are impairing the performance of the companies now. The companies are under a huge burden of recurring expenses that are more than their profits.
But to reflect back on how they were doing, we should look at the bare facts that these companies have continued for nearly a 100 years and spent nearly 50 of those years in the top 10 list of fortune 500 magazine.

Off late the difference has occurred in the preferences of the consumers and the changes in the environment. The consumers want cars that are easier to drive and economically efficient to maintain with sky rocketing gasoline prices.

Japanese Car Market

For years, the business strategies of the Big Three auto makers in Japan have been at odds with U.S. industry and government trade rhetoric. Having disdained re-entering the Japanese market on the grounds that it would never be significant enough to warrant serious effort, the American companies relied on their enormous domestic market and focused international efforts on building a major position in Europe.

Trapped by their own neglect in the late 1970s, they embraced a range of protectionist measures at home and in the recent past pursued an aggressive agenda of so-called ‘results-oriented’ trade policies designed to pressure Japan to meet highly specific targets for both sales and the number of outlets in the Big Three distribution network in Japan. With the introduction of the first American right-hand drive vehicles in 1994, hopes soared as sales of U.S. cars, Big Three autos companies nearly tripled over the next three years.

But the slowdown in the Japanese economy exposed the weak strategic position of the American manufacturers for all to see. Sales of U.S.-made vehicles dropped nearly 18% and were off even more sharply in the first quarter of 1998. This has once again raised the specter of potentially divisive and economically damaging trade disputes, as U.S. government officials and executives blamed Japan for the decline.

Key Factors influencing American Car Companies in the Japanese Car Market:

o Since the U.S.-Japan auto agreement was reached in June 1995, the Big Three have been engaged in an active process of “churning” franchises, closing and/or opening a total of about 360 showrooms – a number representing more than half of the 600-plus outlets in their Japanese distribution network. Despite this, and contrary to years of complaints about the need for more outlets, the American makers ended 1997 with fewer showrooms than they had three years ago – not the 177 ‘additional’ stores that have been claimed. This level of turnover is quite large for a mature market and clearly unsustainable over the long term.

o Ford Japan has made by far the biggest commitment and investment among the Big Three faces the most severe challenge because of strategic and product shortcomings. The company suffered nearly a 40% drop in sales of its U.S.-built vehicles in 1997, and many of its dealers are openly angry about the lack of appeal of current models, the paucity of financial support from the manufacturer, and the apparent lack of exciting new products in the pipeline.

o Because of these problems, Ford has just recently announced a 180-degree strategy shift in Japan, and its new president has publicly embraced sales and marketing changes.

o Chrysler has substantially increased its investment in the Japanese market, but now faces the critical and daunting task of rebuilding an independent dealer network after terminating a lucrative arrangement with Honda for the distribution of the well-known Jeep models. Chrysler also faces serious questions about future product suitability in a fast-changing sport utility market.

o General Motors continues to play out a conservative and largely uninspired strategy that, if left alone, could drop it into third place behind Chrysler in unit sales of U.S. made vehicles in Japan. Moreover, its Saturn Japan division, launched in April 1997, is off to a very slow start, because of severe limitations in product quality and variety.

o The current import share of the Japanese auto market is 9.6%, not the lower 5.4% reported by the Big Three and the U.S. government. Their calculation divides total import car sales, including grey market imports, by the total number of vehicles sold in Japan, including mini-vehicles, trucks and buses, which the American manufacturers do not even make for Japan. The rest of the world calculates market share simply and cleanly: by dividing imported passenger cars sold by the total number of passenger cars sold.

o Japanese auto dealers are a widely diverse and dynamic group who provide an exceptionally high level of customer service in a fiercely competitive environment. While the internal structure of day-to-day business operations is different in many respects from that of dealers in the U.S., they share a high degree of interest with their American counterparts in testing and pursuing many kinds of new systems and marketing tools. Debates over the effectiveness of ‘one-price’ showrooms are particularly intense and quite similar to trends in America.

Things are not so rosy for the Japanese manufacturers either, just today Isuzu released its numbers and the shrinkage of Isuzu underscores how increased competition is forcing smaller competitors by the wayside. Automakers will launch 197 models this year through 2009, a 53% increase over the number of vehicle introductions from 1987 to 2005, Merrill Lynch said in a report last year.

