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American Fork, UT Car Consumer Discussions

How to save GM

by dino001 on Fri Nov 14 22:02:00 PST 2008

1. File Chapter 11 bankrupcy. 2. Fire current management - if they ould not fix GM for 10 years or so, they can't do it now. 3. Hire people from other industries that did similar restructuring (heavy machinery, aerospace, etc.). They know enough about manufacturing to get in quickly and they know enough how to fix troubled industries. 4. To be safe, Michigan residents need not apply. No - we people from outside don't get Detroit. That's why Detroit brass has to go. Ford with Mullaley doing better is not a coincidence. 5. Force one of Shrinking Three move to West Coast, another one to South. Perhaps then the incest will end and they will get some ideas outside of their own limited imagination and focus groups consisting of their aunts, cousins and uncles. 6. Item 1 necessary to cut US operations of Buick (China is fine), Pontiac, Hummer and Saab without having to pay compensation to dealers (there is no money anyway so what's the point?). Either sell those brands or simply close divisions. Keep Chevy, Saturn, and Cadillac and maybe GMC (not really necessary, but may be OK). Any viable non-clone model (other than G8, are there any?) from those cut brands could be rebranded in form of either separate model, down- or upscale (or sports) package, depending on the context. Some line expansions may be possible. Thre and a half strong brands make much more sense than seven weak ones. 7. Item 1 is also necessary for restructuring union contracts, top to bottom. If copays, no Viagra coverage are OK for 150 mln Americans, who mostly are glad they have any meaningful coverage, so it can be for a fork lift operator, or asswmbly line retiree. Is it fair to do it? The answer is: it wasn't honest and fair to promise it at the first place - and it was dumb to believe such promise was sustainable. It was pretty much clear 20 year ago already the healthcare and pensions were ticking bombs. Anybody who refused to see it can only thank themselves for it. 8. Then what's left of it may get some public assistance - loan for operations and perhaps even a small grant for R&D. We might even promise it now, but only if they fullfill those conditions. Painful? Sure. Will suck big time. But something like that would actually make ensure that any money dumped into that pit will not be spent on job banks, or other similar idiocies invented by geniuses from Michigan.

Re: rock [rockylee]

by manegi on Sat Sep 06 20:24:54 PDT 2008

I was born in India, and have been working in Japan for the last 20 years – so I think I am reasonably qualified to share with you how globalization looks from the other side. In the 70s, when I was a kid growing up in India, the economy was mostly closed and followed the Russian centralized planning model, where all heavy industry was owned by the government, and run for the employees (so almost did not need a union, since the union was running the company anyway). There were only two car models to choose from, and just two (government owned) black-and-white TV channels. Print media was thankfully not controlled (after all, India was a democracy), so we would occasionally get hold of American magazines / comics, and marvel at the colored pictures and the lifestyle shown there. In short, India was a democratic Cuba. Then in the 80s, US made a big push to open up the Indian market (and China too), and India, struggling on the verge of bankruptcy (since the state owned organizations would generate no return on capital), agreed to do it gradually. Indian companies had to sink or swim (when competing with overseas competitions), WIPRO – a very successful IT company now – almost had to abandon it PC assembly business then since it would not compete with the US companies, and a number of main frame servicing companies went out of business when IBM came back to India. For some time, things were so bad that when I graduated, I took the first job overseas I could get and migrated to Japan. It turned out that Japan was undergoing its own transformation too (under pressure from – guess who – the US). The currency appreciated 100% in just a few months (against the USD), and large state organizations were privatized (National Railways, Telecom, banking). There were significant job losses – especially in the unionized organizations, and this went on in the 90s even though Japan had a decade long recession (Rocky, NTT, the national telecom company, actually was forced by the shareholders to submit a plan for workforce reduction – see their SEC filings http://www.secinfo.com/dsVQy.6428.htm). So what is my point? Just that USA forced economies with low levels of consumption (India and China are the best examples) to open up and follow the US model – which implied opening up their markets to US companies. All these economies went through the pain of transformation – and managed to come closer to the US in terms of competitiveness in the process (US is still the most competitive country, I believe….no need to worry about that for the next 5-10 years). That is what opening up (or globalization) of market does. But it did unlock a huge amount of efficiency / productivity gains, which benefited everyone. However around the late 80s US started running significant current account deficit (http://www.epi.org/content.cfm/webfeat_econindicators_capict_20060616) – indicating that the US started borrowing money to fund its lifestyle at a rate that the productivity gains could not match (but perhaps thought that these were the “justified gains” of having taught the heathens how to use a knife and fork….?). And despite this being visible to everyone, the message still was “Consumption good, saving bad” (I know a lot of Indians – including my sister - who after arriving in the US would go through a period of “shock” while trying to adjust their core values from saving a certain percentage of take home income, to having multiple credit cards). Hence my conclusion is that President Rocky Lee will find it hard to take the moral high ground here since : 1. USA started the process of globalization, despite opposition in countries like India or China (the Hindu philosophy looks down on consumption – for all we know the wise men of the past realized that making consumption fashionable in a large country like India could destabilize the equilibrium in the distribution of natural resources consumption….and now Indian youth is a part of the MTV/Nike generation….but that is another story), for it to now reverse this would result in it loosing whatever respect / moral authority it has (after 8 years of GWB). This would have serious repercussions on the international society, starting with 2 below. 2. There would have to be a dramatic change in the US lifestyle to adjust for the 700 Bn USD per year of capital that US requires to fund itself today. It is not just the current account deficit of today that would have to be managed, but also the destruction of the US export industry (Boeing is not getting its 340Bn USD of back orders from US airlines…..). Americans are unlikely to put up with a “back to stone ages” movement (I mean, if they could, then why pay Mid East governments 700 Bn USD a year for high oil prices, when this money could have well been collected by the US government by pricing gasoline at 4 USD / gallon ten years ago?) So we can have a theoretical discussion around this election manifesto, but expecting a revolution to reverse the growth of Anglo Saxon model of capitalism is futile. Only religion has the power to reverse it – and I don’t think that will happen in the US. Or will it….?

