The Big 3 Auto Makers
By Arkie69
@Arkie69 (2156)
United States
December 5, 2008 11:37am CST
There has been a lot on the news lately about bailing out the big 3 auto makers. Several have said their main problems is bad management. This may be part of their problem but their biggest problem is the quality and price of the cars they are building. There is way too many bells and whistles and gadgets on cars that run the price up. They will never be able to stay in business until they correct this and start building a much cheaper simpler car. Every ounce of energy used by all these gadgets takes energy that is produced by the fuel. If they would get rid of a lot of the junk that uses electricity it would increase the gas mileage.
A very large part of your gas mileage is eaten up between the gas tank and the drive wheels of the car. A lot of it is junk we don't really need to get down the road. Air conditioning takes a big bite out of your mileage. If people had to do without air conditioning in a car they might start driving it only when they really need to. Simple cars and a lot lower prices is the only thing that will get the big 3 out of the hole they are in. India has the right idea on this. They build the little TATA that seats 4 people, runs at highway speeds, gets 60 MPG and you can buy a new one for $2,500 USD. With the UAW in the US a car like this isn't even possible. This tells me the UAW needs to go.
2 people like this
7 responses
@bellis716 (4799)
• United States
7 Dec 08
I agree with most of what you stated. However, In south Texas where I live, air conditioning in both homes and automobiles is a necessity, not a luxury. The 20 or 25 miles I have to drive to the doctor through mostly city traffic would be impossible without air conditioning. I would have to be hospitalized before I got there.
@bellis716 (4799)
• United States
9 Dec 08
Yes, I've worked in the fields in weather that was hot enough to burn blisters on my bare feet. I remember hopping from the shade of one cotton plant to another. I was much younger then. Your advice might well apply to the young, but there are elderly people who die each year in south Texas because of the heat. Would you deny them air conditioning because they lack the spine to stand the heat? I've lived without air conditioning and don't ever want to go back, especially since I'm now one of those elderly persons who just might not make it through another Texas Summer without the A/C.
@Arkie69 (2156)
• United States
7 Dec 08
What did people do back when they didn't even have cars. They still went where ever they needed to go and they survived. Have you ever worked out in the field in the direct sun light when it was over 100 F? I have and I survived. We are all too pampered anymore. No starch in our spine. It is unhealthy to not sweat during hot weather. Sweating is natures way of getting contaminants out of our bodies. It also gets rid of extra salt that we don't need. This eliminates a lot of heart and high blood pressure problems. Air conditioning is like a lot of other things in life. If it feels good and we like it the odds are real high it isn't good for us.
@balacancer22 (1148)
• India
6 Dec 08
I think TATA's Nano would change the whole 4wheeler scenario over here in india and would defienetly change the auto makers indutry over the world and TATA has never compromised on the quality so you can you can expect the best from them..what TATA has done is that they have reduced their profit for the cause of people and to maintain their hi-profile status in the country..other automakers should also take this as a lesson and try to reduce the costs and not compromise on the quality..happy mylotting..
@balacancer22 (1148)
• India
6 Dec 08
I really dont know who the big 3 car makers are,but in india TATA Motors is not going to go down because they have huge investments from their other industries such as TATA Steel and other such things..The TATA Nano was to see light during october itself but due to land acquisitions it was postponed to jan 1 and now due to the mumbai attacks out of which the major attack which was made in the "TAJMAHAL" hotel belongs to the TATA's and they are really in a financial mess and will launch the NANO somewhere around april...
@Arkie69 (2156)
• United States
6 Dec 08
I am glad to finally hear from someone from India on this TATA. I have been reading everything I could find on it but I haven't had a chance to discuss it with anyone in India. One of our big problems with the auto makers here in the US is the fact they are being controlled by some greedy idiots that have a lot of money. The only way we will ever see anything better to come out of the auto builders is for it to get to a point where it is either that or they close up shop. When that happens then we will see a few improvements. Personally I would like to see all three of the big 3 bite the dust and take their place in History.
@cinnamonwoods (33)
• United States
6 Dec 08
I agree in part with what you are saying. The big 3 do need a total makeover. They ship jobs overseas, or to Mexico/Canada. They buy parts from China, all in an effort to save money. However usually the work and parts are inferior to American made. Also these cost savings efforts never seem to trickle down to the consumer. They buy cheaper parts, pay for cheaper labor, but the cost of cars keep going up.
Your idea for not having air conditioning I don't agree with. I like my comfort, lol. But smaller cars are definitely the way to go.
@Arkie69 (2156)
• United States
6 Dec 08
I like air conditioning too but if it came down to them leaving it off the cars I would say do it. We need to leave a lot of junk off the cars. It is costing more to build them and raising the sticker price where the average working man can't even start to afford one. All the junk on them makes them a lot harder to work on and costs us a lot more money to keep them running. Actually it's kinda dumb to even buy a car with so many gadgets on it. Every one of them is just something else that will break at some point and cause you a problem and cost you money to fix it.
