Word: yugos
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...worst cars in American history, but not necessarily in the world's history? Americans tend to see America as the world. The Yugo was a bad car in America in the 1980s, but we don't realize that there are many, many cars that never dreamed of coming to America. The Russian Ladas and the Czech Skodas of the world. Just the fact that the Yugo came here meant it was far and away better than many other cars in many other countries...
...hype ultimately contribute to the Yugo's downfall? The Yugo was in part a victim of its own success - what goes up must come down. When everyone lined up to buy the car, Consumer Reports reviewed it, and when they panned it, the same press that had created the hype jumped on the bandwagon to say, Look...
...from that negative press sprang numerous bad-car jokes, many of which you feature in your book. Do you have a favorite? I like the one that goes: Why does the Yugo have a rear-window defroster? So you can keep your hands warm while you push it. These aren't jokes I had a hard time collecting. They're everywhere. But with a lot of these jokes, you could simply [substitute] Pinto or Fiat. There's something about cars that we love to goof on. People love driving high-status cars and love goofing on low-status cars...
...there any takeaways from the Yugo story? What do you expect when the Tata Nano hits the U.S. next year? I'm not bashing Tata; I hope a little car like that goes. But the Nano does have many similarities. One is that they are creating premarket press - it's everywhere. They are creating the preconditions for a mania, and I don't think you should do that - it's not a pair of jeans or an album. They're going to create a mania and then invariably, the press will jump on board. The Nano will shoot up briefly...
...look like it's going to be a disaster. It's going to pass its safety and emissions tests, but it's still going to be dangerous if an SUV hits it. It's going to get walloped in a crash test. And invariably, like what happened with the Yugo, someone is going to die in a crash. The Nano will be in some wreck, and it will turn out that quality was the cause. The press will jump on it, and the whole cycle will start again. But as I said, I'd love to be wrong...