Project Drive-In by Honda

[SHOWSOMECLASS]

Their were at least 6 Drive-Ins in Des Moines I remember growing up 1966-today. Most were on the edge of town. The central locations succumbed to real estate developers early. Many people in bigger city's had more entertainment choices and the Drive-In wasn't central to the community. Currently, most that are still in operation are in small towns. Newton, Iowa for example: home of MAYTAG APPLIANCES still has one about 30 minutes from Des Moines.
Many kids in Des Moines have no idea what a rotary dial phone (which we have) is, nor the concept of a Drive-In movie.

 

[ButteMT61]

You'd lose that bet. By a lot.

Point being there's a boatload of cars made here by other companies.

 

[SHOWSOMECLASS]

When the rental movie business started in the 1980s the drive-in business really started to take a turn.
It hurt cinemas/movie theaters every where but, most of all the drive-in's.
Their was only one active Drive-In here post 1986 "The Pioneer" on S.E. 14th Street. The city paper featured their demise.
The cause runs deep.
Many will argue we live in better times w/ ease of consumerism?

 

[Stearmen]

There is a huge difference, however, between putting an assembly plant somewhere, and being able to do the engineering, design, etc. That is the important part of the automotive industry, and that is what the Big 3 give to the country, that the others don't. Yes, those plants have helped done sectors of the US. However, overall they have greatly hurt the US economy!

Anyhow, gotta go pick up my Honda!

All the Japanese and German car companies, and a couple of Italian car companies, have designee studios in California. Hyundai has one also!

 

[TallErik]

All the Japanese and German car companies, and a couple of Italian car companies, have designee studios in California. Hyundai has one also!

Which is not the same as engineering a car here. They do design work here, and then send it back to the poobahs in Japan for approval. But the actual important bits, platforms, engines, transmissions, electronics, the stuff the truly differentiates the quality of the vehicle, is all done in Japan. And that's where all the profits end up too.

 

[TallErik]

Point being there's a boatload of cars made here by other companies.

There is a boatload, which is an oddly fitting word, of cars assembled here by other companies. But all the important parts of the design process, are done "over there". That is also where the money goes.

Those same companies can easily close down factories here and move assembly back home again, as Mazda did. The industry is where the engineering takes place, not the assembly!

 

[Fading Fast]

Which is not the same as engineering a car here. They do design work here, and then send it back to the poobahs in Japan for approval. But the actual important bits, platforms, engines, transmissions, electronics, the stuff the truly differentiates the quality of the vehicle, is all done in Japan. And that's where all the profits end up too.

Two quick thoughts on the profits. One is that from my college economic classes and from earnings reports of companies today, away from short-time, one-off situations, the vast majority of companies only makes profits of pennies on the dollars of revenue they earn; most of the revenue gets eaten up by costs (such as the plant).

The second one is that many times companies can't / won't, for tax reasons, repatriate profits from one country to another - for example, and President Obama made this a point in the 2012 election and still makes it today, many US companies keep the money they earn overseas out of the US and reinvest it overseas to avoid US taxes. I am not arguing the cosmic or moral right or wrong to either point, just showing that it is very hard to say who benefits where in these global companies.

Unless we want to shut down trade all together (and the vast majority of economists on the left and right argue that trade increases wealth for nations that engage in trade), then Honda will have plants here and headquarters in Japan, Ford will have plants in China and headquarters in the US, money will flow here, there and elsewhere trying to find the most profit and the best way to sluice through the tax and regulatory architectures.

In the end, if the economist are right, then the citizens of both countries are better off and - and this is the part I really like - we break down cultural boarders, tie ourselves together as a world and, hopefully, expand our experiences and scope to the point that someone in a Japanese company - in part for profit, yes, but hopefully also because he or she finds something cool in old-style American drive-ins - starts a campaign to save the last American drive-ins. Another version of this is how the Japanese have so embraced traditional American collegian dress, that Japanese companies now make some of the best traditional American clothes (either by having bought American companies or starting their own).

 

[tonyb]

Honda will foot the bill for converting five existing drive-in theaters to digital projection. So that'll cost 'em something like $400K, if I'm doing the arithmetic right.

I have no way of knowing what Honda is spending to promote this campaign, but I suspect it far exceeds the amount that will be spent on the theaters themselves. So, if Honda's primary aim here was to save drive-in theaters, they'd direct all those funds to doing just that, rather than telling us what a swell thing they're doing.

Lest some think I'm suggesting it isn't a swell thing to do, well, save your keystrokes. I have nothing against advertising per se, and if some drive-in theaters get saved through this advertising campaign (which is really about promoting the Honda brand, when you get down to it), that's all to the good. To Honda's credit, the campaign entails more than determining which five theaters get their new digital projectors on Honda's nickel. It also encourages people to patronize the drive-ins in their areas, and to donate to a fund to convert to digital more theaters than the five Honda is funding.

But drive-in theaters are facing challenges far greater than the cost of converting to digital projection. Their declining numbers, an ongoing trend long before digital projection became a consideration at all, is ample evidence of that. And the factors contributing to that decline haven't eased.

Perhaps the numbers of drive-in theaters have reached a sustainable level. Perhaps there may even be modest growth. But I'd be beyond amazed if they ever again came back to anything approaching their levels of 50 and 60 years ago.

