If it's all the Unions' fault....

by sodbuster Thu Nov 20, 2008 11:50 am

Well some of our rightwing posters have declared that the auto industry as a whole does not have a problem.

Just the Big 3, which are unionized.

Toyota and Honda and BMW and all the others are going great guns, they say.

Well it turns out that is not true.

Toyota sales have nosedived, as have the others.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/19/business/economy/19ports.html?_r=1&em

Toyotas are piling up on the docks so much they are running out of space to store them.

by Aaron Thu Nov 20, 2008 11:54 am

Toyota, which has 3 union plants I believe and actually makes a profit on their cars did not fly their CEO to Washington on a private jet at a cost of $20,000 and beg the government for money.

by sodbuster Thu Nov 20, 2008 12:12 pm

http://industry.bnet.com/auto/1000255/toyota-resorts-to-zero-percent-financing-after-sales-drop/

Toyota sales have nose-dived as a result of the finance/credit problems.

They are piling up on the docks.

Facts are stubborn things Aaron.

by Aaron Thu Nov 20, 2008 12:13 pm

And is Toyota in Washington begging for a handout?

by Aaron Thu Nov 20, 2008 12:21 pm

sodbuster wrote:
Facts are stubborn things Aaron.

There's nothing stubborn about them. GM was in trouble LONG before the economy went south.

The numbers are staggering: General Motors lost $38.7 billion or $68.45 a share in 2007, an unprecedented amount, and the third consecutive annual loss for the world’s largest automaker. The silver lining: GM sold more cars and its automotive operations earned record revenue.
source

Of course it helps to actually make a profit on the product you're making.

Profitability per Vehicle
Source: 2005 Harbour Report
GM: Loses $2,331 per vehicle
Toyota: Makes $1,488 per vehicle

That does lead to making money, doesn't it Sherman.

Net Income in the First 9 Months of 2005
Source: Harbour Consulting
GM: $4.15 billion loss from North America operations off-set by profits in Europe and Asia for an overall loss of $3.8 billion
Toyota: $7.89 billion (¥921.7 billion, converted at 116.81 yen to $1)

source

Those pesky facts Sherman.

by Aaron Thu Nov 20, 2008 3:37 pm

And when you have weak sales with cars setting at the docks, you lay people off, just as Toyota is doing.

Toyota to cut 120 jobs at W.Va. plant

The Toyota Motor Manufacturing plant in Buffalo plans to lay off about 120 temporary workers by the end of January, as the auto industry struggles with months of weak sales.

By The Associated Press

BUFFALO, W.Va. -- Officials for the Toyota Motor Manufacturing plant in Buffalo plan to lay off about 120 temporary workers by the end of January, as the auto industry struggles with months of weak sales.

The job cuts at the engine and transmission plant were announced Wednesday, as part of a companywide effort to reduce costs.

Jeff Moore, the Buffalo plant's vice president of manufacturing, says the company also will cut back on overtime as production slows.

The plant employs about 1,350 full-time and part-time workers who assemble 4-cylinder and 6-cylinder engines and automatic transmissions.

Toyota is on track to overtake General Motors as the world's largest auto maker. But it has seen profits slide this year, which the company blames on the sluggish North American market.

by Randall Thu Nov 20, 2008 7:37 pm

It is not only the union's fault. GM management got fat and lazy off cheap oil and assumed Americans would buy SUVs forever.

by sodbuster Thu Nov 20, 2008 7:53 pm

Dang Randall I take back all that bad stuff I have been saying about you...

by **ohio county** Fri Nov 21, 2008 8:43 am

It was management that caved into the union's unreasonable demands. Nobody ever said it was all the union's fault.

by Hacker Sat May 02, 2009 10:33 am

http://www.freep.com/article/20090502/BUSINESS01/905020389/?imw=Y

To Oakland.... please STOP perpetuating this insane idea that buying foreign OWNED company cars will help the US.!
We are in this economic catastrophy because of all the Toyotas and Hondas that are using are crumbling roads. (Which by the way we could have money to fix if they were paying taxes to the US)
Labor is only ten percent of the car cost. How many times do people have to point out to you that the profits, the engineering, the administrative support, the suppliers, the companies that benefit from these jobs need to be in the US!

RamsesII wrote:

It is sickening how the ignorance of a few can put our nation into such a vulnerable and pathetic position: the greatest industrial nation in human history reduced to assembling out-of-the-box kits for former 3rd world nations.

by Aaron Sat May 02, 2009 11:06 am

I think you're mistaken Hacker. They are paying taxes in the United States as well as providing hundreds of thousands of jobs and all the while, they consistently make a profit on their cars. The only place Ford or GM can say that is in Europe.

You're aid contains very little kool in it these days.

by SamCogar Sat May 02, 2009 11:54 am

ohio county wrote:It was management that caved into the union's unreasonable demands. Nobody ever said it was all the union's fault.

Hey, the US steel producers and Unions got by with doing that, ....... didn't they?

.

by **ohio county** Sun May 03, 2009 7:29 am

Where is US Steel now? Where is Weirton Steel? Wheeling-Pittsburgh Steel? Yes, you are technically correct, sam. The US steel producers and the USW got by doing that for nearly fifty years.

by SamCogar Sun May 03, 2009 12:12 pm

And everytime the USW went on "strike", ..... they got just about everything they wanted, ...... pushed for.

And that pushed inflation higher every time. The costs of just about everything would start "creeping up" after the "strike" was settled.

But eventually the USW pushed too far ......... and Japan jumped in.

Japan could import the coal and the iron ore, produce the steel and ship it back to the US and sell it ....... for less money than the USW could produce it for.

Deja vou, ....... and now the UAW too.

If it's all the Unions' fault.... 33948

.

by Cato Sun May 03, 2009 3:46 pm

Driving a Honda Civic, getting 40 miles to the gallon, and darn proud of it.

Cato

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