Lately I have been having a crush on the Dodge Challenger - souped up edition - but I have been completely in love with the Dodge Charger. Thinking that someday I might trade in my trusty (Ford) pickup, I stopped at a lot yesterday to peek in the window and generally admire the orange (my favorite color) Challenger and the red (sexy!) Charger sitting there beckoning me with their steel-encased siren song.
Well, the sticker on the Challenger was $37,000 and the sticker on the Charger was $45,000. For that price I'd buy a low-end BMW.
You see, Detroit has got it wrong. You don't compete with the higher-quality imports that are stealing market share by just selling expensive cars. You compete by competing.
"How do you do that, Mr. Smarty-Pants Oulsham?" you might be saying right now.
Well, it's easy. Make cars people want (in my case the Charger), but pay your dues for making crappy cars for thirty-five years and sell them at a price point that sways the consumer. Then after you retake your market share you'll be able to raise your prices. Hmmmm, remind you of Toyota or Hyundai?
I really could care less if companies that can't compete go out of business, and I certainly don't feel like withdrawing $25 billion from my bank account to keep them alive so they can fail to compete.
But what the hell do I know?
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