Posts by: Eddie Mejia

Automotive Market Flooded in Marketing

With most cars looking just about the same circa 1980, and all automakers looking for corners to acceptably cut for profit. Engineers were relegated to manufacturing monotony; whichever badge has the most allure wins. The aforementioned appeal comes from two things; historical pedigree, effective marketing, or both. In the 1980s businessmen were the new rock stars (and engineers). The corporate

Blitz-luxe: Rise of Germanic Luxury

In the 1980s automakers were aiming for volume after the formula for a marvelous mass produced autos was leaked. Unfortunately, the Corolla made it look too easy, while making millions (of cars or monies, which ever is more impressive) in the process. This led to quite a few emulators in the early 1980s. Even Luxury manufactures were trying to following suit. Start by making two clay cubes. Cut

Deviating From Form: Cadillac CTS

For the last decade or so, Cadillac has been aspiring to be something that it is not. Instead of making every rider feel as though luxury begins and ends within the confines of that cabin; they have instead successfully made a daily driver sports sedan. To their credit, it seemed like a prudent move, and they made one of the best in its class: The Cadillac CTS-V. Mercedes-Benz came way out of le

Land Rover Defender: The Death of Huey

The British made Defender, has been essentially unchanged since 1983, though before then it was denoted by its wheelbase (as in: Land Rover 110). In 1990 they were to introduce a new wheelbase Discovery, and feared it would be the source of confusion, so Land Rover added the Defender designation to divert the discovery of anarchy (under the mud is a dirty Discovery). Other than the addition of m

Land Rover Defender: Who is Huey?

The Wilks brothers are responsible for the revival of Rover during the 1930s, the two also oversaw the expansion thereof to include Land Rover. The latter did not exist until 1947, when Maurice Wilks noted that the Willys MB he owned could be vastly improved upon. Thus, the head Engineer of Rover set about creating his own interpretation; the original Land Rover (Defender). At the time of inceptio

Andy Palmer Exaggerated

Aston Martin is a particularly fascinating company, because it is one of very few companies that has been consistently and universally highly regarded, as it staves off bankruptcy. The British Automaker has been opposed to corporate ideals from the very beginning. Their production proclivity has been persistently poor. As opposed to streamlining as all other automakers have done, Aston Martin has

Lapse in Luxury

In the midst of, droves of carbon copied catastrophes selling like napkins after a pie eating contest (circa 1985), most manufacturers were finding ways to cut costs; to up production. In some cases, even high end brands were receiving the surgical scalpel excess-ectomy treatment. Few decided to go in the other direction, creating a lull in land roving luxury (land rover as in car… though the now

Auto Groups: Fixing Ford's Folly

In the go-go 80s the only thing that garnered more prestige than owning one company was owning several. After a while, it was almost a taboo to be in the upper echelons and only own one company. Small business owner? More like a peasant with a loan. Thanks to corporate personhood (not really) even Ford as an entity wanted to become an Auto Group to be hip like all the others. That was a satirical

Auto Group Outlier: Volkswagen

Touching back on the M&A (Mergers and Acquisitions) effect, Volkswagen Auto Group (VW AG) was an outlier immune to their effects due their business model. VW AG was aware that in order to stay buoyant, they needed to balance their resources by building the base out before building up. Basically, Volkswagen embodied a pyramid. VW AG has Hitler to thank for their success. I know that is an awf

Auto Groups: An M&A Effect

The 1980s were particularly unfortunate for automobile drivers, because against them was a dynamic duo of pure evil. It was not just the Crapolla Effect plaguing them; in the late seventies, KKR made M&A (Mergers and Acquisitions) the national pastime. The Detroit three saw this as a perfect time to diversify their portfolio… in only one industry. In the eighties the coolest thing one could do