Workers Suffer For GM Managment Mistakes
GM truck and SUV plant closings will cost workers their jobs, all because GM management made terrible mistakes in planning decision.
The NYTimes reports: "Responding to a consumer shift to more fuel-efficient vehicles, General Motors said Tuesday that it would stop making pickup trucks and big S.U.V.s at four North American assembly plants and would consider selling its Hummer brand.
"The moves, announced Tuesday by the company chairman G. Richard Wagoner Jr., will slash 500,000 units from the automaker’s overall production, and pave the way for increased investment in smaller cars and passenger vehicles.
"Mr. Wagoner said that rising gasoline prices had forced a “structural shift” by American consumers away from truck-based vehicles built by G.M.
“ 'These prices are changing consumer behavior and changing it rapidly,' Mr. Wagoner said at a briefing before G.M.’s annual meeting in Wilmington, Del. 'We don’t believe it’s a spike or a temporary shift. We believe it is, by and large, permanent.'
"In what he called “difficult” decisions, Mr. Wagoner said that G.M. would close plants in Janesville, Wisc.; Moraine, Ohio; Oshawa, Ontario; and Toluca, Mexico by or before 2010.
"Both Detroit automakers have been hit hard by rising fuel costs that have dramatically curtailed demand for pickups and full-sized S.U.V.s like the Chevrolet Tahoe. The shift toward smaller and lighter vehicles with better mileage is a problem for Detroit automakers because they offer fewer such models than Asian carmakers like Toyota and Honda.
"Tuesday’s announcement comes a few days after G.M. said said that 19,000 hourly workers — a quarter of a unionized work force that already has been drastically pared down — have accepted buyouts.
For too many years GM management pushed gas guzzling sports utility vehicles, and big pickups to consumers. And the Hummer, for goodness sake...an uncomfortable riding, humongous gas eating monstrosity.
Fuel efficient cars took a back seat to management's decision to concentrate on these giants of the road.
The handwriting was on the wall more than a decade ago.
But, because GM management was greedy, didn't do it's energy warning homework, it hitched its corporate wagon to plunging stars and hardworking auto workers will suffer.
As one article states: "The Big Three auto makers in Detroit have long relied heavily on the success of their pickup truck and SUV sales, which generate far higher profit margins than smaller cars. Though they've taken steps in recent years to reduce their reliance on large vehicles and introduce more fuel-efficient offerings, the bulk of sales at Ford, General Motors Corp. (GM) and Chrysler LLC still come from pickup trucks and SUVs."
However, while regular GM workers lose their jobs, it is doubtful that top management will be forced to make do with smaller salaries compensation rather than the big bucks they've been making. Bad management decisions don't lead to cuts for management only lots of money or golden parachutes. It's the workers who take it on the chin, every time.
The NYTimes reports: "Responding to a consumer shift to more fuel-efficient vehicles, General Motors said Tuesday that it would stop making pickup trucks and big S.U.V.s at four North American assembly plants and would consider selling its Hummer brand.
"The moves, announced Tuesday by the company chairman G. Richard Wagoner Jr., will slash 500,000 units from the automaker’s overall production, and pave the way for increased investment in smaller cars and passenger vehicles.
"Mr. Wagoner said that rising gasoline prices had forced a “structural shift” by American consumers away from truck-based vehicles built by G.M.
“ 'These prices are changing consumer behavior and changing it rapidly,' Mr. Wagoner said at a briefing before G.M.’s annual meeting in Wilmington, Del. 'We don’t believe it’s a spike or a temporary shift. We believe it is, by and large, permanent.'
"In what he called “difficult” decisions, Mr. Wagoner said that G.M. would close plants in Janesville, Wisc.; Moraine, Ohio; Oshawa, Ontario; and Toluca, Mexico by or before 2010.
"Both Detroit automakers have been hit hard by rising fuel costs that have dramatically curtailed demand for pickups and full-sized S.U.V.s like the Chevrolet Tahoe. The shift toward smaller and lighter vehicles with better mileage is a problem for Detroit automakers because they offer fewer such models than Asian carmakers like Toyota and Honda.
"Tuesday’s announcement comes a few days after G.M. said said that 19,000 hourly workers — a quarter of a unionized work force that already has been drastically pared down — have accepted buyouts.
For too many years GM management pushed gas guzzling sports utility vehicles, and big pickups to consumers. And the Hummer, for goodness sake...an uncomfortable riding, humongous gas eating monstrosity.
Fuel efficient cars took a back seat to management's decision to concentrate on these giants of the road.
The handwriting was on the wall more than a decade ago.
But, because GM management was greedy, didn't do it's energy warning homework, it hitched its corporate wagon to plunging stars and hardworking auto workers will suffer.
As one article states: "The Big Three auto makers in Detroit have long relied heavily on the success of their pickup truck and SUV sales, which generate far higher profit margins than smaller cars. Though they've taken steps in recent years to reduce their reliance on large vehicles and introduce more fuel-efficient offerings, the bulk of sales at Ford, General Motors Corp. (GM) and Chrysler LLC still come from pickup trucks and SUVs."
However, while regular GM workers lose their jobs, it is doubtful that top management will be forced to make do with smaller salaries compensation rather than the big bucks they've been making. Bad management decisions don't lead to cuts for management only lots of money or golden parachutes. It's the workers who take it on the chin, every time.
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