U.S. Auto Industry deserves the grave they dug for themselves

by drew sagan 76 Replies latest jw friends

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  Homerovah the Almighty

  U.S. Auto Industry deserves the grave they dug for themselves

  I would agree with that statement the big 3 haven't really been structuring their company profile globally, in regards to other opposing car companies.

  Perhaps that is do to the powerful unions that essentially run those companies in a decisive but hidden way. The reality is that the other companies can produce

  the same quality of vehicles with better fuel economy, with better quality at times at equal pricing and still make good profits. its no wonder that they have gained

  popularity over domestic made automobiles. This of course wasn't the case 40 , 50 years ago and the N American auto industry were in their glory days, no one in the world

  could touch them or come close to what they could produce.

  They let their quality of their products decline and didn't pay close attention to what the market was asking for, call it being blind sighted or whatever but the other car companies

  sensed the market better and overtook the market share that the big 3 had for so many years.

  This global recession that is happening right now in my opinion was started by those greedy oil companies that made the price of fuel climb to the extent that it

  did, which brought on a shock wave of great economic proportions all over the world

  The US government is in real quagmire now, they know if they don't help these companies out they have a good chance of going belly up

  or they may ship their manufacturing plants overseas to better compete with the other companies with the incentive of lower labor costs and weak if any Unions.

  It may just all come down to a necsarry evil to keep the compaies here and all of the off shoot companies that feed off the main ones.

  If this global recesion conutiunes well into 2009 all the car companies will be force to drop back on their production anyways, which is just going to add to

  the problem on what should be done goverment wise and the companies themselves.
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  wha happened?

  If this were happening 6 months ago, we would have heard more rhetoric from the politicians and there would have been more of a need to do something in the eyes of the politicians. With the "Big Vote" behind us, it's obviously not getting the attention that the big 3 had hoped for.
  
  Honestly, I gotta say that any company should float on their own. Chrysler has been here before and Lee Iaccoca had a great hand in preventing the disaster. But that's because he had a PLAN. Lay-offs, cut salaries, (Including his own which he reduced to $1 a year), and cooperation from the unions. He paid the loan back early.
  
  I don't see anything now except a request for money and this scenario of doom and gloom if the govt doesn't hand the money over.
  
  Chapter 11 for GM will probably mean Chapter 11 for many of the suppliers. If that's what it takes to start the industry in the right direction then so be it.
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  beksbks

  Actually Wha I just heard some news on the subject, and it sounds like the scenario is very similar to the Iacocca days. This is a loan, and it's supposed to come from the 700 billion. With stipulations and reforms.
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  wha happened?

  great let's see the plan soon. It can't be an open checkbook for them
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  beksbks

  No way! I also heard that Toyota in Europe just got a 50+ billion dollar bailout. I have to verify this info, I was not paying complete attention. They brought up another interesting subject. Health care. I've heard this more than once. How can an American company compete with foreign companies, who do not have to pay for health care for their employees. I mean how low can wages go in this country, before we are turning ourselves into a third world country. This free trade business has to get solved.
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  Brother Apostate

  This is merely a symptom of the disease(s) infecting western society.

  Focusing on only ONE of the main causes of this situation would benefit not only the big 3, but all other US corporations and Wall Street as well.

  For the last few decades, ALL executive focus has been on short term (this year) profitability.

  Long term profitability and viabilty MUST be factored in to executive compensation packages.

  Absent this, ALL large corporations in the USA will fail, and with them, the US economy, the jobs, the quality of life, etc, etc, etc.

  BA- Terse.
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  beksbks

  Holy Cow, I actually agree with you BA
• 

  Homerovah the Almighty

  I can see the Governmental loans going through, but you can bet there's going to be a lot of lay offs and down sizing to occur.

  Thankfully the democrats and Obama are pro-labor, and they know what would happen if the big 3 failed and what wide spread catastrophes that would follow.

  I live in a town where the over majority of cars that you see on the roads are foreign, thats due impart to the fact that gas here is still $ 4.00 a gal. and the foreign cars

  such as Honda, Toyota, VW, make better economy cars, they are more reliable and hold their value longer.

  Why the big 3 haven't focused or realized this fact is puzzling !
• 

  sammielee24

  I guess the flip side is what started all this.

  If the government hadn't held everyone ransom and let Wall Street, because it is a business, fail, then there would be no pigs at the trough. The system would have collapsed, smoke would have gradually cleared and what's left would have risen. A lot of companies would have slid to the bottom but it would have been short lived and then shiny new ventures or old improved ones would have emerged. We would have all weathered the storm in the same boat.

  As it sits now - Wall Street execs are still going on paid junkets, still getting million dollar salaries and millions in bonuses, the bottom still hasn't hit for companies we thought we were done bailing out, banks who didn't want nor need money were forced to take it but banks who wanted it were forced into take overs funded by Paulson, the debt to the Fed is at 2 trillion - it's risen 1. 2 trillion in 6 months and here we sit with 56,000 homes a week going into forclosure and nobody buying because they are uncertain about their jobs. Unemployment has risen in rates unseen in 50 years and retail is dried up. Nothing is moving and nobody has faith in the leadership of the country. The average worker has seen nothing good in the Paulson scheme but has a lot of questions over the legality and validity of the big Bush scam.

  Do we let the companies fall? Add 3 million more to the unemployment rolls? Board up more store windows? Cancel out college for thousands of our young people? Set up more food banks and welfare rolls in order to cope? Those unemployed auto workers won't be flying or driving to a vacation spot. They won't be spending in restaurants or drycleaners or theaters. They won't be buying new clothes or seeing a doctor when they should. Dentists and Optometrists won't be scheduled. It's a ripple effect that hits every sector.

  The answer isn't easy but we wouldn't even be at the point of turning them away if we hadn't just watched the government spend 350 billion to help out Wall Street. Do we stop now or do we start looking at real ways to help the economy at the bottom and turn it around to trickle up? I predict that the companies will get this loan..they are predicted to be on track for profitability for 2010/11. I would hope that it is heavily restricted and conditioned. At the same time, I'd like to see all those guys who started this mess and who set up the scam and now want to bail themselves out by playing dumb at the bait and switch, held accountable. They won't be, but it would be nice. The cost of a loan to the companies is the cost of 3 months in Iraq...how many years have we been there now? sammieswife.
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  hillbilly

  beks...

  In my Union the mantra is "I carry the card... it doesnt carry me". Live in eastern Michigan for a while and tell me what the UAW mantra is.

  As Buick City (Flint) was being torn down a few years ago... well, listening to dozens of fat lazy UAW workers talking smack like they were in a position of power was pathetic.

  Auto just dont get it. Neither does managment.

  Hill