Sure, but being a businessman, contrary to the opinions of many of our dumber businessmen, gives you no special insight into how a nation’s economy ought to be run (although it does bias some of them toward the ill-informed view that nations can or ought to be run “like a business”, or towards the ideological view that they ought to be run for the benefit of businesses, rather than for that of the citizens - I don’t know whether Lagerfeld is a victim of either of these biases).
Anyway, Lagerfeld’s views are not being broadcast, and discussed here, because he is a businessman, but because he is a celebrity (his sort of business depends on celebrity, at least as much as on ordinary business acumen, for its success). His opinions on the French economy are worth no more than those of some celebrity actor or singer, or you or me for that matter.
Yes, we are all quite impressed by your infantile laughter. Please, proceed.
You’ve been watching too much “Top Gear” and have no fucking idea what you’re talking about.
Yes, sure, insult all Americans. That strengthens your argument, you bet.
I’m almost convinced. Insult us more, please, you’ve almost made your case.
What? You end your screed with a pathetic comparison of lame software against lame software? FEEBLE. PATHETIC.
You must now turn in your Pointless and Ignorant Anti-American Pontification License.
In the defense field, EADS is a huge powerhouse in France and has been on the hunt for a number of acquisitions in the depressed global economy while prices are low. Indeed, I believe they are trying to buy BAE Systems, which is itself a huge defense company.
If you’re looking to just get drunk cheaply, there are American wines that can do that.
If you’re just looking for decent tasting wines, there are also American wines that can do that.
But if you’re looking for wines that taste great when they’re getting you drunk, it’s French wines only (Beaujolais FTW).
Are you implying that French car companies are only competitive in markets where they have an unfair advantage? Then why do they compete well in most of Europe where, presumably, other European companies are on the same footing as French companies?
I also question the assertion that the US automobile market is easy to break into. Why then do foreign car companies only bring in a few models that are guaranteed to sell well in the US? There are entire categories of cars that they don’t bring to the US, like small hybrid cars and super-minis (until very recently). Even for the models they do bring in, they are typically available in fewer configurations (notably fewer engine choices) than in any other country.
I think there’s some truth to that though. The American market seems far more price-conscious than Europe or Asia, and tolerate lower quality products. The difference is most notable in things like household items and office supplies; when I first moved to the US from Japan I was appalled by the quality of pencils and erasers sold in the US.
You realize a large part of “most of Europe” is France? How are the French car companies doing compared to other European companies?
If they could make money bringing in other models/configurations what’s stopping them? If Americans wanted Lancia Ypsillons or 1.3l 80hp Peugeot 208s they’d sell them here.
The US has different/in some ways more stringent emissions standards than many other countries, which does tend to 1) marginally raise the cost of homologating different drivetrains and 2) basically outlaw diesel passenger cars. Both of these apply equally to foreign and domestic companies and are not a barrier to trade, and #1 is largely a moot point because the fierce competition in the US market means the cheapest prices in the world for consumers which tends to limit the # of configurations naturally. You can get more engines and transmissions on a BMW in Germany than in the US, if American consumers were willing to pay much higher German prices for BMWs, I’m sure they’ll find a way to offer those engines too.
Here’s Spain, the UK, Italy and Belgium. You can also poke around on that site to look at other countries. I think it’s pretty clear that while Renault and Peugeot aren’t VW and Mercedes, they are absolutely competitive in other European markets.
Let me paraphrase this for you: the US market is difficult to break into. You seem to think that that phrase implies trade barriers, which it doesn’t necessarily. The US market is hard to break into precisely because it is so competitive.
Although, I would that the safety and emissions standards that deviate from worldwide ones do form a fairly substantial barrier to entry. The localization and certification process makes it very hard to sell small numbers of cars in the US, unless you can charge Ferrari prices. As a result, you can’t “dip your toes” in the US market-- it has to be a huge investment and huge risk. Among the major imports we have now, only Hyundai has managed to break in since the EPA and DOT standards really started getting onerous in the late-70’s and early 80’s.
The failure of French makes failure to break into the US market has far more to do with business decisions than with the quality of their product. Not even necessarily bad business decisions-- making the investment required to have a chance of breaking into the US market is a potentially company-destroying risk. I would argue the only way Hyundai managed it was because they are huge diversified firm that could afford to absorb the loss had they failed, whereas a run-of-the-mill car company cannot.
Very well put. You have to be big (in terms of a minimum level of sales) to succeed in North America. The thing that doomed the French (and it should be noted that Renault, Peugeot, and Citroen) was an inadequate parts supply network. If your car breaks down, and you need a water pump, yo need it right away. If its on back order from Paris, and won’t get here for two weeks, you have a big problem. Stocking parts warehouses across the USA is a very expensive proposition-one that the French car firms were unwilling to make.
The same is true in Brazil-Citroen, Peugeot, Renault sell in the major cities, but outside Rio, Sao Paulo, and a few other major cities, there are next to no dealers.
The situation is entirely different for auto parts. Valeo is a French manufacturer of auto parts-they are very successful (the supply GM and Ford).
I recently worked for a company which has the largest market share for its sector in every country but one: the US. For their sector specifically, they claimed that the main barriers were that the market is “very atomized” (i.e., they can’t just buy one or two companies and decide whether to change their branding or not) and that, while other countries’ certification processes are similar enough that they can reuse or almost-reuse most documents, the American processes would need to be completely individualized (including different blueprints). It bothered them to have that big market which is “not theirs”, but well, 1 out of almost 200 isn’t bad…
As much as I love and sing the praises of Beaujolais, there are plenty of inexpensive American wines that also taste great while packing a big buzz, if that’s what you want. Many Zinfandels will happily exceed 15% ABV—or, about 2% more than Beaujolais, per the wiki, and 3% more IME—while providing a jelly jar’s worth of rich raspberry and blackberry fruit, and still camouflaging the burn. See, e.g., the inexpensive wines from Rosenblum, Cline, Seghesio, Peachy Canyon, just about anybody in Dry Creek, Bogle, Marietta…and so on. If you’re spending >$20 on any of these, you’re doing it wrong. True, you can spend a lot more, and get more quality, but IME, it’s easy to find good Zin under $20. In fact, while perusing my local liquor store’s inventory, I found an outstanding one for just over $19, which is about the price around here for name Beaujolais villages (Brouilly, etc…) these days.