...let me throw one at Toyota.
When you think "Toyota," what comes to mind? Well, for me, and I suspect for most people, "Toyota" and "Well-built, very fuel-efficient cars and light trucks" are practically synonymous. Anyone seen a Tundra lately? My gosh! It's the biggest of the huge behemoth trucks that seem to be the trend these days and, if you want one with a little room in the cab, it comes standard with a 350 CID (5.7 Liter) engine that does not do well at the pump (14 city, 18 highway according the the US gov). Uhhh....what happened, Toyota? Did the little, fuel-efficient models that you used to build get boring or something? Maybe the lure of that full-sized American market was too much to avoid! Uhhh...Toyota? Ever here of Daryl Royal? That wise Texas sage who said "You'd better dance with who brung 'ya." Toyota, who "brung 'ya" was little, well-built, fuel-efficient cars and light trucks and frankly, in this day and age of $3/gallon gas, you'd have thought that a little foresight would have convinced y'all not to invest whatever it cost you to tool up a whole new full-sized truck manufacturing capability when there is essentially no market for them!
Maybe that thing about superior japanese business acumen is just what it appears to be; a myth. Seems the allure of the almighty dollar is too much when a company "yens" for someone else's market, regardless of whether it makes good business sense or not!
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