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Automotive News & Views United Automobile Workers of America (UAW)
16705 messages, Last post on Nov 25, 2009 at 6:56 PM
You are in the Automotive News & Views Forum. Your Hosts are steve_ & claires
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Replying to: wtd44 (Dec 25, 2008 3:54 pm) While no automaker would be spared in the shakeout, the deep US presence of Toyota, Honda and Nissan Motor Co make them particularly vulnerable to any supply disruptions, analysts said. Japanese automakers now represent 40 percent of US auto sales. They also build more than 60 percent of their vehicles sold to US consumers in North America. “There isn’t a supplier out there that does not touch GM,” said Erich Merkle, an analyst at Crowe Horwath. Merkle said GM buys $31bn a year from suppliers, “so when you remove GM, the supply base will file for bankruptcy.” Merkle and other analysts said a bankruptcy by an automaker would force many suppliers into liquidation because of the near impossibility of finding financing needed to restructure. “If suppliers liquidate, you won’t have components any more. It’s not just GM, Ford, and Chrysler. It’s Toyota, it’s Honda and it’s Nissan,” Merkle said. The Bush administration is considering emergency aid for the US automakers after a proposed $14bn bailout collapsed in the face of opposition from Senate Republicans. “Honda and Toyota themselves have started to say if these American automakers start to fail, and fail quickly, it will take out the supply base they all depend on,” said David Kudla, chief executive of Mainstay Capital Management. Shares of Toyota, No. 2 in US sales after GM, tumbled 10 percent in Tokyo after the bailout talks failed. Honda and Nissan dropped 12.5 percent and 11.5 percent, respectively. “The US auto market is shrinking rapidly,” Toyota said in a statement. “A major bankruptcy would exacerbate an already difficult environment for Toyota and the industry. We hope to avoid this situation.” http://www.thepeninsulaqatar.com/Display_news.asp?section=business_news&month=de- cember2008&file=business_news2008121452843.xml |
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Detroit's Big Three aren't the only automotive companies that want to see the government step in with some much-needed financial help. Overseas automakers, most notably Toyota Motor, all endorse some form of federal aid to keep General Motors (GM, Fortune 500), Chrysler LLC and possibly Ford Motor (F, Fortune 500) out of bankruptcy. "We support measures to help the industry," said Toyota Motor (TM) spokeswoman Mira Sleilati. "We just want a strong, competitive healthy industry." Collateral damage The overseas automakers, who between them produce more than 3 million vehicles a year at U.S. plants, all worry their production would be hurt if one of the U.S. automakers went under. That's because a Big Three failure would likely lead to widespread bankruptcies in the auto parts supplier industry. Erich Merkle, lead auto analyst with the consulting firm Crowe Horwath LLP, said there is much overlap between the automakers' suppliers. Since most parts in an automobile have only a single supplier producing them, the disruptions in production will be severe and prolonged. "The U.S. economy would be in shambles," Merkle said. "The robust U.S. economy that Toyota and the others depend on would suddenly not be as lucrative." The overseas automakers agree that the last thing they need is for the U.S. economy to slow further. The U.S. is the largest market for Toyota, Honda and Nissan (NSANY). All are expected to report lower U.S. sales this year for the first time ever. Enter new competition The final concern for the overseas automakers is a longer-term problem. The failure of a U.S. automaker could open the door for a Chinese or Indian automaker to buy up the assets of the failed company and create a new low-cost competitor in the U.S. "You could open the door for foreign companies to buy distressed assets at rock-bottom prices," he said. He pointed to India's Tata (TTM) and China's Geely as two automakers in the developing world that are already on record as being interested in expanding into western markets like the United States. http://money.cnn.com/2008/12/15/news/companies/overseas_automakers/?postversion=- 2008121517 Now what do those southern senators want? I suspect that their home state subsidized/lured transplants will set them straight.
