Best Automotive Business Pract essays

Best Automotive Business Pract essays Survival of the Fittest in the Present Automotive Market How Slow and Steady Can Win the Race The automobile manufacturing trade presents an interesting and important microcosm of American business as a whole. The general public opinion is that American manufacturing in general is faltering-that decreases in worker productivity and product quality, stiff competition from foreign concerns, increasing domestic labor costs, a diminishing loyalty among consumers for U.S. made products, and other factors are causing a subtle shift in our entire economy. Americans just dont build the best products, or so says the current school of thought, and the future of the U.S. economy lies not in manufacturing, but service sectors. To the casual observer, nowhere is this opinion more valid than in the American automotive industry. It is common knowledge that domestic carmakers are struggling, and have been for decades. Buick Motor Division, and the General Motors conglomerate of which it is a part, once enjoyed unparalleled prestige and rosy prospects for the future. Then, competition and other outside forces reshaped the landscape of the U.S. auto market. Buick and other domestic car companies foundered for over three decades. A few American companies went out of business altogether during this tumultuous time, including Studebaker, American Motors and Eagle. Even more recently, the Oldsmobile and Plymouth divisions of General Motors and Chrysler, respectively, were dismantled by corporate edicts within months of their centennial celebrations. Many industry pundits now predict that General Motors Buick division will be next. However, Buick is implementing business strategies that could not only save the division, but enable it to thrive in the coming years. Presently, the centenarian company has a unique opportunity to grow in a stagnant segment, by continuing its tradition of quiet innovation, m aintaining ties with its core custome...