My daughter is getting a new ride in a couple of months. At this time, she's leaning towards a Subaru Forrester, but she has yet to do a test drive, so that's subject to change. She's the exact type of person that Subaru marketing appeals to... Outdoorsy, very active, young, etc.
I will be looking for a couple of vehicles over the next 12-24 months. My Expedition is nearing 120k miles and my daughter will be driving within the next 2 years. So I'll need to find her something to drive.
I don't know what I want. Might go with a pickup, but I'm also curious about the upcoming Suburban and Expedition. Whichever direction I go, I need the capability to tow 6k to 9k lbs.
Consolidation would probably be a logical idea for the military - but it would cut off some well-connected contractors and "capitalists" (who built it!) no doubt, so it's not likely anytime soon. Nice idea though. Save so much money, use the savings to revamp some tax codes, and see what happens. And after the third dose of coddling, what if the "job creators" again fail to put up?
I am not seeing much difference no matter who is elected. A defeated group still hasn't revealed their miraculous savior economic plan. Could the emperor really have no clothes? Not to mention, older people tend to have higher voter turnouts, who who is doing the electing? :P
Not to mention the enormously expensive operations scattered around the EU. If they want that protection, they can open the wallet, or we can leave. It's simple. Same thing for petulant states to the southeast of there.
At the moment, I think all US model Foresters are Japan built, but according to the link below, that's getting ready to change, and US models will be made in Indiana...
And after the third dose of coddling, what if the "job creators" again fail to put up?
The job creators are fed up with our over regulated society. It is not the Job Creators that are pulling the Federal strings. It is the Fed and their cronies in the banking and Wall Street establishment. Look around at the jobs created in the auto industry. All subsidized by the States and Federal government. That is an unsustainable economy.
I am not seeing much difference no matter who is elected.
The Bubble burst under a Democrat Congress. And went further in the toilet under a Democrat President.
Not to mention, older people tend to have higher voter turnouts, who who is doing the electing?
The elections since 2006 have all been based on fear. I don't see any logical arguments for either party. At least not coming out of the MSM. Ads pushing old people off cliffs. More wars if you don't vote for the supposed peaceful Democrats. You know the reality. Just don't want to accept it.
Consolidation would probably be a logical idea for the military - but it would cut off some well-connected contractors and "capitalists" (who built it!) no doubt, so it's not likely anytime soon. Nice idea though.
Thanks, I thought so. We pretty much agree on the military strangle hold. It is even worse now with $96 billion a year funneled through foreign corporations into Afghanistan. At least Halliburton was kind of American.
My sister's 05 Forester rides and drives better than my '97 Outback (lot of it is that I just like higher seating positions for road trips). But it sounds like the '05s don't really compare to how the new Foresters drive.
The Bubble burst under a Democrat Congress. And went further in the toilet under a Democrat President.
Before anyone starts blaming either political party for everything, I would suggest taking a look at what David Stockman (Republican, served under Reagan as Budget Director) has to say.
Stockman is especially severe on his former House colleague Dick Cheney, who as vice president insisted: “Reagan proved deficits don’t matter.”
“There are big questions about how good Dick’s view of foreign policy was,” Stockman tells me, “but his possible errors there are nothing compared to how far off base he was in economic policy. That is a clueless statement, and symptomatic of why I hold the Republican Party so responsible for the mess we’re in. The Republican Party is supposed to be the conservative party. The Democratic Party is supposed to be the irresponsible party. But somehow we lost that.”
Stockman's statement pretty much exactly captures my own feelings about the R party.
Steve, how do you feel about the Forrester vs. the Outback? It seems the Outback is more upscale but I sort of like the profile and room of the Forrester. Wish one could get a more upscale Forrester.
Still considering a 500 Abarth; the dealer has offered me a perfectly optioned(no NAV or hole in the roof, but with heated seats and upgraded audio) for $2k off sticker. I stopped by my local Ford dealer and asked a sales guy when they would have a Fiesta ST in stock and received an unenthusiastic "I dunno." No great loss, as I don't think I could bring myself to buy a car with an "Assembled by the UAW" decal on the window. I also want to look at the BRZ/FR-S twins. Nothing else new interests me- for under $40k, anyway...
