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Automotive News & Views United Automobile Workers of America (UAW)
16738 messages, Last post on Dec 03, 2009 at 10:07 AM
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concepts that is apparently overlooked, regardless of UAW or Management, is the fact that the Big 3 have more capacity to build cars far in excess of their ability to sell them...if they can make 7 million cars but only sell 5 million, the numbers are literally more simple than the UAW will admit...close enough plants and dump enough workers to shrink capacity down to the 5 million you can sell...that means that the suppliers, who are set up to sell you the parts for 7 million vehicles must also shrink to 5 million, so they must close or reduce capacity... So find me the plants that are old, or make the cars no one wants to buy, and your formula is clear... You wouldn't buy a 7 bedroom house if you had no kids, you wouldn't set up a hospital the size of the Mayo Clinic in a town of 3,500 people, and they simply have more capacity from the days when they needed it...they don't need it any longer...and they have yet to shut down sufficient plants to reduce their capacity with demand...
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Replying to: grbeck (Dec 23, 2008 7:29 am) I'll agree (Taurus) it was hideous and a dog. I had one as a rental once. But it was the same size and the Camry. However, numbers are fact. Then some brilliant designer decided to round/oval the windows and made it look even worse. Like the offspring of an AMC Pacer. German consultants got Toyota to build cars American would fit in at or around 1979. Celica had dramatic change, including the Tagra band, enormous pistons, and a huge crank. Solid valve lifters made the R20 and the R22 indestructible motors/engines. Since I took many of these apart, they were nearly identical to the Porsche motors. That was Toyota's finest offering and better yet was the Supra's soon to come, when Celica went front wheel drive. The 82 Supra was far superior to the 82 VETT. VETT has no Japanese match now and Camry/Accord are much better than Taurus. However, there is a Chevy which may soon be the car of the masses. So I hear. There is a wake up call to GM/Ford/UAW and I expect positive results. I don't believe that Toyota/Honda are going to be sitting on their hands either and the more choice out there, the better for the consumer. Union and non union workers, blue collar and white collar, supplier and OEM all know that their families are depending on them to provide. Police chief's were disappointed that GM did away with the rear wheel drive Caprice/Impala. The 96 Impala SS is a very sought after car. In 02 the Camaro Z28 and SS were discontinued after almost being perfected. In 01 the Catera was discontinued (still sold in Europe as an Opel Omega) and redesigned as the CTS. These were mistakes or miscalculations from my stand point. The UAW gets blamed for many things beyond their control. Building an aluminum/non sleeved block for the Vega was retarded and a futile attempt to lose weight/gain MPG. That engineer should have been drug tested. No one figured that going to unleaded gas was going to warp valves. Leaded gas protected valves. So that can be excused as an honest human miscalculation.
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Replying to: marsha7 (Dec 23, 2008 7:33 pm) This is nothing new in business. Expansion and contraction/surplus and shortage and to reduce inventory they invented the pricing mechanism. At some point the supply and demand curve meet. Thats the market price, where supply meets demand. Here in Arlington Texas they can produce about 250,000 Tahoe/Yukon/Escalade per year at full capacity. The shorter SUV's and its a state of the art cell system/honey comb factory. Unfortunately, I don't think they can sell them and make a profit. Too bad the night shift and maybe even more people will have to suffer. Some are even UAW. When they rein in their expenses, others will suffer, not just the suppliers. They may have to forgo eating out, cable TV, cell phone service, Internet service, and make other alteration which ripple through out the economy and effect other hard working people. Those coming out of college and ready to set the world on fire, may find experienced newly layed off people competing with them for fewer openings/jobs. When do we figure that were all in this UAW and non UAW? |
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Replying to: andre1969 (Dec 23, 2008 2:20 pm)
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Replying to: iluvmysephia1 (Dec 23, 2008 4:27 pm) Everyone is under the impression that the Joint Strike Fighter is the largest military contract out there. In reality, the armed forces handed Boeing a gold mine. They figure they can save more money and do more with Boeing than say the C17 and others. The UAW need a defibrillator to come back to life. However, when folks lose their health insurance we need to look at the whole picture. My spouse also works for a large consortium of drug makers in the distribution system, directly to patients. I sit in on their philanthropic board and one of these days we are going to find just cause for denying a needy/indigent person. So what percentage of folks who work in hospitals get these staff infection? I know thats misspelled. |
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Replying to: rockylee (Dec 23, 2008 8:13 am) "I can tell you being on the inside that Saturn, isn't going anywhere and Pontiac, will be a niche brand. Those were the words coming from Rick Wagoner and Mark LaNeve. Saab and Hummer, will be sold or closed. " It's all negotiable my dear. Hummer sold to the mid east and Saab remains to be seen . You aren't trusting management now are you? Oh how quickly they roll , Uaw, this is it, no really , not kidding. They aren't joking. Concede or see what bankruptcy court gives you . There once was an airline named Eastern airlines, their baggage handlers made upper 20's/hr in the '70's. They refused to negotiate and alas are no more. But what do I know?
