I would have to disagree with the statement that it was an appeal to women that gave Toyota and Honda the lead. I think it was more of a quality of product issue. If targeting women was the solution, then why isn’t Saturn the leader in automotive sales. Saturn originally was targeted toward the female car buyer, but quality issues have consistently plagued the brand.

Everyone has their own theories about why the Japanese have become so dominant. Maybe it’s true that women pay more attention to the tangibles such as interior quality and fuel efficiency than males, which traditionally care about the 0-60, etc. But overall, I think it’s been their ongoing attention to detail that have made Toyota and Honda dominant. Their “Be the Best” mentality vs. Detroit’s “Good enough” mentality.

No carmaker(s) has a lock on the market. A few years ago, Hyundai was a joke. Now their cars are very competitive with equivalent Japanese models for thousands less. Even Kia, the former bottom-feeder, has established themselves as the minivan safety leader with the Sedona. I don’t expect for “Toyonda” to just hand over their crown without a fight, but they no longer have a lock on the market like they once thought.

“Women do consider the environment such as pollution.”
“Women tend to be more interested in a car’s interior.”
“Women don’t care about how many seconds it takes to reach 60 mph.”
“Women care about vehicle safety; specifically, what happens when her car’s hit, not if she can avoid it.”

What’s to say that men don’t care about the exact same thing? These could be nationw-wide trends, set by advertising, legislation, expectations, and personal experience, regardless of gender. Maybe it has to do with reaching governmental standards, staying competitive in the market force, and avoiding lawsuits, all of which are ISSUES, but not necessarily GENDER ISSUES. Women may be behind these ISSUES, so perhaps there is some truth; what I’m saying is that perhaps there is MORE to the story.

Adding to the above, one reason I do not buy local brands is their terrible depreciation, 1/2 price in one year. When you pay 20 or 30 grand, you do not want to have it reduced in half in 12 months. This is probably the effect of renting car business owned by the same car companies (Local that is).

“Honda and Toyota built their cars to women’s taste and destroyed the domestic car industry.”

Oh, come on. The suggestion is insulting. There are plenty of impulse buyers and “homework doers” of both sexes. As for the domestic car industry, it destroyed itself, and many US consumers enabled this self-destruction by settling for second-rate. Until we take ownership of our failure (not terribly popular in our society), this will continue. Edward S. hit the nail on the head about our “good enough” attitude, which is killing us, and not just in this industry.

I’m a single guy who owns a Honda Accord Coupe. Cars, like clothing, make an impression on the opposite sex. I came to the conclusion that it is socially uacceptable for a college educated person to show up on a date driving a domestic brand car. General refinement, especially the look and feel of the interior, make an impression on anyone who rides in the car. If I was willing to pay more and tolerate higher repair costs, Audi makes the best interiors, but Honda makes a good first impression at a reasonable price.

I find this all nonsense. Firstly, I’m a college student who drives a beautiful, elegant Cadillac Deville Sixty’s Special 1993 and the women love it. Don’t give me this B.S. that it is socially uncool to drive US cars…. If you think that driving a German or Jap car is going to get you women, you’ve got some serious issues pal. Your materialistic views in life will get you nowhere… today’s cars are all gay looking, pieces of recycled plastic shit. Women in general have no passion or taste for cars, so I don’t think they have a clue about the US autoindustry prior to 1980. Rather than support your industry, you allow foreign countries to rake in the dough, and that to me is socilly irresponsible. I owned a 1993 BMW 3 series that was nothing but a piece of shit. Acura RL, no power or refinement either. At least my 1980 Caddy Eldorado had class, chrome, and style that no German or Jap car can compare to. If I want a luxury car later on, I’ll buy Italian thank you very much. Just look at F1; Honda sucks, Toyota is pulling out, not to mention that they recalled almost a miilion cars worldwide for problems causing severe accidents. Also, Toyota and Honda are starting to use cheap plastic parts on their cars which will break down after 25k. So don’t give me this f’ing bullshit that US made cars suck. Sure, US cars from the late 80’s uptill 2000 were not the greatest, but they are sure making better product now than the Japs are… if you’ve never driven a domestic car, maybe you should try one out before making harsh criticism. And as stated above, all cars lose 30% of their value after purchase, whereas, a 1975 Impala can be sold on the market for 30 000g’s thank you very much…. And if high class woman doesn’t like my car than she could go kiss my u know what because she is nothing more than a cunt, hore, inferior hairy lloking beast.

Johnny you are dumb!!! Imports rule and that is that! I know you know it’s the truth and it just hurts you. Just look at all the auto magazines and you’ll see that that the people in these magazines who drive and test cars for a living generally rate import cars higher than the domestics. Imports outclass the domestics in every aspects of the game. These auto magazines always get ignorant people like you writing letters to their editors complaining how the testers always seem to rate the imports higher than the domestics in their comparison tests. Do some reading in these auto magazines for a few months and you’ll find yourself writing a letter to them just like the rest of these domestic car loving ignorants. Chevy Sucks! Cadillacs are the worst luxury cars ever! Even in the 70’s and 80’s because there were no real japanese luxury imports to compare them to. Not only are imports better in quality but also in their design. Domestics always seem to put out some of the ugliest cars year after year. The imports, especially the japanese, still look fresh even after 10 years. And Johnny, learn to spell and don’t the insult the women you idiot! And people who give harsh criticism about domestics are the same ones that used to drive them you monkey!

You know guys, there is really nothing to argue about here. Each and everyone one of us have his/her own taste and most of the time, if not always, when we buy a certain product or service, it usually correspond to our distinct personality. Enough of the ego tripping here.

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