Our Sponsors
U.S. auto industry decline
Quotes
Maryann Keller: GM’s postwar dominance lulled it into a false sense of security
“During the 1960s and 1970s GM was lulled into a false sense of security by its dominance of the market. There was certainly a bottom-line mentality, but this mentality dictated that additional costs be passed […]
Letters to the Editor
Peter Wilding sorts out why people switched to smaller cars
Peter Wilding offered a detailed comment about our our post, “The switch to smaller cars began before the first oil embargo in late-1973.” I don’t agree with everything that he says, but he makes some […]
Quotes
The switch to smaller cars began before the first oil embargo in late-1973
The shift to smaller cars was happening before the first oil embargo, which stretched from October 1973 through March 174 (Wikipedia, 2023). In an October 1972 column, Popular Science Automotive Editor Jan P. Norbye walked […]
Media Analysis
Automotive News treats Gerald C. Meyers’ tenure at AMC with kid gloves
Automotive News’ obituary of Gerald C. Meyer treated his tenure at American Motors with kid gloves. Meyers died on June 19 at the age of 94. Presenting a largely upbeat narrative would make sense if […]
Media Analysis
Why does Auto Extremist’s Peter DeLorenzo put himself up on a pedestal?
Automotive pundit Peter DeLorenzo (2023a) likes to needle industry executives such as Ford’s Jim Farley, whom he has dubbed the “I’m a genius just ask me” CEO. Thus, I was struck by how he presented […]
Quotes
Postwar U.S. auto industry was ‘largely complacent’ until forced to change
“The hubris of its executives related to consumer needs, an obsession with big cars, garish designs coming from its studios, the neglect of safety and air pollution matters, and rising prices all played into the […]
Quotes
Hal Sperlich: Detroit made bad small cars to prove buyers wouldn’t like them
“The small cars that Detroit had produced, [Hal Sperlich] believed, had been bad ones, reluctant efforts at best. If anything the companies had brought out inferior, unappealing small cars to prove their own thesis that […]
Quotes
Maryann Keller: General Motors once again punished its media critics
“GM’s old critics were sharpening their knives. In January [1992] David E. Davis, editor and publication director of Automobile magazine, gave a biting speech to the Washington Auto Press Association in which he blasted past […]
Letters to the Editor
Reader opines on why U.S. automakers weren’t competitive with imports
Ole stopped by to respond to the post, “Gordon Buehrig on Ford’s attitude about small cars circa 1960.” It wasn’t until the early-1960s that the entire European auto industry produced more cars than Chevrolet or […]