30,000 GM workers to loose their jobs.

[troy2000]

That was the story I read, way back when. Gotta admit that I never researched it personally

But one I'll vouch for is that I used to work on a WWII vet's place, and he wouldn't let my "Jap" pickup on his property, even though it was made in Tennessee. So I'd borrow my friend's old Dodge D50, which was nothing but a Mitsubishi with a Dodge nameplate, and that would keep the old boy happy.

Don't Blame It on Tokyo
Kenichi Ohmae - Ohmae is Japan's best known management consultant He is Director of the Tokyo office of McKinsey & Ca, the management consulting firm, and author of Beyond National Borders: Reflections on Japan and the World, Triad Power and The Mind of the Strategist. In the following comments, Mr. Ohmae discusses the myths about trade relations from the Japanese perspective and assesses the very different orientation of the coming generation of Japanese leaders.
1. Myths About Trade
Tokyo - The controversy over trade deficits with Japan is a false issue. The real issue is the corporate strategy of American management which is increasing competitiveness by globalizing production. In one word, capitalism. American companies want to maximize return on investment and do not particularly care about how and where they do so.
The United States has developed trade deficits with almost all of its trading partners because American companies have the management capabilities to produce efficiently in Mexico, Taiwan, Japan or elsewhere and export products back to the US market.
In its criticism of Japan, the US government does not understand this. It worries instead about tonnage, dollars or yen crossing national boundaries. But trade deficit statistics are very superficial and only represent one aspect of the US-Japanese relationship. An examination of American corporate activities in Japan and Japanese corporate activities in the US reveals the true picture.
If we look at the activity of the top 2000 American companies operating in Japan during 1984, for example, we find that they had production of $43.9 billion in Japan, more than compensating for the US trade deficit with Japan that year of $31 billion. US companies also exported $25.6 billion to Japan that year. While Japanese companies had only $12.8 billion of production in the US in 1984, they exported $56.8 billion to US markets from Japan, including $19 billion in original-equipment-manufacturer (OEM) components to American companies. In sum, Japan purchased $69.5 billion of goods produced by US companies in 1984 and Americans bought $69.6 billion of goods produced by Japanese companies.
In this more accurate overall perspective. Japan and the United States are very nearly equal customers for each other's goods. The real issue then, is not an imbalance of purchases between Americans and Japanese, but where American corporations decide to produce and the effect of those decisions on employment.
Certainly, American management is not losing its competitiveness. On the contrary, US companies are getting stronger globally. Although the US share of manufactured exports has slipped from 12% to 8% on a world scale, US subsidiary operations overseas as a percentage of US export share of goods in the world market has risen to 14%. The situation is more striking in services. American companies have an expanding worldwide share in hotel chains, car rentals, computer software, telecommunications, hospital management, fast food chains, credit cards, life insurance and banking.
The fact is that America has lost interest in production. Seventy percent of the American workforce is already in the service sector. America has increasingly moved away from the production mode in its evolution towards a postindustrial society. As a result, America 'is not a very good place to manufacture anymore. It is hard to find skilled people, components, a flexible vendor relationship and above all, good manufacturing managers. The best people are not interested in production. They would rather come up with computer software or manipulate exchange rates on a computer screen than go through the blood, sweat and tears of assembling PCs.
The dwindling manufacturing base of the US is not a question of America vs. other countries. It has been America's choice. America's aspirations have changed from the time of Thomas Edison. Blaming Japan and Mexico or halving the dollar's value is not going to restore industrial competitiveness to America.
A Closed Market, or Americas Best Customer?
America has little reason to upbraid its best customer, Japan. In 1984, 71% of beef and veal exports from the US went to Japan; 29% of oranges and 56% of grapefruit exported from the US went to Japan. We are California's biggest market. Fifty percent of California's agricultural output goes to Japan. Thirty-eight percent of California's industrial output goes to Japan.
I accept that the Japanese market is very different from the US market. But when impatient American companies make three months effort at market penetration and find they can't speak the language or hire the right people, they get frustrated and conclude that Japan is a closed market. Then they go to Washington and file a trade complaint.
But what about all the successful American companies operating in Japan? IBM has 19,000 employees in Japan and had $6 billion of business and $1 billion in profit last year. Xerox, NCR, Texas Instruments, Kentucky Fried Chicken, 7-11, Denny's, Mister Donut, Lotus and Ore-Ida potatoes are all successful leaders in respective Japanese markets. They don't complain to Washington.

[7mmag6]

I had a 98 z-28 ss camaro bought new, it warped rotors every 15000 miles like clockwork, had a miss that they could never figure out, the interior was junk. I sold it for 14000 dollars in 2001 taking a 12000 buck shaft. I bought a new mini cooper s in 2002 sold it in 2005 and only lost 2000 dollars on it. thats why gm is in trouble, they produce crap

[Rave]

Sounds like the rich are getting richer and the American worker is going further up the creek,we are being used and abused,SOS.:guitar: :guitar: :guitar: :guitar: