CNN says...... Toyota won't help U.S. rivals

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Why should they? *Rivals* means just that. Afterall, GM wouldn't shed a tear if Honda was in the red - they'd probably try to do a leveraged buyout instead.

Reply to
Joseph Oberlander

And it is nice to "compete" using non-union labor who don't pay income tax, social security and medial care (they take that from value added tax which is added to American products too but not on exports). If the U.S. applies such a tax they claim it is unfair competition.

Reply to
Rich256

You'll notice that same article says that 50% of their U.S. sales are made in U.S. factories. Those employees certainly do get all of the above.

Reply to
Joseph Oberlander

But the majority of parts are still made in Japan. Automated assembly done in the U.S.

Reply to
Rich256

But the real source of that computer module - it may be U.S. or Mexico *assembled* and count towards the total when the module supplier sells it to GM, but the parts it's usually made of come from China. Same diff in the end.

Essentially it's marketing and a shell game to keep the U.S. customers feeling good. Everything is now really made overseas and assembled here, other than maybe the engines and tires.

Reply to
Joseph Oberlander

That 50% are only assembled in the US, not made in the US, of less than 40% American parts if you will notice the '5' that appears as the first number of the VIN on nearly every Camry and Tundra etc.. The profit on those 50% leaves the country tax free, as well.

mike hunt

Joseph Oberlander wrote:

Reply to
RustyFendor

You can be certain they are not doing it out of the goodess of their heart. Where ever the price is the best is where they go. For the same reason that Canada is now making most American cars instead of Michigan.

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Cheap medical care in Canada is attracting them. "Loved by most Canadians ( Like many of our HMOs it's great as long as you don't get sick - If they get sick and can afford it they can come across the border and get treated by former Canadian doctors).

Japanese companies have this efficient part deliveries. They don't store anything. The idea is to deliver on time. "Mama san" has a horn making machine in her living room. She makes and stores those parts until a middleman comes and buys them from her.

Reply to
Rich256

I suspect Toyota to eventually buy a majority share of GM stock to gain control of GM eventually. This is really just the true ending of World War II. The war aint over til' the bankers close shop.

Reply to
Lil Rascal

Then in that case it sounds like a US government problem. If the the government is putting a noose around the US manufacturers neck because of political red tape, then perhaps this whole issue should be battled in the halls of congress. The question is can congress handle so much hard work? Sure they can stick there nose in easy issues like should we pull the plug on a lady who has been a vegetable for 10 years, or whether or not to find out who is or who isnt taking steroids this week, but can thet really handle something as complicated as this? Sounds like a losing situation any way you look at it.

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Reply to
Lil Rascal

And perhaps more important, if they get mad who will buy our treasury bonds?

60% of U.S. debt is owed to foreigners. They should be buying our U.S. products with those extra dollars they get instead of the debt. But U.S. products are too expensive for them. The latest complaint is that U.S. bonds don't pay enough interest.

With the fall of the dollar things may change drastically. I expect the Euro may become the currency for world trade. If foreigners dump treasury bonds the U.S. is going to be in deep trouble.

The Chinese and Japanese have been adjusting their currency to the dollar. If they cease this their products will suddenly become much more expensive to Americans and American products will become cheaper for them.

Reply to
Rich256

You are missing the point. They only track to the component level and not to every last resistor and piece of plastic as it's not in their interests.

Note how I can bring in the pieces from half a dozen countries and assemble a pair of hiking boots here and legally claim it to be "U.S. Made". GM does a bit better, though, but Ford and Chrysler just look the other way. When I look at the car and see "U.S. Made" on a component, yet see clear signs that the sub-components in the item have parts from all over the place, AND they can be from Canada or Mexico in addition, "Domestic Content" is pretty much worthless.

Everything should get a 4 or 5. We don't even have the ability to make half of what goes into most cars these days - it's all in Taiwan, Indonesia, China, and Mexico.

Reply to
Joseph Oberlander

GM doesn't have anytihng that Toyota really wants, though. D-Chrysler, OTOH, would probably love to absorb GM.

Reply to
Joseph Oberlander

That is not true if the first number of the VIN is a '1,' only if it is a '4' or a '5.'

mike hunt

Reply to
RustyFendor

Toyota and Honda are not responsible for GM's problems. Customer service at most GM dealers is pathetic. GM produces products that have many known quality problems. The dealers always say "that's normal" or "NDF" (no defect found) until you are out of warranty, then GM makes the customer eat the cost of repairs, and the dealers are more than happy to take your money to fix something GM should have fixed for free to begin with. I have driven GM vehicles for over 20 years and I won't be buying another one due to poor quality and poor customer service after the sale. GM can blame nobody but themselves and their arrogance toward customers. I wish them luck for old times sake, but I don't feel sorry for GM because they caused their own problems. I just paid $12 for a tiny bit of special lubricant to fix the creaking caliper pistons on my pontiac due to GM's bad design. Even the guy at the GM parts counter said that GM should have made the lubricant available free of charge, since it is not a normal maintenance item and was released to correct a defect in the caliper design. GM just doesn't get it and they wonder why the huge incentives aren't working while Toyota and Honda are kicking GM's behind in market share. I'm going to fix my pontiac one last time and then it's gone.

Reply to
GMCtruck

Read: Franchise operations instead of factory outlets.

It's not GM's fault, though, as they are locked into the contracts with the franchises. They make 20 or so decent cars out of their various makes(the other 50-60 are crap, to be honest), but they all suffer from hit and miss dealer followup.

Case in point: Pasadena, CA. Great. Glendale, CA(10 miles away) - pathetic. Almost criminally negligent. Alhambra, CA(10 miles south of Pasadena)- horrible.

Reply to
Joseph Oberlander

GM also has a problem in that most of their workers and retirees think that because they have to pay income tax and social security, they need more pay than those of other countries. They also think they need the company to pay their medical bills after they retire. Seems to me I read something recently that about $6000 of the cost of a car goes to cover medical expenses of employees and retirees. Pretty hard to compete with imports that don't include those expenses in their exports.

But that is not just automobiles. Clothing is a good example. Are there any clothing manufacturers left in the U.S.?

Reply to
Rich256

The way Americans keep buying more and more imports, soon there will be no good jobs left in the US. Will their children and grand children need to go to China to make Toyotas to be shipped to American before American consumers wise up? We should become as smart as the Japanese, they buy the products made by their own corporations.

mike hunt

Rich256 wrote:

Reply to
MikeHunt

Yes, they do. However, it seems more and more Americans will not "Buy American" just for the sake of doing so if an available foreign alternative is (quite often) HEADS AND SHOULDERS SUPERIOR to the American offering.

In the case of the Japanese product in question (cars) the product is better.

Frank - on the internet, where even you can be important

Reply to
Frank

GM also has a problem in that most of their workers and retirees think that because they have to pay income tax and social security, they need more pay than those of other countries. They also think they need the company to pay their medical bills after they retire. Seems to me I read something recently that about $6000 of the cost of a car goes to cover medical expenses of employees and retirees. Pretty hard to compete with imports that don't include those expenses in their exports.

Because those countries have nationalized health care for active and retired workers. Their governments tax the crap out of the workers to pay for it too. Hard to compete with that but the republican party refuses to even try that, instead they want to mess with SS benefits. What a crock of crap.

By the way, the employees and retirees don't have to think anything about benefits and wages. These things are agreed upon in the national contract. Don't forget, GM agreed with this contract too! It's way too easy to blame the workers for GM's problem, but the figures will prove differently.

Reply to
Da udder one ya dont know

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