As Toyota and Hummer have learned, growing too fast can be a dangerous thing.
From its origins, success in the auto industry has been about scale. In the early decades of the 20th century, Henry Ford was able to democratize the car and dominate the early auto industry because he built, and then continually improved, an assembly line that could make huge numbers of cars in a short amount of time. Bigger was always better.
But two items from yesterday s dispatch in the ongoing car dramas indicate why that s not always true.
Item No. 1: The Toyota debacle . The mass failings of Toyota s legendary quality-control efforts are now on full display in the hearings that have subjected CEO Akio Toyoda to a ritualized set of apologies and humiliations . In recent years Toyota rode its efficiency and better financial management it didn t have to contend with the burdensome pension and health-care benefits that sandbagged the Big Three to large gains in market share and significant growth. In 2007 Toyota surpassed GM as the largest carmaker in the world.
But something got lost in the process. As Toyoda acknowledged on Wednesday: I fear the pace at which we have grown may have been too quick. I would like to point out here that Toyota s priority has traditionally been: first, safety; second, quality; and third, volume. These priorities became confused. In other words, Toyoda seemed to admit, the company went wrong by moving size i.e., volume to the front of the line.
Item No. 2: After a series of failed efforts to sell it, GM announced that its Hummer brand would be wound down. Hummer had a different problem with bigness than Toyota has. It wasn t that its production volumes were too high. In 2008 only 2,710 Hummers were sold. Rather, the outsize Hummer was simply too big too inefficient, too out of step with the times to succeed in a marketplace in which oil spiked to $150 per barrel and seems to have settled at a plateau above $70 a barrel. As the economy tanked, energy prices rose, and the spirit of the time shifted in favor of conservation, the gas-guzzling Hummer faced a double whammy : consumers had difficulty affording the vehicle s high list price as well as difficulty affording its high operating price.
Size does matter when it comes to auto production. But not always in the way manufacturers think.
47. The example of Henry Ford s assembly line suggests that the success in the auto industry was built on_____________________
48. According to the author, Toyota s fast growth in recent years was attributed to_____________________
49. CEO Akio Toyoda seemed to admit that Toyota betrayed its tradition of putting_____________________at top priority.
50. According to the passage, GM decided to gradually bring its Hummer brand to an end because of_____________________
51. According to the passage, whether purchasing or operating a Hummer, consumers found it hard to_______________________
答案:47. scale 48. its efficiency and better financial management 49. safety 50. a series of failed effort to sell it
51. afford the high prices
上一篇: 早期联合国确立的婚姻年龄
下一篇: 汽车轮子上的国家所面临的生活难题
国内英语资讯:Italian FM hails Chinas move of sending expert team, medical supplies
巴西官员确诊,曾见过特朗普,白宫:总统不用接受检测
上海正大广场开启迪士尼魔幻之旅
国际英语资讯:Apple to close all stores worldwide outside of China for two weeks
单身者如何过一个快乐的情人节
20个习惯让你成为幸福的人
科学家发现非洲以外人类最古老的脚印遗迹
默克尔“希特勒式胡子”照网上疯传
国际英语资讯:Roundup: UK postpones local elections as COVID-19 cases jump to 798
体坛英语资讯:Fourth-division Epinal join PSG to progress into French Cup quarterfinals
美学者发明可视眼镜 能清楚“看见”癌细胞
盖茨:会捡钱 爱刷碗 买飞机
Ipad婴儿座椅引发对婴儿屏幕时间的关注
体坛英语资讯:Federer, Djokovic to meet in Australian Open semifinals
国际英语资讯:Trump declares national emergency to open up federal fund to combat coronavirus
国内英语资讯:Chinese premier stresses normal operation of market, stability of foreign trade
在中国为什么三岁小孩就被送去寄宿学校
受奥朗德与瓦莱丽分手影响 白宫报废300份国宴邀请函
国际英语资讯:Cruise ship passenger in New Zealand tested for COVID-19
中国新年:春节
乌克兰总理辞职 议会废除反示威法
国际英语资讯:Over 750,000 students to stay home in southern California due to coronavirus
邓文迪“给布莱尔爱的手稿”被曝光
科学家:昏暗灯光下人们更易做出正确决定
国际英语资讯:Europe, now epicenter of pandemic, mobilized to combat coronavirus
体坛英语资讯:Real Madrid cruise into strong looking Copa del Rey quarterfinals
TCL要推出可拉伸屏幕手机
史蒂芬·霍金:这世上根本没有黑洞
在家办公如何提高工作效率?
带你读懂中国元宵节