Because this system predates the Department of Defense’s launch of the first GPS satellite by 9 years, and the first civilian SatNav devices by 20 years, this proposed GM navigation system relied on antennas buried in the pavement.
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And yet it’s clear now that after 1969 GM spent many years lost in the woods, trying to figure out what happened to their fat market share after the Japanese auto makers simply beat them.
Like manufacturers of many products, GM was busy catering to their usual customers. Those folks didn’t want the small cars from Japan. By the time the Japanese cars got here, they were reasonably mature and far ahead of the Detroit 3 in building small cars. When GM and the others decided to move into the small car market, they had to overcome the good will built up by the Japanese automakers. With the poorly executed first efforts, that wasn’t gonna happen. I am not absolving the Detroit 3 of ignoring the small car market, only explaining how I think it happened.
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Also, wrong-headed behaviors on the part of some of their employees helped to turn customers “off” to ever buying a GM product again. Specifically, I’m referring to the Lordstown assembly plant, where employees purposely sabotaged some of the cars coming down the line.
I’m not sure if this was during the time that the Vega was made there, or if it was one of the subsequent models, but one of the auto mags interviewed some dissatified Lordstown employees, and one of them claimed that he used to sneak old soda cans inside doors or fenders, because as the employee said, “That’ll really drive the owner crazy”. Yeah, crazy enough to avoid ever again buying a GM product.
A couple of big things happened in the world then that GM (and Ford and Chrysler and American Motors) weren’t prepared for. The growing interest in saving the environment combined with the sudden aggressive jump in world petroleum prices really caught the US auto industry by surprise, as did the problems with the workers. The lesson was clear - pay attention.
It feels like it’s happening again with the US makers really giving up on the sedan market completely. Sure, we love our tall, boxy hatchbacks, but plenty of people are still buying sedans.
I submit that the number of people buying new sedans is not sufficient for the manufacturers to make an adequate profit from their sales.
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The biggest problem with GM (and most of corporate america) is quarterly profits. They only look at the next quarter profits. How much money can we make the next quarter.
The execs probably worry the stockholders will oust them immediately if the next quarterly report doesn’t meet expectations.
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Is Lordstown where employees were “assembling” engines which were missing connecting rods and pistons?
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