Bob is right on the money. I work for a supplier as well. The Big 3 speak "quality" in their supply chain but won't pay for it. They want you to provide all kinds of "free" support (engineering, program management, quality, launch assistance, training, service, etc) for products that they have hammered you on price down to the point that your profits are razor thin. They BS you with stuff that as a "preferred" supplier, you are a partner but when they can get it cheaper somewhere else they forget all about you. They take discounts willy-nilly, sometimes on stuff that is already built and shipped. When you holler about it, they say take-it-or leave it and they'll cut you off from future work. They treat you like crap.
I've had UAW people at Ford plants scream at me about driving a Chevy into their parking lots. Doing some non-automotive and aerospace work now. As Bob said, whole different attitude there.
That being said, if GM does go under, it will make the financial crisis look like a bad $5 bet at the roulette table. It will take Ford and Chrysler with it, just from the sheer mass of the implosion. Companies that supply to all 3 will go under in a matter of weeks. 1 in 10 jobs in this country is tied to the auto industry. I think the Big 3 need an overhaul top to bottom in the way they operate their companies. They basically all operate the same which is much different from the way the transplants (Honda, Toyota, etc) operate.
This didn't just happen overnight, but the perfect storm of recession, high gas prices, credit crunch hitting at the same time has shown how weak the Big 3's business model really is.
I drive a Pontiac, Chevy, Saturn. Had a Jeep and Ford until recently.
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Today's Featured Article - Listening to Your Tractor - by Curtis Von Fange. Years ago there was a TV show about a talking car. Unless you are from another planet, physically or otherwise, I don’t think our internal combustion buddies will talk and tell us their problems. But, on the other hand, there is a secret language that our mechanical companions readily do speak. It is an interesting form of communication that involves all the senses of the listener. In this series we are going to investigate and learn the basic rudimentary skills of understanding this lingo.
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