Killing Car Companies
For some time now American car companies have been facing possible death by their non-unionised Japanese rivals:
Mr Bush met bosses from DaimlerChrysler Ford and GM, all struggling against Asian rivals, to discuss concerns over growing imports and health costs.
The companies, which spend more on health costs than on steel, want action to combat the weak Japanese yen.
Foreign manufacturers have been quicker to react to growing consumer demand for more energy efficient vehicles.
In contrast, GM and Ford have been over-reliant on gas guzzling sports utility vehicles (SUVs)
US car firms have been hit by the high cost of paying for the health care costs of their retired workforce, under agreements with the trade unions negotiated many years before.
Unions and high fuel costs are a killer. GM just needs Michael Moore now to make another anti-GM film, and that will be the final nail in the coffin. Car companies have had years to know that American fuel prices weren't going remain low for ever. Americans must be amazed at the small engines of European cars.
Mr Bush met bosses from DaimlerChrysler Ford and GM, all struggling against Asian rivals, to discuss concerns over growing imports and health costs.
The companies, which spend more on health costs than on steel, want action to combat the weak Japanese yen.
Foreign manufacturers have been quicker to react to growing consumer demand for more energy efficient vehicles.
In contrast, GM and Ford have been over-reliant on gas guzzling sports utility vehicles (SUVs)
US car firms have been hit by the high cost of paying for the health care costs of their retired workforce, under agreements with the trade unions negotiated many years before.
Unions and high fuel costs are a killer. GM just needs Michael Moore now to make another anti-GM film, and that will be the final nail in the coffin. Car companies have had years to know that American fuel prices weren't going remain low for ever. Americans must be amazed at the small engines of European cars.
posted by Engels at 9:12 am
5 Comments:
WTF is a travel Wallet? and why would I buy one online??
Grogs, the American car companies are being greedy in the first place for making those gas guzzling cars with the larger profit margins. Then the unions are just being greedy back. Isn't that just typical business?
but i tell ya what, the old Corolla has excellent fuel efficiency!
Doesn't that article say how the American government saved Chrysler from going bust (had they combined with Dalmer by then?) after the 70's oil crisis.
My old lecturer said he was in the states for both the Oil Crisis and 9/11. He reckons the fear levels were on par with each other.
I forgive the yanks for driving fuel-guzzling cars back in the day, but they've had plenty of time to adapt. Couple of years ago when a journo asked the Whitehouse spokesman if America should curb its oil use, he replied "No, the President believes it's part of the American lifestyle."
Great excuse. Oil isn't exactly found in the most politically stable and US friendly countries.
Gone is the travel wallet (no doubt for carrying visas and condoms).
Why not indeed! More fuel efficient SUVs make sense, but then again, a lot of those SUVs aren't truly needed by their owners.
I think the American goverment should definitely increase their fuel taxes to European standards. It would mean more revenue and less fuel guzzling. Alas, Americans cry highway robbery when their fuel prices do go up as they are used to everything being cheap. Then again, America has the least distributed wealth of any developed country so the poor people can't afford more expensive fuel.
It quite interesting how the mid-size Commodore has become the large car it replaced. No more "Kingswood Country"... perhaps high fuel prices is the answer.
I think i read that the yank car compnaies have a million staff they are paying a pension for each year, so the costs run into billions of dollars... negotiated by the unions years ago.
The problem is, if they reneg on their previous agreements, millions of workers who spent their lives working for shitty car companies and getting stabbed in downtown Detroit, end up with zero dollars to live on, because they didnt have a super fund... so, the car companies go bust and all their workers (past and present) get it up the poo-pipe..., or they cancel their previous promises, and the past employees get done up the poo-pipe...
glad i'm not the head of GM....
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