Re: [Amc-list] Sins (GremlinGTs)

[Jerry Casper <gremlingts@xxxxxxxxx>]

> The problem ...is that
> we're no longer in a market 
> isolated by oceans.....that we are no longer in a
> situation where we're 
> competing only against each other; we're now
> competing against ..the three billion Chinese,
Indian, and Indonesian workers ...

While that is true, and America is a champion of
free-market style competition, the playing field
continues to be "tilted" to other countries, as they
don't often open up their markets as fully as we do to
them, and like to protect some percentage of their
businesses. Until America decides to "tit for tat", we
shouldn't allow total free-marketeering to rein, there
should be some restrictions on others dumping cheap
labor prices on our market, in all fairness. 


> Unfortunately, there is always going to be a wide
> gap between the rank and 
> file and the execs.  
> The competition from Japan and Korea put Detroit on
> its knees,  When the .. Chinese
> get here, Detroit will simply evaporate.


 One of the biggest domestic issues has been quality.
WHY can't American car manufacturers make a car
(engine, body, transmission ) last 200,000 or more
miles like a Toyota, Honda, etc.? Because Detroit
wants Americans to REPLACE their cars with new ones.
They're forgetting, in the desire for profit, that
much brand loyalty springs from resale value, and used
cars for those not able to afford new ones, etc. Look
how many 4-7 owner Toyota's and Honda's there are,
think a Chevy Chevette, or Ford Pinto, or Dodge Omni
would have 5, 6, or 7 owners? Hell no! They didn't
last that long. If they don't last long, they don't
have high resale value (unlike Honda and Toyota), the
customer loses at replacement time, ya think customers
want to buy another Ford, Chevy, Dodge ( or AMC, maybe
)? Not happenin'... Detroit is willing to pile on the
fluff and convenience options, but until they can
provide a rugged, long-lived basic product, they are
going to continue to sink lower until the water comes
up over the sides of their ill-managed boat. AMC
Rambler hammered home the quality-for-price aspect for
years, and while it didn't bring fabulous profit, it
kept them going thru tough times. It's time for both
management and labor to rethink what they're "owed" as
salary compensation, and start realizing that in order
to survive, they better start thinking "less is more".


> >I read recently that some expert was saying that
> management compensation 
> >should be in the 40 times the average worker wage,
> but right now it is 
> >running near 400 times.

 I read, years ago, that in Japan, managers were
making only 2-3 times what the average Japanese
workers were making, while the American managers were
making 10 or more times. And that figure has
undoubtedly gone UP for American management. Until
someone figures out a way to deny the whiny, " I got
my Yale degree, now pay me up to Wazoo" attitude of
American managers, that overhead will continue to
depress American business (and morale). 


> >but I will say that the greed factor exhibited
....leads to workers attitudes


  Even in small business, it's amazing how bad
management attitudes cause such widespread low morale
in low-level employees, and how un-motivating it is to
them. Yet management often as not blames the workers
for the problems, not themselves. I read in one
quality improvement book one company had all us
employees read in a Manufacturing improvement course
20 years ago, that 80% of all business problems come
from MANAGEMENT decisions, not the employees (who has
the power in a company, anyway?)...you should have
seen the frowns from management accompanying our
gleeful reading of that particular section, as of
course THEIR decisions weren't that bad. LOL. The
company went through 7 presidents for that company in
the 11 years I was working there. Yet they got bonuses
and perks, and the poor Production employees got 1-3%
raises. Think they cared about maintaining quality for
THEM?! Ha! Riiiiight....


> I agree that management salaries are way out of
> line; but I also believe 
> that the line workers are being paid way too much
> given the availability of 
> much cheaper labor pools elsewhere. 


Again, foreign labor markets are protected against
American imports, I believe far more than we protect
against foreign imports. It's not a level field. And
worker salarys have gone DOWN in relation to
management salaries ( non-Automotive work, non-union,
I'm saying). America has the highest percentage
difference than ANY other country between high-level
and low-level employees. Period.  


 
> At the same time AMC was bleeding itself to death,
> Japanese companies were 
> beginning to build plants here.  They could do it
> profitably.  Why can't  Americans?
> 
> -- Marc

  Probably because they don't pay their managers in
the plants in the US what the bloated Detroit
companies pay theirs, PLUS the fact that they don't
have the long-term pension drag that GM or Ford has,
from the Union agreements of the past 30 years. 
  It's much like Social Security, when that was
created, the average lifespan of men and women were 62
and 65 respectively ( back in 1935, when it was
enacted ), and people worked until then, not as many
survived past that. Fast-forward to now, with all the
improvements in health care, etc. during the
1960's,people now live to 70, 80, and beyond. The
system can no longer sustain itself, if it's payout is
far more than it's intake from former contributors.
It's just a fact, that will eventually force change,
either thru program bankruptcy ( likely ), or
political change ( not likely soon ). So the huge
pension drag GM has NOW on it's former workers cuts
into a lot of FUTURE profit and R&D funds, I'd bet( at
least they say so, the Management). Saying the fault
belongs to ALL the upper level salary bloat is
probably wrong, however. What to change? Well, I know
I won't be buying new, I can't afford to on my salary
( remember when Henry Ford paid his workers enough to
buy his cars? ), I can't make enough to afford a new
car AND have money left over for more than spam and
white bread. I own 20 used cars,( the newest a '94
Jeep Cherokee I bought last year) I keep 6 old ones
insured, yet they're all cheaper together than one NEW
car, combined. Wonder why I don't buy new? Make me a
modern Model T, Detroit, and maybe I will. Give it
heat, A/C, a sturdy frame, long-lived running gear,
and a few luxuries ( Am/Fm radio, coffee cup holder ),
and not require an arm and leg to buy and insure, and
I'd probably buy one. Keep producing the fluff and
puff, and you can have all the End-of-year blowout
sales you want, I still can't afford them, and won't
buy them.
   Tell ya what, produce me a Legends-style car, tiny,
with 4-cylinder motorcycle-type engine for power, a
secure body roll cage for going up against Semi's and
having a chance to survive, low weight, and I'd be on
the bandwagon to purchase a new one. Fast,
maneuverable, great gas mileage, 1 or 2 person only,
hell yes, I'd buy one! Continue to produce cars with
plastic interiors bloated with fancy options, and you
can keep it in your showroom....forever. Enjoy it!

Jerry 


 
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