Contour Enthusiasts Group Archives Forums General Common Interests WSJ article on BMW and industry at large

clicky

no groundbreaking news or anything, but it's a good solid article that you might find interesting

Pretty one-sided if you ask me, I wonder how much BMW paid him? Things the article doesn't mention:

-BMW's recent decline in quality. The "bengalized" models have been filled with problems.
-Not everyone can afford a BMW. Not even just to ourchase but repairs, maintainence and insurance as well.
-Ford and GM aren't direct competitors with BMW, especially in the US, so why was he comparing them? You want to talk about high labor costs, look at Germany!

I don't trust any columnist that uses the word "skoosh"

Quote from the article: "GM and Ford, which have had less luck pleasing customers during the past 20 years . . ."

I think this is the real problem for GM and Ford. They haven't built a sedan that looks good and handles well and doesn't cost too much, since the Contour/Mystique.

the way i see it is thus...gm and ford are for the most part truck companies who also build a pretty ok cars in a world where being a monolith requires one build both excellent trucks and cars.