AmericanVOR

Is a Car Produced in Alabama Really an Import?

Let's simplify it. Your mother works hard, secures a business loan, establishes a florist, employs local people, and has a good business that gives back to the community. She got it without government incentives and learned the trade by the sweat of her brow and making mistakes. She has paid her dues.

Then a guy from aother country decides he wants to have a florist too. Your local community government gives him money and land to build one. He builds a state-of-the-art facility and he's up and running. However, he still lives in his home country.

Then the same government that paid him to set up shop comes into your florist and tells you that you must start growing certain flowers and each flower has to give off a set amount of oxygen. Then they leave you to pay for this change and figure it out, even though the market for those flowers is very small.

Meanwhile, the other guy's business is booming. His home country pays health care, so the advantages of his operations there help him do business here. He chose not to pay retirement benefits to his employees, but your mom had already set a retirement deal fo rher workers years ago.

Your mom's florist has a hard time competing and beings to cut corners. Finally, she needs some help and asks the governemnt for a loan, This is the same government that gave the other guy incentivs to set up the shop that is putting her out. Still, the government, the media, and the public drag her through the mud and call her a beggar.

Once she was praised for providing jobs, good wages, retirement, health care, and upping the standard of living for all who lived around her florist. Now she is ridiculed for those same things. She is told to "do it like the foreign guy", but when she asks for money like he got, she's slammed.

Mom is cutting corners at home. No cable, no-name brand foods, heat set at 65, backing off sporting programs for her kids...

Then one day, your sister comes home with a ficus tree that she bought from the other guys florist. You explain to her how buying from mom's florist will help your household. She tells you that her friend from school works at the other florist, so its the same thing.

Obama Insists Cars Improve Fuel Efficiency by 40%

35 years of CAFE standards did NOTHING to change the buying habits of consumers. Then one year of $3.00+ per gallon gas stalled the sales of high profit vehicles and spurred on the sales of high mileage vehicles.

Now that gas prices have dropped under $2.00 per gallon, the high mileage car sales are going down again. Hybrid car sales dropped 10% by the end of 2008.

CAFE will only force companies to make vehicles that nobody wants. High gas prices will force customers to want high mileage vehicles.

Detroit: Please Bring Back the Stripped Car

In theory, I do agree with your points. We should be offering a value minded "go-kart" with fenders.
Some issues with that is overall part content between levels, scheduling, and piece price.

For example, when power windows were new, it was extra to have them included, so the price reflected the content.

Today, the wire harness that runs through the car contains all the connections anyway. It would actually be more expensive to order different harnesses for each option level.

Then there are safety requirements that need to be satisfied. An impact beam inside a door will be designed with all available options in place, then used across the model line. The money involved in design, testing, and materials are already designed into the vehicle.

At that point, with the engineering and part content in place, it becomes a minimal expense to toss in the power window assembly which is bought in large quantities.

A manual windw would be a different assembly and would require its own design and engineering. If it is a low volume option, it would actually cost more than one might think to purchase.

This is just one example where, pricewise, it may make more sense to equip a car with options that we feel it could be cheaper without. Truth is, they might not be able to make a less equipped car all that much cheaper.

And if I wanted to sell cars, I could take an equipped model of a in the class of a competitor's and price it just a little higher than thiers and say, "Look how much more you get here for just another $30 a month in your payment."

Just saying...

Detroit: Please Bring Back the Stripped Car

"...the Chevy Chevette sold for $4,995 in 1997."

Ummmm... 1997?

The last production year for the Chevette was 1987.

Auto Industry Rescue Delays the Inevitable

"Can you name any other industry where the companies that are #1 and #3 in terms of market share are struggling to survive, whilst significantly smaller competitors have no problems generating several fold more in profit?"

Can you name me any other industry where the home companies are given standards and regulations by their government, but no financial subsidization to execute their law, but then that same home government offers heavy tax breaks to foreign makes to set up shop here? Foreign makes that have health care sponsored by their home government? Foriegn makes that are also subsidized by their home government in their operations including the resource hungry R&D operations?

Can you name me another business that: is credited for raising the standard of living, creating the middle class, offered security to workers at retirement, provided health care, manufactured war machines for their country, gives heavily to the United Way through corporate and employee contributions, donated milions in cash and vehicles after national disasters and terrorists attacks, and was given accolades for helping jump start the economy after 911, and now that same company is treated like gum on a shoe by congressmen and millions of decade-old stereotype-spouting amature bloogers and uninformed professional journalists?

Can you name one other company that has been such an intregal part of American history, but is now the subject of hate and ridicule for simply trying to provide quality benefits while its market is structured for foreign brands to do business much more cheaply than the home team?

Automakers: Bailout Arguments, Pro and Con

MYTH:

"GM cannot build cars that people want at a price people can afford. That is the bottom line."

FACTS:

GM outsold Toyota by about 1.2 million vehicles in the United States last year and holds a U.S. lead over Toyota of about 560,000 so far this year. Globally, GM in 2007 remained the world's largest automaker, selling 9,369,524 vehicles worldwide -- about 3,000 more than Toyota.

Although total U.S. vehicle sales are down almost 15% so far this year (through October), a number of GM cars and crossovers have enjoyed significant sales increases:

Chevy Malibu +39%
Pontiac Vibe +36%
Pontiac G6 + 4%
Cadillac CTS +15%
Saturn Aura +7%
GMC Acadia +2%
Buick Enclave +88%

Reasons to Bail Out GM

GM did not give anyone bonuses. Chrysler just did that. And I agree with you that it sucks, but you show ignorance in your reply.


On Nov 18 06:35 PM Bail out!!!! wrote:

> Now GM wants a bailout!! After handing out 30 million in bonus pay
> to the top dogs. You guys even named them and told us all how much
> they got, Did they receive 1 million or 1.8 million? And then layed
> off the worker ants! And now want tax payers money to bail out their
> business! I say it's time for a revolution in this country. Maybe
> someone should take a contract out on these top dogs and see if that
> million was worth that!! We know who they are, right?

A GM Collapse Would Signal Hope for Robin Hood

"So a GM bailout would benefit rich workers "

You're kidding, right? I'm rich???
We are a one-income family and I have no cottage, boat, ATV's, snowmobiles, motorcycles... I'm really living it up!
I have 6-year-old triplets and a very sick wife. I work, parent, and still go to school at 41 years old. What 401K I did have has been cut in half.

I'm feeling real rich here. You want to know about the typical employee? Read on:

home.comcast.net/~Babies3/GM.htm

Lining Up on Both Sides of Auto Bailout

You call the video a "game". What you don't do is dispute what it is saying. This is far bigger than many give it credit for.

Ford, GM on the Chopping Block?

This is about the billionth article that says the same thing we've been reading for a few years now. Its almost as if outlets like this actually want the American automaker to die.
How about our media get behind the American makes and write about the incredible quality strides made in the last five years, the multitude of choices in vehicles getting over 30 MPG, the world class panel fits, and the sharp rise in recalls by the Asian brands.

And how about writing about the trade laws that make Japan all but closed to American cars. And how about the fact that the Japanese government supports their auto industries in addition to OUR government giving THEM tax breaks.

Geez, we need another article like this like we need another bad market day! Whatever happened to the CAN DO attitude of the USA?