Daimler to suspend production for one month: report

Yahoo News ^ | 10/25/08

[jalisco555]

BERLIN (AFP) – German carmaker Daimler, hit by falling demand amid the global financial crisis, plans to suspend production for a month beginning in December, a newspaper said in report due to appear Sunday. The break in production would begin on December 11 and last until January 12, Frankfurter Sonntagszeitung reported, citing a company spokesman.

Daimler, the first luxury car maker to present its quarterly results, unveiled big falls in profits on Thursday and issued a new profit warning owing to the global banking crisis.

"The financial crisis is turning into an economic crisis," Daimler chairman Dieter Zetsche told a telephone news conference. It provoked "in recent weeks a dramatic slump on our major markets," he said.

[jalisco555]

GM is the second worst managed automobile company worldwide. Daimler is the world's leader in destroying a once great car brand. Of course, like GM the management blames only external forces, never their own blunders.

[screaminsunshine]

Companies with Big Unions will be the first to be bailed out by Obama. With my money? Nahh. time for tax revolt.

[lmc12]

Daimlers resigning like Busch?

[gotribe]

Article from this week’s Barron’s on the auto industry. Frightening.

http://online.barrons.com/article/SB122488828292068361.html?mod=b_hpp_barrons_most_viewed_day

[raybbr]

Daimler, the first luxury car maker to present its quarterly results, unveiled big falls in profits...

"Big falls in profits"? The horror of still making money but not enough.

Damn those CEO's and fund managers for not buying enough Mercedes cars.

[jalisco555]

Daimlers resigning like Busch?

LOL, I get the reference. One of our fellow Freepers was hitting the Busch a little early.

[mlocher]

GM is the second worst managed automobile company worldwide. Daimler is the world's leader in destroying a once great car brand. Of course, like GM the management blames only external forces, never their own blunders.

Prahalad from the University of Michigan discusses his rule of three in business. In any market, there is room for 3 big players and a number of niche players. We saw that in the US, with Ford, GM and Chrysler surviving what was once an industry with over 100 players. As the market went global, we will see the same thing. Some big names are going to fall. The best management will win, the others will fall by the wayside or become niche players.

[jalisco555]

Daimler’s blunder was trying to become an “all things to all people” company. Buying Chrysler and creating way too many Mercedes brands just killed the company. BMW knows that it needs to remain in the luxury niche and will weather the current storm.

[mlocher]

BMW knows that it needs to remain in the luxury niche and will weather the current storm.

I agree. Another thing that BMW has going for it is a strong local market.

[spetznaz]

Daimler’s blunder was trying to become an “all things to all people” company. Buying Chrysler and creating way too many Mercedes brands just killed the company. BMW knows that it needs to remain in the luxury niche and will weather the current storm.

Actually BMW is in far dire straits than Daimler is, primarily due to its ability to refinance debts. It is in actual danger of bankruptcy, with a debt rollover score higher than 0.3.

[jalisco555]

Actually BMW is in far dire straits than Daimler is, primarily due to its ability to refinance debts. It is in actual danger of bankruptcy, with a debt rollover score higher than 0.3.

Really? Didn't know that. They're outselling Mercedes in the US, although everyone is hurting now.

[mlocher]

Actually BMW is in far dire straits than Daimler is, primarily due to its ability to refinance debts. It is in actual danger of bankruptcy, with a debt rollover score higher than 0.3.

Your point is well taken, and the best management does not necessarily produce the best product. It does the best job of managing the entire business, including finance, marketing, product development and so forth. BWM does have some difficulty, but going bankrupt does not necessarily spell its death. Time will tell.

[Eric in the Ozarks]

Saturday's WSJ has a pretty good story covering the heart breaking differences between a Honda plant in Ohio and a GM plant of the same size. Starting 30 years ago, Honda built fewer than a half dozen motorcycles a day in the plant, then spent the afternoon taking them apart to scrutinize assembly quality. Recently, when an assembly line malfunctioned, employees volunteered to come in and get it running.

[mlocher]

I missed that article. I have visited the Honda plant in Marysville (I think the motorcycles are built in Liberty or West Liberty, which is nearby) that has 1.3 million sq feet of space. Clean as a whistle. The line employees do much more than simply be a cog in a production line. They work in small teams, manage their own jobs, are responsible for cleanliness and quality as a team. They rotate jobs to keep boredom to a minimum. Very fascinating.

Honda purposely selected Marysville because of the local work ethic and non-union beliefs by the people living in the surrounding area. Marysville is a thriving area, thanks to Honda.

[GWMcClintock]

Honda is non-union, as well.

[Thermalseeker]

Mornin’ Eric,

Let me guess, the Honda plant isn’t unionized?

[primatreat]

I sure hope I get my”smart for two”. I paid $100 bucks for a position to get one of the first imports. :>(

[Eric in the Ozarks]

I don't think so. And if they're smart, the employees will keep it that way and keep their community humming.
How's VW coming along in Chattanooga ?

[GAB-1955]

“Let me guess, the Honda plant isn’t unionized?”

Yet. Wait until The One has his way. Every non-union plant will be unionized.

[RayChuang88]

Interestingly, Ford will actually weather this downtown better than GM, for a couple of reasons:

1) Their upcoming automotive product line (the new Fiesta, possibly the Ka, the next-generation Focus, the replacement for the US-market Fusion sedan, and the Kuga small SUV to replace the Escape) are coming from their highly-successful European division.
2) The Ford F-150 trucks are well-liked and could switch to large-scale implementation of diesel power over the next few years.