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Replying to: gagrice (Dec 23, 2008 5:26 pm) Bailout or no bailout, that was a duplicate plant and was in the master plan all along. These are UAW people and human just like you and I. The article describes them as good hard workers and far from the lazy/indolent stereotype you have labeled them as. They may lack education, but nonetheless they are my union brothers/sisters. |
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Replying to: lokki (Dec 23, 2008 6:32 am) What should GM and the UAW do now? Good question. What would a smart man do? I think this is not just the UAW and GM in crisis. The nation/world is in for a prolong recession/depression. We might be better off thinking of how to shorten the agony. Prices are going down to reduce inventory/over production. Retailers are having customers wanting $1000 items for $200 to $300 as I read today. So my solution is in the short term to get that money thats taking up space to work for a stimulus. Sooner or later that $1000 item is just taking up space and will eventually sell at a loss or have to wait for the economy to recover. Its of no use having an empty home or tires dry rotting on a car. Besides vandals/neglect might make it more of an eyesore and less attractive to consumers. If we as a nation or better yet as a planet, reduced prices and wages in half, we could get those savers to come out and get it over with. This would fuel the economy with idle savings set aside for mindless reasons. If the planet refuses to go along we would have to do it as a buy American deal. This would be the least of any worries, since price would absolutely the main consideration. There would have to be a time lag in which all purchases would be put off prior to the greatest sale on earth. Mainly for big ticket items (homes, autos, boats, and others) 3 months would be reasonable. If wages and prices are cut in half, so are mortgage and car payments (all payments). Only savings accounts/demand deposits would not be cut in half. Nothing sold on credit whatsoever. A cash cows sales event to fuel the economy. If this works the agony of a protracted downturn would more than likely be shorten. My expectations would be that all that idle money would fuel the economy and have a multiplier effect which would last for years. In those years the GM's and UAW's could plan a little bit better for future rainy days. Then too it may generate enough tax revenue to offset some or maybe all of our govt's debt. Face it all the players, well a good many of them, have been caught with their pants down. None of these irresponsible corporations/unions have been watching out for shareholder/members value. So now tell me the flaws. If there are none I'm bailing out Obama/Wall Street/America/planet earth. PS The stock market would not be effected, many are already half price or less.
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Replying to: duke23 (Dec 23, 2008 8:55 pm) Then listen to stories from military men and women whose lives literally have been saved by the big, heavy, versatile cousin to the Hummer H1, the Humvee. Suddenly, it's not important that actor-turned-governor Arnold Schwarzenegger is the biggest fan of the military Humvee and the owner of multiple Hummers. The Hummer H1s sold in the United States last year don't seem like such a big deal as do the thousands of Humvees sold and delivered to the U.S. military. What matters is that three MPs walked away from a Humvee after its front end was blown off in Bosnia, and that a U.S. Army Ranger in gritty Mogadishu, Somalia, was saved when an RPG—rocket-propelled grenade—failed to penetrate the door of his Humvee. Stories like these filter back to the South Bend, Indiana, home of the Humvee and Hummer all the time. "In the past month, we have had two phone calls from soldiers who served in Afghanistan who called to say they wanted to thank the people who made the vehicle that saved their lives," said Craig Mac Nab, director of public relations for AM General. http://editorial.autos.msn.com/article.aspx?cp-documentid=435127 http://www.geocities.com/baja/8876/military.htm UAW workers build the Hummer and is proud to support our troops. |
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