# Why do US carmakers still only make cars? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [December 14, 2002, 12:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-us-carmakers-still-only-make-cars/142642 "2002-12-14T00:09:48Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Zappo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b3f665/32.png) [@Zappo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zappo)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2002, 2:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-us-carmakers-still-only-make-cars/142642/21 "2002-12-17T02:11:17Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Balthisar \* > \*\*Hehehe… we _still_ proudly display pictures of the Reniassance Center at work. It’s great to showcase the competition’s world HQ. \*\* Wow. . .you work for Ford Land? They ain’t hirin’ lawyers by any chance, are they? 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Enola\_Straight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/dec6dc/32.png) [@Enola\_Straight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enola_Straight)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2004, 1:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-us-carmakers-still-only-make-cars/142642/22 "2004-08-19T01:49:07Z")
My church recently replaced its central air conditioning system. An AirTemp, made by Chrysler. ---
**Author:** ![eno801](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/c2a13f/32.png) [@eno801](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eno801)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2004, 3:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-us-carmakers-still-only-make-cars/142642/23 "2004-08-19T03:56:04Z")
> [@](#): > > Now I feel just old. Does anyone else remember being curious that that motorcycle company was going to build cars? (Or laughing that their first car was smaller than their largest bike?) slight hijack i once had a chance to buy a pretty decent S600 honda for only$500.00. I was in college and that seemed like a big hunk of change better spent towards booze. damn, the regrets i have i can count on one hand and this is one of them. ---
**Author:** ![Sam\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Sam\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sam_Stone)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2004, 4:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-us-carmakers-still-only-make-cars/142642/24 "2004-08-19T04:31:23Z")
General Motors owns EDS Datasystems, and they owned DirectTV before selling it a couple of years ago. GM also makes diesel locomotives. General Motors has also built fight aircraft (The WWII Wildcat among others). The ‘coyote’ light armored vehicle that Canada loves and the U.S. just bought (as the ‘Stryker’) is built by General Motors Diesel Division. ---
**Author:** ![Ilsa\_Lund](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/a6a055/32.png) [@Ilsa\_Lund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ilsa_Lund)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2004, 4:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-us-carmakers-still-only-make-cars/142642/25 "2004-08-19T04:43:59Z")
Well, Ford makes chewing gum and supermodels. ::d&r::: ---
**Author:** ![Sam\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Sam\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sam_Stone)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2004, 5:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-us-carmakers-still-only-make-cars/142642/26 "2004-08-19T05:23:35Z")
Man, I’d love to visit the supermodel factory. ---
**Author:** ![Sleel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/73ab20/32.png) [@Sleel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sleel)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2004, 6:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-us-carmakers-still-only-make-cars/142642/27 "2004-08-19T06:46:16Z")
> [@voltaire](#): > > ASIMO: (I believe the robot’s name is a tribute to Isaac Asimov) [slight diversion] The name stands for “Advanced Step in Innovative MObility.” In Japanese the five vowel sounds can stand on their own, but consonants are almost always paired with a vowel, thus: A-SI-MO. It’s possible that they chose a phrase that could be made into this particular acronym as a tribute, but there’s nothing to indicate that. [/slight diversion] ---
**Author:** ![scr4](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/59ef9b/32.png) [@scr4](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scr4)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2004, 7:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-us-carmakers-still-only-make-cars/142642/28 "2004-08-19T07:13:31Z")
I think _ASIMO_ is a pun on _ashi_ (“leg”). The Asimov connection never occurred to me, and isn’t mentioned in their FAQ. (Although I did learn from the FAQ that you can rent an ASIMO for $200,000 a year.) Anyway, I read somewhere that GM was the biggest seller of pornography in the US. I guess that was a reference to DirecTV, but does anyone know if it was true? ---
