----- Original Message -----
One last comment, about that FANTASTIC Japanese Business Model, about
how to take over the world's biggest target-market (which had an
innocent lassez Faire open-door market, to the rest of the world (kinda
like Pearl Harbor, in 1941) , was their ASTUTE preparation for the 1973
Gas Embargo-
Crisis, which saw the comparative price of gas rise to about
$3.00/gallon, with most of the U.S. driving the equilivent of "our"
cars, on a daily basis!
The "fact" that Japan & Europe already HAD narrow roads, over-crowded
cities, & expensive gas had 'nothing' to do, with their TREMENDOUS
initiative in feeding their tiny, gas-efficient cars to a huge country,
that all-of-a-sudden realized that an EXTERNAL entity (OPEC) could
control the economy of The World's Most Powerful Country.
And, the U.S. cars were NOT the "best-Built" cars, in the world, then,
BECAUSE THEY DIDN'T HAVE TO BE; that had nothing to do with that
INCREDIBLE Japanese Business
Model, which merely took advantage of
the world's biggest consumer market, standing there, in befuddlement,
when confronted with the first consumer-product shortage, since WWII .
YEAH, MAN: that's a REAL business model to study!
How to take advantage of an opportunity that falls into your lap!
Neil Vedder
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Hard to put it better in historical perspective.
The *jones* here is how to reverse an economic trend that seems
hopelessly lost.
Americans are collectively a lazy lot with an attention span and memory
of a two year old. This comment probably does not apply to most of the
types who are "driven" to fight the good fight and restore old cars and
other historical undertakings. I am referring to Joe Average. Drive
through any subdivision and you will see the masses. They are the primary
target of consumerism and advertising. They are the easily lead, the
followers of convenience. Perhaps a little less principalled than some ?
And by "principalled", I mean driven to do things out of principal
rather than ease or convenience.
You read about Wal-Mart destroying small business, jobs lost, ....
But the masses LOVE cheap, they love flash, and they love "instant".
Peruse any checkout aisle magazine rack and ponder "who buys this stuff
????" More pointedly, who are these people on the covers, why are we
supposed to care, and who would pay retail money to own a copy?
Reality check, ..... just like Wal-Mart, those mags turn millions upon
millions of copies and bazillions of dollars every year to (choke-gasp) US !
(Americans). Now, I hate to think of myself as having anything in common
with the person who willingly shells hard earned dollars to find out where
Paris Hilton was seen last week or any other *important* stuff like that,
but as Americans, we are stuck with each other.
Since guys like me (and probably "us" as a collective group) typically
fall outside or around the fringes of the "typical" American consumer, we
must think outside our own paradigm to tap into the mainstream consumer
spending flow that put Wal-Mart on the map and buys all that trendy crap
that is tomorrow's landfill. That is where the big money is.
If this "average American consumer" has been told by ceaseless media
blitzing over decades that American cars suck and Japsh-t is bulletproof -
and since we KNOW Americans have a zero-level attention span - what does an
outfit like Chrysler or all the "Big Three" do to stem this tide and get the
masses back on board ?
I can speak for myself, but I know that I am not one of the typical
mass. I am eccentric. I am a non-conformist. Basing a business model to
sell to a guy like me would spell disaster. I like fins, always have (even
when they were GROSSLY outof style). I do not mind the inconveniences of
being a square peg in a round hole world, in fact, I take pride in it! But
I'm also smart enough to know I am in a vast minority in the greater scheme
of things.
How will America sell itself back into prosperity and economic strength
? I am the LAST person to ask ! I'd suggest steam locomotives and two lane
highways are the answer.
One thing is for sure, if the Big Three do not figure out how to take
advantage of a situation going on right on their front porch, our
lassez-faire economic policies will let every other outside competitor do
everything they can to walk away with the big prize - the American consumer
dollar. And since the "average American consumer" is more interested in
what Paris Hilton does than domestic economic science, .... well, this is
like preaching to the choir.
Nuff said !
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