Let GM go Bankrupt

Why are the Big 3 making money in their operations outside of the US?

Ah, different labor unions?

The foreign subsidiaries do seem to be making the smaller and fuel efficient vehicles which cannot be made at a profit in the U.S. If they were making nothing but light trucks and heavy SUVs, there would only be minor issues due to the general economy.

Not US Unions.

Certainly not any kind of US Unions in China and South Korea.

Why can they not be made at a profit in the US?

I'm not suggesting that the American Big 3 management is full of superstars (their biggest failing is their continuous appeasment of American Unions) but they remain the top dogs worldwide. So, if they are to take the blame for US operations, they should also take the credit for extra-US successes

So if they profit outside of the US we need ask why.

Hard to imagine how we don't come to Union demands in our answers.

Lord all big insurance companies have banking operations as that is how they get their income stream going by investing the trillions of dollars from thier customers.

They are of course in trouble because they did not invested wisely but they are still an insurance company and if they went under all their millions of customers would had been holding the empty bag.\ and trillion of dollards of weath would had disapear.

I can't think of another answer hawkeye. The bailout of these different industries, while they might save 'trillions' of fake wall street wealth (I still doubt this number), they will set a standard in the US that businesses will not be allowed to fail and will be financially rewarded for the bad decisions and the taxpayers will have to foot the bill. Businesses will react by being less responsible and expecting even more bailouts.

I think it's horrible that we are protecting investor's dollars with taxpayers dollars.

farmerman, Your mention of MBAs running the auto companies is true; that's why many industries fail, because they let the MBAs run the companies rather than the people who understands the industry - those who have the long-term experience in both bad and good times. That's also true of the banks and finance companies; the MBAs have destroyed them through their manipulations that rewarded them and the people at the "top," but failed the very workers that labored in the industry. Their "quick buck" schemes failed big time, and now everybody pays for their failures.

But to be fair, all of corporate America have become short term planners....this was forced upon them by the raiders. Those who churn and burn corporations for profit are responsible for Corporate execs not caring what happens more than five quarters out, legions of their peers have been punished for focusing on the long term health of their corporations.

CEO' and boards deserve heaps of scorn, but you have taken this too far.

According to the current economic situation promulgated by the banks, finance companies, and other industries, I doubt I'm being too harsh. They are responsible for causing pain to many innocents, and that cannot be forgiven very easily.

finn wrote :



trying to figure out why european cars made by U.S. subsidiaries are difficult to sell at a profit in north-america is not an easy exercise .

the two main points are :
- gasoline is about twice as expensive in europe as in the U.S. ; so european cars are designed to be "frugal" rather than showing "muscle" .
- european and american car buyers simply have diferent "tastes" when it comes to automobiles .
(as walter has pointed out , even MCD operates differently in europe than in the U.S.)

let me use the german OPEL subsidiary of G.M. as an example :

1) the top drawr OPEL car is the INSIGNIA - quite a nice car - 1.8 l engine / 140 hp - 6 speed manual - base price EURO 28,000 - appr. $ 33,000 ;

2) for more power there is the INSIGNIA TURBO - 2.0 engine / 220 hp / 6 speed automatic - base price EURO 34,000 - a little over $ 40,000 ;

3) i doubt north-american buyers are willing to pay that kind of money for a car with a 1.8 or 2.0 l engine ;

4) german unions are quite strong but are usually part of a "co-management" team ; so they are aware of challenges that face any industry or corporation .

4) german automakers are facing much the same difficulties from the financial criseis as american automakers . as a matter of fact GM germany (OPEL) has asked the german governments for financial aid in these turbulent times .

http://www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,2144,3793853,00.html



a footnote :
the U.S. and british military governments fostered a strong union movement in germany to ensure "social stabilty" after WW II .
german union leaders were invited to the U.S. and britain to help them learn the skills to build a strong union movement in post-war germany .

the GM-OPEL INSIGNIA

More than inviting people to the US and Britain was done in the field of art. Especially music.

Almost a form of colonisation.

just a thought :

how many north-americans might be interested in driving a car with 6 speed manual transmission on a daily basis ?
hbg

Not many. Americans have gotten lazy, and most won't be able to sync the clutch with the gear and accelerator.

Kinda depends on the car. This one has a 6 speed and runs on biodiesel... but if a guy's gotta suffer.













It also goes zero to 60 in 3 seconds and tops out at over 200mph!

And the price tag is?

Fake wall street wealth how is the networth of public companies as view in an open market fake in any or in any manner?

c.i. wrote :



you got it right c.i. !
if we had to pay what europeans have to pay for cars (and gas) , we'd scream bloody murder !
we've had it good for a long time ... ... but probably didn't want to realize that at a certain point in time we'd have to pay up or else .
hbg

It's biodiesel dude... so you know you have to pay a little extra ($610,000.)
But it performs pretty well for a treehuggermobile...

Acceleration: 0-100 km/h (0-62 mph) 3.2 seconds
Top speed: 395+ km/h (245+ mph)
Standing Quartermile: 9.9 seconds, end speed 235 km/h (146 mph)
Braking distance: 31m (100-0 km/h)
Lateral G-force: 1.3 G
Source

I drive a 5 speed manual every day. No problems. What's one more gear?