Automotive Industry
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Automotive Industry
| Wed, 01-28-2009 - 4:55pm |
With all the talk in the news about the major automotive companies in North America going through such financial hardship, and all the talk about 'bailouts', I just wanted to bring up a notion and see how it was received. First off, I would like to say that for the past few decades the domestic automotive industry has really 'spoiled' itself. Wages in the automotive industry soar WAY beyond those of similar non-automotive factories, hence production costs and finally end product costs are highly inflated. But of course, in good times, this was 'acceptable'. No one seemed to notice when the Asian comapnies started creeping in, with their much more efficient management, sensible products and competitive prices. Now hard times are upon us, and the automotive industry is falling apart, mostly due to it's own neglect of itself. So, in the face of all this, I wonder if in return for a government 'bail out' package, should the automotive industry not offer an across the board pay cut?? How many billions of dollars could be saved if every person from upper management to plant employees took a set percentage pay cut from their highly over inflated wage or salary?? Would they not in turn start producing a more cost effective product, and end up strenghtening their own industry?? Handing out money with no 'fix' in place is only throwing that money at a sinking ship. Isn't it time that EVERYONE took a bit of responsibility for the problems we've caused and worked to fix them??

What you say is correct.
Didn't the Bush Admin make the cost of a $50K +vehicle for "business" expenses completly deductible or something like that? Or was it vehicles weighing over 10,000 lbs? Wasn't that why Escalades, Hummers, and Lincoln Navigators became all the rage all of a sudden? You could buy this behemouth for 50K plus for "business" purposes and write the whole thing off your taxes the first year or something like that? His little oost to the auto and oil industries.
In the near future many corporations will have newly unionized workforces. Recently back from a trip to Europe a friend told a story about a wonderful cup of coffee. The only problem was her bill. Which was about $15 U.S.
To many I suppose $15 coffee is worth it, if the workforce is unionized, gets a great salary, wonderful pension, lots of time off, healthcare, daycare, lots of vacation time and can't be fired. Eventually the $1 menu at McDonalds may morph into the $10 menu. The $50 steak dinner, will cost only $500, but we will all feel good about it knowing how great our servers are treated.
~Recently back from a trip to Europe a friend told a story about a wonderful cup of coffee. The only problem was her bill. Which was about $15 U.S.~
Just to clarify for you,
Yep - and $7 translates to around 5 euro.
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