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Buying American Cars What Does It Mean?

18079 messages,  Last post on May 20, 2013 at 10:17 AM

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What is this discussion about? Car Buying

With parts coming from everywhere, does "Buying American" have much meaning anymore? Is quality and price the bottom line?

Messages Page 1701 of 1809

#16996 of 18079 Re: buying American tires [tlong] by fintail

Feb 20, 2013 (7:55 pm)

Replying to: tlong (Feb 20, 2013 6:41 pm)
I'd say the lower managers put in the most sweat and tears - getting the BS that trickles down and the junk that trickles up. 5x12 hour days for CEOs? I guess if you count golf outings and fancy dinners and private jet travel, etc. The mid level is usually useless, and the upper levels not a lot better.
 
Seems the transplants have better executive decision making too - the key to the failure of the old Big 3.

#16997 of 18079 Re: buying American tires [steve_] by gagrice

Feb 20, 2013 (10:29 pm)

Replying to: steve_ (Feb 20, 2013 6:40 pm)
Yeah, these guys were all up on the Slope from the 80s on.
 
Yeah, I went up in 1980. It was a totally different world. It was all about maintenance and monitoring. The construction was much more planned in advance during the next 3 decades. Many of the construction camps were shut down and deteriorated. We had periods of boom during my tenure. Nothing close to the 30,000 people building the line. Averaged about 5k-6k while I was there.
 
I just cannot see a UAW worker building a Maserati, Porsche or Ferrari. Hopefully they do a good job with the JGC diesel, as that is at the top of my list now. If Mercedes gets a decent supply of ML350 Bluetechs I may find one I cannot live without. Though they do not look as good as the JGC, Touareg or even the X5 to my eyes.

#16998 of 18079 Re: buying American tires [fintail] by gagrice

Feb 20, 2013 (10:42 pm)

Replying to: fintail (Feb 20, 2013 7:48 pm)
Apparently he stated some unpleasant facts, that the boorish CEO with questionable credentials heads a company much smaller than the one he is calling out, and more importantly. relatively much less profitable.
  
To echo that note I posted - Titan will eventually be Chinese, especially with those business ethics. And the French aint gonna buy those tires, believe me.
 
Good year is bleeding red ink by the gallon. So how do you figure they are doing better than Titan. Not sure how Michelin got involved. If they are so hot for lazy French workers they should take on that bunch of losers at the Goodyear plant.
 
The French will be in an austerity mode worse than US if not already. They will buy the cheapest tires for their tractors from who ever.
 
Titan Tires is a small part of Titan International (TWI). Who knows the Chinese may already own them. They own a large part of GM. Whatcha gonna do when the Chinese buy Mercedes Benz.

#16999 of 18079 Re: buying American tires [fintail] by tlong

Feb 20, 2013 (11:16 pm)

Replying to: fintail (Feb 20, 2013 7:56 pm)
The US isn't the standard - residents of many other developed nations have it easier than Americans. We're devolved according to many first world Europeans. Germans laugh at what people tolerate here.
 
I tend to agree with this. But of course it's relative.
 
I wonder how long before the first Chinese or Indian cars are sold in the US? So far the only major Chinese assemblies have been from GM (engine).

#17000 of 18079 Re: buying American tires [fintail] by tlong

Feb 20, 2013 (11:21 pm)

Replying to: fintail (Feb 20, 2013 7:55 pm)
The mid level is usually useless, and the upper levels not a lot better.
 
This is where we see things differently. People are people and there is a Gaussian distribution at all levels - the excellent ones, the middle of the road, and the dregs. For a company the problem is that if the top leadership are dregs, it permeates the entire organization. Such as GM for a few decades. Mix it up with a toxic UAW and you have a disastrous dish.
 
But there are an awful lot of very good people at all levels in most companies, too. There is really no reason that "most" management is poor. Although it may look that way to the union workers or cube rats.
 
Seems the transplants have better executive decision making too - the key to the failure of the old Big 3.
 
Agreed.

#17001 of 18079 Re: buying American tires [gagrice] by robr2

Feb 21, 2013 (5:46 am)

Replying to: gagrice (Feb 20, 2013 5:15 pm)
Last if the French are such great workers, why does Michelin make most of their tires in other countries?
 
To avoid tariffs that are slapped on imported tires (depending on the country), to be close to customers, to keep transportation costs down, yada, yada, yada.

#17002 of 18079 Re: buying American tires [gagrice] by robr2

Feb 21, 2013 (6:05 am)

Replying to: gagrice (Feb 20, 2013 5:26 pm)
If you did not pi** it all away on flashy cars and fast wimmin.
 
No no no - you've got it all wrong.
 
According to George Best: "I spent 90% of my money on women, drink and fast cars. The rest I wasted."

#17003 of 18079 Re: buying American tires [tlong] by gagrice

Feb 21, 2013 (7:53 am)

Replying to: tlong (Feb 20, 2013 11:21 pm)
the excellent ones, the middle of the road, and the dregs
 
In all my years in various phone companies, 5 to be exact, I had one very competent 2nd level manager. I would give 3 supervisors high marks. Most of my dealings with 2nd level was as a shop steward. I know for a fact that 2nd level is a position you are dumped in when another department wants to rid themselves of you. At AT&T Alascom it was like a turnstile job. Rarely did they get bumped back to supervisor. Those that went to the next level were either competent or great BSers.
 
I worked with a guy that was a great BSer. He wanted to be in management so bad he would do anything. His chance came while on vacation in TX. He convinced a small Telco he was what they needed as a mid level manager. He was flying high. Calling us all the time to tell us how he would go into the office in the morning line out the supervisors and head to the golf course. This went on for over a year. Then one day he called up wanting to know if there were any openings. He got fired when his boss realized what he was doing with his time. How it took a year is anyone's guess. We did not hire him back as a Teamster technician because we did not need any BSers at the time. We had plenty of them.

#17004 of 18079 Re: buying American tires [robr2] by fintail

Feb 21, 2013 (9:15 am)

Replying to: robr2 (Feb 21, 2013 6:05 am)
Remember, the best retirement plan is the one where the check to the undertaker bounces

#17005 of 18079 Re: buying American tires [gagrice] by fintail

Feb 21, 2013 (9:26 am)

Replying to: gagrice (Feb 20, 2013 10:42 pm)
This was about a loud ugly CEO of undetermined credibility (who certainly climbed a ladder that doesn't exist today and could never ascend to his position now if he exited school after y2k) calling someone else out - when apparently his own company isn't the most profitable. When some confuse hours worked with work ethic, I don't know.
  
The US needs austerity mode 10x more than what the easygoing developed EU members (with higher qualities of life than the average American)will endure. Some of that austerity means ending the corporate welfare and pity-the-rich trickle down trough, cutting back the policeman of the world military-industrial debt machine, and cutting the foreign aid to parasites cord. If we could reel in some of those black holes, we could probably compare to some of their positive standards, instead of racing to the bottom.
 
Go research French consumer behavior. Like some other Euros, they take great pride in buying locally. Very proud and nationalistic people. Cheap (and likely poorly made and built under inhumane and environmentally criminal conditions) Chinese tires won't find a loving customer base in France. I'd be interested to see where Michelin tires actually consumed in France are produced.
 
I am not holding my breath about the Chinese buying MB. They'll try to copy, which the first world shouldn't tolerate, but buy - nah.

Messages Page 1701 of 1809

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