GM cutting Jobs & lineup

[Little6pack]

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/7053696/

I feel bad for those folks who work the lansing plant

 

[gnfanatic]

Most of them are being transfered to the new plant.

 

[Drac0nic]

GM's also closing a plant in Maryland, the last day of production is something like the 13th of may, no more new Astro vans afterwards.

 

[TRBON8R]

GM better pull their head out and do it fast. They are scrambling to find money to fund pension plans for their workers and their bond rating is hovering one notch above junk status. Basically all the cash is out of the mattress and their U.S. automotive operations still don't make any money. To add insult to injury Toyota will soon overtake them as the world volume leader in total sales. That's what happens when you have a corporation run by accountants instead of car guys.

It probably won't happen, but I can't say I'd be completely shocked if they were to "pull a Chrysler" and BK sometime in the next 5-10 years. I'd hate to see that, but I think the possibility is there.

 

[bruce]

GM also took a 1 Billion dollar hit to pull out of Fiat.
Yes, with a *B*.

Between poor management, and the unions, there's just about no way they can pull out of this tailspin.

 

[TRBON8R]

By the way, here is a look at GM's latest abortion. Lutz says that Buick is being positioned to be a Lexus fighter......lol. Oh well, I'm guessing the Lucerne will be real popular at Hertz and Avis.

http://www.gminsidenews.com/gallery/thumbnails.php?album=40

 

[John Larkin]

I feel bad for the individuals affected. GM gave away the store for the last 3 years to sell cars and nearly pulled everyone down with them, all those incentives had to payback eventually. The last fiasco was trying to sell people their next car up front. Rick Wagoner is an arrogant ass; I don't feel bad for him at all.

 

[S2V6RACER]

They have to do what they have to do to get rid of the underworked non-productive dead weight over paid employees that would be out of the street picking up pop cans and bit*ching that that is to hard or work and thier backs got injured picking up 2oz of weight useless piece of trashes, but wait, the UNION protects them.

Can't fire them, just "eliminate" the positions...... This is inevitable. Overhead reduction will save $$.


Back under my rock.

 

[gnfanatic]

I blame alot of this on the union. this is why alot of crap is going over sea's. They have alot of lazy workers who have no pride in there work. These people are protected as well, GM is stuck with them. GM is doing a fanastic job on alot of new cars thanks to lutz. Things are changing slowly but surely, now only if they can get rid of the union.

ralph

 

[turbosam6]

Originally posted by Ted A.
They have to do what they have to do to get rid of the underworked non-productive dead weight over paid employees that would be out of the street picking up pop cans and bit*ching that that is to hard or work and thier backs got injured picking up 2oz of weight useless piece of trashes, but wait, the UNION protects them.

Can't fire them, just "eliminate" the positions...... This is inevitable. Overhead reduction will save $$.


Back under my rock.

Sad but true.

I can just hear the stampeding of union workers on this board to this thread to defend their $22 an hour wage to install bolt A in nut B with an air ratchet. We've trained monkeys to do more intelligent jobs, but watch these lazy fu(ks strike when someone even mentions paying them less.

Thats why entire towns go to hell when a plant like that closes, its not always the loss of many jobs, its the fact that no one there is going to find another job paying $50K a year to do what a 5 year old can do. People get accustomed to making too much money for what they are worth, then lose their job and cry about how they can't find work. Bull, they can find work, its just the same work they were doing before they got lucky, which is crap work because they are stupid and have no valuable skills.

 

[Buicksx3]

Speaking of sales....

Today's LA Times business section carried an article outlining how GM's and Ford's sales took another hit last month, mainly due to reduced demand for SUVs & trucks (it's about freakin' time, there are too many in the hands of stupid people!) and the increasing popularity of crossover vehicles. On the flipside, DaimlerChrysler's sales were UP 7.5%, a 21% (!) increase over the same month last year, mainly due to (and I quote) "...sizzling car sales."

(RANT MODE ON)

Gee, could that be because it has products that people actually want to buy, mainly, a kick a$$ sedan (300), Magnum wagon, and a cheap fun-to-drive turbo car in the SRT4? Could be!!

Meanwhile, back at the "Big Two":
-- The new Impala: Upside: a 300+HP 5.3L V8 in a family sedan-- so far, so good. DOWNSIDES: Oops, its FWD!! And, its uglier than the 2003. The verdict: "You are not the next 'American Idol'!".

