Re: [Amc-list] Chrysler sale

[Frank Swygert <farna@xxxxxxx>]

Well, this IS pretty much AMC related since the current Chrysler IS the only embodiment of the remnants of AMC...

I have to agree with you Tom. It's the chosen business model as much as anything. The Wynn guy who owns all the Wyndam hotels (I think that's right...) said on the news one morning that the banking execs "lost focus" -- they were more focused on maximizing the number of loans made so they could maximize their bonuses than focusing on the overall health of the corporation. With "golden parachute" contracts they had nothing to lose, so why not! GM is bloated with high paid execs, I suspect Chrysler and Ford have their share also. They don't really EARN millions in a year, sort of like sports figures and actors. Over $8 each to go to a movie, and then sodas and popcorn for two "has to be" around $20 just so the theater can make a profit? Who's getting ripped here? 

At the same time, I think the auto workers union DOES bear a bit of responsibility. Back when AMC was having problems, the union wouldn't budge. AMC got locked into a contract in the 60s that paid a good bit an hour more than others because AMC was in it's money making hey-day. Later the union wouldn't back off to give them some relief. I'm sure AMC had a few useless high paid execs, but they were darned lean compared to the others, and were running with an eye on future survival. Execs in Japan usually work with an eye toward perpetuating the company, in the US it's "get what you can while you can" and "who cares if the company dies tomorrow as long as I got mine!". Totally inane business model!! 

---------------
Date: Sat, 25 Oct 2008 13:01:55 -0700
From: Tom Jennings <tomj@xxxxxxx>

Don wrote:


> > Here we go again blaming autoworkers for the ills of the US 
> > automakers.
>   

Amen brother.

<rant>

That "cost all in" crap is... crap.

Poor multibillion dollar businesses, held hostage by their employees.
You and me? YEAH RIGHT. They drained the cash cow dead and dry.

Poor bankers, held hostage by hoards of poor people and all their
B-rated mortgages. YEAH RIGHT. Engineered profit-taking.

GM, Ford, Chyrsler dug their own graves over three decades. They chose
short-term profit over long-term sustainability. Maybe that's "written
in" by the market's structured need of constant growth, but it's not
workers fault. Auto unions got fat lazy and stupid, but they hardly
designed the business model and product line.

Why is every worker so ready to blame themselves or other workers?

Honda's decision of no V8s, no monster trucks/SUVs... how dumb is that
now? They made $$$$$ off the stuff GM et al had abandoned, and said
they couldn't make money from. THAT was embarrassing. Toyota will hurt
slightly, and recover nicely.

Americans made microprocessors for a buck, went to the moon six times, 
made the internet, and Ford can't make a good cheap non-toxic 
automobile? Please.

American engineering has been, and can be, the best in the world. On
it's own merits though -- no sympathy for big business from me. They had
the resources and they squandered it. "Buy American" in that context is
a fool's errand. It has to mean something besides sloganeering, and
lining the pockets of the wasteful rich.



> > Once the imports caught and surpassed the US automakers in quality 
> > and price and the BIG 3 didn't pick up the pace, the writing was on 
> > the wall. Those decisions were made in the ivory towers of management
> >  and IMHO that's where the problems are.
>   


Problems WERE... cash extracted, they'll move into their houses (not in 
MI) and retire or consult elsewhere. No real problem for most of them.

Half of my extended family has some connection to MI, MO, and are 
already screwed by the financial glacier that's been sliding into town 
for the last decade or two. None of this is really new.

</rant>

OK, Frank, I'll stop  :-) 

-- 
Frank Swygert
Publisher, "American Motors Cars" 
Magazine (AMC)
For all AMC enthusiasts
http://farna.home.att.net/AMC.html
(free download available!)

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