GM Reportedly Cancels Plans for Engine Plant in Flint, MI

So, exactly how many of my tax dollars went into the GM 'bailout?'

Appreciate that GM....

Good, should have jumped ship and left Flint for dead long ago.

Flints only means of survival has been to suck the big3 dry. Time to cut the umbilical cord.

Compare the money bail out the financial industry, the money that bail out the auto industry is just a peanut

Seiya
Thanks for noticing.
How about the fact that Citi? was going to buy a new custom jet to party on and fly VIP's all over the world after needing $Billions to stay afloat then look at the crap the the american manufacturing infrastructure took for wanting 2% of the pie. Between 3 companies.

Seem quite a few people are forgetting just how much money was manufactured and has already disappeared in bonuses and remodeling to these financial companies.

T

First, everyone complains that GM can't make decisions to build and produce profitable cars. Then, when they try to save money to keep all the other USA production going, they get blasted for trying to save money and produce profitable Volt cars.

So, making the Volt in America, and loosing money because they can't recover R&D and build them to compete with the Foreign makers, is the best choice?

Build them where they can make GM a profit. The Union needs to match the wages of the foreign workers (who are working in America). This is exactly what Toyota, Honda, et. al. do.

I'm all for jobs for Americans, but no bailout for unions.

That's because people are sick of GM's corruptive ways and the vast majority of people don't trust them. They lost a lot of trust in the past couple the years and it's going to take a long time for them to gain their trust back with many people.

After my experience with early model Toyota's, including almost getting killed in their beer-can 1983 pickup, I still will never buy a Toyota. So, maybe you are right about gaining trust back. I can never forgive Toyota for making such tin can trucks that badly rust. Didn't they just buy back late model pickups for the same reason?

Go GM; make the Volt, make the Malibu, make the best pickups, the Cadillac performance coupes, Corvettes, Camaro, etc... Maybe you can turn it around.

To KW and Sandman:

GM and the UAW created the middle class in America. They gave their workers higher wages, which is called "profit sharing". The economy was booming. The foreign companies pay their workers less than half of what domestic makers do, therefore the foreign manufactures make a lower standard of living in the areas they manufacture. People saw this as a chance to come down on the Detroit 3. GM was a large portion of their profit and paying their workers with it, which in turn gets pumped back into the economy. Flint is a city created by the auto industries. When Detroit had plants running in Flint, people moved there with the prospect of a decent career. Then the Detroit 3 pulled out to make more plants out of the US, in an effort to keep the low costs that foreign automakers have. GM was doing the right thing. Foreign automakers pay their workers less, which means less money gets pumped back into our economy and more money goes overseas back to Japan. And why do people complain about the 2% size loan for 3 companies, compared to the $700B bailout? Do people in this country realize that if we lose all domestic manufacturing, we are cutting out a MAJOR portion of our economy, not to mention national security? Who built tanks, jeeps, airplanes in WW2? The Detroit 3 did. We NEED the Detroit 3. Spoken from an American automotive engineer, working at a foreign plant, in a city that is 2/3rds below the poverty line (family of 3 income less than $17,500 a year) in Michigan.

negative, the UAW and GM destroyed Michigan and the middle class there.

-GM for putting all their eggs in one basket, Flint.
-UAW for sucking GM dry until they had no choice but to bug out on Flint.

I am a Big 3 supporter. I own mostly Ford by the way.

"family of 3 income less than $17,500 a year"
Seriously, take out a school loan. 2 year technical degree will double your pay.

Sounds bogus anyway. What the hell foreign plant is there in Michigan?

And no, people don't work in assembly line plants with some grandiose expectation of a great job. Are you nuts?

Bottom line, the Detroit 3 needs to become the American 3 and move to more appropriate regions of the country where more competitive environments exist. The unions in Flint need to die off before manufacturing ever has a chance of succeeding in that dead zone.

