RealTown's RealTalk

I find it difficult to feel too sorry for the auto industry right now. They have known for years they were in trouble but did very little to solve some of their basic problems, such as building less expensive vehicles and vehicles that would operate less expensively. I drove by a local Ford dealership this afternoon and if they had one new large SUV on the lot they had 75, all sitting there gathering dust and getting a year older. We have known for several years that the day of the SUV as we know it had to end. Yet, the auto industry keep pumping them out. Well, they pumped one too year long it seems. When the cost of fuel hit $1.50 a gallon sales began dropping off like a lead pipe hitting the bottom of a barrel.

I don't understand why none of our auto makers have not perfected the hydrogen engine and used it as an option for today's vehicle buyer. Certainly the oil lobbyist has likely kept federal tax dollars from helping with the research over the years, but just think where one of the auto makers would have been today if 5 years ago they had hit the ground determined to design the hydrogen engine and by now putting it in their vehicles. That in itself would make a big difference in our oil problem today. And lets face it, the American auto industry even waited until foreign countries designed and introduced the hybrids (gas/elect) vehicles instead of moving forward on this a long time ago.

Sometimes we end up being our own worse enemy.

Tom Hathaway

JIM
The Jim Cummings Team
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Tom Hathaway said:
I find it difficult to feel too sorry for the auto industry right now. They
have known for years they were in trouble but did very little to solve some
of their basic problems, such as building less expensive vehicles and
vehicles that would operate less expensively.
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I'm no expert on Detroit - but in my opinion - the trouble with the US Auto
Industry is the United Autoworkers Union. The Unions have forced the
automakers to build bigger cars (bigger equals more higher costs) to pay the
ever increasing labor union demands.
I'd venture most of the new US made "foreign cars" Toyota, Honda, Nissan,
BMW plants are NOT totally unionized.
JIM

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Sorry Jim, but I can't see the connection between unions and large cars...
seems without logic to me... I would like to understand how this is reality,
but so far, I can't see that... I understand that the Unions push for higher
wages and benefits, but again, the relationship between that and large
vehicles just does not compute... Design and manufacturing are not
determined by the Unions on any level... that is purely management... yes,
Unions may increase costs, but they do not dictate the type of cars
produced...

I see cars that cost $80K that are small and efficient, and cars that are
huge that cost $35K... fact is, these automakers have been selling these
cars to Americans and so have not modified their direction... look at the
cars on the highway, and you see many SUV and even Hummers... the Unions did
not make the American people desire these cars... there simply is no
connection...

As for Unions in Japan, there has never been a circumstance in that country
that required Unions to organize fair labor practices... those companies pay
higher wages than ours do (in Japan proper) and provide better benefits, and
better job security, without the need for unions... but they do have better
management that focuses on long term benefit rather than short term benefit,
which is an issue in our country due to stockholder short sightedness.

I can't speak to the German manufacturers... but I believe that they too pay
their workers better than we do, and provide better benefits and longer paid
vacations.

Our lack of competitiveness if not really related to this... however, this
is an easily cured cost, whereas old facilities (or capital equipment, like
with our airlines) is the real issue, and also one that is much more
expensive to repair... so rather than repair this, we look to cutting
wages... in America there is a long history of Labor Vs Management... this
is not the case in Japan, and is less the case in Europe than it is here. To
me, as someone who has spent many years merging diverse corporate cultures
together, this is our real issue.

Not as easily solved, and no scape goat, but it is the crux of the matter.

Labor is not. And most assuredly Unions are not...

Have a great day!

Best regards,

Paul Silver
Focus Professionals, Inc.

 @Tom

Hydrogen sounds great but there are the leak issues.  Even more important is how you get it.

Someone is going to have to come up with a clever new way because right now most of it comes from the petroleum process.  If you get it from water it takes more energy to get out than you get back.  I just finished working on a project at Air Products and that's what I was told.  I got to ride in a GM fuel cell SUV prototype one day.  It leaves a trail of water as it goes up the street.

@Ronny

I love the MB coupes from that era.  I had a lowly 1982 380SEC for a few years and it looked great.  Someone put in the proper Euro headlights so it didn't look like the rest.