Mine: 1995 318ti Club Sport-2020 C43-1996 Speed Triple Challenge Cup Replica
Wife's: 2021 Sahara 4xe
Son's: 2018 330i xDrive
Good thing about cars is that, unlike politics, if you up and decide you don't like your current selection, you can swap it out in a few hours. :shades:
Tweet of the day:
"The economic battle-cry of "Buy American" should instead be "Buy the Best", thereby compelling Americans to make the best." (Neil deGrasse Tyson @neiltyson)
"The economic battle-cry of "Buy American" should instead be "Buy the Best", thereby compelling Americans to make the best." (Neil deGrasse Tyson neiltyson).
Thats one smart guy. I understand he's doing something of a sequel to Carl Sagan's Cosmos series. A must-see IMO.
But we give tax break after tax break to some people under the guise of trickle down and job creation, and none of it actually takes place. I think a lot of people have been sold a pile of magic beans.
The bubble (that being unsustainable growth with no foundation in a mirage economy) was born and expanded under elephant leadership. It kills me how some who preach accountability can't even pin it on their bitter political party. Where are those economic plans of salvation?
The election of 2004 was also founded in fear. Someone proved that fear sells. You're right that neither party is the answer. I know the reality - you'll get war no matter who is elected, because corporations control politics, not vice versa.
Those who deal with the often sinister game of defense contracting and then hide out in tax havens are the worst of the worst, absolute hypocrisy.
That's part of why the donkeys have been able to pull it off - you know what you'll get with them, spending and spending. The opponent promises one thing, but doesn't live up to it.
That old VP was the worst possible, makes the current dork look like Thomas Jefferson.
Both my daughters have cats... Really, its more like 2 cats each have 1 of my daughters.
My older daughter's cat stays with us when she leaves town on business/vacation. When at home, he's the most pleasant cat you'd ever know. When she is out of town and he's here with us, he maintains an incredibly surly attitude.
His name is Ollie, but my wife calls him Dick Cheney cat when he's here...
That's part of why the donkeys have been able to pull it off - you know what you'll get with them, spending and spending. The opponent promises one thing, but doesn't live up to it.
That old VP was the worst possible, makes the current dork look like Thomas Jefferson.
Unfortunately, out of control spending and war-mongering seem to be De-rigueur for both parties nowadays.
Some economists argue that the gains are a natural part of the business cycle, rather than a sustainable recovery in the sector. But I would argue that the improvements of the last three years aren’t a blip. They are the sum of a powerful equation refiguring the global economy. U.S. factories increasingly have access to cheap energy thanks to oil and gas from the shale boom. For companies outside the U.S., it’s the opposite: high global oil prices translate into costlier fuel for ships and planes — which means some labor savings from low-cost plants in China evaporate when the goods are shipped thousands of miles. And about those low-cost plants: workers from China to India are demanding and getting bigger paychecks, while U.S. companies have won massive concessions from unions over the past decade. Suddenly the math on outsourcing doesn’t look quite as attractive. Paul Ashworth, the North America economist for research firm Capital Economics, is willing to go a step further. “The offshoring boom,” Ashworth wrote in a recent report, “does appear to have largely run its course.”
"The economic battle-cry of "Buy American" should instead be "Buy the Best", thereby compelling Americans to make the best." (Neil deGrasse Tyson neiltyson)
Thank you Steve, our Edmunds host, for this reference.
Professor Neil deGrasse Tyson is the logical successor to Dr Carl Sagan.
Highly recommend his "My Favorite Universe" DVD available from "the Great Courses".
Not to mention, older people tend to have higher voter turnouts, who who is doing the electing?
According to analysts, the young voters, those highly gullible and influenced by campaign rhetoric, determined the outcome of last November's election.
That old VP was the worst possible, makes the current dork look like Thomas Jefferson.
The current guy is a moron. Makes racist comments. Was a plagiarist. Whispered in the president's ear, caught on hot mike on national tv, "This is a big f-----g deal" at signing of health bill.
According to analysts, the young voters, those highly gullible and influenced by campaign rhetoric, determined the outcome of last November's election.
