Sayonara

 

1. Total bullshit.  Financially, Japan can’t get out of its own way.  It’s the US that has the financial flexibility to adapt. At least for the present, but we’re headed in the wrong direction. Our family owns five Toyotas, mostly built in this country, and they’re reliable, safe cars.

   Posted by Oink       12/29/2005  at  08:08 AM  



2. The Japanese economy is starting to pick up but I fail to see why it’s all doom and gloom in Detroit. They will adapt and survive. I remember the bleak days in the late 70’s when Detroit built cars (in my view) were rubbish. It seems to me from what I have seen they turn out good cars these days.

   Also as Oink rightly points out a lot of the Toyota and probably Nissan cars are built in the US and Britain. In Britain our native car industry went down the pan. But to be fair the cars were crap! I don’t think you have that worry in the US.

   Posted by LyndonB       12/29/2005  at  08:21 AM  



3. I can Lyndon. GM’s pension plan (which includes FREE health care for UAW retirees) is bleeding them DRY. That is one reason GM vehicles are more expensive than those offered by Ford or DaimlerChrysler, not to mention Toyota or Nissan!

   Posted by Macker       12/29/2005  at  10:44 AM  



4. I was thinking that the (formerly) big three all had the same agreements with the UAW, Macker. I believe that Chrysler was able to get some relief when they were in bankruptcy a while ago but I was thinking that the Ford and GM contracts were essentially the same. I know that they all come up for renegotiation at the same time.

   The GM workers that I discussed some of this in my recent holiday trip to :bills: know that they’re going to have to bite the bullet and are going to see a lot of benefits go away that even they thought were ridiculous. I know one who’s going back to work after a six month haitus (voluntary layoff) during which he was paid a sum which he would normaly have had to work overtime to earn. If he’s not happy with the new job assignment he’s going to retire at the age of 52. He’s been eligible to retire for a while.

   I will also remind you that management bears responsibility for the totally stupid business decisions they have recently made. I’ll point again to GM’s blowing $4.2 Billion in an aborted deal with Fix It Again Tony. They paid $2 billion to get into the deal and $2.2 billion to get out of the deal when ther realized that FIAT could make them buy the company. All those lawyers and nobody read the contract. Fine business practices there, eh?

   Posted by StinKerr       12/29/2005  at  11:19 AM  



5. Leave it to Tojo to sink the scrap iron....

   

   Posted by Tannenberg       12/29/2005  at  11:45 AM  



6. It’s the 80’s all over again!

   Posted by Jester       12/29/2005  at  10:22 PM  

Commenting is not available in this weblog entry.