Ford Australia proudly states with a Falcon (our second largest selling vehicle) that over 95% of the components were assembled in Australia by Australian companies.

An Explorer on the other hand has about 70% US content!!!

US consumers are demanding that cars/trucks have to be cheaper, and the only way to do that is start buying overseas components.
Australian consumers are prepared to pay a small premium for the knowledge that they are driving a car built by our fellow countrymen.

 

any one taken a look at the u.a.w. web site and who they represent, at least some of the other companys are building here and giveing our union memebers jobs with a good income. i bleed blue and love my ford . the workers at ktp built me one heck of a ride.
i will knock the companys that build out side of the usa like the one i work for just because they did not want union labor.

 

In her book, "The End of Detroit: How the Big Three Lost Their Grip on the American Car Market," Micheline Maynard suggests that U.S. automakers are run by MBAs and sometimes viewed as banks that make cars. By contrast, foreign automotive companies are run by engineers and manufacturing experts. It's easy to accept that view when approximately one-third of the vehicles sold by the Big Three go to rental car companies, employees/retirees, suppliers, as well as dealers and their families, whereas foreign automakers sell less than 10% in these areas but rather focus on individual sales.

There's some truth to that. Anyone else catch GM's earning's warning yesterday?

 

Mustang owners will take issue with that

 

I'm sorry but the unions are useless in this day and age. They protect the slacker and **** on the guys that actually do their work. I've seen it first hand.

 

Maybe Corvette owners ?

 

Damn, you beat me to the punch! IMHO, labor unions are one of the things that are killing the USA. Companies are forced to pay $20/hr for $8/hr jobs and that kills the people that are buying the end product. The other thing killing us is all the new gadgets that are "required" to be a productive member of society. PDA's, GPS, cell phones, etc.

 

Yes Unions don't help to keep Jobs in America, but they do help with the livelyhood of the everyday worker.

I also think another problem is that it is a public company, and shareholders demand to much to early.
Toyota (Owned by a Family if I recall correctly) are able to put a longer lasting business together, they aren't concerned about the next 1/4's profit, they are more worried about becoming the largest most profitable automotive manufacturer, one day.

Their approach to the American market (and every other market) has been the same.
They start building cars of supreme quality, and cut their prices for the first 10 years.
Admittedly, they loose money in the first 10 years or so, BUT:
This brings people in the showrooms, they buy a car because of the price, they are then usually so overwhelmed with the reliability, they wouldn't consider anything but a Toyota.
They build a reputation of reliablity, this keeps resale values good, and keeps the customer happy, as it costs them less to run the vehicle.
In the mean time, they are able to slowly increase the price of the vehicle, and slowly reduce the measures for quality - making big $$$ - and the average punter can't tell the difference, all they think is that a Toyota is reliable, and cheap, even in realiality they may be no better than anyone else.

A good long term business plan.

 

I will take issue with that. I will absolutely not try to sell the lie that unions are perfect or that they don't share responsibility for the state of the industry, but that door swings both ways. Unions guarantee better wages for those who would otherwise get nothing. Unions guarantee benefits that we would otherwise never get because of the American business ethic. Remember, not long ago there were people working 12-16 hrs a day, six days a week, in unsafe conditions with no job security for pennies a week. No vacation, no sick time, no workman's compensation for job related injuries. This is not to say that these items listed that are in favor of unions are not abused, as they most definately are. However, without unions, we would ultimately degenerate into such a state again, most definately. Non union companies treat their employees better because of the threat of unionization and unoin companies are union because they walked all over the employees untill they organized. In Japan, they treat the employee like a member of the family. They are fiercely loyal to their employees, and therefore their employees are fiercely loyal to them. As long as American business is run by pompous, arrogant, and ignorant people who want to treat the common worker like animals, there will be unions. Just think about this... Who works at a place that treats people right and rewards good performance and spreads the wealth a little to those who's labor contributed to the company's overall success and says, "Hey, I'm happy, and love what I do, and really enjoy it here. I need a union." Not to suggest that you are not correct in your sentiment too, as unions also do at times protect the lazy and uninitiated. However, as long as gross inequality and injustice is an acceptable business practice, it will foster a continuing need and desire for unions. Whether unions are also corrupt is ultimately up to it's own members.

 

This is what I am upset at GM and Ford and Chrysler for. Even though they talk about "quality" and "improvements" they always fall short nof the mark. Being of "comparable" quality is the (often missed) goal, as opposed to being of superior quality. Remember when "Made in America" was as good as stamping a product "Best in the World"? THEY CAN DO THIS!!! Why were they able to do it in the 50's, 60's and (early)70's, but can't do it now? The 50's and 60's cars would rot because the metal wasn't as good, but still, why can't they do it now? Quality sells! If I could legitimately even get comparable quality, not even better, just similar, I'd buy one over a Honda or Toyota any day. But I'm not going to buy a domestic car because it's the "American thing to do" if it's a load of garbage, when I can buy an imported car that will last. The problem isn't that the domestics can't do it, it's that they won't. It would sacrifice short term profits and stock values in favor of long term growth and strenth in the market. In America, the business ethic is such that corporations worry about getting our money today, instead of getting alot more tomorrow. Corporate greed drives the manufacturers to swindle the money from their customers instead of earning it. Why did the Japaneese get a toe hold in our market to begin with? Because folks woke up to the fact that Detroit was ripping them off. They have the technology and the resources to send Honda and Toyota and all the others packing across the Pacific faster than a supersonic jet, but the near term drop in profits that would result in the change of philosophy won't allow it, because the accountants won't let it happen.

