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Funny, I was under the impression that company profits go to shareholders, and the biggest individual shareholder is that blue oval place in Dearborn, MI. :confuse: They even offer the Ford discount.
It may not ALL be American, but having an import assembly plant does add economic value to a region that only has farming as its primary industry...
Heard a guy comment that the head of (defunct) Huffy bicycle company said they started manufacturing in China because people wouldn't pay $2 more for a Huffy bike made in the US at Walmart.
2014 Malibu 2LT, 2015 Cruze 2LT,
As for foreign vs. domestic % of cars, read carefully. Automobile sales stickers generally list the percentage of foreign and domestic parts, plus where the "final assembly point" is located.
But the Detroit three LOVE to say things such as '90% of our cars are built in North America,' because they know that 90% of people have forgotten their high school geography -- Mexico is part of North America!
BTW, isn't it ironic that US automakers spent the 80s and 90s moving their factories to foreign countries, while Honda and Toyota spent the same time building factories in the US? Now Ford and GM teeter on the verge of bankruptcy, and Daimler is dropping Chrysler like a bad habit, while Toyota and Honda continue to produce superior products and sell them in superior numbers, even at higher prices than "domestic" cars!
Heard a guy comment that the head of (defunct) Huffy bicycle company said they started manufacturing in China because people wouldn't pay $2 more for a Huffy bike made in the US at Walmart.
Anyone that buys a bicycle at Wal-Mart deserves exactly what they get.
Good man, that will last through several more kids and be easier for them to ride to boot.
The oldest now has a Mongoose that was bought before they started heading south and the next has a Trek. So do I.
Yes yes, and a Chevette is perfectly good for getting to work and back :P
My daughter escaped with minor damage. Always wear your helmet - especially on a Wal Mart bike....
The Japanese have built plants here, make a quality product, and, I believe, built ALL of their plants in nonunion territory (except for Honda in Marysville OH, whcih I think is still nonunion, 20 years later)...
If the Big 3 could dump the UAW, I think they would build here tomorrow...
Maybe I am paranoid, but I do believe that the UAW is a greater detrimental influence than most imagine, because, aside from the union, the Japanese plants live under all the OSHA, EPA, rules, but their labor costs are not governed by a union contract, and, they can fire lousy workers at will...
Drunk/stoned/lousy UAW workers will stay on the line, making junk product, almost 2 years before union appeals and grievance hearings force them fired and off the line...this is all the union is good for, and it has damaged the USA automakers...
The union, IMO, is the only variable that explains why Big 3 are leaving the US, and Japanese/Korean are building here like mad...
I look forward to the day when classes on ancient history include the Roman Empire, the Dark Ages, and the union movement in the USA...
The http://www.uaw.org/uawmade/auto/2007/index.cfm has a handy list of what they consider to be union made vehicles.
Marsha: I am an IBEW member. I work hard, earn every penny of my $32/hr, don't drink, smoke, or do drugs, and am a very good person. I highly resent your remarks about unions. All we want to do is keep what we have earned though the bargaining process. If you think that striking or other union tactics is bad, ask the FORMER employees of A.T. Cross company, who 90% lost their jobs just because they decided it was better (read: CHEAPER) to make pens in China.This from a company who since 1866 has made the highest quality writing instruments in the world. That is the tactics of the CEO's of the world- F@#K the worker, it's all about me and the stock.
It's an image problem that goes along with your wins.
And I won't feel bad when the Yuppie tells me I should have bought a Toyota. I smile and stare at my old van, which isn't so pretty anymore, and think of all the many miles I put on it dragging this or that around, towing campers and boats, and hauling large loads of firewood, concrete, and other various things around, and know that it's still chugging, and words won't change that.
Many people complain about the jobs bank. However, what most people don't understand is that if GM invests (YES INVESTS) tens of thousands of dollars to train employees on how to assemble their product, and they hit a slow point, it is in their best interests to keep them from going to another manufacturer, especially where they are all clustered up in Michigan. Then, when things pick up, they would have to train a new hire. Also, they keep them off of they unemployment rolls for a year.
I quit Ford after the POS Mustang, but I quit GM because they could not compete in re-sale value. Ideally you don't like to buy something so expensive that it costs you too much to get rid of it or too cheap that they are starving their workers.
Enter something in between. We hate to see Ford and GM hurting. So goes GM, so goes the nation. Delphi has just indicated that they want to turn that around. That is good. It's a signal things are a changing because you guy do see the light.
It's just terrible what those unions have done.
And to think that they might be getting paid more than a computer installation/setup person... unthinkable.
Assembly line work experience for a reporter
2014 Malibu 2LT, 2015 Cruze 2LT,
That said, I couldn't blame unions for asking for more and more. It is human nature. The question is... who or what gave them the power to?
I want to tour a foreign company's line. I saw one on their website and the clips they showed gave me concern. The workers were moving very fast and looked like mistakes could happen at that pace.
