U.S. Carmakers Hold Back Japanese Innovation

When Japanese compete against Japanese, they pull out all the stops. Their
product lines look more like sci-fi goodies from the future than
off-the-shelf stuff you can buy today. I use photographic equipment as a
prime example. Go to the website:

http://www.steves-digicams.com/default.htm

and you will see what I mean. Literally hundreds of super high tech
cameras and widely differing in approach to a most challenging product
genre.

On the other hand, with cars, its not Japs vs Japs; no, its Japs vs General
Motors. Or, Ford, or Daimler-Chrysler. Makes no difference because to all
the American makers, so long as a car has four wheels and a cup holder, its
design is fully developed and ready for production and the showroom. The
Japanese see no challenge in this arena so they just go along with human
nature and coast along. Sure, they'll improve the fit and finish or stick
in a DVD player or some other token advancement in comfort, but there is no
fundamental development seen in their range of automotive products. They
do give an impression, though, of a superior product and are dominating the
market to GM's demise. Maybe the foreign mystique has something to do with
their very successful commercial appeal.

I predict that after GM collapses, Ford shrivels up, and Daimler-Chrysler
falls into a boutique niche, it will be one-on-one Budda Head. Then all
Hell will let loose, just as what has happened with the Fancy-Dan cameras
will happen to cars and who knows, we might even have Jetson Flying Sedans
in 10 years' time.

 

I've seen dome of their high-tech goodies. The Infiniti has a rear-mounted
camera to let you see any objects from behind. They also offer voice
commands for radio station and inside temperature settings. Nice but you
have to wonder how much it will cost to fix items like this. Yea, I know. If
you can afford the car....

OTOH, Nissan provides a heated steering wheel- Like that in the winter.

I would be very happy with a remote starter.

How come very few car companies offer chrome wheels?

 

Chrome is a lot more expensive than it used to be. For starters to chrome
something you have to use a lot of nasty chemicals that are hazardous waste
to dispose of, the EPA makes that pretty expensive for you.

It's a lot cheaper to polish aluminum then put a clearcoat on it that
will wear off after the warranty period is over with, then let the customer
deal with it.

Ted

 

I'm glad to see the 300C gets them. I also noticed some manufacturers sell
them from their parts department. Unfortunately, they're more expensive than
if they were ordered as an option.

Thanks for the explanation.

Ken

 

You're BLIND AS A BAT, but much more dumb.

 

Agreed. Dog lick engineering "done 'cos they can" is a dumb idea. Give me a
RWD (preferably diesel and/or hybrid) powertrain, good 4-wheel disc brakes,
manual heat and A/C, seat heaters, and maybe power windows, and I'm fine.
More features = more to break down the line.

In fact, my current car is like that, except for the hybrid/diesel powertrain
(Volvo 240) and is pretty much indestructable.

Remote starter? It's inefficient to leave your car idling to heat up the
heater. Heated seats heat up in about 1 min. If it's really cold, get a
block heater and "plug it it".