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What's Detroit's Biggest Problem?

Poll question inspired and modified from > http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/15702310/

Deliberately omitted "All of the Above" to get an opinion of the biggest problem.

I went with the easy answer of meeting the standards of Asian vehicles.

But what is the root problem? One of the other answers could have been better, because what is it that has caused this problem...

Bloated/Bad Management has plagued them for years, but it seems they may be turning that around these days.

That leaves the Union management. Money spent there could be used for R&D to find out what people want (the other answer). But we need manufacturing jobs in the U.S. -- they seem to be disappearing, and the question is whether people are willing to pay a premium to keep the lower-class employed. The general answer is: no at the dealer, and perhaps yes at the voting booth.

If Detroit survives, it will probably take either radical change or continue to pander to whomever is in power -- because many consumers have chosen otherwise.

RH77

All the above.

I was telling yet another person about the Toyota Estima minivan
yesterday, with the usual astounded "they're *not* selling it
in the US?" response. If the "Detroit" abstraction had any shred
of clue left, since Toyota has evidently chosen not to jump through
all the hoops for making the Estima or its successor meet the US
safety/emission standards and market it here, there's a perfect
opportunity for US carmakers to absolutely CLEAN UP. But their
oil buddies wouldn't be particularly happy about it.
.
_H*

I don't think Detroit has one over-riding problem. I think it's a combination of a number of factors.

Start with quality/reliability. Pick up the annual Consumer Reports auto issue and check the used car reliability ratings. You'll see lots of red (few problems) for Toyota & Honda and too many black (more problems) for GM/Ford/Chrysler.

I think there was also some complacency. It seems to me that their collective management thought their sales numbers would be seriously challenged in the US. It's the same kind of complacency that caused my old employer to go from being the name in communications to being bought by one their spinoffs.

I think they also weren't as forward thinking as they could have been. Honda & Toyota were selling hybrids over here before gas even went over 2/gallon. When gas prices started to spike, the HCH, Prius and HAH were well-established as reasonable sized, high-mileage cars. The Insight was available for anyone who didn't need size. The FEH (and the mercury) were relatively new. The TCH was eagerly anticipated because it uses the same system as the Prius.

Just some thoughts from someone who really doesn't follow this stuff all that closely.

Detroit has lots of problems, but the root seems to be management. The UAW is a close second, but management has responsibility because they choose a short strike to inherit long-term costs. This leads to short to medium-term truck/SUV sales while letting market share in everything else go.

Every time they take the easy way out, it puts them in a worse situation.