I would blame the management not the unions or workers. After all all the German car makers have strong unions and they do pay top dollar to their employees, yet we do not see BMW going under. Same goes for workers. Most Japanese car makers have factories in the US and their cars sell well and are reliable. So the only missing link is the management.
Quite simple, yet many factors have brought them to this point.......... They are burdened with VERY high labor and pension costs. If you are going to do that you absolutely must build/sell a superior product, that can bring a premium. With the quality of vehicle that the foreign manufacturers produce, the big 3 cannot charge a premium any longer. They also put all of their eggs in the truck/SUV market. Obviously there has been a paradigm shift in regards to vehicles mpg and that market dying as we speak. That market will NEVER get back to where it once was. They also have earned a very poor reputation due to inferior quality and service issues that most consumers have experienced for themselves. Lastly, they make cars that are not aesthetically pleasing, in my opinion.
lol what? I'm my little town about every other vehicle is a Ford truck. I have a F-250 Lariat Crewcab Turbocharged Diesel that I use on my little rancho and to blend in with the locals around town. Can't haul much hay and feed in my Carrera lol. Land Cruiser, hehe.
Land Cruisers? not in this country but maybe the rest of the world. I like my American made trucks. EXCELLENT vehicles. It's the only reason I give a damn about U.S. automakers.
I don't know your experience with American cars, but mine has been very predictable and universal as far as my family and friends are concerned. Every American and Japanese car we have owned was more or less reliable from 0 - 100,000 miles. There after every American car we have owned reduced it's reliability and increased servicing costs exponentially. The Japanese counterparts have fared much better almost no drop in quality between 100-150k. At 150 we usually look for another car and the foreign cars can be sold. I have personally walked 3 American cars to their graves in the scrap yard at 120 -135k. There was not enough value left for the catastrophic repairs needed in all of the vital systems to make them worth anything to anybody. That's my experience and everyone in my family has done about as well. I've got 9 siblings. Not a scientific study but good enough for me. I don't want another American car. If they saddle myself and my next generations with these janky ass car companies by using tax payer money to fund them I vow I will never own another American car ever no matter what they are like. The big three and all of their workers should be ashamed of what they have become and the products they have tried to legislate, guilt, and now demand that we support. There I'm off my soapbox. JIM
Like I said other car manufacturers have unions, bmw, mb. While unions do add cost to the final price of a car, it is not that much if a company is making a product that sells. If the big 3 make crap it is not the workers' and their wages fault. Design them better, create better ways of assembly and management and the union issue would not come up. And how exactly do union disable the corporation? Please educate.
i used to own a ford and when u drive on the highways u can feel wind swishing through your door b/c even though its closed there is still a gap in between