working at ford

August Auto Sales Up as Expected

The real trouble may come when lawmakers begin to alk of starting the program up again in a few months after the manufactures get the lots restocked. Remember after 9-11 when the car co started 0% fin. Now its almost common practice to get low fin and big rebates. If the consumer feels that the gov. or car co. are willing to put up some cash to spur sales fig.Then they wait it out until the deal gets right.

Cash-for-Clunkers: Who's It Hurting?

I work at a Ford parts distribution center in Indiana, In the last week or sales volume is off by 20%. This decrease is on top of the 20% we had lost over the last year due to the economy.

General Motors, Chrysler: Cutting Their Way to Greatness

why is anyone questioning the OBAMA plan. With all his vast knowledge in business(LOL) We should just shut up and be the loyal subjects that we all were in november

General Motors, Chrysler: Cutting Their Way to Greatness

FYI here in Evansville, Indiana the chysler and jeep dealerships are being closed at there present locations and reopened at the dodge dealership they are only a few miles apart and will not hurt a thing. Ford has been doing this for years by moving lincoln/merc to successful ford franchises.

Is a Car Produced in Alabama Really an Import?

There are 17 comments plus mine that all agree that this overeducated under worked man is a idiot.

Loan to Viable Industries - Not Those Bloated with Inventory

I like the idea of recycling and exploring for future minerals. But, the most obvious is wind. With all the hot air blowing from the know it alls like this idiot we should not be needing big oil for much longer. If not wind the try powering with Bull shit. It seems that there is more of that than ever. How about recycling your own self. Forget that college degree and go get a real job that produces a real product ,not just more hot air or bull shit. Maybe you too can become a productive member of society instead a wasting clean air and good food.

Four Myths from Detroit's Auto Show

Remember.... When your neighbor gets laid off its a recession,
when you get laid off it's a depression!

If There's Life After Steel in Pittsburgh, There's Still Hope for Detroit

I love how the numbers do not lie.. The problem is that liars(mr I have a phd and don,t have a real job). use numbers. First I would like to know how bad housing got before it started to get better. Second if the unemployment benefits have expired for the layed off workers then they cannot be counted as unemployed. Third, how many have move away to other cities and states looking for a good job. I have read that up to 80% of the autoworkers employed by the transplants were previously employed by the steel and auto companies in the mid-west. and last If the US based auto do fail how long will the revamped pittsburgh steel industry last without there biggest customers.

Will the U.S. Fight the German Car Invasion?

Better check your info. VW lead all automakers in recalls by percentage in 2007 and had some trouble in 2008.


On Jan 06 08:45 PM billddrummer wrote:

> To oilcan,
>
> Didn't Michael Douglas say that in "Wall Street"?
>
> But aside from that, MB may have lost its luster after absorbing,
> then disposing of, Chrysler. Several billion dollars were lost which
> could have been used to improve quality and maintain engineering
> prowess.
>
> Come to think of it, wasn't that the original purpose of the initial
> loan money the US government allocated to the auto industry? To
> provide funds for new product R & D to improve fuel economy?

>
>
> Let's not look at the past, when the car makers used their own money
> for R & D. To suggest a loan for R & D to the GM of 1955
> would have been scoffed at.
>
> But when competition gets more intense, it seems that these companies
> run to the government for protection. Now, I'm not saying that there
> isn't government assistance in other countries for its capital-intensive
> industries. But the idea of government 'participating' (meddling)
> in the capital budget plans of GM and Ford suggests that the companies
> themselves aren't up to the task.
>
> As Americans, we expect self-reliance from industries as well as
> individuals. The state of the US auto industry has humbled the country,
> and by extension, its people.
>
> And far from shying away from competition, we should be welcoming
> it. Competition makes everyone better. Having the US government
> place its thumb on the scale makes it harder for other nations to
> compete. But in the process, they will make the necessary adjustments
> to become more competitive as time goes on.
>
> It looks less and less likely that the US industries insulated by
> the government will make the same progress.
>
> I for one welcome additional entrants into the auto manufacturing
> marketplace. Excess capacity aside, those companies that make cars
> people want to buy will survive. Those companies that don't, won't.

>
>
> I tend to think BMW and VW will survive. They are the most profitable
> auto companies in the world, and make some of the best products,
> with worldwide appeal.
>
> Bring on the Germans!

