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GM Is Now Detroit’s Smallest Auto-Making Employer

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Re: GM Is Now Detroit’s Smallest Auto-Making Employer

#31

Post by AmVess »

wcunning wrote: post #18
AmVess wrote: post #8

They are pushing production and engineering to anywhere not the USA, so this trend of having fewer workers isn't going to stop until all that's left of GM is the headquarters. I'm not Chicken-Littling either. This trend has been many decades in the making, and it only has one logical endpoint. I was looking at their trucks, and left the showroom when I saw one that had 45% domestic content. I bought a truck that had…

Oooph, as someone in the automotive industry, I would avoid that thing like the plague. Have you checked the recall for going through the car wash causing that truck to light on fire[0]? One burned down at my neighborhood convenience store a couple of weeks ago... I would much much much more readily trust the engineering of GM on trucks, but that's probably only meaningful if you actually intend to tow something. I h…

50,000 miles, no fires. No problems of any kind.

Re: GM Is Now Detroit’s Smallest Auto-Making Employer

#32

Post by track_me_now »

sharkweek wrote: post #10
AmVess wrote: post #8

They are pushing production and engineering to anywhere not the USA, so this trend of having fewer workers isn't going to stop until all that's left of GM is the headquarters. I'm not Chicken-Littling either. This trend has been many decades in the making, and it only has one logical endpoint. I was looking at their trucks, and left the showroom when I saw one that had 45% domestic content. I bought a truck that had…

As someone in the market for a truck, why specifically USA and not somewhere else? I’m looking at the Toyota Tacoma as my number one choice, but this is not a strongly held desire if there is something better.

Well first a Tacoma is actually a truck; even Honda states the ridgeline is not intended to compete with traditional trucks, is not built for towing and uses a unibody construction.

Tacomas are expensive, the dealers don't deal and they hold their resale value. The new (2019) Tacoma trades heavily on it's reputation IMO, without really adding much new over the past 3-4 years. It's a real off-road vehicle though, if that's important to you.

In this format/size I'd suggest you take a look at the new Ranger. It's nothing fancy but much more affordable. It's pretty much the polar opposite of the Ridgeline.

Re: GM Is Now Detroit’s Smallest Auto-Making Employer

#33

Post by track_me_now »

jfim wrote: post #11
AmVess wrote: post #8

They are pushing production and engineering to anywhere not the USA, so this trend of having fewer workers isn't going to stop until all that's left of GM is the headquarters. I'm not Chicken-Littling either. This trend has been many decades in the making, and it only has one logical endpoint. I was looking at their trucks, and left the showroom when I saw one that had 45% domestic content. I bought a truck that had…

Out of curiosity, how does one find out the domestic content of vehicles (or other goods)?

This is a good question because all the manufacturers are totally integrated; It's really hard to determine "where a car is made" because of parts and sub-assembly.

That said, several of the car sites tally up the origin of the parts and assembly and calculate the percentage (likely on a value-added basis) to determine "domestic content":

https://www.cars.com/american-made-index/

Re: GM Is Now Detroit’s Smallest Auto-Making Employer

#34

Post by skinnymuch »

phjesusthatguy3 wrote: post #5
bumby wrote: post #3

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The others are still generally considered metro Detroit

But they're not actually in Detroit. It's like how anyone from the general area of southeast Michigan says they're from Detroit. The real point of TFA, though, is that GM employs the least unionized labor of the Detroit three, which really should have been the headline.

That’s different. That’s because people don’t know the local cities of the area. I’m sure many people also say South Michigan or if not for Michigan that is done in other states. Either saying the local big city or geographic area location in state.

Vs talking about stuff like Ford not being Detroit because it’s merely close as hell to Detroit and essentially considered Detroit when talking about Detroit as a car industry hub.

Re: GM Is Now Detroit’s Smallest Auto-Making Employer

#35

Post by solotronics »

tanilama wrote: post #21
tempsy wrote: post #4

I’m mostly positive about Andrew Yang but it’s frustrating to know he would point to something like this and scream “automation” when GM’s downsizing has more to do with outsourcing and a slowing market than anything remotely related to robots taking over jobs.

Is GM's car actually competitive?

Which one? They probably make a few hundred models between Chevrolet, Buick, and Cadillac.

