Two people briefed on the plan say General Motors Corp. will close most of its U.S. factories for up to nine weeks this summer because of slumping sales and growing inventories of unsold vehicles.
Two people briefed on the plan say General Motors Corp. will close most of its U.S. factories for up to nine weeks this summer because of slumping sales and growing inventories of unsold vehicles.
Wow, just the headline makes me feel alot better about the 5 furlough days and frozen wages at my company!!!
Elanor,
It is harder to see your friends and colleagues lose their jobs because Americans do not buy our products because they have old perceptions of our quality. It is also hard when our politicians continue to insist on “free trade” when every other country (especially Japan) insist on closed borders.
My husband, who knows a good bit about union contracts, says that the UAW contract will require payment of the GM workers at something like 95% during the shut-down. GM will save material costs, and GM suppliers’ workers will lose wages unless they are also covered by UAW agreements.
#2, GM has improved its quality substantially in recent years. GM is losing money on legacy health care costs, not necessarily on cars.
Captn Mike,
We buy American at our house — currently we have a Dodge, a Jeep and a Buick. The overriding factor for us has been ease of repair (since we usually buy used). Plus most “foreign” cars here are made in the US now anyway. As for quality, as aerospace engineers, we recognize that all automobiles are planned for obsolesence, and not to the high standards we have to deal with in our industry due to flying people around at 35,000 ft (vs. being able to pull over and call AAA). There is a real good reason why an automotive bolt costs 5 cents while a jet engine bolt costs $50.
Legacy costs like health care are choking not only the auto industry, but even NYC finances. Folks who were supposed to be “smart” have built an economic house of cards with financially unsustainable models.
We’re all going to feel some pain in this crisis; I’m just glad to be in an industry that appears to be on a bit firmer financial foundation.
My family has always purchased American made cars and trucks. As the child of a steel mill worker it was ingrained in me that my father’s livelihood depended upon my sticking to tradition. Besides, grandpa threatened to disown anyone who brought a foreign vehicle onto his property!
I have owned at least two vehicles from each company, spreading the wealth so to speak, but only one was new. I am 98.5% certain my next car will also be American made, but will it be one of the “Big 3” or a Toyota, that remains to be seen.
My cousins husband works for GM and has already had a 6 week layoff from Christmas until February. They have already been informed of this pending layoff period.