2014 Malibu 2LT, 2015 Cruze 2LT,
We could probably do better in terms of healthcare for ourselves, with some sort of govt subsidy for it. One thing I can't stand is people complaining about unions asking for fully paid healthcare because they don't get the same benefits, yet NOBODY complains to the Blue Crosses of the world when, with a 3% inflation rate in this country, they ask for 12-15% a YEAR!!!!! Why do they get away with it????? If we went into a grocery store and found our favorite cereal 15% more expensive every year, eventually we'd do without.
As far as pensions go, we do need reform. 50 yrs ago, you graduate HS, get a job at 18, work there till your 62, retire, take your pension, and live happily ever after until you die in 10-15 yrs. Today, after you graduate college, you settle into that job at 25, work 30 yrs until 55, and we all expect that pension till we die,30 yrs later. Pensions WILL collapse if this keeps up. If the big 3 go belly up, WE THE TAXPAYERS will foot the bill for their pensions. It doesn't help that as workforces shrink, companies use attrition (read: forced early retirement) to lower their payrolls, yet all this does is shift the burden from payroll to pension. Maybe we need to make rules stating that, no matter how long you work for a company, you must be 62 to start collecting your pension.
There's something about an old car like your Astro van or my Park Ave. Maybe they're not so pretty anymore, but they are faithful like a good dog.
Whoever made the comment about golden parachutes, I do agree with you, but when your Big 3 car starts to fall apart, no one gets mad at the parachute guy, they look to the folks on the line who install stuff poorly or improperly...
I wonder if they're talking a merger of the two companies.
2014 Malibu 2LT, 2015 Cruze 2LT,
I am starting to feel bad for the guys who were asked to assemble likes of Aztek and Excursion. Or, their unwillingness to work on more fuel efficient cars as opposed to trucks.
He said (and I'm paraphrasing here), that GM didn't give its workers any of these wonderful benefits or high pay. The union won them.
What he forgets is that before there was anything for the union to win for the workers, GM had to make money to pay for those wages and benefits. It was GM's sales - generated by vehicles that people bought - that made the pay and benefits enjoyed by union members possible.
Now I'm sure someone will say, "Well, the UAW didn't design the Aztek, run Oldsmobile into the ground, or put Dodge and Plymouth into the same price class." Which is true.
On the other side of the coin, the UAW didn't invent the annual styling change to spur sales; arrange brands into a stepladder to encourage buyers to "move up" (a concept that Toyota is copying with Scion and Lexus); engineer the 1955 smallblock Chevy V-8; design the original Mustang; push the concept of the minivan from drawing board to showroom; or design the 1984 Jeep Cherokee and 1991 Ford Explorer.
Yet, the UAW was certainly happy to grab its share of the profits generated by those vehicles and decisions.
(Actually, one could say more than its share, as UAW workers are paid far more what they would receive on the free market for non-automotive jobs requiring their level of skill and education.)
But, everyone loves a winner. Or, I should say, the profits generated by a winner...
The UAW seems to forget that if one or more the Big 2.5 goes belly up, its workers will go down with it. And if America really cared, they would buy Impalas and Sebrings instead of Accords and Camrys. Which, they aren't...
With that many people per job the cost of the job is definitely going to bid down. Imagine if there were 4 others in your town who could do your job just as well as you could.
The company will ALWAYS be more important than the worker, and it MUST be that way, unless this country literally educates its people to all be self employed...
REported in the San Antonio press: Top 10 American Vehicles
If the worker has no job, he has no money. No money = no sales for the company. Concept simple enough for you????
Not only do we have China and India to worry about, we have 12 million ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS here, and countless MORE millions waiting to get in. All they will do is depress wages in this country further.
Hey, I owned a Toyota Vibe for 3 years. It looks like a Pontiac but sound like a Toyota.
If you know the history about the Fremont plant, GM went to shut it down and Toyota came in and did something sort or rare: saved a plant closing from the rust bucket.
Would I buy a car made by a union worker who is happy and their employer is making money? Yes!
Should I buy a car from a company losing money, cutting benefits and costs to the bone for its unhappy, over worked, under appreciated workers. Tuff Call!
If the Asians want to build a car with 3 dollar an hour labor, then so the world goes! The unions can always start a new hamburger chain with full retirement and medical benefits. Of course a 30 dollar hamburger with a 3 year warranty may not sell in today's global economy.
If the Asians want to build a car with 3 dollar an hour labor, then so the world goes! The unions can always start a new hamburger chain with full retirement and medical benefits. Of course a 30 dollar hamburger with a 3 year warranty may not sell in today's global economy.
Well, would you buy a car from a company that is making money hand over fist, and talking about cutting pay and benefits for their employees? That's exactly what's happening in Georgetown, Ky., and they may be headed for unionization.
If the asians built the product or performed the service you perform at $3/hr, how would you be able to afford your new car???