Would those be the same analysts that kept predicting the other guy was going to win?
Funny how when "the other guy" gets elected, its always by "gullible" voters, regardless which party he's from... That's so amusing to me...
Putting it in car terms, it reminds me of those that praise one model for being so well assembled, then blasts a "sister" model for incredibly poor construction discipline... Ignoring the fact that both cars are assembled on the very same line, by the very same workers.
Funny how when "the other guy" gets elected, its always by "gullible" voters, regardless which party he's from... That's so amusing to me...
I do lament the demise of the GOP. I also am saddened by the vehicles built by the domestics with UAW labor. All part of the downhill slide I am seeing in our beloved country. Some here are optimistic. I hope they are right.
Overall voters are uninformed and gullible. I doubt one in five know the names of their Senators and Congress person.
Overall voters are uninformed and gullible. I doubt one in five know the names of their Senators and Congress person.
Back when I was young and in K-12, we were taught civics classes, and learned all about our government, its branches, the presidential cabinet, and so on.
I don't know if civics classes are still taught, but I DO know that we have a very large segment of high-school graduates that don't seem to know much about any of this. As far as your 1 in 5 ratio, I'd guess its significantly higher, probably like 1 in 20. From a political standpoint, most just parrot what they hear from their parents, without every giving what they hear any objective analysis at all.
I used to ask 1 or 2 questions to my daughter's friends that were in college when they would come over to visit once in a while, and I was shocked when I realized just how little they knew.
Analysts paid for by Daddy's Wallet and Ebenezer? Link it or it didn't happen. Some people who were so silent under the misdeeds of the previous group (so similar to today's loser leaders) are so loud now. Bitterness isn't healthy.
Those gullible souls also elected the idiots in 00 and 04, you know.
I wonder if either VP drives an American car. I think the current dork had some kind of Corvette or something, and I would imagine the previous fascist would need a big fat armored Escalade.
Overall voters are uninformed and gullible. I doubt one in five know the names of their Senators and Congress person.
No. Not "overall". Jay Leno and Fox interviews show that young voters are mostly stupid. Young. Young are easily conned, impressionable and easily swayed by teachers, in high school and college. Young students who have zero life experience, not paying taxes, not having a household are least qualified to make decisions on who should be picked to run our government.
Young are easily conned, impressionable and easily swayed by teachers, in high school and college. Young students who have zero life experience, not paying taxes, not having a household are least qualified to make decisions on who should be picked to run our government.
Oh, it isn't just young folks.
Take a trip to your local shopping mall and start surveying folks entering and exiting of ANY age and ask them simple questions, such as how many cabinet positions there are, who is the Secretary of the Treasury, etc. and see what answers you'll get.
But, you're correct in one thing. Young people really don't have enough experience to avoid danger, be it physical, financial, whatever. That's why the military loves 18 year olds. They don't yet have a real sense of mortality, so they'll run head first into danger. Every army wants inexperienced soldiers. Experienced personnel would better understand when they're being told to die for, in many cases, to further someone else's financial well being.
Others may disagree, but IMO, if we can ask a guy to possibly die for his country, he certainly should have the right to help select the ruler who's sending him to his potential death. It's a spin on the old saying "No taxation without representation". Maybe we should refer to it as "No expiration without representation".
Link it or it didn't happen.....Bitterness isn't healthy.
Yup.
You know, most employers promote employees who have positive attitudes and are part of the solution instead of part of the problem.
For organizations like the UAW, attitude doesn't matter as it's all seniority-based. Pretty poor way to get good results. No wonder the transplants are doing well in non-unionized environments.
For organizations like the UAW, attitude doesn't matter as it's all seniority-based.
I understand the principles of seniority for OT, Vacation and shifts. For promotions it should be merit based. It was some of the work rules that have hurt the domestics. Not being able to shuffle workers around to different positions. The stand against automation may have hurt them the most. The other automakers operating in the US built state of the art factories. The UAW blocked the D3. So Ford built their state of the art factories in other countries. The short stint Rocky had at GM put him working on equipment that was WW2 vintage and prone to breaking down.
I gotta say, if you've looked at any recent footage of GM plants, the concept of 'WW2 vintage' equipment I have to believe, is entirely an old wives' tale.
