Governors question Toyota's treatment

No question, outsourcing, robotics have had an effect, but just UAW membership peaked at more than 1.5 million and today is less than 300,000.

It is nice to be here! Keeps me on my toes.

 

There are very good reasons for those job losses and it begins right in your own backyard...look in the mirror first:

• The detroiters moved as many jobs as possible out of the US into Mexico, Korea and Europe in order to avoid having to deal with the UAW/CAW; Thanks Detroit for taking jobs out of the US.
• Over the years a good many of those plum UAW jobs moved out of the union-dominated North to the non-union South; simple economics; Good red-blooded Americans work in Alabama as well as Michigan.
• The natural progression of technology requires that over time less and less human intervention would be needed to produce vehicles; Man-hours per vehicle in the 80's vs Man-hours per vehicle in this decade. Human jobs were absolutely going to be reduced. Sorry UAW, but life refuses to stand still, innovate or die.
• Your statements also ignore the very obvious fact that more jobs were created at the retail end of the business. Unfortunately for you these new jobs had little to do with the detroiters' products. Count the dealers and personel in 1980 when the market was last 9 million vehicles. Now count the dealers and personnel in the US on the retail end for all makers at the end of this last decade. Sorry for you but you're on the declining side of that equation.

The GM fanboi's sobbing and wailing about these 4 governors looking to protect their own states is hilarious. It's almost worth the recent events just to see these reactions. Want some popcorn to watch the sob sisters go nutz together?

 

You mean how many Toyotas, Nissans (Datsuns) and Hondas were sold when the Detroit automakers didn't, wouldn't or couldn't provide a product to meet the needs, dependability or economy of the three Japanese automakers?

Wow! You should actually do some research before you make these statements.

Why don't you look at GM's own Japanese website.....

gmjapan.co.jp

It does appear GM does sell Cadillacs, Chrevrolets, Hummers and Saabs in Japan. As does Ford, Chrysler, Mercedes Benz, Porsche, BMW and others.

Apparently you didn't know GM has four Japanese plants producing products for GM vehicles. They are in Iwata, Fujisawa, Kanagawa, and Kosai.

And what is wrong with that? GM and Chrysler did the same in the US, well at least until the Dow Jones Industrial Average dumped GM on June 1st, 2009. Then again GM is important enough that the US government took over majority ownership in 2009 to prevent it's collapse.

Perhaps if the Detroit automakers made a product that met the needs of their customers and provided them with a quality reliable economical product the consumer would not have looked at Toyota, Nissan and Honda.

Let's look at it this way. GM currently has 243,000 employees globally. Of that number GM has 27,000 salaried employees and 40,000 hourly employees in the US totaling 67,000 employees. That means GM has in its US operations approximately 30% of its total employees worldwide. In other words GM exports almost 70% of its jobs outside the US.

 

I don't have much time so I will be address only the last point. GM builds and sells cars all over the world trying to build a complete team in the country of origin. This is very unlike toyota and othe Japanese manufacturers who have used the home island as the factory and exported all over the world. I 'll be back.

 

Wow! Make up your mind please. Toyota currently produces the following in the:

1) Camry
2) Sienna
3) Highlander
4) RAV4
5) Corolla
6) Tundra
7) Sequoia
8) Tacoma
9) Venza

It uses suppliers from over 30 states.

Toyota produces engines and transmissions in Alabama and Kentucky

It has 10 US manufacturing plants. Approximately 70% of vehicles sold in the US are produced here. Toyota employees almost 40,000 factory workers in the US. About 2000 people shy of GM's US factory employees.

Quite frankly your statement is far from being accurate and truthful.

 

In relative terms there is no such thing as an import market in Japan, All of the makes you list accounted for less than 5% of the entire Japanese market. Sure the Japanese government will crow that the market is open but there are aseveral barriers lying beneathe the surface which keep it closed. Do you know that GM outsells Toyota in every major market in the world except one? The closed market of Japan.

As for the plants, they were a mixture of Suzuki and Isuzu plants. Not GM plants.

 

Well GM can only blame themselves. In the past two decades Japan has relaxed its import requirements to US automakers. For example GM sold a total of 50,000 GM vehicles in Japan during 1996. During 2008 GM's total Japanese sales declined to a pitiful 2000 units. All this while Japan relaxed its auto import rules and even added several GM models to Japan's version of Cash for Clunkers in 2009.

Source: Automotive news autonews.com/article/20090116/ANA02/901169978/1078

autoblog.com/2009/01/18/gm-aims-to-double-sales-in-japan-by-2011

Sure the Japanese government will crow that the market is open but there are aseveral barriers lying beneathe the surface which keep it closed.

Wow! Really! Could you imagine that! By the way wasn't GM the world's largest automaker during until 2009? That might account for a larger market share.

Then again you might want to check the market share for Africa, and the Middle East.

Then again GM has no problem listing them as being owned and operated by GM. It is also interesting how you ignore GM's interest in Suzuki and Isuzu as well.