The auto industry. tell us what you think. Be polite and informative

[Guinea Goonie]

Quote:
I think that the taxes on your gallon of gas remains the same whatever the price of the gallon of gasoline is. Sure, people have cut down on its use and the states are having a hard time funding their road projects.

This leads me to believe the gasoline industry is behind the pricing and not the local government.

OK back to the thread. JMHO

 

[SarahBeth9394]

I have to add a couple of things that haven't been mentioned or only lightly touched on. There is blame aplenty to go around and yes the unions have a big part in it too. Every entity involved in the automakers failures should be pointed out and bashed when necessary. I've been union and so has my hubby and we hated that millions of union money (our dues) was being given to politicians campaigns. We hated that at our union jobs nobody would do one iota more than they had to. None of them would grab a broom when necessary because "that's not my job". They would sit and do nothing for a half an hour when the quota was met instead of (God forbid) getting more accomplished. But I don't blame the union or union workers for it all. The banks, the government and the people are to blame as well. I know not all union workers are like that case in point my hubby and I.

One thing that bugs me is the constant pushing the envelope in the bigger, better, more milage thing whether imposed my the government or thought up by the makers. They don't make affordable cars. I want to get a truck next year. But they don't make them reasonable anymore. I don't need 45k worth of monster truck complete with 3k of stereo and 1k of rims. And I can't afford it. So I'll be looking for an older truck. Bring back the basic trucks of the late 80's they will be affordable so more people will buy them. The mortgage crisis is also affecting this. Many people were refinancing or getting home equity lines of credit to buy vehicles that they couldn't otherwise afford. I had people bragging to me that their loan was getting them them an Escalade. But had they tried to get a vehicle loan for it they would have been denied. So that helped push the more pricey vehicle. They are probably preparing to live in that vehicle now because it's their house they put on the line for the vehicle.

 

[wilds of pa]

one thing to add, they should keep all American jobs here, none of this overseas junk coming here,

thats why theres no good paying jobs, everything is being made outside the usa...

no jobs no money..plain and simple..keep it here and this country can be what it once was..

steel, food ,electronics, clothing and even are own children's toys all imports..come on people lets keep it real..Keep it American and only American..

you think are founding fathers would have approved of all of this?? id think not..

Charlie

 

[EweSheep]

Dont forget Caterpillar plants are being affected too....we are getting alot of expected layoffs here in Decatur and Peoria sometime in April. Surely there are orders overseas who need those gigantic trucks for minings and what have yous, however, the money isnt there! Since Firestone being out of business back in 01 I believe, the unemployment figures were bad and right now, its going to get worse before it gets better.

I can not say if the unions are part to blame for the mess but the failure of the companies are solely the responsibility of the CEOs and if they can not see the downfall of profits and economic slowdowns while they didnt cut back on their play money, then they do not need to be running the company. Fire them or impeach them would be the way to go. All of them need to go back on the table and hack out the problems that they need to resolve or cut back. Same for the unions, cut something back to put more into other areas like health insurances, etc. A minor pay cut would be benefit both the employee and employer if the company needs to stay afloat. Not all will work that way.

The elimination of light bulbs of Chrysler plants saving thousands of dollars (as stated in the news), good for them but they need to do MORE! And the temps changes would have them money, thats good too, but MORE!!!!

 

[SarahBeth9394]

Quote:
Charlie it's the huge corporate tax rates that have sent big companies looking for places to manufacture that are more affordable to their companies bottom line. I do agree we need to get manufacturing back in America. But that's a whole other ballgame than what's going on in the auto industry. Well other than small parts like air filters and such could come from overseas but I have no real information on that.

 

[cristy17]

Where I live, there a 5 different companies all that have something to do with the auto industry. All 5 plants are laying off or letting go people left and right. There is only a population of maybe 50,000 people in the two towns. When a quater of the work force is not working, think of what that does to the local economy. There are alos several other companies doing the same thing. So you're up to 1/2 the work force. People are fighting over part - time jobs. Times are tight no matter what.

 

[I have WHAT in my yard?]

Why are gas prices going up?

Because for the last ten years the oil refineries have failed to do ANY capital maintenance on their facilities. To keep the profit flowing up to the top they did only what was absolutely necessary and kept things running. (They actually called it run to destruction maintenance)

Well now the bill has come due. Many, many of the remaining refineries are having severe mechanical issues due to the failure to maintain them....

Of course they are passing that extra cost on to you. Expect it to get worse before it gets better, it is as if the ten year limit of working without upkeep hit them all at once.

 

[Reinbeau]

The refineries need to take care of their maintenance, but they also use that as an excuse to cut back production, which drives the prices up (says someone who used to work on refinery rehab projects).

 

[pokey]

ok, not trying to be smart, but someone tell me why we need unions to proliferate the car industry? what are the workers and ceo's not cabable of making decisions that affect the industry that is their livelyhood? i think it is totally possible, and it is working in other parts of the country. i work for a national retailer and we are not union affiliated, we have 1 person in each store that handles most hr issues, and an open door policy that really works.so what does the union do for workers that can be done cheaper, and not passed on to the cost of the car?is it true that raises are based on seniority? i am senior employee at or store but other workers deserve a raise too. and i would like to speak for myself on issues, rather than a union rep,so please explain.

 

[EweSheep]

Quote:
Good question and good points there! Now that is something to ponder about?