Chrysler success story

Well, I never watch 60 Minutes, but I sat down and caught their piece tonight on Chrysler's new (post meltdown) CEO Sergio Marchionne. He brought Chrysler back and the auto bailout helped. Chrysler has already repaid the federal government its 6 Billion Dollar loan, and is making $$$. Of incredible note is the fact that Marchionne blamed management, not workers for Chrysler's failures. And Marchionne gives credit to the hourly workers and engineers for the turnaround. There is also a priceless moment where he refuses to comment on the political criticism of the Eastwood Superbowl add but makes clear how much he disrespects the critics. Watch it here (air date 3/25/12).

Car Wars - again

I recently received a broadcast forward of an e-mail forwarded to me. It was a great, old and sentimental advertisement for the Ford Mustang. But the feel good message was obscured by the original senders words "THANK GOD WE HAVE ONE AMERICAN CAR COMPANY LEFT. THE OTHER 2 ARE RUN BY OBAMA HENCHMEN. Yes, all caps and big, bright blue letters shouting a political message. Of course this is "Car Wars as proxy for politics, a subject we have discussed before.  Yes, many people blame unions for the troubles of the domestic automakers, and blame President Obama for anything union. But that is a simplistic blame.  The auto bailout saved the American auto industry (yes, Ford too) and resulted in restructured companies and saved jobs. I fail to see how that is a bad result, even if a collateral benefit favors the United Auto Workers or any other union.

Global Motors

For the first time in its 102 year history, General Motors sold more vehicles in China than in the United States. GM was narrowly edged by Toyota as the world's largest automaker, a position held by GM for 76 years until 2007 when Toyota took the lead. GM sales were up 29% in China, 12.4% in Russia and 10.4% in Brazil.

Car Wars 2011

Ford and General Motors are expected to distribute sizable profit sharing checks to workers, a sure sign of the rebound of these two domestic automobile companies. Also of note, is the labor cost reductions which have contributed to the recovery. Money quote:

The gap in labor costs between Detroit and the foreign-owned factories in the United States has narrowed considerably. Ford’s total labor cost for a worker — a combination of wages, benefits and pensions — has been reduced more than 20 percent and is now about $59 an hour, compared to $56 at Toyota, according to the Center for Automotive Research in Ann Arbor, Mich.

This, of course, goes a long way towards explaining the UAW's promised effort to organize the domestic plants of foreign automakers.