**Author:** ![Capt\_B.Phart](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9fc29f/32.png) [@Capt\_B.Phart](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Capt_B.Phart)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2004, 1:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-us-carmakers-still-only-make-cars/142642/29 "2004-08-19T13:59:30Z")
> [@techchick68](#): > > People willing to buy a Land Rover might not be as willing to buy a Lincoln not knowing the Ford connection. Years ago, Chevy was the main engine supplier for Jaguar and they both got a bad name, now Jaguar is selling and doing well in upper financial circles. Chrysler did the best thing it could have done by allowing Mercedes become a part of their company. Jeep has really rebounded on the Mercedes connection. GM has done well with offering a lot of services to compliment each other. > > … > > It’s in the minds of a lot of people that marketing has separated brands to keep them coming all the while, many don’t know the alliances they have with one another. Toyota invented the Lexus brand 'cos people wouldn’t have bought the idea of a luxury Toyota - given it’s success I’m surpised other Asian car makers haven’t followed suit in having niche brands ---
**Author:** ![Who\_me\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/958977/32.png) [@Who\_me\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Who_me_1)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2004, 2:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-us-carmakers-still-only-make-cars/142642/30 "2004-08-19T14:29:55Z")
> [@Capt B. Phart](#): > > Toyota invented the Lexus brand 'cos people wouldn’t have bought the idea of a luxury Toyota - given it’s success I’m surpised other Asian car makers haven’t followed suit in having niche brands ??? What do you think Acura and Infinity are… luxurious Hondas and Nissans… ---
**Author:** ![JRDelirious](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jrdelirious/32/9531_2.png) [@JRDelirious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JRDelirious)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2004, 4:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-us-carmakers-still-only-make-cars/142642/31 "2004-08-19T16:30:50Z")
> [@Urban Ranger](#): > > Daewoo was not a car company. More precisely, it did not start as a car company and making cars was only part of its business. And the Daewoo _auto_ concern is now owned by GM. Similarly, SAAB was/is an aircraft maker first (I’ve flown in their planes multiple times) and in the 90s sold their car business (to GM, too!). Besides the US companies wanting to stick to what they do best, they do also want to avoid diluting their brand – so they do not give everything up, down, and across the corporate family tree the same brand name. ---
**Author:** ![suranyi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e36b37/32.png) [@suranyi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/suranyi)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2004, 7:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-us-carmakers-still-only-make-cars/142642/32 "2004-08-19T19:42:22Z")
> [@SmackFu](#): > > Most other big companies in this situation expand into other markets and diversify, because it’s the only way to get more money. Well, for whatever it’s worth, the famous mutual fund manager Peter Lynch has said in his books that when a company gets involved in businesses unrelated to its core, it usually does badly. He calls it “de-worse-ification.” Ed ---
**Author:** ![Balthisar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/balthisar/32/2825_2.png) [@Balthisar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Balthisar)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2004, 7:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-us-carmakers-still-only-make-cars/142642/33 "2004-08-19T19:44:25Z")
Dang, I was reading this thread like it was _new_ until I saw I replied to it almost two years ago! ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2004, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-us-carmakers-still-only-make-cars/142642/34 "2004-08-19T19:56:46Z")
I was around in the 1980s when Ford started divesting themselves of non-automotive businesses. At that time the company was manufacturing steel, glass, tractors and had several other businesses beyond automobiles and trucks. They had several reasons, but they were all pretty easy to understand. 1. Some businesses, like tractors and construction equipment were very capital-intensive and the investment necessary to stay modern wouldn’t be worth it unless the company was #1 in its market. In tractors, for example, Ford had been a second-tier competitor for decades. 2. Some of the businesses, like steel manufacturing, were too expensive to remain profitable, particularly in the wake of global competition. The old business model of controlling costs and quality by owning every step of the process didn’t work anymore. It was much easier to tell a supplier what you needed, and let them figure out how to deliver it. 3. Home electronics (Philco, which by then was only active in South America) required different marketing strategies than went beyond taking a car stereo, putting it in a case, and putting it in stores. Ditto with the glass business, which required reaching the construction market, as well as just windshields. 4. Each of the industries required top-notch management, design/engineering, quality control, etc. hat’s an awful lot of gold stars to expect one company (even a big one) to earn consistently. ---
