Fed's to make your car payments

[JohnnyD]

Originally Posted by RIJIMMY

toyota succeeds because of the mastery of lean processing. Constant process improvement, measuring progress, correcting measures is ingrained in their culture.

All these actions are representational of a solid company. Companies that do not keep track of detailed metrics do not deserve to exist. They are allowed to continue to operate based on pockets of ignorance in the consumer base.

GM should spend more time tracking metrics and making improvements than investing R&D in that POS Hummer, H2, H3 and I'm sure they have the H4 in the works. They grasp on to these short-lived fads and are unable to sell enough units to turn a decent ROI.

[likwid]

Originally Posted by JohnnyD

All these actions are representational of a solid company. Companies that do not keep track of detailed metrics do not deserve to exist. They are allowed to continue to operate based on pockets of ignorance in the consumer base.

GM should spend more time tracking metrics and making improvements than investing R&D in that POS Hummer, H2, H3 and I'm sure they have the H4 in the works. They grasp on to these short-lived fads and are unable to sell enough units to turn a decent ROI.

Source: GoAuto.com.au

HUMMER will consolidate its upcoming H3 range in Australia from 2009 with a variety of new models that will include a compact SUV, diesel, ethanol and hybrid power, and a new full-sized H2.

Central to this will be engineering and design input from General Motors’ global outposts, including Holden, but perhaps Hummer’s most ambitious plan involves a vehicle that sits below the H3 – currently the company’s smallest offering.

Known as the H4 – although this may change by the time it appears around 2010 – it will give the Hummer brand a vital weapon in the United States against premium-priced compact SUVs such as the Nissan Murano.

Yay another vehicle that its origional inspiriation is similar in name only!

American automobile manufacturers are complete idiots.
They were in trouble BEFORE the market tanked.

Luxury: ruled by europe
Economy: ruled by japan and europe
Longevity: ruled by japan
Innovation: ruled by europe
Driveability: ruled by europe

[JohnnyD]

Originally Posted by likwid

Source: GoAuto.com.au

HUMMER will consolidate its upcoming H3 range in Australia from 2009 with a variety of new models that will include a compact SUV, diesel, ethanol and hybrid power, and a new full-sized H2.

Central to this will be engineering and design input from General Motors’ global outposts, including Holden, but perhaps Hummer’s most ambitious plan involves a vehicle that sits below the H3 – currently the company’s smallest offering.

Known as the H4 – although this may change by the time it appears around 2010 – it will give the Hummer brand a vital weapon in the United States against premium-priced compact SUVs such as the Nissan Murano.

When I made my post, I had no idea about this. I was just speculating. This is what happens when an entire sub-company is based around only one model.

I can't effing believe this... and we're giving these idiots even more money???

[striperman36]

Originally Posted by JohnnyD

When I made my post, I had no idea about this. I was just speculating. This is what happens when an entire sub-company is based around only one model.

I can't effing believe this... and we're giving these idiots even more money???

I thought GM didn't have any presence outside of the US?

[justplugit]

Let them fail, go under, then restructure.

If Sweden,one of the most socialist countries in Europe,
won't bail out Saab, what makes us think a GM bailout
will work?

[TheSpecialist]

The Pontiac Aztek may not have been a great vehicle, but it came with the worlds best anti-theft sytem.

ugly car = excellent anti-theft...


Who says Toyota Auto workers don't want to unionize?

Toyota Powers Ahead at Kentucky Plant

by Frank Langfitt

Listen Now add to playlist

Frank Langfitt, NPR.
Leonard Habermehl is a skilled repairman who started at Toyota in 1990. He once thought unions weren't necessary. Now he'd like to see one at his Kentucky plant.


GM vs. Toyota

Top-seller in U.S. (2004)
GM: Chevrolet Silverado 680,768
Toyota: Toyota Camry 426,990

U.S. Sales (2004)
GM: 4,655,459
Toyota: 2,060,049

U.S. Market Share*
GM: 26.8%
Toyota: 13%

*Market share through the first nine months of 2005

More GM vs. Toyota comparisons

More Coverage

Dec. 19, 2005
Shrinking GM Means Pain for Factory Families

All Things Considered, December 20, 2005 · While General Motors and Ford are preparing to slash jobs and close plants, foreign carmakers like Toyota continue to build new facilities in the South.

Targeting rural areas, companies from Honda to Hyundai have tapped an eager labor force in a region where it's easier to keep costs down.

Toyota -- now nipping at the heels of the world's largest auto company, GM -- built one of its first U.S. plants in Kentucky, where it started producing cars in 1988.

Renee Brown works assembling the Camry -- the nation's best-selling car. She puts in seat belts and cup holders at Toyota's plant in Kentucky horse country.

