Re: Caught in the Crossfire at Capitol Hill
IMHO, our esteemed congressman are grandstanding and issuing sound bites while our economy goes down the toilet. They ***** about auto CEOs flying on corporate jets while they themselves fly on free junkets courtesy of lobbyists and have free health care, fantastic defined pension plan, and a subsidized cafeteria. Our CinC hides in his office and lets Detroit suffer because the state voted Democrat.
Granted our auto makers pandered to the buyers' demand for overweight, poor gas mileage vehicles. You build what sells. A little intelligence would have forecast gas spiraling out of sight a year ago and the product mix could have shifted, but our fickle buying public would have shifted from Ford F150s to Toyota Tundras.
FYI, the German labor unions are stronger than ours. They get the month of August off and a total of close to 30 days a year. They have a contract with their employers and very strong worker unions that dispute any change in job scope and any outsourcing. Severance packages are set by law. I had a couple German guys work for me in a tier 1 company and they were fantastic, but they made sure I did not violate any of the hourly worker rules because there would be hell to pay. So don't convince yourselves that M-B and Karmann are cheaper labor sites than Motown.
The US makes good quality cars - just slightly behind anyone. But there was no place I could buy an sports sedan with AWD and a manual transmission EXCEPT a CTS, and I don't care for that body style. There are some decent looking American cars, but once they stick in a 6- or 8- cylinder they only offer them with automatic transmissions. Not for me. Compare the looks of the XF roadster with a Saturn or Pontiac -- no comparison in my mind. Well, maybe the Saturn, but even less trunk than a XF and no where as sexy looking.
Rant over.