I know GM has sunk a ton of money in Lordstown to update over the years, and any photos I've ever seen show no Studebaker-era equipment in the plant.
2024 Chevrolet Corvette Stingray 2LT; 2019 Chevrolet Equinox LT; 2015 Chevrolet Cruze LS
the concept of 'WW2 vintage' equipment I have to believe, is entirely an old wives' tale.
I am only going by what Rocky told me. He worked last year in a GM plant in Michigan. His take was the equipment was old and worn out. That getting the production the company expected was unrealistic.
My question are the US D3 factories as automated as the Transplants? If not why not?
If there is any equipment at GM that is not up-to-date, the government needs to help them buy newer equipment to make them competitive. It's the least the administration can do.
The equipment I saw a year or so earlier at GM Moraine (Oh) plant didn't look out of date. Of course the government closed that relatively new plant because the UAW/government union wanted the IUE out and IUE was the union at Moraine because of its history with Frigidaire.
Take away the points that this administration perverted the bankruptcy process by shorting bondholders and giving ownership to the Unions and take away that the past executives at GM didn't do well, and you have left the government hasn't done enough to help make GM competitive at the plants. As a result many people blame GM and their products for what the government did or didn't do. I guess they have to blame someone in this politicized atmosphere of the last 5 years.
Government added on lots of constraints in what GM has to do, but should just give more money and forgive past debts. Maybe that could help make up for the decades of favored treatment for the nonUS companies in the past giving them advantage over the home team. The largest example is in the values of currency for the foreign producers allowing them to sell cars more cheaply than they should have if the value of Japan's and Korea's currency had been proper.
> Rocky told me. He worked last year in a GM plant in Michigan. His take was the equipment was old and worn out. That getting the production the company expected was unrealistic.
There's still something really wrong about how that went when Rocky finally, finally got in to a job. It's like it was stacked against him from the beginning.
There's still something really wrong about how that went when Rocky finally, finally got in to a job. It's like it was stacked against him from the beginning.
As we both know Rocky is not adverse to pointing out injustice whether it is company or UAW. He did just start a new UAW job last week. Been too tired to post much on Facebook. Hope this one works for him.
I gotta say, if you've looked at any recent footage of GM plants, the concept of 'WW2 vintage' equipment I have to believe, is entirely an old wives' tale.
One of the cable channels(NGC) over the last 2-3 years has had a short series on manufacturing plants, many of them auto plants. I saw ones on the SC BMW plant, the KY Corvette plant, the Camaro plant, Peterbilt, Rolls Royce, Porsche, etc.
Actuaally, it isn't having a positive attitude, it is putting on the act of a positive attitude, which often means burying one's nose in the posterior of so-called superior. One can move their way up pretty easily by putting on an act. The director of my work area, a level below VP, is a very cynical person, but he shmoozes and sells, it fools people. He's a nice enough guy, but knows how to play the game. And the VPs and C-levels I have met are no different. The only solution these people seem to be able to find is wringing out savings by cutting staffing. Seniority helps in the real world too - these are all people who started climbing a ladder when there were many more ladders waiting to be climbed. The amount of under-45s who have ascended similarly is pretty low.
The transplants are also doing well because of better product development, no legacy costs, and often being coddled and subsidized by local and national governments.
high-school graduates that don't seem to know much
I bet they were taught the important things...like how to put a condom on a banana, and how your choice of minorities (probably 75% of the population) were victimized by the arrogant and evil U.S.
Comments
I don't know what I want. Might go with a pickup, but I'm also curious about the upcoming Suburban and Expedition. Whichever direction I go, I need the capability to tow 6k to 9k lbs.
Her Forester is an '05.
(I jest, but the Subaru Crew - Meet The Members will agree with your marketing assessment. Does she have a boyfriend or dog named Dave?).
Not that I'm aware of...
She does have a middle-aged cat, female, rescued from a shelter.... Name is Emm. Short for Emily, Emmy, something...
I can't remember ever riding in a Subaru, so it'll be interesting for me as well when I go with her to take a test drive. Should be fun.