-- Chevy SSR: finally has the right motor, meaning all the other underpowered/overweight SSRs previously sold are on a depreciation schedule matching that of a Selectric typewriter. If they wanted to recreate a quasi-El Camino, import the Holden Ute from Australia! Unfortunately, it's GM Marketing's answer to a question nobody asked nor cared about.

-- Cobalt SS: A promising entry, but it's late to the party, sporting the latest in Gay Wing Attire and lacking the 25HP & 50 lb-ft of TQ its competition (the SRT4) has.

The new 'Vette and GTO can't sustain GM on their own!

At Ford:
Freestyle: a nifty crossover. Too bad it's underpowered.
Ford 500: Since the lawyers at Ford feel it's not important to protect little things like RECOGNIZABLE TRADE NAMES, this isn't a Futura. Another nifty entry that's underpowered and crying out for the 311HP 4.4L V8 going into the new Volvo XC90...and Ford owns Volvo!!

Mustang: A cool car...in V8 form. Too bad they waste so many parts building the 6-cylinder models for Hertz and that dealers (at least in my area) are being greedy with markups on the GT model! Villa Ford in Orange had a black GT sitting in their showroom with a $5000 "Market Adjustment" on its sticker, pushing the price to $34K. F'em, they can own it!

(RANT MODE OFF)

 

[kshef]

i agree somewhat, but its not all about performance
i personally would take a lucerne over a GTO any day of the week

there are alot of new offering that look promising, maybe not for the performance minded enthusiast
GM needs RWD in everything except economy cars

 

[turboscott]

It is only a matter of time before they are out of business. They produce UGLY vehicles. Even if some are more promising now that is only on the showroom floor and in commercials as they are of poor quality and people would prefer a well made car, better looking, for the same money. I would take any Nissan model over the comparable Ford, GM, or Chrysler equivalent. Nissan's Titan came strong on the truck scene for the last 2 years and that and the Tundra will eventually beat out the Big 3 in the only market they had an advantage, the Full-Size Truck.

I just bought my 5th Nissan, the Murano to be specific. This time I didn't even waste my money on the extended warranty because I had it on my previous ones and never once needed it. The worst repair (non-maintenance) I had in any of my Nissan's is an O2 sensor.

I used to work for Enterprise Rent-A-Car and the American cars were ALWAYS in and out of the shop. They are just a joke.

 

[TRBON8R]

Originally posted by turboscott


I used to work for Enterprise Rent-A-Car and the American cars were ALWAYS in and out of the shop. They are just a joke.

What is an American car/truck anyway? I've got an '04 Silverado built in Canada with an engine made in Mexico. Some of the "foreign" cars are more American than the domestics these days. The domestics are American in name only.

The biggest reason I bought a Chevy was because GM was giving them away with rebates. My trucks get used hard. I plan to use the truck for 3 years as a work vehicle then dump it and let someone else do the maintenance on it. With the tax laws I can write the entire truck off in one year.

 

[gnfanatic]

"They produce UGLY vehicles. Even if some are more promising now that is only on the showroom floor and in commercials as they are of poor quality and people would prefer a well made car, better looking, for the same money"
Turbosacott, you must be smoking some strong stuff to make a stupid statement like that. Just becuase you think the CTS-V, STS,C6 and such are ugly doesnt mean everyone else does. poor quality?? I dont think so, this isnt the 90's. They have come along way and the difference is getting smaller. People beat the hell out of rent a cars, you cant compare, Not to mention rent a cars arent taken care of. I had a 2001 saturn, never had a problem, Had a 1998 GTP, had one problem. I always bought domestic and always will. Some are made in Canada and such but the company is still American owned. GM employs 1 Million american workers.

 

[Randy Greenoe]

Originally posted by turbosam6
Sad but true.

I can just hear the stampeding of union workers on this board to this thread to defend their $22 an hour wage to install bolt A in nut B with an air ratchet. We've trained monkeys to do more intelligent jobs, but watch these lazy fu(ks strike when someone even mentions paying them less.

Thats why entire towns go to hell when a plant like that closes, its not always the loss of many jobs, its the fact that no one there is going to find another job paying $50K a year to do what a 5 year old can do. People get accustomed to making too much money for what they are worth, then lose their job and cry about how they can't find work. Bull, they can find work, its just the same work they were doing before they got lucky, which is crap work because they are stupid and have no valuable skills.

