Word: autos
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Dates: during 1980-1989
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...workers assemble the last of the Dodge Omni and Plymouth Horizon models, the situation had ominous parallels to the calamitous early 1980s. Only six years after its fabled turnaround, here was Chrysler embattled again, posting losses on its North American operations for the first time since 1982. Amid persistent auto-industry speculation that Chrysler might be forced to merge with a foreign partner, here was Chairman Lee Iacocca declaring that for the company to survive, it must cut at least $1 billion, or $500 a car, from its overhead. To help meet that goal, the company will...
...alarm spread through Chrysler, executives at other automakers -- American, Japanese and European -- were coming to the same conclusion: the next 15 months will bring a bloody battle for sales in a slumping U.S. auto market. With 30 car companies and an unprecedented 600 models on the scene, and with ten Japanese "transplant" factories in North America expected to help create an excess carmaking capacity of 2.7 million autos by 1991, the marketplace is certain to be littered with casualties. A leading indicator of the struggle was the dismal performance of Detroit's Big Three during the July-September quarter...
Lately the Big Three have been sideswiped from two directions. As the ! transplants tool up for greater output, total U.S. auto sales are declining, in part because of a slowing economy. Sales of imported and domestic autos in the U.S. fell 3.8% during the first nine months of this year, to 7.8 million cars. This year the Big Three kept sales artificially stimulated by such incentives as interest-free financing and rebates of as much...
...Northwesterners are so charitable. Many have refined the art of California bashing, good humored and otherwise. One auto dealer makes it a point to steer his auto-financing business to local rather than California lenders. The Puget Sound National Bank boasts in TV commercials of being the last locally owned bank in the state. TV anchors play to the crowd by deriding Californians for building show-off "French chateaus." And radio station KEZX has been airing a new local folk song, Don't Come to Seattle...
...leading automotive analyst, buyers of this year's Japanese imports reported only 119 problems per 100 cars during the first 90 days, while owners of new American cars reported 163 glitches. Even so, the quality competition has drastically boosted value for the car buyer: before 1960 the typical U.S. auto warranty was just three months or 4,000 miles. Today Chevrolet offers basic coverage of three years or 50,000 miles and Chrysler covers selected models for five years or 50,000 miles...