More GM jobs created

Only the political crazies still complain about saving our domestic auto companies being a bad idea. GM is creating jobs again, and that is indisputably a good thing.

Carmakers comeback

We have previously discussed the sillyness of the politicization of the GM and Chrysler bailouts. These car proxy wars were approached by anti-union bloggers as serious life or death struggles in the war against advancing socialism. Ridiculous! More after the jump

Labor costs and automakers

We have previously posted about American automakers being a proxy for organized labor. Now we find the bashing of American automakers also falling into the "facts matter" realm. Part of General Motor's turnaround is based on a real reduction of labor costs for hourly workers, according to the Center for Automotive research. In fact, in 2008, the average wage for hourly workers at GM was almost a thousand dollars a year lower than Toyota's average wage. Salaried workers at GM, however, averaged over $40,000 a year more than salaried workers at foreign automakers. This information strongly suggests it is not labor costs subject to collective bargaining which cause GM to be at a competitive disadvantage.

NUMMI Closes

General Motors and Toyota joint ventured to establish NUMMI in 1984. This week the last of 7.7 million vehicles will leave the assembly line and the plant will close. As this article points out NUMMI was an American success story. Its demise has more to do with it being 25 years old than GM and its unions.

UAW sabotaged Saturn

A Detroit News editorial blames both General Motors and the United Auto Workers for the pending demise of Saturn.