Auto Bailout: Ford's Sentiment Tells All

Seeking alpha purpose must be to prove that people have nothing better to do than type


On Dec 23 10:44 PM working at frod wrote:

> the only good thing about this article is that is short

Auto Bailout: Ford's Sentiment Tells All

the only good thing about this article is that is short

Detroit's Biggest Failure: Losing the Youth Market

Mike I can understand the way you feel is based on the information you are getting from the media. The real truth is the transplants are paying about the same base wage as the detriot based companies. the exagerated numbers that are reported by the press are based on outdated data and figure in cost the are covered in other counties by there governments such as heathcare and retirement. but the us operation of toyo and the like are paying for the same level of health insurance that I have at ford.Toyo has tried very hard to stay below the media radar but had to admit thing are not what the seem and are also losing money in this economy. They have also avoided the negative attention by keeping there workforce busy painting floors and training instead of laying them off. I hope you do give FORD another look we have been building world class cars and trucks for over a century and will keep doing so for another 100 years

Remember when your friends loses their job it a recession but when you lose your job it is a depression


On Dec 22 08:10 PM Mike Inmich wrote:

> This is the first article I've seen that realizes that the UAW costs
> can't be carried as we go forward with small cars...mandated by the
> feds and to a lesser extent by the public.
>
> Regading the VW bug, I once rode with a guy in Winter who was telling
> me what a great car it was as he was reaching out the side window
> with a scraper to clear the front window while driving.
>
> It is true that the biggest problem faced by the big 3 is that they
> are just plain out of style. People feel a need to justify purchasing
> foreign cars by complaining about the American cars they owned 20
> years ago, and give the Jap cars a pass on their numerous problems
> at every opportunity. Witness the whole damn fleet of Toyota Tundra
> trucks recalled because the engines were not properly ventilated
> and the oil sludged. Toyota tried to blame the owners for poor service
> habits, but the big 3 know Americans abuse their trucks and licked
> this problem years ago.
>
> The reason people keep going after the UAW is it is their costs that
> are out of line. The management and salary engineers get paid what
> they would in any major US city at a major US company. The UAW is
> way out of line in wages, and especially benefits for their education,
> skill level and work ethic. Waaaaay out of line.
>
> Note also that the remaining US car buyers are mostly middle and
> lower class, who are not amused that your wages and benefits far
> exceed theirs. The UAW thinks they are the leaders of these people,
> but no one else is buying that now.
>
> So in order to convince Americans to buy your cars you must cut you
> wages and benefits to transplant level (at least 20%), thank America
> for a second chance, and plead with working class Americans to buy
> your cars. BTW cutting the wage and beenfits of people not hired
> yet doesn't count as a cut in my world. Nice try.
>
> Otherwise the big 3 will die and you will take down the Midwest with
> you. Hope you will be happy with yourselves.
>
> So far Gettlefinger's response was to cry about being picked on and
> said he'll go to his ?lapdog? Obama for a redo. Nice way to show
> gratitude Ron!

Despite Everything, Capitalism Is Alive and Well

The author is is just a poor college unedreducated fellow who will not make it through this depression on his own. He lack a since or reality do to the fact that he has lead sheltered life and has not had the opportunity to get a working education. In the survival of the fittest world that fools like him dream of or in reality a nightmare beyond his imagination. The key word to this mentality is fittest. College education does littlr to make you fit. Art education and political science programs have little to offer if you must earn a living using your talents and skills. To get to my point if your cannot hunt, fish, grow a garden, preserve foods and cook a meal out of raw materials, If you cannot build a fire withput a match or lighter. If you do not know how to create of find drinking water, If you t if you do not have any tools or the skills to use them to make a usable product them you will not be fit enough to survive in a real free market.

Toyota vs. Ford: A Modern Manufacturing Parable

Hey jack The real take home pay for the hourly workforce is lower at ford the it is at the toyo plants . The difference is that for over a hundred years ford and gm have been building cars and trucks and have a lot of retire employees that include the retire management. If you read the news on Honda today you will see that they have thousands of temp workers who have no benefits or retirement. They even have temps in japan but its different there because the government pays all the health care and retirement cost. Most japanese never retire the work untill they are disabled or dead. That helps keep the retirement down.


On Dec 17 11:19 AM jack kreg wrote:

> can someone tell me, why an auto worker in Detroit should require
> compensation well in excess of that required by auto workers in Kentucky?

>
> I guess that all Americans are not created equal, if you are from
> Detroit, then your wage deserves the backing of the American taxpayer.
> Many of whom are lower paid autoworkers in the south.

Can the U.S. Auto Industry Be Saved?

you too will need to get a hair cut before your next job interview. As we are overrun by experts and are in need of real workers. Good luck may be you can get a senate seat


Senate seat for sale
December 14, 2008
A “No” vote on the loan package for Detroit’s Big Three was a chance for the GOP senators from the South who led the charge against the legislation to kill two birds with one stone. Not only could they strike a blow to the United Autoworkers, a traditional adversary, but they could also advance the economic interests of their own states. Unfortunately, these senators voted against the economic interests of their own country.

Foreign automakers have spent billions building plants in the states these senators represent. Should America’s automakers go down for the count, Americans would still need cars and foreign automakers would step in and spend additional billions building more plants in, you guessed it, the states of these very same GOP senators.

Christopher Hayes of The Nation magazine was interviewed on MSNBC’s Countdown with Keith Olbermann show last week and pointed out what he called “the worst-kept secret in Washington.” Hayes was referring to the glaring double standard that these Southern senators, Alabama’s Senator Richard Shelby in particular, have displayed.

“They’ve been throwing taxpayer dollars at Toyota for years in Alabama and no one raises a stink about that” Hayes said. In fact, as Olbermann noted, Alabama alone has given more in tax subsides per job to foreign automakers than Detroit was asking for in the bailout plan to save jobs at American companies.

