Letters

Automotive Industries, Dec, 2001

More Ram Suppliers

Along with the Textron suppliers mentioned in the 2002 Dodge Ram development article (AI Oct. 2001, Cover Story), the Brown Corp. was also co-located at the Advanced Design Center in Auburn Hills, Mich. The Brown Corp. was responsible for the design, analysis and manufacture of the I/P Structural Beam Assembly pictured on page 25 of the article. This product is manufactured in two locations: Waverly, Ohio, and Saltillo, Mexico. Brown Corp. produces more than two million I/P assemblies a year for North American-built vehicles.

Jeff VanDrie

Brown Corp., Madison Heights, Mich.

Keller's Right On

Maryann Keller's October 2001 column, "Deja-vu All Over Again," is right on the dot! She is one of the few voices that could see the situation coming. There are too many (useless) middlemen between manufacturers and the car buyers. And automakers are laying off the wrong people. The U.S. automakers are sleepwalking into a disaster with the light truck strategy.

Mark Kmicikiewicz

CKE Technologies Inc.

Maryann Keller asks how the Big 3 get fat between "purges?" Simple -- until the losses get so high that the suppliers can't be dunned to fill out the OE profit projections, it's a case of "let the good times roll." It's always easy to spend the other guy's money.

Name Withheld

U.S. Needed Wake-Up

I read Lindsay Brooke's editorial about the 9-11 tragedy (see AI Oct. 2001) and feel there are some things to be addressed. My dad told me many times while I was growing up, "Be a good neighbor." We, as a country, are not being good neighbors in this shrinking world we find ourselves living in. It's the U.S. (with sanctions on Iraq, troops in Saudi Arabia, bombing Libya and Sudan) that needs to redeem itself. It's incumbent on us as citizens in a democracy to know what our government is doing in our names. It's also incumbent on those of us who are fortunate enough to have a soapbox at our disposal to do something to rein in this government of ours. We need to be good neighbors.

Tim Gundlach

Via e-mail

Lost Production?

Lindsay Brooke's interview with Gary Cowger (AI Nov. 2001, pg. 11) asks: "Your North American plants lost only about 10,000 units of production in the wake of Sept. 11?"

I believe that Honda didn't lose any production due to the 9-11 attack. I know GM makes more cars in North America than Honda, but still the comparison is impressive. I urge you to investigate what level corporate Honda says this affected their production.

Aaron Meeker

Via e-mail

Editor-in-Chief Lindsay Brooke replies: Honda North America lost one day's production -- roughly 1,500 units of Odyssey minivan and Acura MDX sport-utes -- at its Alliston, Ontario, assembly plants following the attacks. The overall scale, supply chains and assembly plant locations of Honda and GM are quite different. For the giant General, losing "only" 10,000 units was quite an achievement given the circumstances.

We Need Car Passion

Rarely do I disagree with Andrew Cummins, but I do with his October 2001 column. Yes, I love cars. He loves cars. But most folks I know only want something to get them there and back reliable. And I am beginning to understand.

What car out there today excites you like an old Packard, Dusey, or even a '40 Ford coupe. They all look alike and handle similar. Most are downright ugly. Yes, today they are pretty reliable, but I can't be happy spending $20K or $30K and have something that looks ugly in the garage.

Paul Adams

Akron, Ohio

Andrew Cummins speaks very highly of the U.S. Automotive Industry from a macro perspective. Beyond the macro view, either he is being rhetorical or he is spending too much time with the execs and the guys who have shiny pants and carry clipboards. When viewed from a micro perspective, automotive is not a good place to build your future.

Name Withheld

Plant Location Correction

I would like to make you aware of one small mistake in the GM Epsilon piece on page 39 of the August 2001 issue of AI where the manufacturing locations were analyzed. You refer to Antwerp, Belgium, as one of the production facilities for the new Vectra. In reality it will be produced in Ellesmere Port, U.K., and Russelsheim, Germany.

Johan Willems

Director, Product Communications

Thanks for the correction, Johan.

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