Detroit's Uphill Battle

• Share

(4 of 10)

Mondays and Fridays were frequently defective because high absenteeism meant the job was done by less experienced fill-ins. Workers at GM's notorious Lordstown, Ohio, plant rebelled at attempts to streamline production in the early '70s and brought the factory to a halt.

The United Auto Workers union did little to stem the erosion of productivity. In an attempt to win ever higher wages no matter what the product, the U.A.W. went along with the automakers' insistence on quantity over quality. It failed to push for better working conditions or lower absenteeism, which would have reduced assembly line foulups. Wrote New York Times Labor Reporter William Serrin in his book The Company and the Union: "The union is aware of the problems of absenteeism and tardiness and shoddy workmanship, but whatever it does in this area must be done with great tact, if anything is done at all."

In the end, however, the auto industry's problems rest with Detroit's managers, who failed to plan for a new-car market after the 1974 oil embargo. Wealthy GM went ahead with a plan to scale down gradually its fleet of big cars and to introduce small, fuel-efficient models. But its executives publicly declared that Americans would always demand full-size cars. Despite pleas from then Ford President Lee A. Iacocca, Chairman Henry Ford II refused to give up the big profits in building big cars. As a consequence, Ford today has the fewest small economical models. Meanwhile, in order to boost quarterly sales figures, Chrysler during the '70s pushed questionable products onto the market on a near panic basis. One result: the 1974 Dodge Aspen and Plymouth Volare have the dubious distinction of being two of the most recalled cars in history. Operating on the industry's fringe, American Motors Corp.'s small cars failed to win wide buyer approval. Its profits came largely from the popular, though fuel-thirsty, four-wheel-drive Jeep.

All the while, automen fought a rearguard action against Washington's attempts to make cars cleaner and more fuel thrifty. For at least ten years Detroit opposed the Clean Air Act, which reduced auto pollution. It also struggled long and hard against the 1975 Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) standards that required American automakers to have a fleet fuel efficiency of 18 m.p.g. in 1978 and 27.5 m.p.g. in 1985. As a result, after Iranian oil was cut off in December 1978 and American consumers began demanding smaller cars, Detroit had little to offer.

Now, 20 months later, the Big Three have ready to roll what they hope are some of their answers to the imports. The cars are functional with clean lines; but they are unlikely to reignite the American love affair with the auto. The new 1981 models that will soon be seen on American highways include:

>The K-car. This fall Chrysler will be selling two new models, which have been code-named the K-cars: the Dodge Aries and the Plymouth Reliant. These are front-wheel-drive compacts aimed at the same market as GM's X-cars, like the Chevrolet Citation, which were introduced 16 months ago. The dimensions and performance of the K-cars are nearly identical to the GM products. Designed to carry five or six passengers in relative comfort, the K-cars are Government-rated to get 25 m.p.g. in city driving and 41 m.p.g. on the highway. The base sticker price: $6,192, or $44