“Gentlemen, let me show you the results of complacency.”
Matthew Seldon flipped over the cover page on his presentation board, revealing a chart of sales comparisons for various manufacturers.
“We got lucky this time,” he stated as he pointed to the line showing slow but steady growth for Ardent. “The Silver Sentinel has renewed interest in that line, which has helped us surpass Bogliq once again. Others aren’t so lucky. There are hungry competitors out there, willing to do whatever it takes.”
Matt pointed to a pair of criss-crossed lines lower down the graph. “Maesima has only been on the market for a handful of years, and yet they’re proving themselves to the public. Meanwhile, Epoch, a venerable company, seems to be struggling. The young ones are looking to take a piece of their pie.”
He leaned with both hands on the conference table, staring down his department heads with fiery intensity. “Gentlemen, do not let anyone take our slice. Hideki is creating a work of art, and the Toledo boys are expanding the Trivalve series for our entry level cars. I expect masterpieces befitting of the tools you have at hand.”
Matt Seldon walked out of the room, leaving the department heads muttering among themselves in subdued argument.
Michael sat in his comfy, overstuffed leather recliner surveying the grounds of the Bogliq estate. Konstantin had bought the property during the Great Depression for a song and had held onto the place ever since. Now Michael was the lord of the manor… Whenever Michaels gaze would rest on one of the gardeners they’d redouble their efforts, not wanting to be seen slacking, but Michael never noticed. His mind was too troubled by the events of the past decade to care whether a gardener was working or not.
You see, Bogliq USA was in trouble. The product was too expensive and was less pleasant to drive than their competitors. Maesima were selling a car that undercut the cheapest Mutineer by $4k yet made more profit per car than Bogliq did! Even worse, the Bogliq ASCAR team failed to place on the podium whereas the Maesima team blitzed the competition with 1st place podiums at EVERY race of the season…
But the greatest symbol of Bogliq USA’s fortune was that they were lagging behind Ardent. Konstantin must be spinning in his grave, he’d never let Bogliq fall behind stodgy old Ardent, NEVER! Bogliq USA was between a rock and a hard place. Their cars needed to get cheaper by a substantial amount and they needed to be better, or at the bare minimum comparable, than the previous cycle’s cars.
So it was no wonder that Michael didn’t see the garden. He was in automotive hell, neck deep in debt hoping a newer, more efficient, engine would allow Bogliq to trade their way out of trouble…
Bennett: Sure are a lot of luxury sedans out there.
Rathbone: mmhmm!
Bennett: So I’ve got to spin this some way, so we can stand out.
Rathbone: We still use wood trim.
Bennett: I need more than that, ma’am.
Rathbone: What about the gadgets? We’ve got a ton of gadgets.
Bennett: Like?
Rathbone: This is the first car that is built for your cell phone; built-in cell phone antenna, dialing console, hands free speaker phone.
Bennett: Not everyone has a cell phone.
Rathbone: Not everyone drives an Olympus.
By the way, my lore is still only in the early 90s, so I might jump out of this competition… I rather make some well thought out cars in a slow pace than rushed jobs just to manage to finish this. We’ll see if I have any car produced in 1999 ready when it’s time for that.
