[Outlaw77]

Originally Posted by Royal Tiger

GM is dying, I just hope Ford goes first. FCA is one big recall away from drowning in red ink. Especially since they have been trying to sell Dodge, and no one wants it.

I think Dodge is doing a much better job than GM or Ford. I love my new Charger and the trucks offered by Ford and GM don't come close to the Dodge truck line up. I'll never buy a GM product again.

[90503]

https://www.freep.com/story/money/ca...ss/2216433002/

WASHINGTON — General Motors CEO Mary Barra told members of Congress upset about impending layoffs Wednesday that while she understands that the federal government spent billions on saving the company a decade ago, she must look forward to positioning the company for growth.
"We are in an industry that is transforming faster than I've seen in a 30-plus-year career," said Barra, referring to technological, consumer and other forces that she has said forced the company to announce last week the idling of plants in Detroit-Hamtramck, Lordstown, Ohio, and elsewhere and the loss of some 14,000 employees.
After meeting with U.S. Sens. Sherrod Brown and Rob Portman, both of Ohio, Barra, in her first public appearance since last week's announcement, said GM is working with the UAW to determine how best to use the so-called "unallocated" plants and how to train workers to put them into positions open elsewhere.
Brown, a Democrat, and Portman, a Republican, said they both pressed Barra to get a new product in Lordstown. Knowing that GM is set to enter negotiations with the UAW for how and where its workforce will be placed, Brown said he's looking for a solution "sooner rather than later" and that he expects GM to stand up for its workers.

"The government saved this company," he said, referring to the rescue of General Motors in 2009 and 2010.
Portman said he spoke to President Donald Trump again on Wednesday about the GM cuts and that he "is very committed to keeping this assembly plant in Ohio." Trump has threatened GM with tariffs and a loss of subsidies for electric vehicle sales if it follows through on the cuts.
Portman said that he and Brown understood that sales of the Cruze — made in Lordstown — were not as good as they had been and that the company faced competitive pressures, including a slowdown in sales. He also said that when he urged Barra to put another product in Lordstown, she said she'll "keep an open mind but she doesn't want to raise expectations."

As to threats from Trump and others in Washington, she simply said, "Where we are focused right now is on the workers." She also noted the company has invested some $22 billion in its U.S. operations since the government rescue in 2009.
Earlier Wednesday, Barra met with new members of Congress — including Michigan's four new members — at Harvard's Kennedy School,
The discussion was off-the-record, part of a multiday program to bring together experts and officials and incoming members of Congress. U.S. Reps.-elect Andy Levin, D-Bloomfield Township, and Haley Stevens, D-Rochester Hills, confirmed for the Free Press that Barra spoke, and they generally characterized her comments.
Levin said the first question asked of Barra — who was on a panel with executives from Boeing and Johnson & Johnson — concerned the reductions.
Barra also met privately after the panel discussion with Michigan's four new members ahead of what were expected to be other meetings in Washington, D.C., this week.
Both Levin and Stevens said that when questions were brought up about GM's sending production of the Blazer to Mexico rather than locating those jobs in Lordstown, Barra said that decision happened at a time when Lordstown was full with three shifts. Meanwhile, Stevens said Barra voiced concerns about emission standards still being unresolved and Trump administration tariffs, which GM and Boeing said have hurt competitiveness.
U.S. Reps.-elect Elissa Slotkin, D-Holly, and Rashida Tlaib, D-Detroit, brought up questions about GM's broader goals and environmental concerns, respectively. Stevens, for her part, characterized it as a productive meeting overall but said there "are still questions around job loss and what will happen to displaced workers."
Tlaib issued a scathing statement, saying that Detroit and the U.S. have "paid a terribly steep price to placate and keep GM afloat. Now, as we fight to rebuild our regional economy and create living-wage jobs, GM is repaying our sacrifice and investment by slashing thousands of jobs and closing the plant an entire neighborhood was torn down to build."
"I’ll always stand in solidarity with workers and for what’s right and this is simply wrong," she said, adding that it "reaffirms my commitment" to making demands upfront of corporations that receive public subsidies.

