Comments by "Andy Monaghan" (@229andymon) on "Munro Live" channel.

I’m from Glasgow, Scotland, where I’m guessing Sandy’s ancestors came from. When I was a young man (so not that long ago) we used to have one of the busiest rivers in the world for shipbuilding. The whole river looked like one giant yard. Today we have almost nothing, haven’t had for decades. The river is almost dead, with only one small, struggling commercial shipbuilder left. What went wrong? Well, many factors, but essentially it suffered from the same issues GM seems to be. Lack of foresight and clever management able to see the wood for the trees. I don’t know whether it’s fear, atrophy or just plain stupidity challenging the legacy automakers, but Sandy’s right - any kid in school will know better than they do where the global transport industry is heading.
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@jimindetroit9461 Good point about Tesla ruining some nice cartels. Not just the dealer networks, but the advertising people as well and also insurance companies as they plan to offer their own insurance. Because they see insurance as an area where the average Joe is ripped off and they want to make owning a Tesla cheaper. Mr Musk is making some seriously powerful enemies.
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@eldictator1 Indeed, the Japanese took the Brit m/c industry out because their bikes were simply much better. Perhaps less stylish, but technically far superior with prices to match. I remember a mate of mine who got a new Honda 750 back in the 70s. I was insanely jealous!
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My Father worked in the same factory for the same firm all his working life. He knew they cared about him as much as he came to care about them. Which wasn't much. For most companies back in those days - you got your reward in Heaven - until then you worked.
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@loftsatsympaticodotc Well. sort of. I did say I admire Brit m/c design, but some of the older Hondas and Kawasakis etc are gaining cult appeal too. Plus, while we're seeing a reemergence of Brit m/c companies it doesn't alter the fact it comes long after being decimated by the Japanese. Someone told me (haven't checked it out) the Italians saved their m/c industry by imposing trade sanctions on Japanese m/cs back then.
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@eldictator1 I wouldn't count on China being content to be the global sweatshop, I don't think that's in their script at all. Unlike the Russian Soviets, who did stifle innovation, the Chinese are not. Look at how many Chinese billionaires there are - the CCP is allowing the private sector plenty of scope without allowing it to dictate the markets - as the west does. Meaning they can combine the benefits of longer term state direction and planning with the dynamism of short term capitalism. Their challenge will be to keep that together.
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