Topic: Chinese may buy out GM, Chrysler

[Mitlov]

"Have you still got a job,keep buying foreign". 

Fun fact: those bumper stickers, when placed on a GM car in the United States, are talking about losing jobs to Canadian workers just as much as to Japanese workers.

[rrocket]

I doubt it very much Rrocket as I know it would only get worse. That would be the final straw that breaks the Camels back as North America has lost too many jobs already to these Import Nations. Don't even attempt to tell me that their products are beter built as they are not and we all know it. Cheaper yes for sure but the high quality we expect is not always there at all. Have you seen the bumper stickers yet. "Have you still got a job,keep buying foreign". 

I certainly don't think they would close the doors, Barrie.  How would that make sense?  Spend BILLIONS then close the plants? My point was, if GM is foreign owned, and people kept their jobs at GM making GM cars, would they quit complaining about the imports if they are owned by one?  That's what my point was.


And yes...I have seen those "clever" bumper stickers.  There's quite a few of the "Out of a job yet??  Keep following Buzz" stickers here in town.....And oddly, I saw a Caliber (made in Mexico IIRC) with a HUGE maple leaf bumper sticker that read "Buying Canadian is IMPORTANT".  I was like...WTF??

[Turbo Bob]

Surely it IS important..? 

It's not the be all and end all, but it is important.  Supporting your local business just makes good sense, even if something is cheaper elsewhere.

 

[1TSX]

you seen the bumper stickers yet. "Have you still got a job,keep buying foreign". 

Those stickers make me " ".



  

[rrocket]

Surely it IS important..? 

It's not the be all and end all, but it is important.  Supporting your local business just makes good sense, even if something is cheaper elsewhere.

 

I just thought it odd......I mean...if buying Canadian was SOOOO important, a Matrix (Canadian-made) would be a better car to drive than a Caliber (Mexico)....I guess it was more ironic than anything...

[ovr50]

I doubt it very much Rrocket as I know it would only get worse. That would be the final straw that breaks the Camels back as North America has lost too many jobs already to these Import Nations. Don't even attempt to tell me that their products are beter built as they are not and we all know it. Cheaper yes for sure but the high quality we expect is not always there at all. Have you seen the bumper stickers yet. "Have you still got a job,keep buying foreign". 

You just continue to deny facts and wallow in the unionist bathwater, Barrie. I thought you were smarter than that, but I fear I am wrong. Of course, the "facts" are whatever the union says they are.

But, wait, there's more..!! The unions are only part of the problem, the larger part maybe the arrogant and uninnovative upper management who cry for job-saving govt bailouts to cover their stupid and greedy misreading of the entire vehicle buying market. Milk trucks for all they are worth so it puts dollars on this quarters/years annual report and don't worry about increasing fuel bills and the public demand for smaller, quality-built cars. In fact, just ignore cars altogether. Less profit there. BIG TRUCKS is the whole game, folks. Don't ever think ahead to next year, next decade. All greed, and big bonuses for the like of Wagoner, who now says he wouldn't resign even if the Feds made that a bailout condition.

Fack....

[Ice]

Surely it IS important..? 

It's not the be all and end all, but it is important.  Supporting your local business just makes good sense, even if something is cheaper elsewhere.

 

I just thought it odd......I mean...if buying Canadian was SOOOO important, a Matrix (Canadian-made) would be a better car to drive than a Caliber (Mexico)....I guess it was more ironic than anything...

I bought Canadian.  My Corolla comes from down the road in Cambridge, the rims are produced in BC...sure some of it comes from Japan too but its Canadian workers on the line.

The lines are blurred these days...significantly blurred.  Some stereotypes need breaking down, however, as the Mexican made Ford Fusions are scoring consistently good results from places like Consumer Reports.  So are many of the Canadian made vehicles.  I just hope we can keep our local industry going...whoever is paying the workers at this point.  Toyota is supposed to be finishing up a RAV4 plant around here somewhere.

[mmret]

This cannot work with the new age of Populism that is among us. Not to mention the China bashing so rampant in the past few years and for foreseeable future.


So the Americans are faced with two (or three) choices which are decidedly unpleasant to some part of the populace.
1. Bail them out with taxpayer dollars (http://seekingalpha.com/article/103202-the-shallowest-generation)

2. Let them burn (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20081115/ap_on_go_co/auto_bailout)

3. Let the communists take over by buying the shares (CUE EVIL MUSIC NOW)

EDIT: And can we please change the title of this thread, its not like the peasant farmers in Hunan are buying GM, nor the yuppies in Shanghai, nor the government (busy spending $500b domestically right now), nor CIC (which is still reeling from Morgan Stanley and Blackstone Group).