Stevens said that while "changing consumer dynamics" apparently forced the company to make its recent announcement, she's "optimistic that GM wants to lead" in moving to zero-emission and autonomous vehicles.
"Reminds me of a race to the moon but this commands and inspires the innovation agenda to create jobs and lead industrial global economy," she said. "At the same time, unions need a bigger seat at the table and we need a plan to address painful job loss."
"We were grateful with her taking the time to meet with us. We all want to have a good relationship with her and GM," said Levin. "We impressed upon her that we want to partner with GM to make sure as many as the next generation of vehicles (as possible) are built in Michigan. We want to work with GM and the UAW to make sure that happens."
Levin said that while he and the others were obviously concerned about the loss of jobs, Barra didn't speak too specifically about the company's plans — especially since it is headed into negotiations with the UAW.
He also said that while GM is clearly "concerned about its competitive position," he and other members are focused on "trade policy and labor policy that raises the standard of American workers and workers in other countries."
In a statement released Wednesday evening, Barra said: “I had very constructive meetings with members of Congress from Ohio and Maryland. I share their concerns about the impact the actions we announced last week will have on our employees, their families and the communities.
These were very difficult decisions -- decisions I take very personally. I informed the members that many hourly employees at the impacted U.S. plants will have the opportunity to work at other U.S. GM plants and that we are committed to working with them to minimize the impact on the communities. I also informed them that all salaried GM workers impacted by these actions are being offered outplacement services to help them transition to new jobs.”

[Royal Tiger]

As much as I hate Facebook, the boycott GM comments are certainly quite numerous. Like tens of thousands, and many bring up the bailout.

[ZED SLED]

You had me at Facebook. Never joined. Never will.

[90503]

Originally Posted by Royal Tiger

As much as I hate Facebook, the boycott GM comments are certainly quite numerous. Like tens of thousands, and many bring up the bailout.

I would sure understand a boycott of this made in Mexico Blazer. What a gyp. I find it hard to believe they couldn't have planned it for a U.S. plant. It seems only U.S. plants get the axe, anything new goes off-shore....That looks like the real plan all along...

[Doc]

The problem with an emotional boycott is instead of forcing them to reopen plants and rehire workers, the drop in sales could be enough to simply put them out of business. Then everybody in the company loses their job, and all the retirees lose their pensions. Talk about emotional and ugly.

I don't know what their future is going to be. So far it looks like they're trying to stay in business just to stay in business. They're not leading anything, despite the marketing-speak she's putting forth. The decision makers don't appear to be vehicle enthusiasts of any kind. EV and autonomous? That's the only 'vision' they have?

It'll be sad to see GM either go down or just become another footnote in the history of long-standing American companies that put corporate-think, 90-day report types in charge who didn't know how to change with the times.

Maybe if the execs would spend a day working at one of their dealerships, trying to sell what they produce they'd get some ideas. Pretend to be shopping for an SUV or truck and spend a day going around to various dealers like a customer does. See what the customer sees and maybe they'll start to get an idea of what they need to do to make GM successful again.

[sherob]

Originally Posted by Doc

The problem with an emotional boycott is instead of forcing them to reopen plants and rehire workers, the drop in sales could be enough to simply put them out of business. Then everybody in the company loses their job, and all the retirees lose their pensions. Talk about emotional and ugly.

I don't know what their future is going to be. So far it looks like they're trying to stay in business just to stay in business. They're not leading anything, despite the marketing-speak she's putting forth. The decision makers don't appear to be vehicle enthusiasts of any kind. EV and autonomous? That's the only 'vision' they have?

It'll be sad to see GM either go down or just become another footnote in the history of long-standing American companies that put corporate-think, 90-day report types in charge who didn't know how to change with the times.

Maybe if the execs would spend a day working at one of their dealerships, trying to sell what they produce they'd get some ideas. Pretend to be shopping for an SUV or truck and spend a day going around to various dealers like a customer does. See what the customer sees and maybe they'll start to get an idea of what they need to do to make GM successful again.

This!

They need to scale back on $70k pickups and produce something affordable! My 2018 Colorado stickered for over $40k! After discounts, dickering around with them, and my GM Buypowercard rewards, I got it down to $30k! Even that's insane for a small truck in my eyes!