Competition will only grow more fierce. The South Korean brands have become competitive enough to pinch Japanese and domestic automakers. Chinese makers might be next to wash ashore.

Isuzu presents a classic example of what can happen to an automaker that fails to invest in its market. They are fighting their battle in an overcrowded market with models that aren’t being supported. While Isuzu used to be a low-price brand, The Koreans now are offering a competitive product at a cheaper price.It has just pushed them out of the marketplace.

With vehicles that differ little from their GM cousins, Isuzu tries to appeal to buyers by selling them for less. The base Ascender lists for $26,644, about $300 less than the Chevrolet TrailBlazer built on the same production line, reports Edmunds.com, a car buyer research website. But buyers are finding TrailBlazer cheaper because of sales incentives.

Isuzu also tries to gain an edge with a better warranty. Instead of three years or 36,000 miles, Isuzu’s warranty is 50,000 miles. The drivetrain’s warranty is for 75,000 miles or seven years.

GM’s involvement with Isuzu is not coincidental. Starting in the early 1970s, GM took a 37.5% share of Isuzu, which it later increased to 49%. For years, Isuzu thrived.

In 1984, Isuzu introduced one of the earliest and most successful compact SUVs, the Trooper. It came to market ahead of what would later become the domestic makers’ best-known SUVs. And the Trooper developed a reputation for toughness and quality. Isuzu followed up with the smaller Rodeo and a little sport vehicle, the Amigo.

Isuzu was a brash competitor. Its cheeky approach came through in its popular television ads featuring “Joe Isuzu,” a car salesman whose outlandish claims were contradicted by a sober scroll running across the bottom of the screen.

Its success was reflected in its sales, which peaked at 127,630 in 1986 and stayed strong into the late 1990s. Then, little by little, the market withered away. Trooper disappeared in 2002, Rodeo, in 2004. A proposal to bring in a Thai-built SUV a couple of years ago fizzled. The company restructured two years ago. GM has reduced its stake to about 8%.

It might help if Ascender, a name which means nothing to customers, were redubbed Trooper, which still resonates with buyers. Or if Isuzu could bring some of its vaunted diesel engine technology, still important to GM’s midsize Duramax truck line, to the light-vehicle line.

With all the bad news coming out of Detroit these days, many have a disarmingly simple suggestion: Ford and General Motors should simply build better cars.

Quality Perception

A perception of poor quality certainly isn’t the only reason Ford and GM cars can have trouble in today’s market. But it is one of the most important factor.

I looked at J.D. Power and Associates Long-term Dependability Surveys to get a sense of where American cars rank in terms of reliability and how much they’ve improved. That survey measures the number of problems vehicle owners have after 3 years of ownership.

The survey shows that all the big three are doing pretty good but the problem is that ‘pretty good’ has become ‘not quite good enough’ in a world where quality standards have been raised significantly. The bad experiences of customers with American cars still lingers in their memories.

Reliability by the numbers

If you believe J.D. Power’s surveys, the story for American luxury brands Lincoln, Cadillac and Buick is particularly striking.
Of the above three brands, Lincoln performed best in the 2005 survey ranking third of all brands behind Porsche & Lexus.

Lincoln, Cadillac and Buick all out-scored Toyota’s Toyota-branded and Honda’s Honda-branded vehicles in the same 2005 J.D. Powers survey.

Another view

But the people at Consumer Reports don’t have quite as good a view of Ford and GM products as J.D. Powers’ survey.

In Consumer Reports predicted reliability ratings, brands like Toyota, Subaru and even Suzuki rank higher than Pontiac, which has average predicted reliablity in Consumer Reports’ estimation.
Lincoln, the top-ranked American brand in the J.D. Power survey, is seen as having below average predicted reliability by Consumer Reports.

Still, agreed Michael Quincy automotive content specialist for Consumer Reports, the quality of Ford and GM cars has improved greatly in recent years.

Some Ford cars are actually “above average” in reliability, according to Consumer Reports own surveys, Quincy said. The Ford Escape Hybrid SUV is “better than average, for example, and the closely-related Mercury Mariner SUV is much better than average in reliability.

