Edmunds.com | Inside Line | Auto Observer Your Account | Help | Directory
You are here:
![[F]](http://a332.g.akamai.net/f/332/936/12h/www.edmunds.com/media/townhall/webxicons/site.gif){kind=small}
Forums
Automotive News & Views Does America Even Need Its Own Automakers?
1788 messages, Last post on Mar 03, 2009 at 2:18 PM
You are in the Automotive News & Views Forum. Your Hosts are steve_ & claires
|
...for those who think the Auto industry is passe, and going the way of the buggy whip take heed: How else do we get around? Haul plywood? Kids to school, practice, groceries, etc. Until a better organisation of technology and society is evolved, the auto is still king. ...Sure it's nice to be the engineer, designer, production chief, but someone has to build what we buy. Being a Washing Machine assembly man (or women) is not glamorous, but autos still draw strings from the emotions of people, that sets an autoworker apart from people making TV's, although many would argue what's the difference? ...Even if you equate those workers the same standard in society, the Auto industry still accounts for one in six/seven jobs in Europe, one in seven/eight in America. The mulltiplier affect for one auto assembly worker is usually a factor of nine, and often three times that number. Slightly more than 3,000 people assemble Rolls-Royce at Goodwood, but nearly 85,000 people in supplier industries work providing parts that go into one car. The same holds true in America, for example at the impending Lincoln Mark S assembly line in Chicago---with more than 100,000 people working in supplier industries to make one car come off the line. ...Efficiencies in technology of manufacture will necessarily further reduce the numbers of auto workers over time, but at some point there remains a minimum required to manufacture cars, usually 3,100 per assembly plant. That's $108Mn is salaries at a mid level of $35k per year. So the average plant easily creates $150Mn is wages to the local econonmy. Ask any Governor of any state whether they would like to entice that kind of business within their cities, and you can bet what the answer might be. ...whether they build tried and true American brands, or whether transplants as Honda and Toyota, the people who hold those jobs certainly need them. Sure, they'd like to be engineers, etc., but not everyone gets the chance or makes it that far...and often many factory workers find their niche (as my Grandfather did working for Lincoln Motor Company in 1921) within manufacturing. ...OK, labour is cheaper in China, where average salaries are 35% less than America in the big cities, ($18,000 purchasing power parity in Shanghai), and the emerging nations as India. "Sure" let's off shore all of our auto manufacturing to the lower paying wage nations...for a time the cars will be cheaper to produce, but eventually the wage rates will rise, making the game less of a bargain. We can't all have jobs in service industries...someone has to build things, that is the march of civilisation. ...until a leaner, more convenient, or nimble evolution of individual transportation comes round, or environmental disaster strikes through increased global warming, or political upheaval strikes and fascist regimes in the Middle East cut off the oil, the automobile is the mode of choice. Evenso, it will be for some time. ...does America and Americans really want to cast aside an industry that provides so much? What would replace it in our society, what industries would take their place and still provide the incomes necessary for home and hearth? 'Till then, keep the wheels rolling. Because Autos are the 'Real Deal'. DouglasR (Sources: CIA World Fact Book 2007; Automotive News, Wards Automotive, Edmunds Online)
|
|
|
|
|
Replying to: douglasr (May 21, 2007 4:28 am) I do agree though that a country needs to actually MAKE stuff...it can't just sit there and "think" all day while the world slaves away for it...we know from history where that goes. It needs that creative energy and that muscle. But it doesn't have to be about cars, any more than our national identity had to revolve around cameras or VCRs or all the other commodities we have allocated to others to make. My main concern is that America "follow the new model"...if it just sits there and waits for its auto industry to collapse without adapting beforehand, it's all going to be worse. Great Britain did nothing about its motorcycle and auto industry and they both fell crashing into a smoldering heap of rubbish, with lots of hardship all around. Now the UK is fairly prosperous again, as a financial capital and also maker of other things. But it could have all been far less painful with the right planning. Triumph, BSA, Enfield, Norton---they could have all looked at the 1970 Honda Four and said "look, we're screwed. This is twice the bike at half the price. Let's get into the office furniture business". |
