"What is the airspeed velocity of an unladen swallow?"
Posted on 04/28/2008 5:13:06 PM PDT by kiriath_jearim
Sagging pickup truck and sport utility vehicle sales have forced General Motors Corp. to shut down one shift each at four North American factories and lay off about 3,500 workers.
The world's largest automaker by sales said Monday that the cuts, to take effect starting this summer, were brought on by weak demand due to high gasoline prices and an economic downturn.
The cuts will affect pickup factories in Pontiac and Flint, Mich., and Oshawa, Ontario, as well as the full-size SUV plant in Janesville, Wis. The layoffs represent just over 4 percent of GM's hourly manufacturing work force of about 80,000 in North America.
(Excerpt) Read more at businessweek.com ...
>> Sagging pickup truck and sport utility vehicle sales have forced General Motors Corp. to shut down one shift
And that’s with unladen weight.
Sorry to see that people are losing their jobs. This economy doesn’t need any more of that.
But, I despise GM and wish them the worst. We bought our last GM product in 1986. What a POS.
Hope management get fired but we know that won't happen. They’ll get nice bonuses for "cutting expenses."
Ford Motor Co's China car joint venture aims this year to match sales growth of 60 percent seen in 2007 as it launches new models to attract buyers, a senior executive said on Sunday...."We have set a target to sell 58 percent more vehicles in 2008," Zou Wenchao, executive vice president Changan Ford Mazda, told Reuters on the sidelines of the Beijing Auto Show.
Changan Ford Mazda is a three-way tieup between Ford, its affiliate Mazda Motor Co... Wholesale volume at the venture was 217,100 units last year, up 60 percent, according to the state parent of the Chinese company.
Ford, the number-two U.S. automaker, is a relative latecomer to the world's second-largest auto market, currently dominated by General Motors Corp and Volkswagen. But it is catching up fast as it ramps up capacity.(April 28, 2008)
FLASHBACK TO SEPTEMBER 2006 "GM Losing Billions a Year"
".....with G.M. losing billions of dollars a year and struggling to restructure, it just looks like a waste of time and money. When analysts talk about how to turn G.M. around, most start with the need to slim down the company and get rid of less popular brands. (Buick and Pontiac are perennial nominees.) It’s an eminently sensible approach, but it’s unlikely to happen anytime soon, because it would challenge the interests of some of the most powerful players in today’s auto industry—car dealers.
Car dealers, with their low-production-value TV commercials and glad-handing tactics, seem like the archetypal small businessmen, and it’s hard to believe that they could sway the decisions of global corporations like G.M. and Ford. But, collectively, they have enormous leverage. Dealers are not employees of the car companies—they own local franchises, which, in every state, are protected by so-called “franchise laws.” These laws do things like restrict G.M.’s freedom to open a new Cadillac dealership a few miles away from an old one. A dealer who owned his own business would work harder than a mere employee, the thinking went, and would not require a lot of outside monitoring. But the benefits that the car companies reaped from franchising cost them a lot in terms of control and flexibility. There are now many things that G.M. can’t do (like shut down Buick) that it could do easily if it owned its own dealers.More:
LOL
Oh boloney....they are shutting down because I bought a Texas made Toyota Tundra...better truck and fantastic service.
Sorry about that, well not really. ;>)
>> Sad to see Americans loosing their jobs.
It’s terrible news.
me too.
me too. I’d be out buying one of those if my husband wasn’t getting laid off too.
You can Blame the United Auto Workers who for years, despite increasing fuel prices, has insisted that GM continue to build large trucks and SUV’s.
Workers will get unemployment benefits and supplemental pay that total 80% of their normal 40-hour gross pay, said GM spokesman Dan Flores.
The large trucks and SUV’s weren’t the problem , what really shows GM’s management ineptitude is what they did with Isuzu ,, Isuzu is Japans premier truckmaker with more diesel experience than anyone... their “duramax” diesel in the heavy duty trucks is a great engine, GM management really blew it by not having Isuzu supply a less powerful diesel for the vast majority of pickup buyers that only haul occasionally... They could have had a 25mpg full size pickup.
How can you blame GM Management when every one knows that it was the Union Thugs that decided that GM would continue to build large SUV’s despite the obvious market trend towards smaller more fuel efficient cars and every knows it was the Union Thugs that designed the Pontiac Aztec.
Sad to see Americans loosing their jobs.
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Funny I didn’t see in the announcement that they were laying off at the Silao Assembly (Mexico), and Toluca Assembly (Mexico)Plants.
The Aztec was an abomination... but there is no reason why GM couldn’t build large vehicles (which the market wanted) and make them fuel efficient using one of Isuzu’s smaller diesels,, they totally wasted their Japanese partners expertise. Most full sized pickups get between 13 and 18 mpg,,, with a mid-sized diesel they could get 25 mpg. GM needs to teeter on the edge like Ford is before the unions will give up a nickel...
Doesn’t say, but that’s a good question.
African or European?
“I don’t know that!”
AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH! (into the abyss goes the bridgekeeper)
What are you drivin? My Avalanche gets 23.8 mpg on the HWY, My 2004 F150 gets 22.5 mpg if I keep around 63mph!And thats usually halfway loaded with stuff!
Every time a see a renaissance festival billboard I think of that movie.
That’s highway mileage ,,, I was thinking average mileage city/hwy ... The Nissan Full size gets 13mpg , Chevy’s with the 6.0 get around 10mpg around town (the rating is 13 I think,, the small v8’s and the V6 get much better mileage) ,, Toyota gets about 15 city. My Trooper gets 16 mpg which is the average city/hwy listed for it (although my driving is more city).. I sure wish they had been allowed to sell it with the diesel that it comes with in the rest of the world.
It’s a classic, no doubt about it!
“It’s only a model.....”
We ain't seen nothing yet. Blackbird.
I have a 5.3 in the Avalanche, at worst around town about 16.4, withe the 5.4 in the ford I get anywhere from 15.1-15.9mpg in town, put a trailer on it though, uh-oh. A diesel F150 would have been awesome,Since I drive a lot of Hwy though a smaller truck offers very little fuel savings, my little 2.3 Ranger struggles at 20mpg if the roads are flat.
If you would like to be added or dropped from the Michigan ping list, please freepmail me.
Schadenfruede of the week...all the idiots currently on picket against GM are making $200 a week strike pay. Layoff workers will make 80% of their wage for sitting on their arses.
United Auto Workers...always looking out for the little guy!
Well, thanks SO much.
Hey, they screwed us.
And they were using the “buy American” mantra while they were ripping us off.
We told the dealer that we wouldn’t ever buy a GM car again — he didn’t give a damn.
And there were serious quality issues — parts installed incorrectly, etc. Made the car dangerous to drive. My wife avoided a couple of would-have-been serious accidents. Not a good idea if the car stalls when you are trying to cross a highway. Took the dealer several times to figure out what was wrong and fix it.
Yes, we bought it brand new. Tons of issues and problems, 12K mile warranty expired — so long!
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