Marketing Doesn’t Compensate for Lack of Innovation
A few days ago Ford Motor Co. announced that its employees would be required to drive Fords in order to park in a particular parking lot. Drive a competitor’s car? Park across the street. What a disgusting rule!
Obviously, this is an attempt on Ford’s part to show that their employees endorse what they help build and combat the image that Japan has taken the top spots in America’s car market. There’s nothing wrong with wanting factory workers to practice what they preach; one would hope that their employees are proud and passionate of their work. The problem, however, is that it simply isn’t smart or economical to buy a Ford. When you look at reliability, quality, and cost, there’s a reason that Toyota and Honda are on top.
While President Bush declares a need to lower oil consumption and Andy Rooney criticizes automakers valuing unique model names over the car’s actual quality, the American auto industry has failed to innovate in the past few years and it’s showing in their losses. No marketing ploy’s going to make up for that.