Why did these 5 American car brands die?

[ForsakenConservative]

My son next to the Olds he thinks is his….. All original 5 speed manual 260 V8. I love the long lines!

 

[MP43]

My understanding is that Ford didn't take bailout money. From what I remember, Ford took out loans and paid them back. GM and Chrysler Group (now Fiat) did not repay all of the money from the government.

That's correct. The Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) provided a combined $79.69 billion to GM, GMAC and Chrysler. Ford supported the move because it feared many of its suppliers wouldn't survive GM and Chrysler both going bankrupt, but didn't take any of the money. About half of those funds have been paid back.
Ford did receive a six billion government loan in 2009, but it was through the Dept. of Energy to help pay for retooling to produce more fuel efficient cars. No bailout funds were involved. From what I gather, every payment on the six billion has been made in full and on time.

 

[rons]

They died because they were made SUB-STANDARDLY! The Japanese were making a vehicle that would wrap rings around the American built car.

Sorry to say but TRUE!

 

[Seadog]

I can tell you about Pontiac and Oldsmobile. Those died when GM filed bankruptcy and needed to cut down on the different factories and tooling. They weren't selling like other brands and GM was dying on the vine, mainly because the government went one way with GWBush and the other with OBlama.
GM said, "We have enough money to retool one time for a green energy product. Which one do you guys like?" and GWBush said, "Hydrogen. It looks to be the way of the future." So GM re-tooled along with the other brands to producing Hydrogen cars. They even had some produced and tested by famous people, including Jay Leno and Sean Hannity.

Then we had another election and Obama came along.

Oblama said, "Electric is better so my friends can get subsidies". Remember Solindra? Hundreds of millions of dollars given from the government one month, and the next they've filed bankruptcy and closed the doors, nowhere to be found. Not suspicious at all. Anyway, the whiplash killed the auto industry with only Ford able to keep itself afloat, though they were forced to take bailout money anyway by the corrupt Obama regime.

You know, if Repubs would work as hard at getting their supporters paid as Dems do, we'd almost have a fair fight on our hands.

A I recall Ford is the only auto manufacturer that didn’t take any bail outs under Dinglbarrys reign of terror.

 

[ForsakenConservative]

They died because they were made SUB-STANDARDLY! The Japanese were making a vehicle that would wrap rings around the American built car.

Sorry to say but TRUE!

OK, I don’t totally disagree with that, but I think there’s much more to the equation……
*Nixon made the greenback a totally fiat currency, cementing it’s destruction through debt and devaluation.
*The new EPA had mandated emission requirements that were not entirely technologically feasible, creating a huge burden to overcome.
*The federal safety mandates added more burden to the domestic automakers.
*Domestic energy production had all but stopped, yielding to “cheap” OPEC supplies.
That’s just a start……didn’t even touch social unrest and protectionist Asian market policies supported by the US government. The resulting recession fostered an era of malaise that would take a decade to recover from.
So, feds fooling with the value of our currency, jacking with fuel supplies, and pressing huge social programs screwed things up…..
Look around, seem familiar?….History has a habit of repeating itself. How long will recovery take this time? Will it even be possible?
Just remember the geriatric relics running our country now were all in government then…..

 

[OKNewshawk]

In the case of Pontiac, I read an interesting article, though can't remember where I saw it now. Pontiac's demise started in 1964 when John DeLorean developed the XP-833 project car. It would have been a direct competitor to the Chevrolet Corvette and upper management at GM was definitely not pleased! Pontiac was relegated to an "ugly stepsister" role and was never allowed to outshine Chevrolet again. That probably explains the Vibe...

 

[TANSTAAFL]

Part of the failures were not understanding their markets. Oldsmobile's last ad: "This is not your father's Oldsmobile." All that does is reinforce the fact that you are buying an old man's car, however instead of borrowing your Dad's you own it and are now driving an old man's car. They understood what people wanted more in the 1960's when they came out with "Look what Doctor Oldsmobile cooked up in his lab," You knew you where getting a well engineered car that was a monster at the dragstrip and on the streets. Of course mismanagement and bad engineering contributed to the demise of these companies, the marketing showed it more clearly.

 

[Bocephus123]

In the case of Pontiac, I read an interesting article, though can't remember where I saw it now. Pontiac's demise started in 1964 when John DeLorean developed the XP-833 project car. It would have been a direct competitor to the Chevrolet Corvette and upper management at GM was definitely not pleased! Pontiac was relegated to an "ugly stepsister" role and was never allowed to outshine Chevrolet again. That probably explains the Vibe...
View attachment 241210

Thats BAD A _ _. looks like the OPAL GT. Sort of.