Here come Chinese cars (Detroit alert!)

Business Week ^ | 09 june 2005 | Business week

[1FASTGLOCK45]

"And with Chinese auto assembly workers earning $2 an hour -- vs. $22 in Korea and nearly $60 in the U.S. "

--Hell, I don't even make 60$ an hour, i'd have to sell my body to make 60$ per hour, no one assembling cars should make that much!!

[wrathof59]

Tort reform and non-union shops would go a long way in re-industrializing the Great Lake States.

Having union protected alcoholics/addicts building cars and getting sued daily is not condusive to a productive environment.

[Dog Gone]

China abandoned communism a long time ago.

[Abogado]

Staytrue said:

"Further, if the Chinese steal IP on cars, they will steal from Toyota, not ford or gm."

That's redundant. Toyota obtained its tech foundation from GM, Ford, etc. In the 80s Toyota was to GM as Datsun was to Mercedes, etc. Open the hood of an old 280 Z and a six cylinder Mercedes of the same years. The similarity is amazing. If you worked on one brand you could work on the other brand with relatively minor variances.

The federal manufacturing standards for motor vehicle's pretty much limit how much variance the different brands are allowed between each other for a particular category. It comes down to consumer perceived quality and looks - both of which, (with a few exceptions) GM and Ford currently lack.

[LibWhacker]

Power grows out of the barrel of a carburetor.

[dalereed]

"I just hit 20k miles without any problems whatsoever"

Screw them all, i'll just keep my Chevy PU with 1.2 million miles on it!

It's 40 years old but not really since I had it sidelined for 10 years.

[FreePaul]

...unions exist because of past injustices towards workers by business owners...

When? A hundred years ago? Some labor unions may have been founded because of worker mistreatment. Most labor unions exist today to concentrate power in the hands of crooks and thugs. Their main goal is to keep membership up by restricting productivity. Any "benefits" they get for the workers ultimately cost union jobs. Those areas where workers are free of union interference are thriving while forced union membership is killing industries in this country. The "concessions" given by unions don't put the cost of union labor in the fair market range and are usually accompanied by some other benefit which increases the cost of doing business.

[goron]

You all think this is kind of funny I think. I lost a manufacturing business to the Chinese. I had to pay worker's comp, and pay taxes on my employees. In China there is virtually no labor cost due to slave labor conditions.

Chinese will be mandatory in our public schools within a few years. Chinese will be the international language. The USA will be a 3rd world country. We are idiots for whoreing out our manufacturing wealth so we can shop at Walmart. We truly deserve this.

[Abogado]

Mad Mammoth said:

I can imagine how they'll handle warranty problems:

a.) You bring in car.

b.) Manager tells you nothing wrong with car.

c.) You insist something IS wrong with car.

d.) Manager flags tank which quickly rolls over you.

e.) Your former car is sold to another sucker.

Uncanny: substitute the word "tank" with "the manufacturer's legal department" and its pretty much what is happening now.

[Major_Risktaker]

I used to feel guilty buying a Japanese car, not anymore.

There was a time when buying an American car meant all of the part in the car were American made also.

Nafta changed all of that. So Amercian car components are imported from every place on the planet.

Just like illegal immigration American Cars have Illegal Immigration Parts making them not really American Cars anymore.

When that happened all bets were off on buy American and I also used to feel guilty buying a Japanese car, not anymore.

I will never buy anything from CHINA.

[Nowhere Man]

With some encouragement maybe the Minutemen Project will become a political party. They don't have to put candidates up against the legacy parties for every office, just when the legacy parties run candidates who favor migrant (legal or not) labor over citizens and laugh at our sovereignty.

Well, I do agree with you there. I was hoping H. Ross Perot's Reform party would have offered some hope. I'm even looking at the Populist, Constitution and other parties, would be nice if the Minuteman would start one.

If we don't get a handle on illegal immigration and our lax trade policies, as they say on "Futurama," "We're boned."

[warchild9]

Most union members in the U.S. run the Federal government. Do your homework.

[krb]

no one assembling cars should make that much

Why not? Making cars sounds so boring, you'd have to pay me more than that to get me to do it.

[aspiring.hillbilly]

Its our fellow american robber barons fast buck artists doing the importing from china. And its all the USA citizens buying the crap from china. And its the govt letting this all happen.

They tax the crap out of us, let the chinese goods shoppers pay instead...

[Fishing-guy]

If Detroit actually made something worth buying, then we wouldn't have this problem, would we?

Concerning the Chinese cars, I would start worrying then they start partnering with a major car company, with all their distributors and supports.

BTW, has anyone seen a picture of the Chery M14 convertible. It's a beauty.

[warchild9]

It's "Xeno" phobic. Zeno has been dead for more than 2,000 years.

[music is math]

I agree, unions are self-perpetuating organisations which exist for existence's sake. I don't know about the US, but here in Australia, less than 18% of the private-sector workforce is unionised.

It is capital that raised the value of labour’s marginal product, not unions.

(direct quote from this article: Unions, wages & the H R Nicholls Society... an Australia-centric article but it explains the economics of labour markets well.)

[warchild9]

"...alcoholics/addicts..." building cars. You read Rivethead, too?

[1FASTGLOCK45]

--no one assembling cars should make that much

krb wrote:
Why not? Making cars sounds so boring, you'd have to pay me more than that to get me to do it

-- Yea me too! You forgot your "/sarc". I wish i made 60 an hour, i'd love to be bored to death!

[Dog Gone]

Chery M14