As our friends in Japan assess damage and recover from the most recent earthquake, automakers across the globe are feeling the impact. Most recently, it’s General Motors.
The automaker has released a statement regarding the natural disaster and its suppliers. GM will idle four North American manufacturing facilities for two weeks as it takes proactive steps to assess the Japanese earthquake’s potential impact on its supply chain and part supply issues.
The four plants are as follows:
GM stated the shutdowns will not affect overall yearly production plans in North America, and does not expect it will affect its second quarter or full-year financial results for GM North America.
Comments
This is why you keep jobs and make vehicles and products in the USA. So you don’t have this problem
the year is 2016 not 1950. the globalization debate ended decades ago. it is like you want to re-fight a war that ended 50 years ago.
there are a lot of smart and talented people all over the world and you can’t run away from that competition.
reminiscing about the glory days when everything was american made is a waste of time.
What is your point? The jobs, vehicles and products are made in USA (Canada) in this case. The issue is that some of the parts support the USA (Canada) plants are sourced from Japan and that supply is temporarily interrupted.
The majority of parts that supply those plants are still sourced in NA.
There it goes for the sales with the Bolt
This is an example of how global the auto industry is . What happens in a country on the other side of the world can effect us . GM always has a back-up plan for issues like this . And the folks that work in these plants will look at this as an unscheduled vacation . Once the plants come back on line they will work some overtime to fill the product pipeline .
Even though I would like to see parts built here , there is always some kind of problem that can stop parts plants from their deliveries . Just a couple of years ago the south got buried with a snow storm and the trucks were stuck at the plant unable to deliver anything and GM had to idle facilities . So parts stoppages happen here too .
So it make sense for example the batteries for the NEW CT6 Hybrid built in Michigan, then sent to China to be put in the car just so the car can be sent back?????
Yes it does because the entire issue is not just about the cost of batteries.
Even with the additional cost to ship batteries to China and then ship the completed CT6 Hybrid back to NA it is still less expensive than creating a new assembly line for what will amount to a fraction of the total sales for them model.
In case you are unaware…hybrid’s, PHEV’s and EV’s..are not doing really well in NA especially sedan versions.
We send our junk to China to be recycled ….. and then sold back to us
If the world was as simple as some would like to make it.
Every Automaker and parts distributor would make it here if you would work for what the others will work for.
But since many here will not work for a competitive wage other careers need to be found and other places have to make the products.
This is what so many of the Bernie people have not concluded yet. We can give you all $20 Min wage but in the end the prices will rise and you will be back in the same buying power segment you are in now.
Giving people more money solves nothing. Now giving them better education and skills to earn more money does solve problems. Oh and that does not come free either. You either pay for it or the government takes the added wages earned to pay for it in higher taxes.
Higher Education, Higher Taxes or Higher Prices …..No One Rides Free!!
To any down votes sorry for the kick in the reality ass but that is life.
a ceo who makes millions while the company goes down the drain would qualify in my book as someone who got a free ride.
companies who book their revenues in obscure countries to avoid paying american taxes are getting a free ride.
american companies that do a tax inversion are getting a free ride.
the panama papers show there are plenty of people getting free rides all over the world and it seldom the working poor.
of course trump is going to fix all that. how?
Not sure if you are referring to Mary Barra’s compensation increase.
If a CEO’s efforts nets their employer $2B in net profit in a single quarter then they deserve every penny of the $28M salary that they will make. Hands down. Period. End of discussion.
http://gmauthority.com/blog/2016/04/gm-ceo-mary-barras-compensation-rises-77-percent-up-to-28-6-million/
no i’m not. seems to me barra is doing a great job.
i just find it ridiculous to suggest that someone thinks that a wage increase for people at the bottom of the economy is a zero sum gain for them.
anybody that thinks that should never ask for a raise because in the end, it is a zero sum gain right?
Ok so if we pay the guy at Mc Donalds $15K a year vs $10K a year how much better off is his future going to be?
Would we not be better off working with the folks who want to better themselves and help them on education or skill training to get a better job than asking you want fries with that?
No one ever said to not ask for a raise but an entry level job is just that entry level and how much is that worth? You do realize companies will cut back and they will raise prices and then who wins?
My kid is getting ready to enter the job market with a part time job. There used to be a ton of them for kids at entry level wages that worked for the kids and the employer.
Now we have a government that pats itself on its back for making a bunch of high paying entry level jobs that still do family’s no good and leave less jobs for kids trying to gain experience.
We need to teach and train people for real jobs and real skills so they don’t have to expect to live their life asking if you want fries with that.
Where I work we have a hard time hiring. We just ask that they can pass a drug test, not steal and show up everyday. It is amazing how we can not get people willing to do this for jobs that can pay well.
One of our best people and now a department manager we found at a Taco Bell. I am sure she is glad she did not hang around for $15. It is amazing how far you can go with a little initiative and just showing up everyday and doing your job can get you.
The key to this is not to expect to get more money for a base job but to improve your place by getting out there and getting a better job and or the skills for it. They are out there and so few have the work ethic or gumption to go after it.
There’s a reason minimum wage jobs are called that. They aren’t meant to be a living wage, they’re meant for teenagers and students working their first jobs, not someone who dropped out of school and expects to raise a family and make car payments.
As a teenager making minimum wage, (as a busboy) I worked with forty-five year-old waiters making about 20 cents an hour more than me. They had lots of kids and were obviously poor. When I asked my Dad why anyone would want to live this way he said they didn’t have a choice, and I ought to remember this as an example of why you go to school and work hard to get ahead. (Even though this is no guarantee of success, –we’ve all see unemployed MBAs.) But doing little to improve one’s lot is a sure-fire path to a bleak existence.
The point is, there will always be people who expend the minimum amount of effort to better themselves and expect to be compensated at a level far exceeding their worth. For them, there’s the minimum wage.
If you’re unable to work, blind or otherwise disabled, I’m all for helping these folks out. But for able-bodied people who expect me to subsidize their lifestyle, I pass.
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