I just wanted a regular cab, 4cyl, 6sp, A/C, 4x4... like my old 91 Toyota pickup... $8500!

[fastball]

Originally Posted by sherob

This!

They need to scale back on $70k pickups and produce something affordable! My 2018 Colorado stickered for over $40k! After discounts, dickering around with them, and my GM Buypowercard rewards, I got it down to $30k! Even that's insane for a small truck in my eyes!

I just wanted a regular cab, 4cyl, 6sp, A/C, 4x4... like my old 91 Toyota pickup... $8500!

The profit margin on the big trucks, the Silverados and Sierras, are eye opening. I read a couple years ago that GM had gotten their actual cost to produce them down to around $17k per unit all in. That's their cost in R&D, engineering, design, assembly, parts, labor man hours, including utilities to run and operate the assembly line for the time it takes to build one. And option packages that balloon the sticker price are literally pennies on the dollar for them. Components like seat heaters and moonroofs cost much less today than they ever did and the cost is only going down as time goes on.

[Royal Tiger]

Someone has to pay for people building cars making $35/hr. There’s a reason the plants will stay open in places like China, Mexico, Brazil, Malaysia, etc...

I also think the executives are vastly overpaid as well, but it seems likes it’s harder to get rid of them. Compare the salaries of Japanese executives versus ones in the US. In general, the ones in the US are paid substantially more while performing worse.

[fastball]

Originally Posted by Royal Tiger

Someone has to pay for people building cars making $35/hr. There’s a reason the plants will stay open in places like China, Mexico, Brazil, Malaysia, etc...

I also think the executives are vastly overpaid as well, but it seems likes it’s harder to get rid of them. Compare the salaries of Japanese executives versus ones in the US. In general, the ones in the US are paid substantially more while performing worse.

Parts and technology are cheap now. American labor is expensive.

[Bongos2U]

Originally Posted by Royal Tiger

GM is dying, I just hope Ford goes first. FCA is one big recall away from drowning in red ink. Especially since they have been trying to sell Dodge, and no one wants it.

FCA just announced they will be firing up an old Chrysler plant in Michigan to build the new three row Jeep. I read that FCA factories in North America are currently running at 92% capacity."

Sounds like FCA is pretty good at plant utilization, unlike GM.

[Bongos2U]

Originally Posted by Royal Tiger

Someone has to pay for people building cars making $35/hr. There’s a reason the plants will stay open in places like China, Mexico, Brazil, Malaysia, etc...

I also think the executives are vastly overpaid as well, but it seems likes it’s harder to get rid of them. Compare the salaries of Japanese executives versus ones in the US. In general, the ones in the US are paid substantially more while performing worse.

Barra pocketed 22 mil last year. Toyota's CEO, Akio Toyoda, made 4 mil.

Tells you something right there.

[Royal Tiger]

Thank you Bongos.

[DenverTaco07]

General Motors Chairman and CEO Mary Barra had total compensation in 2017 of $21.96 million.

The figure represents a decline from her 2016 compensation of $22.58 million. Barra's total compensation, which includes stock awards and pension changes, represents more than what she actually saw in pay. She received a $2.1 million salary and $4.96 million from her nonequity incentive plan.

GM said Barra’s compensation was 295 times as much as the company's median employee.

The company noted there is flexibility in how enterprises calculate the figure so exact comparisons are not likely.

Ford said CEO Jim Hackett’s annualized pay of $17.4 million (total compensation actually stood at $16.7 million in 2017) was 199 times the number for that company’s median employee.

Fiat Chrysler Automobiles said CEO Sergio Marchionne was paid $11.95 million (9.7 million euros) in base salary as well as a bonus and a stock award of $35.8 million (almost 30 million euros), which covers a three-year period, rather than one year as is the case for other companies.

it's still all ridiculous as hell as far as i'm concerned, but her salary isn't some anomaly outside of most large corporations. The fact that she made 295 times more than the median employee, and probably about 500 times more than the average line worker, and the fact that this is a normal thing in this country speaks more about our country than it does her or GM.