Do you know what happens when U.
S.
auto manufacturers go through hard times? Foreign competitors start having all kinds of issues - huge, "accelerating" issues, says Mr.
Super Charming.
Recently GM and Chrysler emerged from the bankruptcy and those two need big boost to help to rebuild their battered reputation.
And what do we see today? Number one foreign competitor - Toyota is having a major "acceleration" issue.
Massive recalls, damaged brand name, pending lawsuits and customers' loyalty is going down the drain.
Sudden acceleration accident victims are popping up like mushrooms.
I am just curious where were all those victims two, three or five years ago? Let's go back to the 80's.
Those were the days when Detroit's Big Three was starting to feel foreign competitors creeping into their home turf.
And guess what; unlucky Audi was hit with "sudden acceleration" issue.
The "60 Minutes" segment in the 80's, featuring the late Ed Bradley, showed owners of the Audi 5000 sedan who said their cars had suddenly and unexpectedly surged out of control.
Some of the people were suing the company.
In a subsequent report, the show discussed a 1989 study sponsored by the U.
S.
government that concluded the sudden acceleration in Audis was largely the result of driver mistakes, not mechanical issues.
Audi U.
S.
sales plunged 84% between 1985 and 1991, amid a broad slump in the U.
S.
economy, bottoming out at just 12,000 vehicles annually.
It took Audi 15 years to rebuild its U.
S.
sales to the level the company had achieved before the CBS show "60 Minutes" made sudden acceleration a household phrase in November 1986.
Whether Toyota is fated to retrace Audi's sales collapse isn't clear.
How long will it take Toyota to recover from this storm? Maybe it will be five or ten years, nobody knows.
One thing is clear believes Mr.
Super Charming, that during the recovery time Detroit's battered and bankrupt Small Three will have plenty of time to reclaim its past glory days.
S.
auto manufacturers go through hard times? Foreign competitors start having all kinds of issues - huge, "accelerating" issues, says Mr.
Super Charming.
Recently GM and Chrysler emerged from the bankruptcy and those two need big boost to help to rebuild their battered reputation.
And what do we see today? Number one foreign competitor - Toyota is having a major "acceleration" issue.
Massive recalls, damaged brand name, pending lawsuits and customers' loyalty is going down the drain.
Sudden acceleration accident victims are popping up like mushrooms.
I am just curious where were all those victims two, three or five years ago? Let's go back to the 80's.
Those were the days when Detroit's Big Three was starting to feel foreign competitors creeping into their home turf.
And guess what; unlucky Audi was hit with "sudden acceleration" issue.
The "60 Minutes" segment in the 80's, featuring the late Ed Bradley, showed owners of the Audi 5000 sedan who said their cars had suddenly and unexpectedly surged out of control.
Some of the people were suing the company.
In a subsequent report, the show discussed a 1989 study sponsored by the U.
S.
government that concluded the sudden acceleration in Audis was largely the result of driver mistakes, not mechanical issues.
Audi U.
S.
sales plunged 84% between 1985 and 1991, amid a broad slump in the U.
S.
economy, bottoming out at just 12,000 vehicles annually.
It took Audi 15 years to rebuild its U.
S.
sales to the level the company had achieved before the CBS show "60 Minutes" made sudden acceleration a household phrase in November 1986.
Whether Toyota is fated to retrace Audi's sales collapse isn't clear.
How long will it take Toyota to recover from this storm? Maybe it will be five or ten years, nobody knows.
One thing is clear believes Mr.
Super Charming, that during the recovery time Detroit's battered and bankrupt Small Three will have plenty of time to reclaim its past glory days.
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