And, let's face it, as much fun as a night at the drive-in can be, and as fond as our memories are of those nights at the drive-in all those years ago, a drive-in is a lousy place to take in a movie. Frankly, a wide-screen home TV makes for a better viewing experience, if watching the movie is your primary aim. The drive-in theater, even back in the day, was more about the drive-in experience than the movies themselves.

 

[Stearmen]

Which is not the same as engineering a car here. They do design work here, and then send it back to the poobahs in Japan for approval. But the actual important bits, platforms, engines, transmissions, electronics, the stuff the truly differentiates the quality of the vehicle, is all done in Japan. And that's where all the profits end up too.

In 2012 the Toyota Avalon was 85% made in america, taking the number one spot. The Buick Traverse was 76% made in America. My last car, a 99 Buick was made in Canada. Better to have our people making money, then all the profits going to Japan! And yes, it is that simple, we are never going back to the Big Three days. Then again, I can't worm up to any of the cars made today, just plain ugly.

 

[TallErik]

In 2012 the Toyota Avalon was 85% made in america, taking the number one spot. The Buick Traverse was 76% made in America. My last car, a 99 Buick was made in Canada. Better to have our people making money, then all the profits going to Japan! And yes, it is that simple, we are never going back to the Big Three days. Then again, I can't worm up to any of the cars made today, just plain ugly.

That is a somewhat dubious number. It does not take into account the engineering or where the profits go, which are the truly important numbers in the auto industry. In this case, its both Japan.

That's one of many reasons why the US has a $60 Billion plus trade deficit with Japan. That is real wealth leaving the US, year after year. And real jobs going with it.

 

[tonyb]

I've lived down this way more than eight years now. There's a drive-in theater about 20 minutes from my place. I went there once, four or five years ago. I tell myself that I'd hate to see it go, but my behavior doesn't reflect that sentiment.

So, I take comfort in it being there, yet I do nothing to secure its survival. This is hypocrisy, of course. I can't reasonably expect the theater operator to make little if any money just so people like me can feel warm and fuzzy at the thought of there still being a drive-in theater in the area, one we might actually patronize at some point, but probably won't. Or at least not often enough to make the place a lucrative concern.

This thread had me considering going there last night. They were showing a triple feature -- all animated, family-friendly flicks. Might've been fun. But the show didn't start until after 8 p.m., and it was getting a touch on the chilly side, and there was a possibility of rain, and today is a workday, et cetera. And, as I recall from that visit there four or five years ago, it really isn't much of a place for actually watching a movie. Too much light from nearby roads and businesses, for one thing. Perhaps all that light wasn't there when the place opened, 50 years ago.

 

[TallErik]

I must agree with Tony. As much as I love the concept of the drive in, I don't recall the last time I really enjoyed the experience of the drive in. If we are looking at saving anything, I'd rather it be a 3000+ seat, balconied, single auditorium movie palace.

 

[tonyb]

Which prompts this question ...

Who here has patronized a drive-in theater this year? Or last year? Or the year before that? Or ... ?

Crickets?

 

[TallErik]

1990?

 

[tonyb]

Only 23 years ago? Practically yesterday.

 

[TallErik]

I remember the last time well, because I spent the day after cleaning popcorn, pop, etc out of the car. Ah, to be young and stupid again!

 

[tonyb]

Many years ago (back around the last time you took in a drive-in movie, Erik) I went to see "The Two Jakes" (a disappointing movie, sad to say) at a drive-in with my then-girlfriend. Rather than busying ourselves with all those things a couple might do at a drive-in showing a ho-hum movie, she made repeated visits to the women's room. I finally told her that she could go ahead and snort that cocaine there in the car, so as to spare herself the steps and me the insult that I couldn't figure out what she was doing.

She passed away a few years ago. I never did get a straight answer as to just what claimed her. That lack of candor I take as a sign that it was drug-related. It saddens me still, even though it had been many years since I had seen her, and that she had gotten married, and that we didn't part on the best of terms. She was a decent person, and bright, and a good conversationalist and fun to hang out with and not entirely lacking in ambition, although the wealth she was born into ultimately didn't serve her well.

 

[dh66]

Took my kids to see cars II at the drive-in whenever that was, 2 or 3 years ago I guess. They loved the whole experience - guess I should do that again when the evenings get a little cooler.
Also over in Atlanta there,s a 6 screen drive in up and running, and a couple times a year they do film festivals - get bands to play, make an all day deal of it. Pretty cool stuff

Sent from my SGH-T959V using Tapatalk 2

 

[tonyb]

Took my kids to see cars II at the drive-in whenever that was, 2 or 3 years ago I guess. They loved the whole experience - guess I should do that again when the evenings get a little cooler ...

We got the opposite problem around here (around here being the sodden shores of Puget Sound). Even on those rare truly hot summer days, it still cools off dramatically when the sun goes down, such that a sweater might be in order. Yet another challenge to the drive-in movie business, I suppose.

 

[JonnyO]

Which prompts this question ...

Who here has patronized a drive-in theater this year? Or last year? Or the year before that? Or ... ?

Crickets?

Summer of 2011 for me. Since then, my work schedule has changed which makes it tougher to make it to the drive-ins. On top of my schedule change, I'd be going by myself, which where is the fun in that.