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CarSpace Alternate RouteTurn off the nav system, crumple up that MapQuest printout, and let's find out where the next random turn may take us! Nov 5, 2009 - That's MY Job
I was reminded of the film while reading an interesting op-ed piece in the Wall Street Journal about how Ford is making it comeback, and how the UAW is throwing a real monkey wrench into the works. The real issue is the job classifications. Ford's UAW contract has lots of them, governing who can and who can't perform specified tasks on the factory floor. So if a machine breaks down, an assembly line can come to a halt while everyone waits for the worker with the proper classification to arrive at the scene. If other workers nearby are perfectly capable of fixing the machine, well, that doesn't matter. The number of job classifications is less than it was a decade ago, but it's still far too many to maximize a factory's efficiency. The classifications and attendant work rules are enforced by union bureaucracies—members of each plant's shop committee, grievance committee, health and safety committee, etc. They're all paid by the companies, as are their legions of corporate counterparts. One man's feather-bedding is another man's job. All this begs a fundamental, and uncomfortable, question. Can a UAW-represented car company compete effectively, long term, with its nonunion competitors? At the very least, companies organized by the UAW have lots of extra costs to bear at their factories located in the U.S. The UAW members at Ford may want it to still be the heydey of their power and influence, but they really need to catch up with modern times before they're left behind wondering what happened to their jobs. Read the entire article at wsj.com
Nov 4, 2009 - News Funnies
As Chrysler sits on blocks, what will Fiat do to fix it? Given that some folks have suggested that Fiat is an acronym for Failure In Automotive Technology or Fix It Again Tony, the headline gave me a little chuckle. Whatever their plan is, it's going to have to be a good one.
Nov 3, 2009 - Get Out And Vote!
Taxpayers have sunk more than $50 billion in bailout and bankruptcy financing in GM and more than $14 billion in Chrysler this year. About half of the debt was wiped out in bankruptcy at both companies. The government received 9.85 percent equity in Chrysler, and 60.8 percent equity and $2.1 billion of preferred stock in GM, and $13.8 billion in debt obligations between the two companies. Yep, that sure is an attractive IPO. I can't see anything wrong with this plan, can you? Read more at reuters.com AR Index 607.97 +6.68 (+1.11%) Stocks of individual interest Dow 9789.44 -78.52 (-0.80%)
Nov 2, 2009 - What A Difference A Bridge Makes
Not only did they agree to the changes in the contract that put them in line with the deals with GM and Chrysler, they did so by voting 83% in favor as opposed to roughly the same percentage in opposition at the UAW plants. Will Ford start to migrate work to Canadian plants? It's not that long a trip over the Peace Bridge to the competetive side of the falls. Read the entire article at freep.com
Oct 30, 2009 - Let The Celebration Begin
Under the terms of the agreement, Sterling Axle was supposed to get new rear-wheel drive work that would have added about 100 jobs. Now, union sources fear that work will be given to Getrag Corp., a German supplier with a nonunion factory in North Carolina. Local union leaders also were told Ford is considering outsourcing other components made at the plant, where 80 percent of workers voted against ratification. "I don't think people here really understood that the work we had been promised was contingent on ratification," said Sterling Axle UAW member Brian Pannebecker, who voted in favor of the agreement and is now helping to organize a petition in support of revote. Exactly what did you think was going to happen here guys? I'm hopeful in that there seem to be at least of few UAW members who realize that the choice is between "winning" and working. Read the rest of the article at the Detroit News
Oct 29, 2009 - Bark Or Bite?
Steve Collins, president of industry trade group the American Automotive Policy Council, said Wednesday that U.S. officials have told the three Detroit automakers that China is expected to begin an investigation under anti-dumping laws into their business practices as soon as next week. The U.S. auto companies export only about 9,000 cars to China annually, Collins said. GM manufactures and sells more than a million cars a year in China, though those sales wouldn't be affected. Mercedes-Benz, BMW and Nissan also export cars to China from plants in the United States, but those won't be included in the investigation, Collins said. As China has been one of the places where auto sales have been growing (a mere 84% increase in September) this kind of feels like the big dog flexing his muscles a bit. Read the entire article at Yahoo Finance
Oct 28, 2009 - Dust Collectors
The trusted magazine Consumer Reports heaped praise Tuesday on Ford Motor Co., which continues to gain momentum in the face of the global recession. World-class reliabilty could mean anything, but when you only score 44% or 4% on anything that's being handed out, especially when others in the class are getting 90%, it's going to be hard to twist that into an ad slogan.
Oct 26, 2009 - Suggestion Box
If you've seen pictures of the Volt, you're likely already familiar with its greenish-silvery hue. A contest inviting the public to suggest a name for that color launched Friday and will continue through Nov. 4. People really get hung up on the names of colors, and an "off-color" name can really influence the perception of a color, although in the case of the Volt, the perception of the vehilce may influence the name people might give the color. Faded Bailout Green anyone? Read the rest of the article at wpxi.com
Oct 23, 2009 - Useful Idioms
Is it just me, or are we in challenging economic times, particularly in the auto industry? On October 13, Ford and the UAW reached a tentative agreement on a contract. The deal, which runs until 2011, gives workers a bonus if they ratify the agreement and guarantees new vehicles for five assembly plants. But it also bans strikes over wages or benefits, freezes entry-level wages and changes work rules to require some skilled-trade employees to do more than one job. Naturally, the rank and file thinks it's 1958 and business is booming, so they're not happy about it. "People are very upset, and they let King know it," said Gary Walkowicz, a member of the bargaining committee at the Dearborn Truck Plant and a leader of dissidents at the Rouge. "We are urging everyone to vote down these concessions." Just call them the noseless wonders. Read more at MSNBC and The Detroit News
Oct 22, 2009 - Fuzzy Math
The government has sunk $50 billion into GM and $14 billion into Chrysler. Rattner has long maintained that the money the Bush administration gave the automakers -- roughly $20 billion for GM and $4 billion for Chrysler -- would have to be written off because it wasn't tied to restructuring. The promise wasn't that we'd get pretty close. It was that this was an "investment" to save GM and turn us a profit in the end. $25 billion is a long way from $50 billion. And when you're talking in billions of dollars, "pretty close" is pretty meaningless. Even if you want to parse it out to "money spent by the Obama administration", $5 billion is a pretty wide miss. I wonder how many Volts it will take to make up that difference? Read the full article at freep.com
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