|
| I am not a gearhead like a lot of you. From my perspective as a consumer, companies with a complete line and manufacture all or most their own parts are history. They will need to narrow their focus. If you look at bicycles, one of the major players is Trek based in Waterloo, Wisconsin. But they use a lot of Japanese parts. American companies are in there, usually starting with high-ends parts, not the mass-produced parts for cheaper bikes. For automotives, take a look at the Indy 500 field, all 33 cars are using Honda engines (http://www.indycar.com/grid/index-indy.php). All of them are also using Firestone tires. I would not be surprised, if in 20 years, I see a Ford or Chevy with a Honda engine, advertised that way. | |
|
Replying to: msindallas (May 20, 2007 8:59 pm) Nanotech is going to be huge as well, but I hope we will also be the one who implement this technology in different products. Nanotech and biomed engineering is going to shore up my local economy (boston) for the next 10-20 yrs. There are tons of small companies who are doing R&D work just in these two areas. okay, back to cars. Are there nanobots that can change the chemical make up of the sludge that are founded in many yota engines so they can be flushed out? |
|
|
|
|
nanobots have green heads? Do they even have heads at all? This is getting pretty deep. |
|
|
I guess I am ready to start diving in.... I think I come down on the side of not needing our own auto makers. We'll need some assembly plants like we have now but in the long run if GM, Ford and Chrysler fold the others will just fill in the gap. That said, I would rather that not happen. There is something about our self-image as a nation that would take a beating from taht even as most of us don't buy American cars. I would mourn the loss of GM, but the company that I think of as GM has been gone for a long time. If they can reinvent themselves and remain relevant in the new direction they seem to be taking more power to them. I'd like that. One thing I haven't seen yet and won't for several years barring one of my cars getting totaled is how I would behave with a few competitive American vehicles in the market that I'd be shopping in. Saturn now has the Aura which I would indeed look at. I'd look at a Fusion though giving it only token "American car" points since it isn't built here. I think the next round models coming out will tell the tale.
|
|
|
Replying to: fezo (May 21, 2007 5:29 pm)
|
|
|
|
|
Replying to: gagrice (May 21, 2007 6:41 pm) Plenty of more high end shoes are made in Europe. I had some great driving shoes made in Italy but they finaly wore out a while ago.
|
|
|
Replying to: british_rover (May 21, 2007 6:46 pm) |
|
|
If I am buying a LCD HDTV, I want the one that offers most crystal clear image, regardless where is it made - right now that'll be Sony. If I am buying a pair of tennis shoes, I want the one that fits my feet best and most comfortable, regardless where is it made - after many years of experiment, I am sticking with Nike for now. If I am buying a daily driver, I want the one that has great style, best in class interior material, fit-n'-finish, class-leading horsepower with a modern engine and a touch of luxury without breaking the bank, regardless where is it made - right now that'll be Lexus and Acura. If I am buying a weekend fun car, I want the one that has great style, great handling and the best bang for the buck, regardless where is it made - right now that'll be the Corvette. If I am in the market for small size business jet, it'll be a Learjet, regardless where is it made. If I am in the market for a medium size business jet, it'll be a Gulfstream, regardless where is it made. If I am in the market for a Large size business, it'll be a BBJ-737, regardless where is it made. If I am a foreign country in the market to upgrade my air force and looking for a multi-role fighter that can do it all without resorting to raise tax, it'll be a Lockheed Martin F-16, regardless where is it made. Consider I want my F-16s to achieve their highest potential and be most effective, I'll get some Raytheon AIM-120, regardless where is it made. All right, my points are... (1) Regardless where is a product made, as long as it has great quality at a reasonable price, people will buy it. (2) US should be the leader in advanced technology industry (like right now for example in aerospace) and continue to be. Being a leader in automobile manufacturing would not keep US as number one but having something other countries don't would.
|
|
You are here:
Forums
Automotive News & Views Does America Even Need Its Own Automakers?
New? Join Now!
Forum Tools
Search Forums
Browse by Vehicle
Browse by Board
Browse by Topic
Today's Chats