@LaurenInLA (2270)
• United States
5 Dec 08
Yes. Yes. Yes. The big 3 don't suffer from a problem created by the economic downturn. They suffer from a problem created by 40 years of mismanagement. No one is buying a Toyota, Honda or Nissan simply because they're cheaper. Those companies are making quality products for a fair price. I do disagree with your statement about the UAW. The UAW asked and instead of these companies saying no, they said yes. Some of the things that the company said yes to are ludicrous. What company do you know that offers retirees paid health care? What unskilled laborer do your know that makes $70 per hour? What company lays off workers and gives the laid off worker up to 95% of their pay for two years? At the end of the day though, I think that we will bail out the auto companies. The job loss would not only end with the Big 3 but would extend to all of those cottage industries that supply parts and services to them. Would we really be prepared for unemployment numbers that are estimated to reach as high as 25% in those regions? When and where does all of these bailouts end? IMHO, the airline industry is next in line. What a mess!
@Arkie69 (2156)
• United States
5 Dec 08
The UAW is one of the biggest reasons our American made cars are so expensive. $70 an hour unskilled labor and 95% unemployment benefits is dirt stupid and there is no other way to put it. Every time we go buy a new car we are the ones that are paying this $70 per hour wages and 95% unemployment. Ford doesn't pay it we do but be sure these high prices cost Ford a lot of new car sales. Labor unions in the US are hurting us, not helping us.
I remember back when the average factory worker could afford to buy a new car or pickup every years. they could trade in their 1m years old car and pay the difference in the next 12 months. A lot of people did this and a lot more than 3 auto makers were booming. Back in the 50's and 60's there were several auto makers and any of them that produced anything even close to quality made money. The workers made just as good a living then as they do now. If anything they did better than we are now.
@LaurenInLA (2270)
• United States
5 Dec 08
I understand your point about the reason that Big 3 cars being expensive because of the wage and benefit differential. My point is that the UAW asked but management did not have to say yes. IMHO management is much more culpable for not saying NO and standing their ground. Had they done so, they would not be saddled with unmanageable debt. Both parties are to blame for this situation.
@kuzzon1960 (118)
• United States
6 Dec 08
i agree with you on that they do have too many gadgets and gizmos, but if they quit paying their workers $70 an hour to produce those cars we can't afford anyway, maybe they would be in a better place than where they are at present.what do you think?also, what is wrong with flying commercial? why do they think they need private jets to get them around. if gov. palin doesn't need one,why do they?
@Arkie69 (2156)
• United States
6 Dec 08
They need to drop the $70 an hour, the 95% unemployment and a lot of worker benefits as a start. Then they need to completely redesign their cars from the tires up. A car has only one value and that is to get us from point A to point B and that's it. Next they need to strip all the gadgets off the cars. This alone would make the cars a lot less expensive to build and work on. This might even make it possible for the owners to do some of the repairs they way we used to do it.
@kuzzon1960 (118)
• United States
6 Dec 08
i agree completely .it really is too bad that manufacturers today couldn't make cars like the ones in the 50's and 60's. those were some very dependable autos back then.not only did they run forever, they also drove so incredibly great. it felt like you were riding in the lap of luxury.where did those autos go? and with them the people with the smarts to build them.
@dracos (2)
• United States
6 Dec 08
Your completely right. Just a couple of weeks ago when GM went to the senate to ask for money they flew there private jets that cost them $20,000 to get to washington. Thats absurd. Why would someone spend that much money to fly somewhere and then beg for money.
@barehugs (8973)
• Canada
5 Dec 08
The Big three automakers have been losing ground to Asian Companies since 1975 when Honda's Civic began to gain sales. American Auto Companies have serious problems that they have failed to correct. As you say, the UAW is just one of these problems. Another is the oversize, excessive junk, gas guzzler. The Big Three needed to build these big excessive gas guzzlers, because they have been big sellers, and people have been willing to pay for the excesses, and the companies have been able to stay afloat. Now its an entirely different economy. No longer will people pay excessive prices for excessive autos. The writing is on the wall, and everybody is hoping the big three are able to read it.
@Arkie69 (2156)
• United States
5 Dec 08
There is another big problem with the big 3 auto makers we have had for several years that has cost us a lot of money. The money that runs the auto makers and the money that runs the big oil companies comes out of the same big investors pockets. They will not allow the auto makers to build a car that gets very much gas mileage. If they do it cost them money in gasoline sales.
The auto makers know how to get a lot more out of the gasoline but they are not allowed to do it. I can take any 4 stroke combustion engine and almost double the run time on it per gasoline used. I have already done in with a 5 HP Briggs water pump engine. It will work the very same on a car or light truck. I know if I can do it then the big 3 can do a lot better than I can. Here is the funny part of it. All I did was adapt a process that has been in use ever since WWI.
