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Automotive News & Views GM News, New Models and Market Share
8251 messages, Last post on Nov 23, 2009 at 7:04 AM
You are in the Automotive News & Views Forum. Your Hosts are steve_ & claires
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General Motors has spent millions of dollars developing and marketing its 2010 Chevrolet Camaro, which is scheduled to go into production in February. But the bankruptcy of an interior parts supplier is threatening to delay the pony car, which isn’t just bad news for GM, but could have a ripple effect on dealers and even other suppliers. In an effort to prevent a delay of the new Camaro, GM has filed a lawsuit against Cadence Innovation LLC, accusing the company of “holding hostage” the parts it needs to put the car into production. The suit demands Cadence immediately hand over the parts and equipment required for a new supplier to take over. GM says it needs to have a new supplier in place by January 12th, or it will not be able to begin production of the Camaro on schedule. “Even one day’s disruption in supply of certain component parts could cause a shutdown of GM assembly operations, disrupting not only GM’s business, but the operations of countless suppliers, dealers, customers and other stakeholders,” the lawsuit states.
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Replying to: 62vetteefp (Dec 26, 2008 7:38 pm) |
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Replying to: 62vetteefp (Dec 26, 2008 7:38 pm) My company for example has our R&D people sourcing materials from a 2nd supplier even if we don't use them. We have them as a backup. On some of our parts we buy 50% from Supplier 1 and 50% from Supplier 2 to keep both in business, and to play one against the other if needed. GM then is really vulnerable to any strike. Or what if the plant making those parts has a fire and burns down tomorrow? Maybe GM ought to manage better, and stop suing others because of their stupidity. |
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Replying to: kernick (Dec 27, 2008 7:55 am) And the truth to be told, there are more "foreign" plants operating on U.S. soil than ther are GM plants. Canada isn't the U.S. auto industry. Mexico isn't either. China is pretty much the anti-industry(think Anti-Christ for appropriate emphasis here). Tennessee and Georgia? Last I checked, those are inside the U.S. Yes, it's a "Japanese" make, but the reality is is that the U.S. auto industry has been taken over just like the TV and electronics industries were. And last I checked, people seem awfully happy to buy those iPods. And Hondas and Toyotas. Lastly - I bring this up again because the reality is that it doesn't matter where the car company's headquarters is. All that matters is where it's made. Those plants generate hundreds of millions of dollars a year in wages, upkeep, taxes, and other money just to keep running. And 99% of it is staying in the local economy. Honda is making a couple of thousand profit over cost on most cars that it sells. Most of that is eaten up by marketing and other costs, though. Their actual "profit" is very small. More than 50% of the entire cost of the car that you buy, though, is going into the pockets of the workers or someone who works or services or supplies the plant. The NUUMI plant in Fremont, CA. Generates a total of one billion dollars to the state economy. That's GM and Toyota working together, but it's not the norm. It's buying "Not made in the U.S." that's killing our industry. Not failing to support GM, Ford, and Chrysler.
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Replying to: kernick (Dec 27, 2008 7:55 am)
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Replying to: 62vetteefp (Dec 27, 2008 11:50 am) Know why the PC market isn't subject to the same worries? Standardization. Why is the automotive industry not standardized, even within brands? Don't know, but engine mounts on a Malibu and Impala aren't even the same. In retrospect, faced with the loss of possible "critical" suppliers, this may have been a major mistake, having so little standardization.
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Replying to: bpizzuti (Dec 27, 2008 12:27 pm) |
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Replying to: 62vetteefp (Dec 27, 2008 11:50 am) So the Camaro is a niche product. The Volt will be a niche product. With perhaps the exception of the Malibu, where are the profitable non-niche products at GM, besides trucks and SUVs? Where is the mainstream competitive small car? Will that be the Cruze? |
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Replying to: plekto (Dec 27, 2008 11:05 am) If I could afford it I'd buy a new Chevy. I would like the R&D part spent in this country. Honda pays a paltry $320 wages to the american assembly worker for making their car here. Honda demands that their suppliers from Japan come over to Ohio to make the parts that go in their cars that are assembled here. There is very little R&D by the transplants here in USA. GM sells 9 million cars a year at $25000 avg. That is 225 Billion dollars in sales per year, worldwide. Honda has their eye on that! The better plan? Obama talks about a 700 Billion stimulus package to create jobs. We are all pissed because GM will get a $9 billion loan to keep 900,000 jobs. If Obama's plan is as good as GM's at job creation, his stimulus package will create 90 million jobs. 20 times as many as we could use.
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Replying to: dave8697 (Dec 27, 2008 5:54 pm) Honda pays a paltry $320 wages to the american assembly worker for making their car here. Assembly is a very *small* part of the labor going into making a car. Other US labor used in Honda vehicles: - Parts manufacturing (most of it in US for many Honda cars) - Engine plants - Parts transport - Assembly plant maintenance, overhead, management - Parts plant maintenance, overhead, management - Plant electricity, water, sewage, gas, etc. - all provided by US workers - Honda USA in California who puts together marketing and handles corporate customer service - Transportation of Hondas from assembly plants to the dealers on trains and trucks, all US labor - Honda dealerships: sales, administrative, service, maintenance, etc. - Honda advertising put together by advertising agencies in the US We are all pissed because GM will get a $9 billion loan to keep 900,000 jobs. GM does not have 900,000 jobs. You are drinking the UAW kool-aid. We keep hearing about how GM is labor competitive with the D3. So that means GM only pays around $320 labor per vehicle assembled, just like Honda. If you want to compare apples to apples then include all of the Honda-affected jobs just like all the GM -affected jobs. Not this foolish $320 vs. 900,000 jobs comparison which is total nonsense. Use the same comparison rather than slanting your argument so ridiculously that it means nothing. Or does the real argument not hold water? If Obama's plan is as good as GM's at job creation, his stimulus package will create 90 million jobs. 20 times as many as we could use. GM is good at job creation? Tell me where a $9billion loan is going to *create* ANY jobs. GM has been killing jobs left and right for 30 years. At least in this country, not so in China, Mexico, and Europe. You're probably trying to imply that a $9billion loan saves 900K jobs. Obama is trying to create jobs. GM is trying not to lose tons of jobs, which is a big difference. Using the same flawed logic as above, you also forget that the $9billion is just a down payment on $100billion or more to keep General Titanic Motors afloat for a few years until they eventually fail unless they make radical changes that they have not yet made. Like focusing more on quality vehicles rather than how many brands and dealers they can have. GM has had to cheapen its vehicles so much in the past 20 years to stay cost competitive that the quality difference showed. GM has lost over half its market share. If you are one of the few surviving UAW workers then the protected life has been good. All others have been screwed. Think of all the GM dealerships' staff that have lost their jobs over the past 5 years due to the UAW sucking all the resources for itself. There's some real American pride. |
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