I'm fighting a losing battle w/a migraine today. The excedrin migraine I took when I realized the flashing lights I saw were, in fact, in my head and not a malfunction of my light fixtures, has dulled it to a low roar, but not quelled the nausea. So I feel slightly vomity and achey. I did walk Shermy down to his BFF Diesel's house, which means I got 20 minute walk in and I rearranged the basement (again) this morning, so I'm not going to feel guilty about the basket of clean laundry that will NOT get put away this afternoon while Cass naps. I've got my hands full trying to keep my lunch down.
In light of that...I'm just going to post something I read on FB this morning for your viewing pleasure.
Letter from a White Collar Auto Worker
I sat quietly for 8 years and listened to my liberal friends criticize the president I voted for. Even though I thought he did a great job and still do. I felt everyone is entitled to their own opinion even if I disagree with it. Now that we have a president I didn't vote for, I felt I was also entitled to criticize. But I have since learned many of you don't think I have that right.
I thought the war in Iraq was justified, you didn't.
I thought water boarding was an effective interrogation technique, you didn't
I thought we should drill for oil in ANWR, you didn't.
I could go on and on but you get the idea. Since I have no experience in these areas maybe you are right and I am wrong. I don't think so, but I am willing to concede that point.
I do however feel I am qualified to discuss the automobile business after 35 years of working in this industry.
Today 789 Chrysler, Dodge and Jeep dealers across the country just went out of business. At an average of 50 employees at each store that is almost 40,000 people now without jobs. In most smaller towns they are one of the larger employers so it will also affect the other local businesses as well. GM is due to announce their list tomorrow which will bring the ranks of the unemployed dealer personnel up to about 150,000. These dealers are heavily involved in community activities, contribute to charities and pay taxes. So this loss will affect everyone even if you aren't in the automobile business.
Why is this happening? It is because of our current admistration's complete lack of understanding of what it takes to run a car company or any other company as far as that goes. You have all heard the comments he has made in the press.
"They are not building the small fuel efficient cars the public want".
Contrary to what some people may think the overwhelming majority of the buying public wants large SUV's, Pickup trucks and large comfortable cars. That is why we along with Toyota, Honda, Nissan, Porsche and many others were building them. The production cost of a small econobox is very nearly the same as the cost to produce large SUV but the profit potential is much larger on the SUV. Remember the car company exists to make a profit. The only time small car sales ever increase is when there is an unexpected rise in the price of fuel which we can't control.
"Detroit needs to build more Hybrid and Electric cars"
With today's technology it cost almost ten times as much to build a hybrid or electric car than its gasoline powered counterpart. Every Hybrid sold by us or the imports is sold at a substantial loss.
"Detroit needs to improve their quality in order to sell cars"
The quality of American made cars has improved drastically over the past few years. This year our warranty cost per vehicle has dropped 28% from just last year. In the past five years we have dropped this cost over 50%. What we have not corrected is the perceived quality difference. As an example Chrysler builds the Mitsubishi Raider pickup and the new Volkswagen Routan Mini-van. The only difference between these and the ones our dealers sell is cosmetic exterior trim. Otherwise they are exactly the same and come off the same assembly line. But because they are sold under an "Import" brand they are somehow better.
"We aren't making any real progress on fuel economy. The Model T got 20 MPG."
If you applied today’s government regulations for emissions and safety to a Model T it would probably get about 3 MPG and have a serious lack of performance. Every time some environmentalist decides our emission levels need to improve it adds cost to the vehicle, the needed components add weight to the car which effects fuel economy and adds complexity to the vehicle which makes it more difficult to diagnose and repair. Safety features also add complexity and weight with similar effects. Am I against safety and emission improvements? Of course not. But the cost has to be weighed against the gain.
"They need to get their production cost in line with the imports"
Imports definitely have a cost advantage when it comes to labor costs. As China, India and Korea begin to increase their production expect to see an even more drastic labor cost discrepancy. It is difficult to compete with a Chinese worker making pennies a day. We have also been compared to the transplant manufactures who also have a lower labor cost. This is for two reasons. One, they have a younger work force. They have no retiree benefits to pay. With a younger work force their health care costs are substantially less.
