Sen. Richard Shelby of Alabama has doomed the industry, calling it a dinosaur. No Mr. Shelby, you are the dinosaur, with ideas stuck in the '70s, '80s and '90s. You and the uninformed journalist and senators that hold onto myths that are not relevant in today's world. It is a dinosaur. The way they manage, the way they utilize unions and the way they pay their employees is antique in practice. It is because of the way they MIS-MANAGED their affairs that has lead to what they are in right now. The way they make cars may not be old school, but many of the things they rest their ideas on are... When you say that the Big Three build vehicles nobody wants to buy, you must have overlooked that GM outsold Toyota by about 1.2 million vehicles in the U.S. and Ford outsold Honda by 850,000 and Nissan by 1.2 million in the U.S. GM was the world's No. 1 automaker beating Toyota by 3,000 units. Numbers can be used to make any point. GM sells more cars under that umbrella than any other car manufacturer in the world. That holds GMC, Chevy, Pontiac, Buick, Hummer, Saab, Saturn, etc.,etc. There's a lot of numbers being shuffled to make that point. Same with Ford... The thing is that the Japanese companies are pulling customers from the Big 3 due to a lot of things. Toyota sells in this country under Lexus and Toyota. Nissan is Nissan and Infiniti. Honda is Acura and Honda. Ask why the fact that Honda motors are in the Saturn Aura cars... When you claim inferior quality comes from the Big Three, did you realize that Chevy makes the Malibu and Ford makes the Fusion that were both rated over the Camry and Accord by J.D. Power independent survey on initial quality? Did you bother to read the Consumer Report that rated Ford on par with good Japanese automakers. Initial quality is somewhat grey in terms of how they judge it. What is their ranking after say, 10 years. Say, after 80k miles... JD Powers is stupid anyways. It is a deal where customers rank their feelings. It can be slanted to work both ways... Did you realize Big Three's gas guzzlers include the 33 mpg Malibu that beats the Accord. And for '09 Ford introduces the Hybrid Fusion whose 39 mpg is the best midsize, beating the Camry Hybrid. Ford's Focus beats the Corolla and Chevy's Cobalt beats the Civic. Again, misleading numbers here... When you criticize the Big Three for building so many pickups, surely you've noticed the attempts Toyota and Nissan have made spending billions to try to get a piece of that pie. Perhaps it bothers you that for 31 straight years Ford's F-Series has been the best selling vehicle. Ford and GM have dominated this market and when you see the new '09 F-150 you'll agree this won't change soon. What was being said was that they tend to favor building trucks. It's no secret that the truck market is out of control. People buying trucks for everyday use when they were initially built for working. The market for trucks is at a point where the truck I bought was almost $50k. Know what kind of luxury car I could have bought with that coin? The Japanese see this as a market they would like to be in and build towards. Where they are now allows them to expand. It isn't because they think it is a dumb category to be in - they view it as a way to expand their foot print in the market... This guy is twisting words... Did you realize that both GM and Ford offer more hybrid models than Nissan or Honda. Between 2005 and 2007, Ford alone has invested more than $22 billion in research and development of technologies such as Eco Boost, flex fuel, clean diesel, hybrids, plug in hybrids and hydrogen cars. While true, they do not offer as many overall fuel efficient cars. Who cares if they offer a Hybrid Escalade? The new Volt (Or whatever it is called) is going to be a flop. A $40k electric car? Are you serious? They are going to get this car out AFTER the Japanese get something better out first. And cheaper... Watch out for the Hydrogen based Honda that is already in the production steps... I think what Chevy is doing with E85 is great. I think it is the right step and a noble one. However, overall, I think GM is too late to the party and need to focus on what really matters... After 9/11, the Detroit Three and Harley Davidson gave $40 million-plus emergency vehicles to the recovery efforts. What was given to the 9/11 relief effort by the Asian and European Auto Manufactures? $0 Nada. Zip! So, because they donated and gave money in that time, it is why we should buy from them? This was an American based attack and the American based companies gave to the cause. That's cool. While I think of Toyota and Honda as more American in the fact that they employ a LOT of Americans and build American cars here, I am not pissed that they didn't give. If that is really true... We live in a world of free trade, world economy and we have not been able to produce products as cost efficiently. While the governments of other auto producing nations subsidize their automakers, our government may be ready to force its demise. While our automakers have paid union wages, benefits and legacy debt, our Asian competitors employ cheap labor. We are at an extreme disadvantage in production cost. Although many UAW concessions begin in 2010, many lawmakers think it's not enough. They enjoy cheap labor because they DON'T have unions. Unions are going to be the reasoning behind the fall of these car companies right now. I'm all for getting as much money as you can, but when has it EVER made sense to pay a car guy twice as much as what he is worth? For a skill that will help them only within the car assembly industry. What happens when that person goes into the real world work force and has no education or trade skills that will assist in what is needed outside their current industry? Some point the blame to corporate management. I would like to speak of Ford Motor Co. The company has streamlined by reducing our workforce by 51,000 since 2005, closing 17 plants and cutting expenses. Product and future product is excellent and the company is focused on one Ford. This is a company poised for success. Ford product quality and corporate management have improved light years since the nightmare of Jacques Nasser. Thank you Alan Mulally and the best auto company management team in the business. Streamline? Sure. However, I have a personal friend who is double dipping. A common thing from GM and other employees. He was from GM. He is making over $50k from Chevy after he has retired. He is currently working at another factory making over $50k there. Does that make any sense to you? How about the fact that these packages often termed "cradle to the grave" that are WAY over what is sensible. The Government asking them to make cuts and for these people to take a little less is only fair. But, they feel they earned it and it is what they were told they would get. Many factory workers are pissed that there are kids coming into the factories and getting $14 to do the same job they did for $40 plus. They feel betrayed and upset that they are losing out to these wages. Why? The financial collapse caused by the secondary mortgage fiasco and the greed of Wall Street has led to a $700 billion bailout of the industry that created the problem. AIG spent nearly $1 million on three company excursions to lavish resorts and hunting destinations. Paulson is saying no to $250 billion foreclosure relief and the whole thing is a mess. So when the Big Three ask for 4 percent of that of the $700 billion, $25 billion to save the country's largest industry, there is obviously oppositions. But does it make sense to reward the culprits of the problem with $700 billion unconditionally, and ignore the victims? The financial issues are alot to do with the fact that people over extended themselves and couldn't pay for what they borrowed. The banks take a hit. The amounts of people who have foreclosed on their mortgages is staggering. Why not blame stupid people for the problems? The banks have been hit hard. Sure, it is some of their own doing. Maybe they need to make financing and loan applications stronger and more strick. I think you will see these happen. They have already. Banks are not approving loans like they used to for items like cars, houses, etc. They have been making changes... It's easy for the car people to be pissed and make up reasons why they are deserving. They don't see what the problem is. A lot of my family is in the factory end of things. They work at GM in a few towns around here. Some are in factories reliant on the car industry and are looking at a big question mark as to their future. It pains me. Hell, my brother is sitting right now wondering if he'll have a job in 2009. However, he has an education from a college in Findlay and can HOPEFULLY fall back on that. However, the wages he has made over the years isn't going to be adequate for what he has or how he lives. I think the deal is simple. American car companies need to make changes. BIG changes. Quit bitching as to how they compete against the Japanese. Hell, the Koreans are making a damn hard push with companies like Hyundai, etc. All in all, if they don't make the needed changes and cannot look at it with open minds, they are going to die off. I think they will sell off parts. GM may sell off Cadillac, etc. Whatever. But, I think changes are going to happen and maybe they will see the light and go forward and get stronger... I hope so.