Brown grew up in Beattyville, a tiny, struggling town in the state's Appalachian coalfields. The town doesn't have many good jobs today.

Brown previously worked as an assistant manager at Dairy Queen, where she made $20,000 annually. Six years ago, she got a job at Toyota.

Now, Brown makes $70,000 a year -- more than twice the average manufacturing wage in the area.

The United Auto Workers have tried to crack the Toyota plant since before it opened. Last spring, they opened their own organizing office just down the road.

But Brown says that Toyota's wages are so close to the union's, she doesn't see the advantage.

That workers like Brown aren't interested in unions is no accident. Manufacturers like Toyota locate their plants in regions hungry for jobs with good salaries. It's the result of a strategy foreign car companies have used for years to avoid unionization.

Gary Chaison, who teaches industrial relations at Clark University in Masachussetts, says Toyota and its peers also try to treat workers well, take their opinions into account and give them a stake in the plant's success.

Despite the wages, some Toyota workers say they need a union. They complain the company drives them so hard that people get injured, and when they can't work anymore, Toyota pays them off to leave

Leonard Habermehl is a skilled repairman and makes up to $85,000 per year. When he came to Toyota in 1990, he didn't see why he needed a union. But after years of service in which he says he has seen people injured and forced out of their jobs, he now believes the plant should unionize.

The plant employs 7,000 people and is slated to build 340,000 Camry's this year. Next year, it will produce the new Camry hybrid, a point of pride among all employees.

Pete Gritton oversees human resources at the plant. He says attrition among workers is below 3 percent. He estimates about 15 workers leave because of injuries each year.

Gritton says the company tries to find them other jobs, but can't always make a match.

If organizing workers was tough before, Habermehl says it's even harder now with the UAW under seige. Ford and GM are looking to cut tens of thousands of jobs. Delphi, the world's largest auto parts maker, only recently backed off demands for union wage cuts of more than 50 percent.

Habermehl says future wages at Toyota depend on the UAW, whether plant employees realize it or not. When wages rise at the Big Three, they're also likely to rise at Toyota. And when they fall in Detroit's plants, Toyota could reduce them as well.

Habermehl isn't optimistic about unionizing Toyota. Once an activist, he doesn't spend as much time around the organizing office these days. He says the UAW is so distracted by the U.S. automakers, it probably won't be able to make a serious run at Toyota.

[buckman]

Originally Posted by TheSpecialist

ugly car = excellent anti-theft...


Who says Toyota Auto workers don't want to unionize?

Toyota Powers Ahead at Kentucky Plant

by Frank Langfitt

Listen Now add to playlist

Frank Langfitt, NPR.
Leonard Habermehl is a skilled repairman who started at Toyota in 1990. He once thought unions weren't necessary. Now he'd like to see one at his Kentucky plant.


GM vs. Toyota

Top-seller in U.S. (2004)
GM: Chevrolet Silverado 680,768
Toyota: Toyota Camry 426,990

U.S. Sales (2004)
GM: 4,655,459
Toyota: 2,060,049

U.S. Market Share*
GM: 26.8%
Toyota: 13%

*Market share through the first nine months of 2005

More GM vs. Toyota comparisons

More Coverage

Dec. 19, 2005
Shrinking GM Means Pain for Factory Families

All Things Considered, December 20, 2005 · While General Motors and Ford are preparing to slash jobs and close plants, foreign carmakers like Toyota continue to build new facilities in the South.

Targeting rural areas, companies from Honda to Hyundai have tapped an eager labor force in a region where it's easier to keep costs down.

Toyota -- now nipping at the heels of the world's largest auto company, GM -- built one of its first U.S. plants in Kentucky, where it started producing cars in 1988.

Renee Brown works assembling the Camry -- the nation's best-selling car. She puts in seat belts and cup holders at Toyota's plant in Kentucky horse country.

Brown grew up in Beattyville, a tiny, struggling town in the state's Appalachian coalfields. The town doesn't have many good jobs today.

Brown previously worked as an assistant manager at Dairy Queen, where she made $20,000 annually. Six years ago, she got a job at Toyota.

Now, Brown makes $70,000 a year -- more than twice the average manufacturing wage in the area.

The United Auto Workers have tried to crack the Toyota plant since before it opened. Last spring, they opened their own organizing office just down the road.

But Brown says that Toyota's wages are so close to the union's, she doesn't see the advantage.

That workers like Brown aren't interested in unions is no accident. Manufacturers like Toyota locate their plants in regions hungry for jobs with good salaries. It's the result of a strategy foreign car companies have used for years to avoid unionization.

