msnbc.msn.com — "Rick Wagoner, chief executive, is expected to announce that about 30,000 workers ? more than a quarter of GM's blue-collar US workforce ? have taken up its offer of early retirement and severance packages."
Jun 26, 2006 View in Crawl 4
vajra918Jun 26, 2006
I have a Toyota truck from 1985 actually... it has >300k miles on it and still runs great. If your American car still runs in 20 years ill eat my hat.
dancpsuJun 26, 2006
Toyota is mostly non-union:``As a result of us losing market share to the foreign imports, we're losing American jobs. It just hurts our economy here,'' Currington said, adding that the UAW has been weakened by Toyota's mostly nonunion operations.from: <a class="user" href="http://www.autonews24h.com/Auto-Industry/Toyota-News/Toyota-ads.html">http://www.autonews24h.com/Auto-Industry/Toyota-News/Toyota-ads.html</a>
jabelarJun 26, 2006
Actually, I think there are already dealers planning to import Chinese vehicles by 2008. While it is easy to laugh this off, people were pretty sceptical about Korean cars in their day, and Japanese before that.
eseversonJun 26, 2006
Say what you will about GM vs. Japanese cars etc., but this many Americans losing jobs and having to take early retirement is sad indeed. :(
cg0defJun 26, 2006
Actually dumbass the greatest thing about American government is that it says out of people's way as much as possible. Forcing you to buy ONLY american cars ( or anything else for that matter ) goes against everything that America stands for. There's a little thing called freedom ( of choice and such ) that you seem to forget about. Not to mention that many foreign manufacturers actually create great jobs in America for Americans.
mouskyJun 26, 2006
This is but one step. GM needs to cut the number of models it produces - why do Chevrolet, Pontiac and Buick all have to have a mini-van? Make each division unique and reduce the number of rebranded vehicles. Then GM needs to cut it's dealer network by at least half. The area where I live has a population of 300,000 and has one Toyota dealership. There are at least 8 GM dealerships. Guess where it is easier to bargain?
torklupJun 27, 2006
Good point. China owns 15% of the US economy; it's a credible threat.
detroitsuxJun 27, 2006
Slowly but surely, the upper echelons won't be able to ignore the problem: <a class="user" href="http://fordboldmoves.com">http://fordboldmoves.com</a>
betterthJun 27, 2006
@spectrm"@jarvusswell, I'm glad to see that instead of supporting your local (read American) economy by purchasing American models that fit your gas mileage needs, and size requirements (the Pontiac Grand Am is a good choice, as is the Chevy Cobalt or the Aveo) or your budget needs (again the Cobalt and Aveo both run under 15k, a filly loaded Aveo is about 12.5k in Illinois) you're rushing to send your money, which would do well to not only support your US car manufacturers efforts towards affordable, eco-friendly cars, to another country. Patriotism doesn't stop at voting and liberal-minded political dissent. The US is capitalist - you vote with your dollars, here. Progress in a Democracy (republic, really, but you get the point) is evolutionary. It needs to be hand-fed slowly. You just need to be patient and willing. If you don't like the way GM does business, then you have a choice of Ford, Chrysler, even Acura.Responsibility doesn't only prescribe cynicism, but some measure of loyalty as well.Just my $0.02"First off, Acura is japanese, chief. It's Honda. I can tell already that you're knowledge of the auto industry is limitless.Now, an Aveo against a Civic.I'll be using consumer reports information, feel free to dispute it, but its a worthy source.The Aveo (04) does around a 11sec 0-60 with 19/27 city/hiway mpg. It was rated with a 3/5 for reliability and a 2/5 for customer satisfaction. As far as the hardware goes it scored mostly 4/5s, with a 2/5 in suspension 2/5 in body hardware, 3/5 electrical, The Civic (06) does 0-60 in 10, with 18/43 city/highway mpg. It was rated 5/5 reliability, 4/5 customer satisfaction. As far as the hardware, it rated a 5/5 in every single catagory except for a 4/5 in Suspension, Paint and Body Integrity.The cars are very close in price and yet the civic scored higher in 95% of the catagories. Not to mention, the Honda engines are a work of art. As Car and Driver said this year about the Civic being the car of the year, and it's not verbatim as I don't have the article with me, "The Civic redlines at 8000 rpm and easily does more. The other cars tested, such as the Focus and Cobalt will go as high too ... once."
spectrmJun 27, 2006
@ betterthAcura is owned by and gets some of their parts from Honda, but they are manufactured in the good ol' U.S. of A. Same with Lexus (although they may be attached to Mitsubishi or some other - not sure). The issue raised in this article, and presumably any SANE conversation inspired by it, should revolve around automobile manufacturer's employees, not the latest Consumer Reports on two cars of differing years ('06 vs '04). I never said I liked the Aveo, I only pointed out it's low price. I also mentioned the Chevy Cobalt (which received rave reviews from every article I read about it). I also happened to mention the Pontiac Grand Am, also reasonably priced, it's gas mileage averaging 26/32 for the last 4-6 years, whether you're talking the 6-cyl 3.4 (beautiful engine I might add) or the 4-cyl 2.2 (the one I opted for on account of an approx. 2500USD tage on the extra 1.2L.Sorry, pal, but anyone getting their information from Consumer Digest or whatever instead of test driving the cars for themselves, has nothing much to say to me. I've test driven more than 30 cars in the last year or two and besides most BMW's and the occasional Passat or Jetta I climbed into, I always found myself going back to a GM. I will say, however, that Hummer's are ugly and unnecessary. Don't get so snappy, either...it's not fitting of an online dialogue.@ biffsputnikSee above about the Acura comment.And as for the Union comments, I totally agree. The unions are doing it to themselves. Almost makes me wish Hoffa was still around. But it becomes important to note (as I know first hand; everyone in my family has a Union membership card - 5 with the Teamsters, 2 with TWA, 1 Pipefitter, and a few Tin-knockers), there's more to making someone care about their job or employer than a fat paycheck. For one, decent customer relations FOR all of those benefits provided, benefits that actually work for a middle-class family (sorry, but having no dental coverage at the cost of increased health coverage or an extra $0.25/hr doesn't do a lick of good - at least, that is, until your tooth is infected and BECOMES a health problem). The fact is, the wages keep being negotiated up because the company is unwilling to negotiate it's contracts with their insurance provider or other such affiliate, leading to more friction and squabbling. I'm not saying the Unions are more justified than their employers, I'm only pointing out to you that the greed comes from both sides and ricochet's in every direction. As with most human conflict, no one really knows who threw the first stone (per se), but everyone is busy trying to bean the guy they think did.Just my $0.02