Do you know what workers benefitted from your 2002 Firebird purchase??

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That really sucks that their downsizing American jobs even more...it makes your realize how much pressure GM is putting on the competition....thats pretty scary. How much market share are they going for before they stop with these incentives?

 

Let me be sure I got this.

Ford is cutting jobs because some of us purchased German or Japaneese cars, but Ford creating Explorers that flip because they specified cheap tires on a relatively unstable platform, created Thunderbirds that short their electrical systems because they skipped a 10 cent plastic terminal cover, introduced the Focus then spent almost every week for the next 8 months recalling it for just about everything imaginable, spent more time and money defending exploding Crown Victoria police cars than the cost of simply replacing the suspension bolts that pierce the fuel tank in rear end collisions with a different type of bolt (rounded), or using the same type of plastic shielding that has protected Mustang fuel tanks since the 1980s, refusing to institute a fix on Thunderbird hardtops that scratch the paint when the top's installed, creating a customer service network which outside of the SVT network is geared against spending more than it is towards customer service, and a whole lot more screwups have nothing to do with the need to cut jobs to boost up the bottom line?

Knowing this, I will now refrain from considering German & Japaneese cars and spread the word!

We don't want Ford to cut any more jobs due to foreign imports, do we?

 

[QUOTE]Originally posted by Meccadeth
[B]

Do you know what workers benefitted from your 2002 Firebird purchase??
Why, yes I do. And I can tell you that more AMERICANS benefitted from the purchase of my Bird than your Honda. Period. I don't like it when people try to justify the buying of imports. If a Pontiac was made in Japan and sold to the Japanese people, it would be sure as hell that to them that the Pontiac made in Japan is an IMPORT and they likely wouldn't buy it, as they don't now.

 

They should try cutting all those people they made managers in the last 2-3 years. I am dead serious, they use to have 1 manager for the parts warehouses now they have 3-4. And things aren't getting done any better.

I think I will be ok there for a while, at least that is what my boss thinks but I see no end to all this cutting.

 

Folks there is no need to get upset and start blaming foreign cars or the govenment for Ford's demise. Thay arn't even in big trouble yet. They are just doing some house cleainig. It happens all the time. The carmakers here in the Detroit area are constantly picking up new people and letting others go. ITs part of business and in these trying times to cut only 3,000 workers from the bottom line isn't too bad. When times are good they hire, when times are hard they fire! There is no need to call the priest for Ford's last rights or start dumping their stock. (No more reason thatn anyone else has had.) These ebbs and flows of the economy are very normal in the Detroit area and quite expected too. Life goes on and Ford will live on to fight another day.

 

[QUOTE]Originally posted by 1990 Turbo Grand Prix
[B]However, the Toyota Voltz is a Pontiac Vibe, made in California, shipped to Japan and is doing very well.

The only issue is where the profit is going. As long as executives at US industries are shortsighted enough to try to cheapen vehicles & pump more money into trucks at the expense of cars (I know it's changing, but it hasn't reach the showrooms yet), there is no point whatsoever in bringing up the "Buy American" position. If I want a modern RWD sedan, what choices do I have? How about a well built modern economy car? If I want a modern RWD luxury car, tell me my choices beyond the still new CTS?

You can't "Buy American" if the store doesn't have what you want.

As far as the workers go, Honda, Toyota, and even BMW are putting alot of people to work here in the US. No denying that at all.

You are 100% correct, of course. If anything, Ford is in the best shape it's been in since it's meltdown a couple of years ago. They have a ne truckline that's burning up the sales charts, not only have their sports coupe competitor thrown in the towel for a few years, Ford has a new sports coupe that promises to be a winner & stir up alot of excitment & showroom traffic, and outside Lincoln Ford seems to have a plan that will generate many new models with minimum investment, and Ford's been doing well financially for many months.

It will be a very very long time before we write Ford's obituary regardless as to what happens.

Chrysler's, now that's another story.

 

True True! I was more worried about Ford in early 2002. The demise of Jack Nasser, slowing sales, Firestone/Explorer fiasco, exploding gas tanks on Crown Vics, stock prices under $10.00, and the need to drop workers but stuck to a stingy UAW contract made me think Ford was in a little over their head. But they have managed to get through all that, and the bad press too. I think that was rock bottom and this is one of the many course adjustments back to profitability.

Chrysler Group, however, they are in deep. They made the mistake that many domestic automakers have made in past economic slowdowns, cut product development first! And now they have nothing to pull them out of this slump!
Thankfully GM and Ford only slowed their product development process and used their heavy rainy-day cash stores to power through the tough times. For them the rain may be slowing to a sprinkle!

