bailout plan may widen to more industries

[Sage]

Social/economic engineering. Get used to it. That's the soup du jour.

Peace, Sage

[Shelbay]

Hyundai,Toyota,Mercedes-Benz all locoated here in Alabama & not asking for bailouts..no unions involved in the South

Damn Yankees stay in the mess you created & stop moving here....LOL.

Oh we almost had VW but TN got that one..again no unions:thumbsup:

[RamblerGambler]

how can anyone say with a straight face that unions are the reason for the auto industry's woes? Toyota, and Mercedes-Benz have and continue to make efficient and well made cars. Meanwhile, Detroit decides that the SUV was the flagship of the American auto industry, almost fighting change tooth and nail. Now we see how well that worked out.

[GoldenBoy812]

how can anyone say with a straight face that unions are the reason for the auto industry's woes? Toyota, and Mercedes-Benz have and continue to make efficient and well made cars. Meanwhile, Detroit decides that the SUV was the flagship of the American auto industry, almost fighting change tooth and nail. Now we see how well that worked out.

As if any of those mentioned above did not produce multiple models of SUV's.

[maladroit]

japanese auto management techniques dictate that they don't start building a car until there is a demand for it (pull production)...there is a demand for some SUV's, and they manufactured to meet the market

american auto management chose to focus on the most profitable models with big engines and matching price tags, and then crafted marketing campaigns to sell vehicles that were not in high demand (push production)

that partly explains why japanese-owned factories operated at close to 100% capacity for years while US automakers were idling plants


What is Pull Production?

Originating from the infamous Toyota Corporation, pull production is a process that aims to arrange an organization so that customer preference or orders are what cause materials to be "pulled" through a system. The idea is that the manufacturer only produces what the consumer wants when the consumer wants them. In other words, a product need only be produced at the same rate that they are being sold. In a pull production system inventory is reduced, work in progress is not exceeding demand, and the need for raw materials is comparable to the demand for the product.

[RamblerGambler]

Interesting article: 10 Cars That Sank Detroit - FlowChart (usnews.com)