I am not seeing much difference no matter who is elected. A defeated group still hasn't revealed their miraculous savior economic plan. Could the emperor really have no clothes? Not to mention, older people tend to have higher voter turnouts, who who is doing the electing? :P
None of the emperors or would-be emperors have any clothing.
http://www.autoblog.com/2012/12/07/subaru-mulling-expanding-indiana-plant-for-fo- rester-impreza/
The job creators are fed up with our over regulated society. It is not the Job Creators that are pulling the Federal strings. It is the Fed and their cronies in the banking and Wall Street establishment. Look around at the jobs created in the auto industry. All subsidized by the States and Federal government. That is an unsustainable economy.
I am not seeing much difference no matter who is elected.
The Bubble burst under a Democrat Congress. And went further in the toilet under a Democrat President.
Not to mention, older people tend to have higher voter turnouts, who who is doing the electing?
The elections since 2006 have all been based on fear. I don't see any logical arguments for either party. At least not coming out of the MSM. Ads pushing old people off cliffs. More wars if you don't vote for the supposed peaceful Democrats. You know the reality. Just don't want to accept it.
Consolidation would probably be a logical idea for the military - but it would cut off some well-connected contractors and "capitalists" (who built it!) no doubt, so it's not likely anytime soon. Nice idea though.
Thanks, I thought so. We pretty much agree on the military strangle hold. It is even worse now with $96 billion a year funneled through foreign corporations into Afghanistan. At least Halliburton was kind of American.
Before anyone starts blaming either political party for everything, I would suggest taking a look at what David Stockman (Republican, served under Reagan as Budget Director) has to say.
http://www.outsidethebeltway.com/david-stockmans-scathing-indictment-of-gop-fisc- - - - al-policy/
Stockman is especially severe on his former House colleague Dick Cheney, who as vice president insisted: “Reagan proved deficits don’t matter.”
“There are big questions about how good Dick’s view of foreign policy was,” Stockman tells me, “but his possible errors there are nothing compared to how far off base he was in economic policy. That is a clueless statement, and symptomatic of why I hold the Republican Party so responsible for the mess we’re in. The Republican Party is supposed to be the conservative party. The Democratic Party is supposed to be the irresponsible party. But somehow we lost that.”
A pox on both their houses is my opinion.
Stockman's statement pretty much exactly captures my own feelings about the R party.
Steve, how do you feel about the Forrester vs. the Outback? It seems the Outback is more upscale but I sort of like the profile and room of the Forrester. Wish one could get a more upscale Forrester.
Mine: 1995 318ti Club Sport-2020 C43-1996 Speed Triple Challenge Cup Replica
Wife's: 2021 Sahara 4xe
Son's: 2018 330i xDrive
Tweet of the day:
"The economic battle-cry of "Buy American" should instead be "Buy the Best", thereby compelling Americans to make the best." (Neil deGrasse Tyson @neiltyson)
Thats one smart guy. I understand he's doing something of a sequel to Carl Sagan's Cosmos series. A must-see IMO.
The bubble (that being unsustainable growth with no foundation in a mirage economy) was born and expanded under elephant leadership. It kills me how some who preach accountability can't even pin it on their bitter political party. Where are those economic plans of salvation?
The election of 2004 was also founded in fear. Someone proved that fear sells. You're right that neither party is the answer. I know the reality - you'll get war no matter who is elected, because corporations control politics, not vice versa.
Those who deal with the often sinister game of defense contracting and then hide out in tax havens are the worst of the worst, absolute hypocrisy.
That old VP was the worst possible, makes the current dork look like Thomas Jefferson.
My older daughter's cat stays with us when she leaves town on business/vacation. When at home, he's the most pleasant cat you'd ever know. When she is out of town and he's here with us, he maintains an incredibly surly attitude.
His name is Ollie, but my wife calls him Dick Cheney cat when he's here...
That old VP was the worst possible, makes the current dork look like Thomas Jefferson.
Unfortunately, out of control spending and war-mongering seem to be De-rigueur for both parties nowadays.