**Author:** ![yabob](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yabob/32/2821_2.png) [@yabob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yabob)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2004, 8:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-us-carmakers-still-only-make-cars/142642/35 "2004-08-19T20:34:39Z")
> [@JRDelirious](#): > > … > Similarly, SAAB was/is an aircraft maker first (I’ve flown in their planes multiple times) and in the 90s sold their car business (to GM, too!). … I bought an '87 Saab. It was their 50th anniversary, and they sent me a coffee table book on the corporate history, which had a few interesting details in it. They decided to make small cars after WWII because they figured the military aircraft business was going to be horribly depressed for a while, and they had better do something else with their plant capacity in Trollhatten[sup]1[/sup]. They also made computers at one point, eventually selling their “Datasaab” division to Sperry-Univac in 1975: [http://www.ctrl-c.liu.se/misc/datasaab/om-eng.html](http://www.ctrl-c.liu.se/misc/datasaab/om-eng.html) They still do make avionics / space / weapons system stuff, but not general purpose computing hardware. [sup]1[/sup] - one of the more charming anecdotes was that they painted all of their first year’s production green because they got a good deal on green paint from the Swedish Army. It was supposed camouflage paint, only the army found that everything they painted with it stuck out worse than before. So they unloaded it to Saab, cheap. ---
**Author:** ![Capt\_B.Phart](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9fc29f/32.png) [@Capt\_B.Phart](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Capt_B.Phart)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2004, 8:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-us-carmakers-still-only-make-cars/142642/36 "2004-08-19T20:49:51Z")
> [@Who\_me?](#): > > ??? > What do you think Acura and Infinity are… luxurious Hondas and Nissans… Oops! - Actually I had vaguely heard of Infinity (prob in a US film) but neither are imported in the UK (- I think - though it wouldn’t surprise me to be told I’m wrong about that too!) ---
**Author:** ![Pushkin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ee59a6/32.png) [@Pushkin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pushkin)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2004, 9:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-us-carmakers-still-only-make-cars/142642/37 "2004-08-19T21:55:16Z")
> [@Capt B. Phart](#): > > Oops! - Actually I had vaguely heard of Infinity (prob in a US film) but neither are imported in the UK (- I think - though it wouldn’t surprise me to be told I’m wrong about that too!) Nah, I think the high end Honda’s were still Honda Legends last time I checked. ---
**Author:** ![Pushkin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ee59a6/32.png) [@Pushkin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pushkin)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2004, 10:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-us-carmakers-still-only-make-cars/142642/38 "2004-08-19T22:00:05Z")
Now I think about it the only place I heard about the high spec Honda’s was on Gran Turismo, so maybe they’re the Interga’s and Prelude’s we see over here. ---
**Author:** ![stockton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5a626/32.png) [@stockton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stockton)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2004, 3:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-us-carmakers-still-only-make-cars/142642/39 "2004-08-20T03:04:25Z")
> [@Pushkin](#): > > Now I think about it the only place I heard about the high spec Honda’s was on Gran Turismo, so maybe they’re the Interga’s and Prelude’s we see over here. Oh, for the love of… Okay, 2-year old thread. Honda = Acura Nissan = Infiniti (notice the spelling) Toyota = Lexus All very nice cars, and some have interchangable (compatible) parts between badges. The antenna mast, for example. For the record, you can insert the word ‘Datsun’ in the Nissan space. ---
**Author:** ![Cardinal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cardinal/32/4000_2.png) [@Cardinal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cardinal)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2004, 5:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-us-carmakers-still-only-make-cars/142642/40 "2004-08-20T05:20:56Z")
Honda cares so little about your knowing the connection to Acura that my 89 Acura Integra had “Honda” right on the valve covers. GMAC is really big in mortgages. Big, I tell you. The auto companies are also involved in making the big rig tractors. I’ve taken liberties with some text from this site: [http://www.thecarconnection.com/index.asp?n=156,192&sid=192&article=1617](http://www.thecarconnection.com/index.asp?n=156,192&sid=192&article=1617) From 1999: "The pre-merger Daimler-Benz owns two big-rig nameplates. The largest is Freightliner, and Freightliner alone accounted for nearly 72,000 sales in the first seven months, nearly 32 percent of the total. The second Daimler-owned nameplate is Sterling, a new one. Daimler bought out Ford’s big-rig business in 1998 and put the Sterling name on what used to be the Ford big rigs. Another foreign-owned company is Mack. Yes, the Mack bulldog is owned by French Renault. And Volvo trucks are Swedish-owned, of course. But Volvo includes the big-rig business that it bought from General Motors. Daimler, through Freightliner and Sterling, is the No. 1 big-rig seller in this country. PACCAR, an American-owned company, headquartered on the West Coast, is No. 2. Its two nameplates are Kenworth and Peterbilt. Navistar, another American company, headquartered in Illinois, is No. 3, though its sales have been slowing recently. " [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-us-carmakers-still-only-make-cars/142642.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-us-carmakers-still-only-make-cars/142642.md?page=3)