evok

It will not help the situation, that much I am certain of. And it will not help their brothers at GM.

And the end to 25,000 DPH jobs in the US.

This relates to the global industry problem and are relevant discussion in light of what is happening at GM and DPH. It is not only a US problem. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/9784776/site/newsweek/

Time of war? I do not forsee D-Ham or Flint Assy ever being converted over to aircraft production. Times have changed and comparing the Defense Industry to the Auto Industry is like comparing Apples to Oranges. 60+ years have passed since WWII, the industrial machine that support the Defense industry is alot different. That is like worring about horse breeders going out of business today and wondering; who is going to supply horses for the calvery?

Than if that is the case - those 25,000 current US jobs at DELPHI will be off shored. DPH will make the case, either accept the wages or plants close and if there is a signifcant labor disruption there will be no jobs to come back to. Remember this, the OEM's generally own the tooling for their parts. GM could ramp up their inventories of parts for a 12 week stock, and resource or force that DPH to move the products to their non US plants. I have been involved with products that have to be resourced under non ideal conditions and tooling moved. It is not easy and can cause plant spills and requires a lot of man power and coordination. But it can be done. But I have seen whole assembly lines for purchased parts moved in a weekend.

There pensions. As I have said earlier a significant majority of these worker are eligible to retire.

Blame can go around. The OEM's should have never agreed to the level of wage increases and retirement/health obligations they did over the past 20 years. Never. This should have been nipped in the bud years ago and this DPH thread would not be here today. Once thing is for certain, does anyone here honestly think GM could have spun off DPH and demanded modest salary concession from the UAW back in 1999 much less what is proposed today. No way. This is about 20 years of appeasing the union and agreeing to unreasonable demands. This is a reality check for the UAW. The OEMs backs are up against a wall. Blame can go around and around and will not move this discussion forward. We have to deal with today not what happened yesterday. The OEM's have taken just about all the structural costs they could out of their businesses. The auto industry is in a price depression and the only place left to cut costs, that has not been touched is the UAW fixed cost. Those are the realities if you are at the top of these companies. In the 25 years of GM's restructuring, the only aspect that has not been touch is the UAW labor.

You just do not get it. Current DPH employees are currently over paid for the job they do according to the rest of the supply industry. Other suppliers in the US do not pay 20 - 30 an hour for labor. There are bigger issues at stake other than pay for the DPH workers. If they strike, they could loose everything. That means their retirement. I will venture to say that 70%+ of the current work staff is elligible to retire today. At least right now they have a fighting chance to keep all or a significant part of that. Yes, if DPH strikes, this could close GM, Ford and other manufactures that rely on DPH parts. What does that gain them. Do you think that those manufacturers will not demand even great consession from the UAW. More unilateral action on retirement healthcare cuts. If DPH strikes, the day of reckoning will take place and it will be ugly. And I assure you GM, Ford, DPH Visteon will be left standing. Todays business model just does not work anymore and it will change.

http://www.detnews.com/2005/autosinsider/0.../A01-361752.htm Well I see the UAW should have taken the pre-Chapter 11 offer. I feel bad when the workers pay union dues for leadership that has not shown any. Good to see that health care proposal is inline with the rest of America now.

What has changed for US industry was the ruling in the United Airlines bankrupcy hearings. The ruling has set bad precedent. It is now possible for companies to routinely seek Chapter 11 in order to escape legacy obligations.

Tow Hooks - How do you think you move that blob of clay around!

I do not have exact number but the numbers are small. Probably around 10,000 total NA exports to overseas market.

I believe you have taken this out of context. "The story in the 10/24/05 issue states, "Americans who are 50 years old and older make up 39 percent of the nation's adult population. But they will account for half of U.S. auto sales this year. That share will increase to 53 percent by 2010, predicts Art Spinella, president of CNW Marketing/Research Inc., a consulting company in Bandon, Ore." This simply has to do with market demographics. That number will continue to rise until the next generation has the buying power of the baby bomers.

Last one goes into production around the first quarter of 2007. Unless timing has recently changed.

Oh and I do wonder where the inspiration for that rendering came from. Least we forget!

I am still trying to locate them on a map. Even mapquest.com seems to be confused. I have also tried bablefish to translate the post. That site is baffled as well.

HUH

http://www.detnews.com/2005/autosinsider/0...4/01-358406.htm Seen this before?

Not true. They are on schedule to be cadenced in over the next 18 months.

Look behind the spin. At aged 65 medicare kicks in as does the new prescription drug coverage. We all take it up the a$$ as soon as this administration figures out how to pay for it. The burden was shifted.

I have had meetings with auto executives and their research says follow the money. aka the baby boomers. They are at the peak of their earning power. They also grew up on Honda's and Toyota's. See a trend?

Not so easy. The easy part is the sensors for the occupant detection system on the passenger side front. Than there are the air bags for out of position requirements. The hard part is getting the front structure up to both the Insurance institute frontal offset test and US NCAP. They would have to be good and 5 star. Not to mention the vehicle would have to meet the Isurance institute side impact test. Have to get a good on that because GM has already agreed to it. Currently the GTO does not have side bags. Not to mention that the fuel system would have to be redesigned for US standards. Meaning the fuel tank is currently in the trunk. That would not fly for more than a stop gap vehicle. All of this needs to be designed and validated and it will cost money. Also manufacturing cost will have to be taken into account because the product will not be common with zeta.

How true that is. How about those BMW workers in South Carolina getting super deals on the companies products.

I do not know those answers on how the system works. But based upon ODI's summary of their findings they did not see it as a safety issue. The information is available online if you choose to dig through it and see the actual Toyota data submitted to ODI to analyze. I would have to assume that if the actual issue was vehicle stalling versus gas engine stalling, NHTSA would have taken further action to have the vehicles recalled under a safety campaign. That was not the case here. In the summary I post, the first paragraph discusses the allegations that lead to the opening of the investigation. It would seem based upon ODI's decision that the allegations were not exactly valid and told the whole story. But we would have to dig through their website to get at the facts. It is not exactly user friendly.

GM could have taken unilateral action without the UAW consent on their retired worker obligations. That was smoke and mirrors and UAW politics. The UAW gave up a $1 dollar an hour raise and now have agreed to a co-pay on Viagra. No, this is not a deal that will really benefit the company down the road or the correction that is needed to align health care with the rest of the company.