---Don Gibbons <dgibbons@PRESRAY.COM> wrote:
>
> Volkswagen said to be eyeing Lamborghini

Good; maybe they'll put out a minivan with some power. :)

> Somebody said one day there will be just GM, Toyota & VW. Seems to
be going in
> that direction.

What makes it worse is that these are multinational transactions,
exempt from antitrust laws because they involve corporations outside
of U.S. jurisdiction, which is proving itself somewhat ineffective to
begin with, judging from how Bill Gates is still going to come out
smelling like a rose. FEH. Worse, an attempt to give the UN, EEC,
whatever, trustbusting authority will inevitably come up against
considerable resistance.

In short, this is a huge crock of $#!+.

> With such a lack of competition would we still get such niche
> machines like westy syncros?

No; you'll have a few SUV models available, and be expected to like
them. :( Historically, niche products come from markets that have a
lot of competition. For example, take the musical instrument business-
highly competitive, but with a steady market. There are at least 15
major manufacturers of guitar amps, and they all narrow-cast their
products, as this has proven successful. A duplication of a Marshall
plexi or Fender Super Reverb is just that, so instead, a company like
MESA/Boogie opts for putting out something completely different- the
Triple Rectifiers and such. Bogner amps have their own sound, and
independent guys like Buzz Feiten have even more unorthodox offerings.
If there were only Fender, Marshall, and Roland, people like me would
notice the lack of selection and product quality available.

*HERE'S AN UNPOPULAR (for this list) OBSERVATION:*

Look at the Chrysler minivans! Chrysler brought itself from going out
of business to enjoying great (relative) sucess solely on account of
their minivans. They were #3, bankrupt, and sold awful products- until
they found a niche and filled it. Sales of the dreaded Caravan enabled
Chrysler to become a successful business and design and build better
products. Remember, of course, that GM and Ford saw no need to do so
until after Chrysler showed how successful their niche idea could be.
Look at the Dakota pickups, as well. The winner in this scenario was
clearly the consumer.

Look at PCs, too. Microsoft has the monopoly on these and the're
tedious, unreliable pieces of $#!+ that have such awfully planned
obsolescence that it is cause to wonder why Reno didn't take Bill
Gates to court any sooner than she did.

Moral of the story: buy used cars, and keep some bikes handy for when
you would be just as well if you used them. This is going to get worse
before it gets better. FEH.

Sam

P.S. Sorry for the rambling. :(
==
"Punk's not dead (it just sucks right now)"

|                     "I'm not Punk, I'm New-Wave!"

...quit whining...
http://www.geocities.com/SunsetStrip/Backstage/6507

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