Questions for Car Historians...

[watchfemmefatale]

Questions for Car Historians...

Hi everyone, I am a luxury industry researcher/journalist and hoping to get some insights into the commercial history car production, particularly for car manufacturers that have gone bust, or survived difficult periods (and why/how they did so):

a. Were there any periods where car manufacturers became over confident and produced so much in excess, or raised prices, of some of the lines, that they went bust / went through a gully? If so what car brands were they, and when did that happen?

b. Is the a conflict between industrialisation vs design, e.g. to maximize profit, did the majority of manufacturers make cost-efficient but 'ugly' models, and the more beautiful designs were produced by brands who were lost concerned with industralisation and more with artistry?

c. is this how the car industry would be described today:

industrial & cheap & modest specifications

balance between functionality & beauty - the value proposition segment?

incredibly beautiful and technologically advanced, but also incredibly overpriced?



d. what car brands do you believe will go out of business (or acquired for same reason) in the immediate future?



thanks very much for your help in advance!

crystalline

[Mrbizness1]

a. Were there any periods where car manufacturers became over confident and produced so much in excess, or raised prices, of some of the lines, that they went bust / went through a gully? If so what car brands were they, and when did that happen?
I remember one example for this question.
Chrysler Corp in the 80’s got into big financial trouble because of poor quality and badly designed cars. Lee Iacocca in his book described when he was brought in to fix things as CEO he had looked outside at a lot full of unsold new cars. They were being built without customer orders even though dealers lots had plenty of inventory. He saved Chrysler by marketing compact and fuel efficient cars and a convertible. He got government loans and paid them off in advance. He also bought the Jeep brand which I believed saved the company.
Hope this helps