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My youngest was playing. Its such good entertainment. In any case. Ted Nugent, I hear resides in near Waco Texas. I'm sure you have all heard of "The Motor City Mad Man". I've always liked his music. His son was out on the court playing too, playing one on one my son, defense or offense anyway. Anyone know how Ted feel about the UAW and the Big Three? The Strangehold brought it to mind. |
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good for you to be there when your son is playing. Dunno what the Motor City Madman thinks about the UAW and the Big Three. Someone ask him and post it in here. |
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Replying to: dallasdude1 (Dec 25, 2008 7:23 pm) If you think about it, you'll soon understand the logic behind Toyota's position. A post-bankruptcy GM, with its legacy costs under control & under the leadership of a new & more aggressive management team, will be a much more fearsome competitor. Do you think that Toyota wants that? Of course not. Toyota likes GM just the way it is now: bloated & slow to respond. Toyota finds the current competitive landscape very much to its liking & doesn't want radical, meaningful change, which can only come from bankruptcy reorganization.
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Replying to: jimbres (Dec 25, 2008 7:42 pm) Your absolutely right. Besides who else can Toyota use to do the innovations for their next generation of cars? |
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Replying to: dallasdude1 (Dec 25, 2008 3:32 pm)
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Replying to: gagrice (Dec 25, 2008 8:55 pm) IMSS Hospitals and clinics run by the IMSS (Instituto Mexicano de Seguro Social) are available to all Mexicans and foreigners* who hold jobs. A portion of the salary is withheld to cover affiliation and the employer contributes a larger amount each month to complete the premium. In addition, self employed people and retirees may also join the system after taking care of the paperwork and paying the annual fee. Some pre-existing conditions may not be covered. IMSS services cover doctors, diagnostic studies such as x-rays and lab work, hospitals and medical procedures, as well as prescription drugs. As with all socialized medical systems, the wait for care is usually longer than that in the private system. Many expats consider IMSS affiliation as a kind of major medical insurance should the need arise. http://www.mexconnect.com/mex_/healthindex.html
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Replying to: cooterbfd (Dec 25, 2008 4:54 pm) This is the problem I see in the unionized environment. "Their contract". "Their job". "Their company". "They [I assume the management] can run it as they see...". I'm used to a non-union environment where everybody works as a team to make the company, and therefore the employees, successful. I don't understand the wisdom of "the machine broke, but you can't touch that, it's not your job", or "We can't strike about that crappy product, it's not our role, or in our contract. It's the management's job. We don't take any responsibility for that". Well they SHOULD take responsibility for that. The management is not off the hook, either. Why is our auto company not as efficient as our competitors? Are we even trying? Did the union refuse to make changes, or is the management asleep? Did the management allow abusive contracts which hogtied the company? That's a management failure. If the competitors can operate in a team fashion and be more efficient, produce better products,have happier employees with MORE job security, then the management AND the union had better damn well make it their collective job to do anything they need to change the situation. Because if they don't (and they haven't for the most part), the competitors will EAT THEIR LUNCH. And then the management who allowed the abusive contracts and the union workers who were greedy go whining to the taxpayer, many/most of who are less well compensated, to bail them out! We've been told in this forum about all that the unions have done for the American worker (true, in the past), and how we should support the union products. Well the average American who is not a union worker sees better products coming from elsewhere and wonders where all this value is by paying higher wages and benes to companies who can't even produce products that are as good as their lesser compensated competitors. Where is the value added? Should our country be based upon more pay for inferior efficiency, quality, craftmanship? There were some real great Lada's in the Eastern Block, is that where we want our country to go by allowing any but the best products to succeed? I'm sorry but I don't see the UAW value any longer, and there are millions of Americans who agree with me. Ultimately even the bailout doesn't matter, what matters is the D3 producing desirable products that enough Americans want to buy. And that is not happening right now, and with an economy that is not likely to recover for at least a year, I don't see it happening anytime soon. And Goldfinger is going to continue to hold out for the short-term financial gains of the unions. He should care about how he's destroying the US auto industry. The pathetic strike of GM plants this year where the most successful products were being produced just shows how low the UAW has descended. I feel sorry for many hardworking individuals, but as a group the UAW needs to die. The faster it happens the better for the long term health of the US auto industry. |
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1. In 2008, A UAW assembly line worker retires, with 30 years service, . His base wage is $28 hourly. He is 60 years old. How much pension does he receive? 2. As a retiree, how much of his medical insurance premiums is he responsible for paying? 3. Under the current medical plan, does he have any deductible or co-pay obligations when using the health insurance? Thanks, Kip
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