GM brands, according to Consumer Reports, have mostly average predicted reliability. Hummer and Saturn are seen as below average.

Why are we so sure they’re bad?

Given J.D. Power survey results, and even the “not bad” showings in Consumer Reports data, why do Americans seem so sure that American cars are dross?

Three possible reasons:

Reputation: Toyota has, by now, had a lifetime to cement its reputation among American consumers for nearly fool-proof quality. GM and Ford spent nearly as long honing a reputation for not caring much about quality. Things may have improved, but it takes a long time for that to sink in.

Recalls: GM, in particular, has had a problem with headline-making recalls. It’s a big company, it sells a lot of vehicles and they share a lot of components. When one of those parts goes wrong, eye-popping numbers of vehicles can be affected. That doesn’t mean the vehicles are unreliable. Recalls are a different sort of problem. But it does cause concerns.

Reviews: GM and Ford vehicles haven’t always exuded quality that may have been hiding in there somewhere. Cheap-feeling interior materials, raspy-sounding engines and gap-filled construction didn’t give potential buyers the feeling of confidence that even lesser Japanese brands manage to carry off.

GM and Ford deserve credit for what they’ve done so far. But American consumers have shown they still need lot more proof.
There are problems with Ford and General Motors.

On paper Ford appears to have it much easier. Despite losing $1.6 billion in North America last year, Ford Motor remains profitable. It has more cash and less debt than GM, its credit rating is higher, and its legacy costs are lower because it has shrunk less (and thus has fewer retirees to support).

Yet Ford Motor hasn’t been running all that smoothly since Bill Ford took over as CEO in 2001. Strategic direction looks like a lot of zigs and zags. Ford Division has dumped its overtly conservative design and will pursue more eye-catching ones from now on. The Taurus, Ford’s bestselling car in 2005, is being discontinued in 2006 (it hopes the Fusion will fill the vacuum). Lincoln has gotten yet another facelift, while Mercury is still seeking a personality after decades of searching.

To get his company up to speed again, Bill Ford has produced the second turnaround plan of his tenure, called ‘Way Forward’.

The plan promises cost cuts, improved quality, and increased productivity. Those are all essential in an industry that gets more competitive by the day,But the statement has no plans for events which are beyond Bill Ford’s control could make his job even trickier. Some analysts think a GM bankruptcy would force Ford to follow suit.

The truth is that GM is essentially indentured to the UAW because of the union’s power to strike. GM’s hourly and salaried employees, present and past, essentially own the company, a fact I like to prove by describing some bank accounts.

At the end of 2004, the latest date for which figures are available, GM’s pension funds (both inside the U.S. and out) had $100 billion in assets, which is wealth belonging to GM’s employees, retirees, and dependents. To that you can add $19 billion that GM has put in a dedicated account for retiree health benefits. That makes $119 billion that GM has banked for its employees. In contrast, the shareholders of GM recently owned their grubby $13 billion in market value. That is a bizarre, Alice-in-Autoland result from 98 years in which capitalism supposedly reigned.

The likes of Toyota and all have not committed that mistake. They give limited insurance and their new plants are being set up in Canada because Canada has a better healthcare system, which means the company does not have to pay costly healthcare insurance to its employees.

The good news is that within the American borders, General Motors is still the king with around 40 percent market share and Toyota has 15 percent. The big ball game is that there is a huge market outside America and the big problem is we are repetitively failing to penetrate those new growth centers in the world.

Changing World

Companies like Nissan driven by visionary CEO Ghosn has been making some of the best cars off late. They are listening to the consumers while the American companies are not. Ghosn entered the tough world of the Japanese business and managed to close factories and retire people when it is almost impossible to do something like that in Japan. People need to make some very tough decision and he has been able to do it. No wonder that now he is also the CEO of Renault the French company and combined Nissan and Renault are in the top 5 manufacturers worldwide and have a 9.6% market share.

Nissan had an operating profit of 249 billion yen in the first three months of 2005, according to Bloomberg calculations, which was the fourth quarter of Nissan’s fiscal 2005 year. That translated into a 10 percent operating margin.