Some economists argue that the gains are a natural part of the business cycle, rather than a sustainable recovery in the sector. But I would argue that the improvements of the last three years aren’t a blip. They are the sum of a powerful equation refiguring the global economy. U.S. factories increasingly have access to cheap energy thanks to oil and gas from the shale boom. For companies outside the U.S., it’s the opposite: high global oil prices translate into costlier fuel for ships and planes — which means some labor savings from low-cost plants in China evaporate when the goods are shipped thousands of miles. And about those low-cost plants: workers from China to India are demanding and getting bigger paychecks, while U.S. companies have won massive concessions from unions over the past decade. Suddenly the math on outsourcing doesn’t look quite as attractive. Paul Ashworth, the North America economist for research firm Capital Economics, is willing to go a step further. “The offshoring boom,” Ashworth wrote in a recent report, “does appear to have largely run its course.”
Thank you Steve, our Edmunds host, for this reference.
Professor Neil deGrasse Tyson is the logical successor to Dr Carl Sagan.
Highly recommend his "My Favorite Universe" DVD available from "the Great Courses".
According to analysts, the young voters, those highly gullible and influenced by campaign rhetoric, determined the outcome of last November's election.
The current guy is a moron. Makes racist comments. Was a plagiarist. Whispered in the president's ear, caught on hot mike on national tv, "This is a big f-----g deal" at signing of health bill.
From "Won't get fooled again"
Meet the new boss
Same as the old boss
According to analysts, the young voters, those highly gullible and influenced by campaign rhetoric, determined the outcome of last November's election.
Would those be the same analysts that kept predicting the other guy was going to win?
Funny how when "the other guy" gets elected, its always by "gullible" voters, regardless which party he's from... That's so amusing to me...
Putting it in car terms, it reminds me of those that praise one model for being so well assembled, then blasts a "sister" model for incredibly poor construction discipline... Ignoring the fact that both cars are assembled on the very same line, by the very same workers.
I do lament the demise of the GOP. I also am saddened by the vehicles built by the domestics with UAW labor. All part of the downhill slide I am seeing in our beloved country. Some here are optimistic. I hope they are right.
Overall voters are uninformed and gullible. I doubt one in five know the names of their Senators and Congress person.
Back when I was young and in K-12, we were taught civics classes, and learned all about our government, its branches, the presidential cabinet, and so on.
I don't know if civics classes are still taught, but I DO know that we have a very large segment of high-school graduates that don't seem to know much about any of this. As far as your 1 in 5 ratio, I'd guess its significantly higher, probably like 1 in 20. From a political standpoint, most just parrot what they hear from their parents, without every giving what they hear any objective analysis at all.
I used to ask 1 or 2 questions to my daughter's friends that were in college when they would come over to visit once in a while, and I was shocked when I realized just how little they knew.
What a waste.
Those gullible souls also elected the idiots in 00 and 04, you know.
Lest we forget When someone else let their big mouth run loose
I wonder if either VP drives an American car. I think the current dork had some kind of Corvette or something, and I would imagine the previous fascist would need a big fat armored Escalade.
Mine: 1995 318ti Club Sport-2020 C43-1996 Speed Triple Challenge Cup Replica
Wife's: 2021 Sahara 4xe
Son's: 2018 330i xDrive
No. Not "overall". Jay Leno and Fox interviews show that young voters are mostly stupid. Young. Young are easily conned, impressionable and easily swayed by teachers, in high school and college. Young students who have zero life experience, not paying taxes, not having a household are least qualified to make decisions on who should be picked to run our government.
I could see him in something like that, though.
I know Barry had a Chrysler 300, so of course he is kissing greenie butt today.
http://www.autoblog.com/2013/01/20/george-w-bushs-2009-ford-f-150-fizzles-with-3- 00-000-bid-at-ba/
Oh, it isn't just young folks.
Take a trip to your local shopping mall and start surveying folks entering and exiting of ANY age and ask them simple questions, such as how many cabinet positions there are, who is the Secretary of the Treasury, etc. and see what answers you'll get.
But, you're correct in one thing. Young people really don't have enough experience to avoid danger, be it physical, financial, whatever. That's why the military loves 18 year olds. They don't yet have a real sense of mortality, so they'll run head first into danger. Every army wants inexperienced soldiers. Experienced personnel would better understand when they're being told to die for, in many cases, to further someone else's financial well being.