Did you ever work on a auto assembly line? I did and let me tell you it is nothing like that! I worked at Ford as a metal finisher. I had to finish 60 left front fenders and the the left side of 60 hoods every hour 12 hours a day and alot of six day weeks. try it for 30 years and tell me how over paid an autoworker is. I know I couldn't stand it after a short period of time and quit.
Why don't you put the blame on some of the six figure guys that are designing this crap? Alot of these problems that G.M. is having was predicted by auto analyst years ago. You can't give huge rebates 0% financing and not expect it to come bite you in the butt.

 

[turbosam6]

I personally know some auto assembly line workers, and they say its pretty much gravy. Thats not to say your job wasn't hard, or that all of them are easy. Perhaps they give the few trained employees the more difficult jobs and give the dumb ass lazy morons the easy ones (to prevent screw ups).

I agree that there may be too many high paid engineer types at GM, but at least their salary is justified to an extent since they actually have a skill they most likely went to college to learn and its not something any Joe Schmoe can do. Can 99% of the members here tighten a bolt? Yes, more than likely. Can 99% of the mebers here design a crumple zone for a SUV? I know I can't.

 

[nisnutz]

I agree with all the gripes about the unions.A good buddy of mines mother in law has been with GM for 25 years.The other day shes telling me that she made 72 thousand dollars last year.I said wow what do you do there?She said she works in a little parts room and if someone working the line needs something she walks down the little isles and gets it for them.Highly underpaid if you ask me!!!Also no disrespect to the gentleman who said he finished fenders and hoods(I assume you mean alligning them or some kind of metal prepping?)Thats still not a highly skilled job.My.02cents

 

[Randy Greenoe]

Originally posted by nisnutz
I agree with all the gripes about the unions.A good buddy of mines mother in law has been with GM for 25 years.The other day shes telling me that she made 72 thousand dollars last year.I said wow what do you do there?She said she works in a little parts room and if someone working the line needs something she walks down the little isles and gets it for them.Highly underpaid if you ask me!!!Also no disrespect to the gentleman who said he finished fenders and hoods(I assume you mean alligning them or some kind of metal prepping?)Thats still not a highly skilled job.My.02cents

When i hired in at Ford I was pretested before I was hired. You had to be able to weld,braze and lead. It was my job to scuff sand the fender and half of the hood. Then you had to file off the high spots and tap up the low spots and file them smooth. If you got done with that you could set down read the newspaper and smoke a cigarrette,until the next fender and hood came down the line at the rate of one a minute.
G.M. has problems and it is not with there work force. Look at the crap thay expect you to buy in a global market. They have nothing for the younger market. Test drive a entry level G.M. car and then test drive Honda Civic. No wonder they are losing market shares.If they paid the designer at Pontiac that designed the Aztec more than a $1.98 they got cheated.Their quality sux, look at the paint jobs on our turbo cars from the factory. 18 years later and it's finally catching up to them. I don't think I will ever sell my WE4 but I don't think I will ever buy another G.M. car either.

 

[turboscott]

Originally posted by gnfanatic
"They produce UGLY vehicles. Even if some are more promising now that is only on the showroom floor and in commercials as they are of poor quality and people would prefer a well made car, better looking, for the same money"
Turbosacott, you must be smoking some strong stuff to make a stupid statement like that. Just becuase you think the CTS-V, STS,C6 and such are ugly doesnt mean everyone else does. poor quality?? I dont think so, this isnt the 90's. They have come along way and the difference is getting smaller. People beat the hell out of rent a cars, you cant compare, Not to mention rent a cars arent taken care of. I had a 2001 saturn, never had a problem, Had a 1998 GTP, had one problem. I always bought domestic and always will. Some are made in Canada and such but the company is still American owned. GM employs 1 Million american workers.

Not all their cars are ugly. Most of them are though. The GTO is nothing more than a Grand Am with a bigger engine. They have all this hype about the GTO coming back and look what it is, a big disappointment.

You are correct. people doe beat on rental cars. As an employee there I was a big offender myself. However, people beat on the Japanese cars as much as the "American" cars and the Japanese cars still don't make it to the shop. You think they are just beating on the American cars and babying the Japanese cars?