Why is GM going Bankrupt?
Pretty recent? Try again. They've lost a rediculous amount of money over the past several years. They're just coming down to the bottom of their money pile recently. But the cause of the loss has little to do with housing and their GMAC division. They lost money making cars for too long.
So, I just got handed this through the corporate e-mail:
http://info.detnews.com/video/index.cfm?id=1189
And while I see the case of the UAW stating that having the supplier sub-assemblies in the same plant is detrimental. . . I have to wonder why the UAW is so adverse to "classless/uni-class" processes? Aren't you feeding the very beast that required you to form unions in the first place?
That aside, I still REALLY have to wonder what jackass negotiated these contracts. . . if you saw the process writing on the walls back in 1980; then the last Detroit legacy workers should've been gone by ~1990. What kind of blind hubris is it that says, "Hey, we can keep paying these guys this way forever. . . " I'm not in for lower pay per se, but if you couldn't see the progressive inclusion of automation and efficiency back in 1980. . . that's your fault, not your employees. The workers at the NUMMI plant are UAW too. . .
http://www1.thedailybeast.com/blogs-and-st...lled-detroit/1/
http://info.detnews.com/video/index.cfm?id=1189
And while I see the case of the UAW stating that having the supplier sub-assemblies in the same plant is detrimental. . . I have to wonder why the UAW is so adverse to "classless/uni-class" processes? Aren't you feeding the very beast that required you to form unions in the first place?
That aside, I still REALLY have to wonder what jackass negotiated these contracts. . . if you saw the process writing on the walls back in 1980; then the last Detroit legacy workers should've been gone by ~1990. What kind of blind hubris is it that says, "Hey, we can keep paying these guys this way forever. . . " I'm not in for lower pay per se, but if you couldn't see the progressive inclusion of automation and efficiency back in 1980. . . that's your fault, not your employees. The workers at the NUMMI plant are UAW too. . .

http://www1.thedailybeast.com/blogs-and-st...lled-detroit/1/
If you want facts and not generic speculations look up their past quarter. Every quarter a firm in the dow/sp500 is required to post way more information about their earnings/balance sheet/etc. than you want to read through.
Look up the conference call transcript to learn more (yahoo finance if you search enough).
In general, they are in distress because they are extremely inefficient (factories, how much they pay for labor, benefits, etc.) and leveraged all their profits from one sector in the industry (all profits are from trucks/suv's, it makes no difference if you sell 9,000,000,000 malibus if you don't make any money off them).
They are a disaster of a firm. Way worse than these financial firms that are being bailed out. They were extremely profitable just 1-2 years back, GM has been garbage for years and years. They could barely* pull a profit in the biggest global economic expansion in history.
Look up the conference call transcript to learn more (yahoo finance if you search enough).
In general, they are in distress because they are extremely inefficient (factories, how much they pay for labor, benefits, etc.) and leveraged all their profits from one sector in the industry (all profits are from trucks/suv's, it makes no difference if you sell 9,000,000,000 malibus if you don't make any money off them).
They are a disaster of a firm. Way worse than these financial firms that are being bailed out. They were extremely profitable just 1-2 years back, GM has been garbage for years and years. They could barely* pull a profit in the biggest global economic expansion in history.
Originally Posted by Boba,Nov 25 2008, 10:57 PM
Thx a lot! Do you have the reference site though?
So far, my major reasons are
1.) Rise in gas price --> Decline of SUV sales
2.) Stock decline after 9/11
3.) Labor strike in Sept, 2007 and perhaps combine the retirement $$ together
Do you think those are good topics I can write a paragraph about?
edit: Ugh I think #1 is too specific.
So far, my major reasons are
1.) Rise in gas price --> Decline of SUV sales
2.) Stock decline after 9/11
3.) Labor strike in Sept, 2007 and perhaps combine the retirement $$ together
Do you think those are good topics I can write a paragraph about?
edit: Ugh I think #1 is too specific.
2) - completely irrelevant, saying that suggests you should learn more about how stocks/stock market/firms interact
3) - small piece of a much bigger problem