[rrocket]

EDIT: And can we please change the title of this thread, its not like the peasant farmers in Hunan are buying GM, nor the yuppies in Shanghai, nor the government (busy spending $500b domestically right now), nor CIC (which is still reeling from Morgan Stanley and Blackstone Group).

Yea..change it.  I thought he meant the Dim Sum restaurant near here was buying GM.  Whew...glad you cleared that up....

[EV Dan]

This cannot work with the new age of Populism that is among us. Not to mention the China bashing so rampant in the past few years and for foreseeable future.


So the Americans are faced with two (or three) choices which are decidedly unpleasant to some part of the populace.
1. Bail them out with taxpayer dollars (http://seekingalpha.com/article/103202-the-shallowest-generation)

2. Let them burn (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20081115/ap_on_go_co/auto_bailout)

3. Let the communists take over by buying the shares (CUE EVIL MUSIC NOW)

EDIT: And can we please change the title of this thread, its not like the peasant farmers in Hunan are buying GM, nor the yuppies in Shanghai, nor the government (busy spending $500b domestically right now), nor CIC (which is still reeling from Morgan Stanley and Blackstone Group).

#4. Instead of wasting taxpayer dollars on private corporations instead of health care, education and many other social programs why the state cannot get a part of GM in return for a bailout. After all, its not unheard of for the gobment to control alcohol, energy generation and so on. IMHO it would be preferable in the long run than handing the control over to foreign countries.

[mmret]

Whether it is preferable or not depends on the opportunity cost of the government's capital....

...at least an an ideal, rational world. But in reality the far more important considerations are votes, politics, and lately populism. And if you ask Gen. Clark, national security.

GM has a lot of issues. However I do sympathize with the bailout side - there are a ton of pension plans, etc. out there that hold GM debt and if the US govt lets GM go then they'll just be faced with another gigantic trickle down problem.

Reforming GM will take someone with a lot of energy, balls, and immunity from lobbyists and government / union interference. But it is necessary.

EDIT: Chrysler on the other hand should just burn.

[initial_D]

No Asian company will buy GM/Chrysler with their current management team and the Union contracts.

[ovr50]

No Asian company will buy GM/Chrysler with their current management team and the Union contracts.

Yep, agreed, and we all know that Wagoner won't step aside. And the UAW.....Ha!!

Nope, I think the good ole US taxpayer is going to end owning a neat piece of the US auto making business. 

[Turbo Bob]

No Asian company will buy GM/Chrysler with their current management team and the Union contracts.

Yep, agreed, and we all know that Wagoner won't step aside. And the UAW.....Ha!!

Nope, I think the good ole US taxpayer is going to end owning a neat piece of the US auto making business. 

I love the way Wagoner says he will use the money for development blah blah blah... and to pay wages and taxes."  So he's using taxpayers money, from the government, to pay government taxes....? 

He's so full of , I can't believe he's arrogant enough to say that the only reason the company is in trouble is due to the current economic crisis, like they had a cash cow a few months ago and it's all gone suddenly wrong...

[sailor723]

I think it's more likely that you would see Chinese companies buying certain assets (say Asian operations) from GM.

[barrie1]

Over50 I do understand your view but you also have never worked in this type of field so I do feel you have no real knowledge of this topic. I have worked in this area for many years and have a lot more interest then you do by miles. I also understand what I read and can make my own decisions whether you agree with them or not. 

[ovr50]

Over50 I do understand your view but you also have never worked in this type of field so I do feel you have no real knowledge of this topic. I have worked in this area for many years and have a lot more interest then you do by miles. I also understand what I read and can make my own decisions whether you agree with them or not. 

You have working in auto plants (you claim) but you really know nothing about business, finance and economics. I probably understand a lot more about the auto business, not the plant floor, than you do.

Certainly you can "make your own decisions" (as you call your statements) but that doesn't stop me from calling your "decisions" incorrect. And I definitely do not agree with them - mainly because they are unsupported by factual info and biased in the extreme.

[turbodiesel]

And they've done so well with Rover too...

http://www.edmunds.com/insideline/do/News/articleId=117126

That's the Rong Wei!?! 

The translation for the board is almost correct: it should be 80 METERS, not miles...

[barrie1]

You may think they are extreme but I certaintly don't. You are the mangement side of things and as such hold different  iews from what I have seen from the other side. Its all easy on paper or can made to look that way. look at the Banks being bailed out because of fraud and greed yet Home grown Corporations are not good enough in many peoples eyes. The Banks who have made Billions of extra profits in the last few years are crying. Wow we better save them from getting hurt but screw the rest is it?