In NY Times today is an article about Cummings Diesel. Back in the 90's they were certain that new enviro regs were goin to kill them: impossible to meet. Instead, they're thriving; quality, sales, technology, power, all up. They're reviving closed plants. While it was specifically the EPA requirements that did it, before you leap, look at this: it was really some (any) outside bully forcing them top stop making very-short-term business decisions ("but it will cost us money") and instead make long-term technical ones. Cummings is making good money now, and is spending LOTS on research (something soon-to-be-dying industries STOP spending money on). Their market is complicated (covered in the article) but they're doing really well. Whiney businesses of all sorts -- American and otherwise -- always piss me off. There's bad luck and bad markets for sure, but actual research (with people, their HANDS and brains) and actual development make for short-term costs and great long term results. If it takes an EPA to force crucial industries to start doing some GDMF @#@!~%$$!! research, so be it. if they did it themselves no one would have to poke them. Kick the equity managers and business consultants out into the street! AMC did best when it kept it's focus on the bread and butter (little Americans and 4-door Classics) and experimented on the side (AMXs, research and collaborations). Too bad GM (and apparantly the unions) got addicted to short-term fat money and cutting costs. _______________________________________________ AMC-List mailing list AMC-List@xxxxxxxxxxxx http://www.amc-list.com/mailman/listinfo/amc-list or go to http://www.amc-list.com