Gary Chaison, who teaches industrial relations at Clark University in Masachussetts, says Toyota and its peers also try to treat workers well, take their opinions into account and give them a stake in the plant's success.

Despite the wages, some Toyota workers say they need a union. They complain the company drives them so hard that people get injured, and when they can't work anymore, Toyota pays them off to leave

Leonard Habermehl is a skilled repairman and makes up to $85,000 per year. When he came to Toyota in 1990, he didn't see why he needed a union. But after years of service in which he says he has seen people injured and forced out of their jobs, he now believes the plant should unionize.

The plant employs 7,000 people and is slated to build 340,000 Camry's this year. Next year, it will produce the new Camry hybrid, a point of pride among all employees.

Pete Gritton oversees human resources at the plant. He says attrition among workers is below 3 percent. He estimates about 15 workers leave because of injuries each year.

Gritton says the company tries to find them other jobs, but can't always make a match.

If organizing workers was tough before, Habermehl says it's even harder now with the UAW under seige. Ford and GM are looking to cut tens of thousands of jobs. Delphi, the world's largest auto parts maker, only recently backed off demands for union wage cuts of more than 50 percent.

Habermehl says future wages at Toyota depend on the UAW, whether plant employees realize it or not. When wages rise at the Big Three, they're also likely to rise at Toyota. And when they fall in Detroit's plants, Toyota could reduce them as well.

Habermehl isn't optimistic about unionizing Toyota. Once an activist, he doesn't spend as much time around the organizing office these days. He says the UAW is so distracted by the U.S. automakers, it probably won't be able to make a serious run at Toyota.

What's amazing is Toyota moves into a rural area and provides thousands of high paying jobs and some people that get those jobs still complain. They should quit and I'm sure someone else will fill there spot.

[RIJIMMY]

Originally Posted by JohnnyD

All these actions are representational of a solid company. Companies that do not keep track of detailed metrics do not deserve to exist. They are allowed to continue to operate based on pockets of ignorance in the consumer base.

GM should spend more time tracking metrics and making improvements than investing R&D in that POS Hummer, H2, H3 and I'm sure they have the H4 in the works. They grasp on to these short-lived fads and are unable to sell enough units to turn a decent ROI.

yup

Also, think of this. Why would ANYONE qualified to make change and take big business risks join GM? What superstar would want the job?So that if they are successful and receive compensation to match their success they will be publicly flogged by the congress? The reaction to the AIG bonuses has put a serious bruise on the credibility of the government. Many qualified and intelligent people will not be signing up to work for any companies tied to the government.

[Cool Beans]

Originally Posted by RIJIMMY

yup

Also, think of this. Why would ANYONE qualified to make change and take big business risks join GM? What superstar would want the job?So that if they are successful and receive compensation to match their success they will be publicly flogged by the congress? The reaction to the AIG bonuses has put a serious bruise on the credibility of the government. Many qualified and intelligent people will not be signing up to work for any companies tied to the government.

I've got a retarded Uncle, that is looking for work....
He voted for Obama too.

That's 2 out of the 3 things they are looking for.

Now if I can only teach him to read a teleprompter (to hold press conferences and say its all his fault) he may have a future at GM.

[RIJIMMY]

Originally Posted by Cool Beans

I've got a retarded Uncle, that is looking for work....
He voted for Obama too.

That's 2 out of the 3 things they are looking for.

Now if I can only teach him to read a teleprompter (to hold press conferences and say its all his fault) he may have a future at GM.

wow, that made me laugh out loud. Too funny

[JohnnyD]

Originally Posted by RIJIMMY

yup

Also, think of this. Why would ANYONE qualified to make change and take big business risks join GM? What superstar would want the job?So that if they are successful and receive compensation to match their success they will be publicly flogged by the congress? The reaction to the AIG bonuses has put a serious bruise on the credibility of the government. Many qualified and intelligent people will not be signing up to work for any companies tied to the government.

Good. They're going to fail anyway. Hopefully the government realizes this sooner than later before too much money is completely wasted. The last thing we need is a subsidized automaker in similar shoes as Amtrack - wasting money with no regard and not improving the product or efficiencies because the government will just give is more money anyway.

[RIJIMMY]

Originally Posted by JohnnyD

Good. They're going to fail anyway. Hopefully the government realizes this sooner than later before too much money is completely wasted. The last thing we need is a subsidized automaker in similar shoes as Amtrack - wasting money with no regard and not improving the product or efficiencies because the government will just give is more money anyway.

so Johnny, just to be clear, if GM fails, Obama does too. Its his gamble he has chosen to make - to support GM.
Sounds "Limbaugh-ish" of you to want Obama to fail.