OK, here’s the plan. As soon as the song playing in my headphones is over (Treble Charger, if you were wondering) I will take them off and look at Sportscenter, because I don’t have anything in particular to write about today, so I’m going to consult ESPN, as they CLEARLY know what the public wants. Whatever they have on the screen, I will try to spit out at least three quality, insightful paragraphs on the subject. Aaaaannnnd….It’s a Volkswagon commercial.
I suppose I could write about cars for a little bit. Or Germany. Or commercials. I’m going to go with an assimilation of each of those three, somehow, I think.Let’s talk about German cars! There are three major lines that I can think of, and they fit into neat little categories. Volkswagon – affordable sedan, Mercedes – luxury sedan, Porsche – sports car.
All three of these cars have something in common. They’re all totally unnecessary. Back in the 80s, Americans everywhere worried that the Japanese were going to start producing products more efficiently, both in terms of expense and time. Then two things happened for American auto makers. First, there was a wave of patriotism and pride in the purchase of American made cars, and secondly, the U.S. manufacturers sought ways to emulate Japanese methods, and as a result, the American automotive industry adapted.
So then what did the Germans do? Well, they couldn’t rely on their status as being American, obviously, so they were left to adapt, but then, they didn’t. They went the other way. They advertised their meticulousness. They talked about how long it took to manufacture their cars. So the supply went down and the price went up. What the hell? How is that a good business plan? Now only rich people want a German car.
If you are fiscally responsible and want to buy a foreign car, why can you replace that “affordable sedan”, the Volkswagon, with a Honda? Why not get a Lexus (made by Toyota!) instead of the Mercedes? Get a Mazda Miata or a Mitsubishi Spider instead of the Porsche? I don’t get the Germans.
And that does it. That was more difficult than I expected it to be. Kind of terrible, but I liked the challenge. And we all found out that I am strongly against German cars. So that was fun. – Ryan
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