The Big Three haven’t been competing against Toyota and Honda and Nissan; they’ve been competing against Japan. Unlike America, that nation actually has an industrial policy. While our government talked about the virtues of free trade, the Japanese government worked hand in glove with their automakers to help make them the world leaders.

Japan is aggressively trying to do with autos what they did with consumer electronics – undercut American manufacturers, drive them out of business and capture the American market. Japan heavily subsidizes their automakers, they fund their research, they manipulate their currency, and they erect trade barriers that make it virtually impossible for American automakers to export to their country. Think the fact that Pacific Rim nations buy up 80-percent of our government debt has something to do with keeping our government from enacting policies to level the playing field? The bank that holds your mortgage doesn't dance to your tune, you dance to the tune of the bank that holds your mortgage.

I don’t care what you’re manufacturing or if your CEO is Albert Einstein, if you are competing against a country that actually has universal health care, while you’re forced to add $1,200 to $1,500 to the cost to every unit you manufacture to cover your employees’ health care, you’re not going to be competitive. If your country doesn’t rebate the value added tax when you export your product while your competitor’s country does, not only will you be priced out of their market, your foreign competitor’s government subsidy will put them at a tremendous price advantage on your home turf.

Now, thanks to the likes of Senator Shelby, the Big Three are not only competing against Japan, they’re also forced to compete against their very own government.

The fact that nothing is made in America anymore is a familiar lament of Americans. But here’s what Americans don’t seem to get: what little is still being manufactured in America is increasingly being made in foreign-owned plants of foreign-owned companies.

I realize that there is a long history of sharecropping in the South, but I see no advantage to we Americans becoming sharecroppers in our own country.
Hey, Southerners: Detroit 3 helped you to survive

BY TOM WALSH
FREE PRESS COLUMNIST
When Hurricane Katrina slammed into Louisiana and Alabama on Aug. 29, 2005, the automobile companies of Detroit did not harrumph that the gulf coast should have been better prepared.
They didn't sit back and wait for New Orleans to submit a detailed plan for future repair of the ruptured levees.
General Motors Corp., on Aug. 30, donated $400,000 to the American Red Cross 2005 Hurricane Relief Fund, pledged to match up to $250,000 more in employee contributions, and sent more than 150 vehicles to the stricken area for use in relief work.
Ford Motor Co. and the UAW quickly made a joint donation of $100,000 to the Red Cross. The Chrysler Group gave $150,000 to the Red Cross and $200,000 to local New Orleans charities. DaimlerChrysler Services chipped in $200,000 for the Red Cross and pledged to match employee donations up to $50,000.
The three Detroit auto companies together gave more than $18 million in cash and vehicles to the Katrina relief effort in the ensuing months. No strings attached.
The U.S. Senate’s most adamant naysayers about whether Detroit deserves rescue loans should have thought about that before now. It might have made Thursday’s futile wrangling over a compromise to get $14 billion in emergency rescue loans for GM and Chrysler a bit less tortuous.
U.S. Sen. David Vitter, R-La., for one, might have dialed down his earlier rhetoric.
Vitter said Wednesday that he plans to vote against the rescue because, in his words, it is "ass-backwards" to give money to the distressed companies before Congress sees more detailed survival plans.
Sen. Richard Shelby, R-Ala., should think about Hurricane Katrina, too. He has threatened a filibuster against the bill, calling it "a bridge loan to nowhere" and stating that Detroit's automakers should undergo a fundamental restructuring before they ask Congress for money.
None of the logical arguments made by, or on behalf of, Detroit's auto industry seem to resonate with certain congressional critics.
Not the fact that GM, Ford and Chrysler have slashed billions of dollars in costs. Not the fact that they have the nation's top-selling pickups and minivans. Not the fact that they have lots of high-mileage vehicles and more on the way. Not the fact an auto company bankruptcy would have a horrible ripple effect, wiping out scores of suppliers and making hundreds of thousands more U.S. workers jobless.
No, to the most adamant auto-rescue opponents in the Senate, Detroit doesn't make cars people want. It's a dinosaur not worth preserving.
Could the opinions of these senators be colored by the fact that the foreign-owned plants of Toyota, Honda, Hyundai, Kia, BMW, Nissan and Volkswagen -- which compete with the Detroit Three -- are located in their states?
Nah, let's not even go there.
Let's just say that since logic hasn't worked, we should fall back on a simple moral argument.
If you see a fellow American is drowning, gasping for air, do you quiz him for a while about whether he's drunk or why he never learned to swim better? Or do you throw him a life buoy and ask questions later?
That, it seems to me, is where we are with America's car companies.
You have done nothing and failed them, senators.
So now it's up to President George W. Bush and Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson to, hopefully, rush in with emergency aid from the $700-billion Troubled Assets Relief Program.
They could still hold the Detroit Three's feet to the fire afterward, empowering a strong auto czar to bring all stakeholders together to forge business models for these companies that can withstand future shocks.