UAW contract reveals General Motors' future plans
Saturday October 6, 2007
The United Auto Workers contract with General Motors -- the outcome last month's short strike -- inadvertently gives an insight into GM's plans for the future. Though new car lines are generally planned 2 to 4 years in advance, automakers generally don't reveal this information until the last possible minute, in order to avoid hurting sales of current product. However, both the full text of the contract and a "highlights" booklet have been posted on the Internet, and they reveal details of production plans for GM's US plants.
Photo © General Motors
Sadly, aside from a few interesting cars(Corvette,Solstice,CTS and their new cutting edge tech car)G.M. just doesn’t seem to have what it takes any more.Rehashing old body styles like the HHR, Camaro just are getting passe. Next they’ll be bringing back the old “Motorama” tours. The old general at least has a few new ideas, while Ford seems to be waiting to die, or just go quietly into th night.
When you look at dates like 2009 and 2011 you have to wonder what UAW pay rates will be by then. Add to that the fact that GM has not launched anything really innovative in the last several years and you get over priced, under designed junk in the next decade. Hawaiian Don is right – Ford is waiting to die. That leaves Chrysler – can they pull it off? Let’s see.
Now that Mercedes-Benz is out of the picture, I’m concerned that Chryco may be next in line waiting for the hearse. Are these new guys corporate raiders looking to dissect and sell off the company, or do they have the deep pockets to raise this small auto company to next level? If M-B’s pockets weren’t deep enough or their resolve, can these guys realistically hope to pull this off? I’ll be buying GM stock long before I buy Chryco. And that lifetime warranty, where do you go with that, should they fail? And your trade in will probably be equal to Daewoo numbers, which compare to “tow away rates”.
What American car company do the readers recommend? Most “American” cars already have foreign components.As far as a warranty is concerned,none are any more viable than the company that offers them.I see where the union is going to strike Chrysler.Very intelligent thinking on their part.The American car companies should shut down for a year,restart with all new employees that appreciate the sweetheart benefits they get,and then,perhaps,they could build a car that is competitive in the world market.
uaw for all workers!!!!!!!