 

That's true because full size truck platforms are the only segment in which there hasn't been any outside competition to put that owner loyalty to the test.

A culture of design by beancounters could be expected to and does result in mechanically inferior vehicles which are only attractive in price. But pension obligations and extortionate union costs largely cancel the cost savings in actual product.

When put up against companies run by engineers and not saddled with 14 billion dollars a year in retiree costs, the result is exactly what anyone would expect it to be.

 

I'm surprised at the level of 'agreement' with this book, and its overall conclusions. I think they're accurate although a bit pessimistic time-wise.

Would I pay a little more to buy a Ford rather than a Toyota or Nissan? Yup, I would - not that Toyota or Nissan are 'bad' or 'foreign', but me, personnaly, I'd rather own Ford. The problem is, its hard to justify when there's no obvious payback other than the badge on the vehicle. How about a 'Loyalist Credit'? If you've bought one, two, whatever Fords in x years, you get little pluses - maybe service parts at wholesale, a loaner car, wash and vac - I don't know - something that says - Thanks for your business.

Unions have their reason to exist, but so many have been corrupted at the top 'protecting the worker' isn't a top priority any longer. Although a totally different 'field', I think the NHL Players Union is a reasonable example - how could you say they've done the best for their members? There are plenty of examples where the union 'management' sucked every dollar out they could while driving their members, and sometimes employers, out of business - and this certainly happens on the management side too. (Thank you Enron, WorldCom, et al. 85 yrs for the WorldCom CEO, best news I've heard in a while - gives some glimmer of hope in our going-insane justice system!)

Can the Big3 turn it around? Can be done, but it will take a lot of sacrifice by both the union AND management (what did the exec's get for bonuses last year? - see point #3!). Take a look at Nissan - many thought they were through only a few years ago, their recovery has been remarkable.

The article about the end of the current Hp wars was on the spot. History will repeat itself if we don't learn from it. . .

 

Argo, that is why we now have OSHA and the DEPARTMENT OF LABOR. At ONE time the unions were needed because there were no laws governing what people could work. Now the unions just make workers lazy. I have seen first hand how bad the unions are. My father lost his job because of the union. In the factory where he started they had approved a new screening system with the union where they used a temp agency. Well he was in there working (less than a week from being able to join the union), and some lazy crybaby decided that he was a threat to HIS job. So he went crying to the union steward and got ALL THE TEMPS (about 25 to 30 JOBS) fired, because he felt that he was gonna be fired. Like I said the unions only protect the slackers and **** on the people that work. I'm sorry but $20/hr to push buttons or watch a freakin robot... A high school kid can do that for $8.... The people that should be making $20/hr are the customer service people. We put up with idiots day in and day out.

 

you know i forgot about the mustang owners

 

pfogle: If the big three were building competitive products at a competitive price we would not need any idiot Customer Service Reps to deal with idiots as the product would sell itself and there would be no complaints etc to deal with .

Silver Streak: If American middle class working people and those that work in this robotic industry and most other industries that are mechanized or robotics were to down their life style to survive on $8.00 an hour as you propose , who is going to purchase these 40 or 50 thousand dollar trucks we are producing the Chinese and Koreans that are now building all the parts for them ? I have my doubts.

If both Canada and the US do not stop the export of our jobs for cheap labour so we can shop at Wally World and buy imported products for a little savings
we will all be earning $8.00 per hour and this includes the high tech industry which is now being exported by every North American major player as we speak and these countries will also be using up as much fossil fuel as North America by 2015 which will put fuel prices where even your imagination has not gone yet .

When GM announced their yearly earnings they also stated that right around 50% of their profits were earned in Canada with 1/8 of their North American
work force . Now what does that tell you if you think about it a bit ?

Unions and wages have little to do with it as we have already learned here where both Toyota and Honda manufacture the largest percentage of their North American vehicles and pay as much or more in some cases as the big 3 plants and have no unions and better benifits and happy employees with the Community Involvment that these companies have in place wherever they set up with full support for youth sports as well as employee mercantile leagues
and most other community activities . They are good Corporate Citizens and that has always been company policy .

I'm a Ford man forever as was my father and grand father but we can no longer blame our woes and lack of wherewithall on the unions or good wages when it is incompatence and a lack of forsight that has hooped our Auto Industry. Just as they say contented cows produce good milk,satisfied and happy employees produce quality products and create profits and the bean counters at the big 3 will never grasp that philosophy .