Nissan on Feb. 2 maintained its April 2005 forecast for net income to rise 0.9 percent to 517 billion yen, while sales will rise 4.9 percent to 9 trillion yen. The company plans to increase global vehicle sales in the year ended March 31 by 6.8 percent to a record 3.62 million units.

However, the markets are unrelenting but the American manufacturers are going to suffer more. If I want to buy a car, I will buy the best car available and an American manufacturer does not make that best car according to customers’ needs. The tragedy of the American automobile/car industry is that we are not listening to the consumers and have the terrible reputation of making bad cars. The Japanese on the other hand realized that Japan is a much smaller country which cannot absorb all the cars they can make and choose to sell their cars to the American market.

Here is the list of the Fortune 500, top 10. there are a few car companies, 3 are American (assuming the combined share of Diamler Chrysler) and 1 japanese. Toyota makes more money than all 3 combined.

The rank is followed by the name, revenue and then the profit of the that company.

1. Wal-Mart Stores 287,989.0 10,267.0

2 BP 285,059.0 15,371.0

3 Exxon Mobil 270,772.0 25,330.0

4 Royal Dutch/Shell Group 268,690.0 18,183.0

5 General Motors 193,517.0 2,805.0

6 DaimlerChrysler 176,687.5 3,067.1

7 Toyota Motor 172,616.3 10,898.2

8 Ford Motor 172,233.0 3,487.0

9 General Electric 152,866.0 16,819.0

10 Total 152,609.5 11,955.0

Seems the world is just buying fuel and cars, then why are we losing money? Shouldn’t we listen to our consumers?

Boris Mann writes business and financial management articles, journal and columns for Knowledge Weekly.

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KMC rims and wheels come in two main catalog lineups; Lorenzo Forged and the XD Series (it’s divided into three different lines). The XD line is probably the more well-known and common of the two and features a number of truck and SUV applications that are well-known to the market, while not being overly “common” in a bad way. Wheels sizes in this segment go up past 24, and even 26, inches in some cases.

Lorenzo Forged wheels make use of the company’s proprietary “Super Lip” technology, which is a KMC hallmark for any truck or car application in this segment as well. All such wheels come with very nicely detailed styles, finishes and colors. There are a number of different bolt patterns and good-looking wheel lips, both of which help to add to their looks.

KMC warranties are top-notch, also. A lifetime guarantee to the original owner is offered and which protects against failure due to structural defects. As far as any problems with material defects or problems with their finishes or workmanship, the wheels carry a one-year warranty, also to the original owner, from the date of purchase. This is comforting to prospective buyers, as one considers how to make a dollar stretch in this economy.

There are several different categories of wheels offered by KMC that includes SUV and trucks as well as standard passenger cars and the three different XD series of wheels. There are XD Beadlock styles for the desert and other terrain that run from 15 inches up to 17 inches and the XD SYS wheels, called Badlands and Enduro, generally speaking.

The Lorenzo lineup in suffused with uniqueness and style throughout the line. They’re listed in the catalog by their “WL” notation, with some such styles available in 26 inches, which is a quite large wheel that’ll be sure to make a truck or car stand out no matter the environment (street, trail, show etc.)

Many KMC fans have been buying wheel packages that feature glossy black finishes. These particular styles bring rich looks to upmarket and standard market vehicles, with some even managing to impart a bit of menacing looks to their presence on a car. All are strongly-made and sure to provide good looks for years to come. Some enthusiasts call them “eye candy for the car, ” as a matter of fact.

It has to be said that while KMC wheels aren’t hugely expensive, they’re not cheap, either. Most fans of this aftermarket manufacturer of quality custom wheels, though, would say they’re well worth their asking price (anywhere from 250 to 500 dollars per wheel) because they’re so well-made and stylish looking. Indeed, there’s pretty much nothing to dislike about these particular wheels no matter their configuration.

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One factor that you should take into account would be how trustworthy would be the site that is offering to sell you used Japanese cars. Yes, there may be a picture on the site but will your purchase look exactly like that when it is delivered to you? Some unscrupulous individuals might post pictures of Japanese used cars in pristine condition, but you wind up with a delivery of used Japanese cars that only moderately resemble the cars in the online pictures. It’s a shame but that’s life – some people just cannot be trusted.

