Comments on: Cadillac going after the 3 Series http://www.bmwblog.com/2008/09/17/cadillac-going-after-the-3-series/ News And Rumors Covering The Auto Industry Sun, 22 Nov 2009 11:58:36 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.4 hourly 1 By: Brookside http://www.bmwblog.com/2008/09/17/cadillac-going-after-the-3-series/comment-page-1/#comment-57848 Brookside Thu, 18 Sep 2008 12:40:34 +0000 http://www.bmwblog.com/?p=3407#comment-57848 I lived in Germany for almost 10 years...building automobiles is what Germany is and who Germans are. 1 out of every 9 Germans work in the automobile industry. Their educational system shuttles students who aren't going on to academic fields into mechanical and electrical engineering. It's like the old apprentice system that literaly goes all the way from simple shop projects to advanced studies in commercial firms and state agencies. BMW, Porsche, Audi, Mercedes....these are more than brands...they are part of the national identity. It would take a cultural and manufacturing sea-change among the US manufacturers to stop decades of brain-drain, cost-cutting, lowest common denominator thinking from Detroit to even begin to stem the loss of ability to make a great car in America. It's not that it couldn't happen, but on the other hand, it can't be accomplished overnite. The problem is endemic...it's the entire system. And there's a feeling that I run into that the US simply can't build great cars anymore....so there's a perception...a 2nd-tier pschology that's out there. Ask yourself this....if you were a recent post-grad with degrees in engineering.....and you've got some confidence in your abilities and want to work with the best...given the job oppurtunities of the global marketplace, for whom would you want to work.....BMW or Ford? Given that scenario....I'd be taking some German language courses. I lived in Germany for almost 10 years…building automobiles is what Germany is and who Germans are.
1 out of every 9 Germans work in the automobile industry.
Their educational system shuttles students who aren’t going on to academic fields into mechanical and electrical engineering. It’s like the old apprentice system that literaly goes all the way from simple shop projects to advanced studies in commercial firms and state agencies.
BMW, Porsche, Audi, Mercedes….these are more than brands…they are part of the national identity.

It would take a cultural and manufacturing sea-change among the US manufacturers to stop decades of brain-drain, cost-cutting, lowest common denominator thinking from Detroit to even begin to stem the loss of ability to make a great car in America. It’s not that it couldn’t happen, but on the other hand, it can’t be accomplished overnite.
The problem is endemic…it’s the entire system.
And there’s a feeling that I run into that the US simply can’t build great cars anymore….so there’s a perception…a 2nd-tier pschology that’s out there.

Ask yourself this….if you were a recent post-grad with degrees in engineering…..and you’ve got some confidence in your abilities and want to work with the best…given the job oppurtunities of the global marketplace, for whom would you want to work…..BMW or Ford?

Given that scenario….I’d be taking some German language courses.

]]> By: Horatiu B. http://www.bmwblog.com/2008/09/17/cadillac-going-after-the-3-series/comment-page-1/#comment-57806 Horatiu B. Thu, 18 Sep 2008 05:34:55 +0000 http://www.bmwblog.com/?p=3407#comment-57806 @<a href="#comment-57715" rel="nofollow">Brookside</a>: I had this conversation the other day with Josh, on why the American automakers cannot build a car closer to the german engineering. I mean, what does it really take? @Brookside: I had this conversation the other day with Josh, on why the American automakers cannot build a car closer to the german engineering. I mean, what does it really take?

]]> By: adood84 http://www.bmwblog.com/2008/09/17/cadillac-going-after-the-3-series/comment-page-1/#comment-57734 adood84 Wed, 17 Sep 2008 22:46:10 +0000 http://www.bmwblog.com/?p=3407#comment-57734 as brookeside has said , if they want to stand a chance they need to find the answer to "what is a Cadillac" , because if they try to create something that is like a BMW , they will fail because it can never be a BMW. It reminds me of the sentence at the end of the topgear episode where the compare the new M3 and C63 and the RS4, Jermy Clarkson said that the C63 and RS4 where great copies of the M3 but they were still copies and thats why the M3 is still on top ;) as brookeside has said , if they want to stand a chance they need to find the answer to “what is a Cadillac” , because if they try to create something that is like a BMW , they will fail because it can never be a BMW. It reminds me of the sentence at the end of the topgear episode where the compare the new M3 and C63 and the RS4, Jermy Clarkson said that the C63 and RS4 where great copies of the M3 but they were still copies and thats why the M3 is still on top ;)

]]> By: Brookside http://www.bmwblog.com/2008/09/17/cadillac-going-after-the-3-series/comment-page-1/#comment-57715 Brookside Wed, 17 Sep 2008 20:53:16 +0000 http://www.bmwblog.com/?p=3407#comment-57715 Yeah they could have a shot....just like every other manufacturer....and they'd still miss. Instead, if I were Cadillac, I'd find a niche....just as Audi has done with the A4 and Mercedes w. the C-Class....comparible but different because of the nature of what a Cadillac (or whatever the competing brand is). So it's really a matter of identifying the signifiers..."what is a Cadillac" and improving that criteria. I hope they modify the whole "science" design they've espoused for what seems like a decade. It just gets sillier. Yeah they could have a shot….just like every other manufacturer….and they’d still miss.
Instead, if I were Cadillac, I’d find a niche….just as Audi has done with the A4 and Mercedes w. the C-Class….comparible but different because of the nature of what a Cadillac (or whatever the competing brand is).
So it’s really a matter of identifying the signifiers…”what is a Cadillac” and improving that criteria.
I hope they modify the whole “science” design they’ve espoused for what seems like a decade. It just gets sillier.

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