Ford has really jumped on the "cash-for-clunkers" news. Before Obama's ink was dry, Ford put up a web site (the impossible to type www.letfordrecycleyourride.com) which lets you input you car to check if it is eligible. Then the page shows you a list of Ford vehicles which would qualify for the voucher. Ford puts a happy green spin on the whole thing by offering to "recycle" your old car, which is much nicer than "scrap". It's very slick.
It surprises me that none of the other major car makers did the same thing. I checked the home pages of Toyota, Honda, Nissan, Chrysler, GM, Kia, BMW, VW, Mercedes, and Subaru. None of them had any CARS information.
The only other major automaker which has a CARS information site is Hyundai, here. Hyundai's site is not as slick as Ford's but it does give a list of Hyundai vehicles which are eligible for the government voucher.
5 comments:
Toyota:
http://www.buyatoyota.com/cars.aspx?srchid=K610_p209595109
GM:
http://www.gm.com/cash-for-clunkers/?seo=goo_|_2009_GM_Cash_For_Clunkers_|_Cash_For_Clunkers_|_Program_|_C.A.R.S._Program
I see GM is opting out of the NUMMI venture with Toyota after 25 years. I suppose that makes sense, in that in all those 25 years GM never seemed to learn much if anything from Toyota's manufacturing approach.
But I do remember the introduction of the first NUMMI car badged for GM: the 1985 (or was it 86?) Chevy Nova, which was really a Corolla. I remember all those GM/EDS workers and GM/EDS suppliers who were glad they could finally get a quality car with a GM badge.
I remember the Detroit-area TV ads which talked about the Nova's 'tight fit' and 'attention to detail' -- clearly GM's advertising arm understood clearly the relative appeal of the imports even if their executive staff didn't.
Of course, the California TV ads for the Nova were quite different. They talked extensively about how it was manufactured just like cars from Japan, and ended with the slogan "Nova -- Imported from America".
The NUMMI was GM's real chance, of course. They could have copied everything that Toyota did and at least become competitive. And they had that great opportunity with Saturn -- the new company in which all the rules were written afresh. But some how, some way, GM couldn't make it work.
Definitely needs some Februaries.
I have read this post and found it very interesting.
Ford and Hyundai are smart to jump on this right away since dealers only have until November!
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