 

Its a statistical fact that most companies file for bankruptcy or go out of business as the economy comes "out" of a recession and not when entering or during a recession.

The reason for this odd fact is that most companies continue to cut back inventory, sales people, engineering staff and etc in hard economic times and by the time the economy is rolling again they neither have new products to sell, sales people to sell them, and/or engineers or designers to create new and exciting products to recapture lost sales or market share.


I personally think consumers are more responsible for forcing companies and products overseas since they refuse to spend the extra money for particular products so US manfacturers can pay real wages and offer safe and friendly working conditions.

The costs of making and designing new and innovative products and offering health services for older workers continue to go up each year but consumers are unwilling to pay the extra money. If you have have huge increases in overhead in one area then you have cut others just to keep it even.

 

Perhaps I need to reinforce what I said in my first post in this thread. I am not saying that Ford did nothing to bring this on themselves. They certainly did, no doubt about that, but for anyone to say that the constant growing popularity of imports isn't to blame as well just doesn't know what they are talking about. As it goes for the Voltz guion, hmmm, that's nice. It still is sold as a Toyota and not a Pontiac. What you said has no relevance to what I said what so ever. It is a Toyota sold in Japan, big deal. Like a Camaro made in Canada sold in the USA. The Camaro is still an American car because GM is an American company.
"You can't "Buy American" if the store doesn't have what you want."
This is true, but when you look at the imports that sell in volume, the ones that hurt the US manufactures, there are plenty of domestics to choose from. End of story there.
And yes, the import companies do employ many people over here. But keep in mind, this is coming at the expense at the jobs of domestic company workers. Point in hand to keep in your mind, the more these imports gain control here in the USA, the less the domestic companies will have, thus meaning that the USA will consist of NOTHING of YOUR OWN COUNTRY. Open your eyes. You are an American. Be proud. The Japanese and Germans sure as hell are.

 

this should be our national slogan IMHO.

 

Competition can be very brutal.

 

Do you look where your shoes are from when you buy them? How about your computer components? Pants even? Its more of the everyday products you buy that affect the American workers the most. Not cars... Thats one reason I bought a Honda. At the time GM had just cut the Fbody (which I was hoping would be the first 'new' car purchase.) I looked at Ford, and I can't stand the Mustang, I hate the looks. I looked at Chrysler and thought about waiting around for the Crossfire, but that was predicted to cost outside of my price range. So I went for the next thing I want to support, fuel economy vehicles (in particular, hybrids) so I bought what I felt would help send auto-manufacturers a message as a whole. Not just the American auto-makers. And as for selling in volume, I think Honda sells less than 20K Insights annually....thats pretty low for a production vehicle...But its technology is still something I support.

As for my bed, shirts, and guitars? All made in the USA (ever since I updated nearly my entire house last month )

 

Oh my God. This has to be the worst argument I have ever seen from someone on anything in my life. Lets look at your post. Look at clothing? Where is this coming from? "Yeah, I'll buy clothing from the USA, but since I can't get a V8 F-body (which the reason was likely insurance cost being 20 years old and not availablity, isn't that so...?) I'll buy an Insight.? What is that? Come on, give me a break! If you truely believed what you said, you certainly wouldn't be even remotely close to being interested in anything with a V8. What message did you send? The message you sent me was that your first post in the thread was to defend your right to buy the import you purchased and nothing more. Catching my drift?

 

WTF?

Where do I begin w/ this....

Insurance cost was actually very close w/ the Insight and Camaro, almost identical. Don't ask me why...

Who are you to assume I can't want a new-technology economy vehicle and/or an LS1 Camaro (which also gets great milage)?

Also let me restate this...I supported the Camaro. That was #1 on my list of a new car purchase. But since they took it away before I was able to make my first new car purchase, I bought the 2nd thing I supported. New fuel-saving technology.

Like I said earlier, purchasing a new vehicle really isn't as affective to the American economy as everyday purchases (Such as clothing, home goods, etc, etc...)

Sorry, I'm not understanding your argument at all??

 

I don't think you can blame consumers. The CEO's of these companies would love to have you pay more money for things. Then, they would outsource anyway and really rake it in.

BTW - whoever said the steel tariffs were bad because the price of steel went up should have expected that, since foreign steel producers were dumping steel into the US market. The price would go back up once they put all the US steel companies out of business, anyway.