Number two they are all located in right to work states with no union to contend with. The UAW whose members were instrumental in electing Mr. Obama to office have caused wages to increase to unreasonable levels. These are unskilled typically uneducated workers drawing wages approaching that of many lawyers and doctors. They have currently accepted wage concessions but in five or ten years if the domestic auto industry recovers they will threaten a strike and we will be back to a noncompetive wage level once again.
"The government will back your warranty if you purchase a new car from Chrysler or GM from this day forward"
This has to be the most idiotic statement I have ever heard a government official make. If the auto company goes bankrupt where are you going to get parts to repair their cars? If the auto company goes under the dealers will cease to exist, so who will make the repairs? Do I just take it to my local congressman for repair? Independent repair shops are not in the least bit qualified to work on today’s complex vehicles. A Toyota tech is no more qualified to work on a Chrysler than a Chrysler tech is to work on a Toyota. Thanks to government regulations today’s cars are using much more sophisticated computer technology that the typical space shuttle mission. No one want to buy a car from a bankrupt car company as proven by our drastic drop in sales after we were forced to file chapter 11. The Obama administration forced the bankruptcy filing so I blame him directly for our drop in sales.
I could go on and on with this but one thing disturbs me about our left leaning media. No one has talked about why car sales are down. Very little is mentioned about it not only being the domestic car companies with dropping sales. The imports are also losing money at a record pace. If we do not survive bankruptcy some of them may also fail. Why, because we use many of the same suppliers. The company that makes our seat covers or wheels also makes them for Ford GM Toyota Honda and others. Without our business they will fail. If the wheel manufacturer fails Toyota won't have wheels for its US plants. Hard to sell a car without wheels.
The primary reason for low car sales is the failures in the banking industry. Currently if you have less than a perfect credit score or are able to pay cash you can't get a loan to buy a car. That means very few people have the ability to buy a new car domestic or import.
When Wall Street needed a bail out this administration handed over hundreds of billions of dollars no questions asked. Very little accountability was established. When the automakers asked for a small percentage of that amount just to survive until the economy recovered they were treated worse than criminals. The CEO's were lamblasted for taking corporate jets to Washington. Anyone who has ever dealt with an irate and unstable car owner as I have knows this was done for security reasons. The same reason Obama doesn't fly commercial airlines. Our corporate rules forbid executives at that level from flying commercial. Even the lower level executives that are allowed to fly commercially aren't allowed to have two VP's or Business Center Managers flying on the same airplane just in case it went down. The criticized the CEO's for their salaries. Why is it OK for a movie star or professional athlete that contributes nothing more to society than a little entertainment to draw multi-million dollar wages but not for a CEO of a multibillion dollar company to do the same? Did you notice all three CEO's returned to Washington in cars? They still aren't allowed to fly commercial.
When GM and Chrysler returned to Washington with a workable solution that included building more money losing hybrid and electric vehicles it wasn't good enough. Mr. Obama decided to flex his muscles. This is a man who along with his entire staff has never ran a company big or small that now thinks he knows what is best for GM and Chrysler. He forced the head of GM who had 30 years experience in this business to step down and Chrysler to file for bankruptcy. Both of these decisions are moronic.
I started in this business in 1975 with the idea that if I worked hard and did a good job I would be rewarded with a pension and healthcare upon retirement. Now both of those are in jeopardy because of our current president. This administration is spending money like drunken sailors in a whore house. Our grandchildren will still be paying on this debt until they are old and grey like me.
I hope and pray that the American voters will wake up and put a stop to this nonsense, even though it may already be too late.
If you want to disagree with me on this that is your right. If you want to discuss it further that's OK too. If you want to just delete it without reading it, shame on you. But do not dare tell me I do not have the right to this opinion!
