Word: loreans
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Dates: during 1980-1989
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Callers to the plush Manhattan offices of De Lorean Motor Co. last week got only a computerized voice: "At the customer's request, 889-8900 has been temporarily disconnected...
...whimpering climax to the daring venture that put John Z. De Lorean's name on wheels. De Lorean attempted what no one had managed to pull off since Henry J. Kaiser did it in the 1940s: to start an auto company and compete successfully in a market dominated by Ford, Chrysler and GM. In the end, De Lorean's eight-year effort left U.S. investors, dealers and suppliers-and particularly the British government-poorer and wiser. In the beginning, De Lorean made them all believers. The British government, which was looking for ways to provide jobs for desperately...
Last week, after De Lorean had turned out fewer than 10,000 cars in a little more than 21 months, the Thatcher government ordered the plant shut down. With that, some of the plant's remaining 35 employees had a last fling, taking the wheel of De Lorean's cars, called the DMC-12 (after De Lorean Motor Co.), for a few turns around the premises. Hundreds of other workers in Northern Ireland stood to lose their jobs with companies that supplied the factory, a tragic circumstance for a place that has an unemployment rate of about...
...fact was that many people could not afford such a car, whatever its merits or drawbacks. Originally, De Lorean envisioned his creation as a competitor for his old employer's Chevrolet Corvette. But when the DMC-12 reached dealers' showrooms, it listed for $26,000, almost $11,000 more than De Lorean had projected and about $8,000 more than the Corvette. As sales slumbered, the price was discounted to about...
Demand might have been a little stronger, despite the cost, if the car had not been so long getting to market. In the mid-1970s when the DMC-12 began taking shape in De Lorean's mind, there was nothing quite like it on the road. But by 1981 Mazda, Porsche and Datsun had competitive cars on the market, and the DMC-12 found itself in a rigorous grille-to-grille battle. De Lorean's sense that he could not fail compounded the problems. His own market research showed that perhaps 12,000 DMC-12s, at most, could...