It is also equally important to find out if the company selling you used Japanese cars is a legitimate one or not. This is called conducting due diligence about the background of the seller. You may have to monitor the site for some time – if it has been operating for years and has developed a good reputation in the Japanese used car exporter business, then you may want to test the waters by buying one car first. If, on the other hand, no one has ever heard of the company you saw online, and it seems to be operating in a shady manner, you might find it better to err on the side of prudence and look in other websites for the same service. One clue that would separate the wheat from the chaff is whether the company can afford to spend on hosting space ranging from 300 MB to 1000 MB. That much hosting space means this company means business so you might be able to take a risk on them.

Another factor that may influence your buying decision would be the satisfaction previous customers have had with the service of that Japanese used car exporter. For this, you could ask around your social circles, or even ask for referrals to people they know. There is no better teacher than experience, it is said, so unless you want to be a guinea pig for testing out the company’s service, tread lightly before choosing to patronize any company.

One more way you can check if the company is a legitimate one is whether they comply with the very strict Japanese banking laws. Under those laws, registered companies have to maintain banking accounts that use the same name as the name under which they are legally registered as businesses. So if the company used Company ABC as its business name but uses a different banking account name, take cover – that company will either get in trouble eventually or victimize someone (depending on their real intent.)

Lastly, you should bear in mind that Japanese phonetics are very different from English phonetics – which is why the language barrier still exists between English speakers and real Japanese speakers. If you have to hold a conversation with whomever you will be dealing with, you might find it a bit difficult. To get around this hurdle, you could hire a bilingual interpreter to help you navigate your way through the deal.

Sadayoshi Miyakuni, CEO of M’s Crew Co., Ltd. who runs [http://www.auctiondirectjapan.com] AuctionDirectJapan.com is A Japan Car Dealer in Japan, selling and exporting Japanese Used Cars [http://www.auctiondirectjapan.com] and New Cars from Japan to the world. We supply Quality Used Japanese Cars of TOYOTA, NISSAN, HONDA, SUBARU, ISUZU, etc.

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Obviously the first thing of the car interior which comes into notice is the dashboard bearing lots of panels and slots and if job well done, one can really impress his mate by the help of some cool dashboard styling tips. Luckily for the car modifiers, the automotive industry has moved far from that same old fashioned, boring standard plastic. Many types of material like leather, carbon fiber, fur e.t.c are available for dashboard styling. So giving your dashboard a new look is no more difficult. Only your creativity is the limit.

I will be discussing some cool car dashboard styling tips which will be proved helpful in gaining you an extra edge among your peers. First of all complimenting your overall car theme is extremely important. Even the brand reputation of your car is important. For instance if you own a luxury car, motor sport style interior will not be suitable for your car and vice versa, of course!

Modifying or adding new gauges in your dashboard is really helpful. Wide variety of gauges and different meters are available. Even you don’t have to integrate different gauges one by one as the whole complete set of digital dashboards are available making this modification job even more easy. Gauges are helpful in monitoring oil pressure, voltages, temperature e.t.c but don’t get carried away with them and start unnecessarily adding them into your dashboard or you will end up in giving your car a “spaceship look”.

After adding gauges divert your attention towards the steering wheel. New sporty small diameter steering wheel will enhance your sporty looks provided if you are willing to give a sporty look or different varieties are available. The choice is yours. Drilled aluminum pedals are in now a days for accelerators and brakes however even more varieties are available with wider foot prints. Complement the gear knob with dashboard and gauges. Remember being haphazard will ruin your hard work. Always stay consistent to one decided theme.

When modifying the gauges, the standard, factory fitted gauges can be removed by removing the instrument panel. However few cars would require complete disintegration of the dashboard to install these gauges. In most cases the companies provide with the new gauges, complete kits to replace the old one. White backgrounds are preferred in most cases as they are popular and when the dashboard illumination goes on at the night it helps in glowing, the naumbers of the gauges and amazingly itself goes darker giving a really clear look to your gauges to the outsiders and as a whole real cool look to the dashboard.

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Buy Auto Parts and Accessories [http://shoponline.web.officelive.com/autoaccessoriesmain.aspx]

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