Toyota has Design centers in Ann Arbor. TICO and Denso, both Toyota manufacturing companies, have plants in Jackson and Battle Creek. I have a bachelors degree, in automotive and cast metals engineering. I own 100% Ford vehicles. GM did not put all their eggs in Flint, there were (and still are) plants in Saginaw, Bay City, and Midland, not to mention there were plants in Jackson and Ann Arbor, including test sites and Design centers all around Suburban Detroit and Ann Arbor. The Big 3 has been hesitant to move out of the Midwest and mainly Michigan, and also has given in to UAW demands, because technically it is skilled labor and it would take more than a 2 week orientation to have your plants fully restaffed and mass production resuming. So, the labor force has kept the Detroit 3 in Michigan. Whatever you want to call them, they ARE the America 3. Do you think of Microsoft, Hershey's, Dell, etc. as a Washington, Pennsylvania, and Texas companies? They are American companies just like the Detroit 3, creating jobs and boosting the economy where ever their products are sold. Dealers, mechanics, banks, service stations, aftermarket, etc. There are assembly plants for the Detroit 3 all over the Midwest (remember a part that is travelling from point A to point B has no value added until its next step in machining or assembly), therefore they keep their centers relatively close. All industries do this. I am not trying to prove anyone wrong or say anyones OPINION is wrong, I am just simply trying to convey facts and prove how important Detroit is to this country. Plus, I really like their cars. Toyota and Honda do not have a single car in their entire history as badass as a Corvette, Charger, or Mustang. I liked the NSX, it was a demon, but nothing compares to the growl of a Mustang GT or especially a Charger SRT8. No hard feelings!

A design center and some third party parts factories... Common man. You know where the foreign factories are. Brand new Nissan plant down the road from me in the industrial center of one of the richest neighborhoods in my state. GM plant 20 miles out in the middle of nowhere with the union holding them down in some tiny town as life support.

I know you work for them but you have to come to your senses. Chrysler doesn't move unless its on the verge of eminent death. GM has its ass crammed full of Michigan Unions for years to come unless they belly up. Ford is the only one that is mildly nimble. Unfortunately they have to lose 5 billion+ a month just to make those moves. I would surmise a train load of parts to the next state for assembly might be a fair bit cheaper.

The American 3... not really. More like the Mexican and Canadian 3 with a fudge packed side of Michigan slash soon to be Washington 3. Bleh.

First of all, I dont work for the Big 3. I work for Toyota. Secondly, we are not a 3rd party manufacturer. Our last President oversaw every North American Toyota Manufactuing plant. Our current President just finished a 5 year stint in Pendergrass, Georgia. We manufacture 51% of ALL compressors in North America, which is quite a bit more than a "3rd party parts" factory. Also, we are only in business right now because 75% of our compressors are bought by the Big 3 and used in their trucks and SUVs, so here is another figure for you: 875 direct jobs and countless suppliers (we purchase more than $100M in parts from suppliers each year) that are counting on the Big 3 to survive. Our own President said even though we are a Japanese plant, we would surely close had the Big 3 not gotten their loans. Also, how do 3 companies that directly employ more than a quarter of a million Americans, and indirectly employ another 2 million Americans in suppliers, not qualify it as an American company?

Finally, I just want to say this. Our plant, as all foreign automakers, pay our average worker $14/hour. UAW workers make around $25-$28/hour. Therefore, GM, Ford, and Chrysler are pumping more than $10/hour per worker (thats 2080 hours a year times 225,000 workers) that goes back into the American economy. The money is generated and remains in our country. The foreign automakers therefore have an extra $11-14 dollars per hour per worker per year that goes where? Straight back to Japan. Not to your grocery markets, not to your taxes, not to your community, but to a country that is a 13 hour flight away. The standard of living goes down, similar to the Wal-mart situation. Our country cannot be a nation of consumers, with no one manufacturing. How else do you expect to generate wealth? Everyone work at Wal-Mart? Ask a foreign autoworker if he/she thinks they are middle class.