Re: GM Is Now Detroit’s Smallest Auto-Making Employer

#36

Post by castratikron »

track_me_now wrote: post #33
jfim wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Out of curiosity, how does one find out the domestic content of vehicles (or other goods)?

This is a good question because all the manufacturers are totally integrated; It's really hard to determine "where a car is made" because of parts and sub-assembly. That said, several of the car sites tally up the origin of the parts and assembly and calculate the percentage (likely on a value-added basis) to determine "domestic content": https://www.cars.com/american-made-index/

Maybe I don't understand what this is measuring but wouldn't Teslas be close to all-American? They even make the battery cells in the same site as the rest of the car I think. They don't show up anywhere on that list.

Re: GM Is Now Detroit’s Smallest Auto-Making Employer

#37

Post by anthony_doan »

wcunning wrote: post #18
AmVess wrote: post #8

They are pushing production and engineering to anywhere not the USA, so this trend of having fewer workers isn't going to stop until all that's left of GM is the headquarters. I'm not Chicken-Littling either. This trend has been many decades in the making, and it only has one logical endpoint. I was looking at their trucks, and left the showroom when I saw one that had 45% domestic content. I bought a truck that had…

Oooph, as someone in the automotive industry, I would avoid that thing like the plague. Have you checked the recall for going through the car wash causing that truck to light on fire[0]? One burned down at my neighborhood convenience store a couple of weeks ago... I would much much much more readily trust the engineering of GM on trucks, but that's probably only meaningful if you actually intend to tow something. I h…

Weird.

I follow auto news a lot, and I hear the opposite.

Chevy Silverado is one of the worst truck up there with Dodge. Dodge isn't even domestic any more.

Re: GM Is Now Detroit’s Smallest Auto-Making Employer

#38

Post by Krasnol »

stankal wrote: post #23
wcunning wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Oooph, as someone in the automotive industry, I would avoid that thing like the plague. Have you checked the recall for going through the car wash causing that truck to light on fire[0]? One burned down at my neighborhood convenience store a couple of weeks ago... I would much much much more readily trust the engineering of GM on trucks, but that's probably only meaningful if you actually intend to tow something. I h…

2015 Silverado owner, my first “American” car. Got it new, now have 75k miles on it. Went with an American brand because of “they know trucks”. So far, replaced catalytic converter, have a driver seat that shifts when I turn right (quoted $800 to fix), have a touch screen that works when it wants and goes crazy switching between views on its own (dealer said they can replace it for $1000, but the new one may start do…

According to the page OP provided here:

> The Chevrolet Silverado 1500 LD and GMC Sierra 1500 Limited, both carryover models from the prior generations, come from Canada.

https://www.cars.com/articles/cars-coms-2019-american-made-i...

Re: GM Is Now Detroit’s Smallest Auto-Making Employer

#39

Post by JohnJamesRambo »

wcunning wrote: post #18
AmVess wrote: post #8

They are pushing production and engineering to anywhere not the USA, so this trend of having fewer workers isn't going to stop until all that's left of GM is the headquarters. I'm not Chicken-Littling either. This trend has been many decades in the making, and it only has one logical endpoint. I was looking at their trucks, and left the showroom when I saw one that had 45% domestic content. I bought a truck that had…

Oooph, as someone in the automotive industry, I would avoid that thing like the plague. Have you checked the recall for going through the car wash causing that truck to light on fire[0]? One burned down at my neighborhood convenience store a couple of weeks ago... I would much much much more readily trust the engineering of GM on trucks, but that's probably only meaningful if you actually intend to tow something. I h…

>All of this is to say that I would trust the domestic manufacturers on anything truck related before I would trust one of the foreign companies, Toyota definitely included.

As someone that has owned lots of foreign and domestic trucks and family has as well, this is a completely absurd thing to say. My Dad’s farm truck Toyota Tundra is past 333k miles on the same engine.

Re: GM Is Now Detroit’s Smallest Auto-Making Employer

#40

Post by fastball »

tempsy wrote: post #4

I’m mostly positive about Andrew Yang but it’s frustrating to know he would point to something like this and scream “automation” when GM’s downsizing has more to do with outsourcing and a slowing market than anything remotely related to robots taking over jobs.

What's the difference between automation and outsourcing when what you care about is American's losing jobs and not having a backup?
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