tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8743868350721537520.post1747702395576828209..comments2008-12-25T10:59:31.746-05:00elizabethhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11201520687918489101elizabeth@brandimmersion.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8743868350721537520.post-29591635280127577502008-12-20T09:53:00.000-05:002008-12-20T09:53:00.000-05:00Hey, right on, Elizabeth! When you make a list of fhe Detroit car company &#39;s failures, it&#39;s impossible not to take race and history in Detroit into account as well. <BR/><BR/>American cars for the past 40 years have been designed by people living and/or working in isolation -- isolated suburbs of a far Northern city destroyed by racial tension in the 60&#39;s. <BR/><BR/>This sense of isolation extends to their marketing partners whose offices are located in industrial parks far from what little city center still exists. Innovation and an understanding of consumers needs are largely foreign concepts in these settings. <BR/><BR/>Saturn, one of the few &quot;lighthouse&quot; GM brands, withered away when brought back into GM&#39;s suffocating Detroit culture. It&#39;s no accident that the last great cars Detroit produced were the muscle cars of the 60&#39;s &amp; early 70&#39;s (let&#39;s ignore issues of gas mileage here).<BR/><BR/>As an analyst for Barclays Capital points out in today&#39;s Times, the automaker&#39;s 4 issues come down to: Cash, Cost, Cars and Culture. I would argue the last C, Culture, is the hardest to change - and deeply connected to Detroit&#39;s geography and history. <BR/><BR/>White flight destroyed Detroit and contributed to this once great city&#39;s industrial demise.Campfirestevehttp://www.campfirenyc.comnoreply@blogger.com