Re: Buying American = buying used? [imidazol97]

by lilengineerboy on Wed Aug 06 15:38:19 PDT 2008

I'd order the parts somewhere. Do you know for sure it has to be replaced? There are a couple of great help sites for appliance repair. I've replaced the agitator dogs, timer, and drilled a new hole for the rear verticle spring that pulls down on the back of the tube on mine from approximately the same time period. I love the way these are built--2 screws, 2 clips, unsnap 1 electrical connector and the whole metal shell is off. The dryer I had the tub out a couple weeks ago because I thought I had a roller worn--turned out it was a plastic fork caught in the air holes in the back of the drum area. The websites show exactly how to remove everything. Fixitnow.com and "the appliance samurai" seem tied to repairclinic.com, which isn't a bad thing. That is how I got it isolated to the clutch or trans. Repair Clinic wants like 2 Benjamins for the trans and over a hunnie for the clutch/shaft kit, about 3x eBay prices. If eBaying the parts gets them all for ~$100, I think I am golden, and Mrs. LEB will be pleased not to be going to the laundry mat. I guess it pays to be a little handy, apparently its a $500 service call job. The less $$ I spend on this crud, the more I have to put towards something a bit more entertaining than the Accord (or paying it off at least :()

Re: Buying American = buying used? [lilengineerboy]

by imidazol97 on Wed Aug 06 05:06:29 PDT 2008

> I am going back and forth on if i should start over or just order the parts. I'd order the parts somewhere. Do you know for sure it has to be replaced? There are a couple of great help sites for appliance repair. I've replaced the agitator dogs, timer, and drilled a new hole for the rear verticle spring that pulls down on the back of the tube on mine from approximately the same time period. I love the way these are built--2 screws, 2 clips, unsnap 1 electrical connector and the whole metal shell is off. The dryer I had the tub out a couple weeks ago because I thought I had a roller worn--turned out it was a plastic fork caught in the air holes in the back of the drum area. The websites show exactly how to remove everything.

Re: [rotary]

by joe97 on Mon Jun 30 08:53:22 PDT 2008

Let's get to the real story here, and not with speculations. The 30K comment was made with the intention of the 3.3 model. Which Hyundai corporate wanted to send, and Hyundai USA didn't want. Plus, had the 3.3 model existed for the North American market, it would have been something like 29,995. Trust me on this, and you can verify this with Hyundai if you'd like, the pricing range for the Genesis (in the US) was NEVER a sub-30K car!!! STOP listening to rumors and start relying on FACTS. Had the Genesis be a sub-30K car, it would have overlapped with the Azera (at least in terms of pricing). I don't get how you even think the pricing for Genesis is too much, when some of the other cars in the class you'd have to fork over 25-50% premium, or more.

Buying American where you can

by lilengineerboy on Sat Jun 07 18:42:37 PDT 2008

So I was thinking...dangerous I know...about my fleet. Not my automotive fleet, but my bike fleet. Cannondale 2.8R series - frame is made in the US in PA, the stem, seatpost, saddle and handlebars are made in the US, the wheels are French with Japanese hubs, and the entire drivetrain is Japanese (D/A 7700). The tires and tubes are French as well. Cannondale Super-V - American made frame, fork, headest, front and rear shock, swiss hubs, American spokes, French rims, American cranks, and Japanese drivetrain (M727 XT). Litespeed Catalyst - American made frame, American owned Japanese fork, American bars/stem/headset/seatpost/seat, French wheels (what can I say, Mavic rims are fantastic)/Tires/Tubes, Japanese drivetrain (D/A 7410). Weyles F/S - Taiwanese knock off of Santa Cruz Superlight. 1/4 the quality, 1/4 the price (you get what you pay for). Japanese drivetrian, domestic disc brakes, headset, fork, stem, bar. When I get the opportunity, I would love to get a Superlight or a Blur XC, which is designed and manufactured here. Nashbar beater - a true world bike. Pieces from just about everywhere as I cleaned my garage to get the thing put together for commuting duty. I am pretty sure it even has some Russian titanium pieces on it. The point is, you can't have an all American bike anymore. Even if the company is based here, the manufacturing is in another country, or the components come from another country, or its only a name and has nothing to do with the old company what-so-ever (Schwinn comes to mind).