Others may disagree, but IMO, if we can ask a guy to possibly die for his country, he certainly should have the right to help select the ruler who's sending him to his potential death. It's a spin on the old saying "No taxation without representation". Maybe we should refer to it as "No expiration without representation".
Yup.
You know, most employers promote employees who have positive attitudes and are part of the solution instead of part of the problem.
For organizations like the UAW, attitude doesn't matter as it's all seniority-based. Pretty poor way to get good results. No wonder the transplants are doing well in non-unionized environments.
I understand the principles of seniority for OT, Vacation and shifts. For promotions it should be merit based. It was some of the work rules that have hurt the domestics. Not being able to shuffle workers around to different positions. The stand against automation may have hurt them the most. The other automakers operating in the US built state of the art factories. The UAW blocked the D3. So Ford built their state of the art factories in other countries. The short stint Rocky had at GM put him working on equipment that was WW2 vintage and prone to breaking down.
I know GM has sunk a ton of money in Lordstown to update over the years, and any photos I've ever seen show no Studebaker-era equipment in the plant.
I am only going by what Rocky told me. He worked last year in a GM plant in Michigan. His take was the equipment was old and worn out. That getting the production the company expected was unrealistic.
My question are the US D3 factories as automated as the Transplants? If not why not?
If there is any equipment at GM that is not up-to-date, the government needs to help them buy newer equipment to make them competitive. It's the least the administration can do.
The equipment I saw a year or so earlier at GM Moraine (Oh) plant didn't look out of date. Of course the government closed that relatively new plant because the UAW/government union wanted the IUE out and IUE was the union at Moraine because of its history with Frigidaire.
Take away the points that this administration perverted the bankruptcy process by shorting bondholders and giving ownership to the Unions and take away that the past executives at GM didn't do well, and you have left the government hasn't done enough to help make GM competitive at the plants. As a result many people blame GM and their products for what the government did or didn't do. I guess they have to blame someone in this politicized atmosphere of the last 5 years.
Government added on lots of constraints in what GM has to do, but should just give more money and forgive past debts. Maybe that could help make up for the decades of favored treatment for the nonUS companies in the past giving them advantage over the home team. The largest example is in the values of currency for the foreign producers allowing them to sell cars more cheaply than they should have if the value of Japan's and Korea's currency had been proper.
> Rocky told me. He worked last year in a GM plant in Michigan. His take was the equipment was old and worn out. That getting the production the company expected was unrealistic.
There's still something really wrong about how that went when Rocky finally, finally got in to a job. It's like it was stacked against him from the beginning.
2014 Malibu 2LT, 2015 Cruze 2LT,
Not counting the UAW workforce, I presume...
Mine: 1995 318ti Club Sport-2020 C43-1996 Speed Triple Challenge Cup Replica
Wife's: 2021 Sahara 4xe
Son's: 2018 330i xDrive
As we both know Rocky is not adverse to pointing out injustice whether it is company or UAW. He did just start a new UAW job last week. Been too tired to post much on Facebook. Hope this one works for him.
One of the cable channels(NGC) over the last 2-3 years has had a short series on manufacturing plants, many of them auto plants. I saw ones on the SC BMW plant, the KY Corvette plant, the Camaro plant, Peterbilt, Rolls Royce, Porsche, etc.
It was called Ultimate Factories
http://www.tvrage.com/Ultimate_Factories
From what was shown in the shows, both the Camaro plant and Corvette plants looked just as modern as any other auto plant. Lots of automation.
That doesn't mean all GM plants are that way, but it would seem to be a good indication.
That's great. I hadn't heard that.
I don't do facebook--I value my privacy and having a program that collects info from my email lists and everything else isn't what I want.
I do use a fake name on Facebook for occasion peeks where a login is required.
2014 Malibu 2LT, 2015 Cruze 2LT,
The transplants are also doing well because of better product development, no legacy costs, and often being coddled and subsidized by local and national governments.
For my loathing of that regime, I actually don't think he is a bad person. Some others in his ranks, however...
I bet they were taught the important things...like how to put a condom on a banana, and how your choice of minorities (probably 75% of the population)
were victimized by the arrogant and evil U.S.