Guys, this is a little off topic, however I'm curious about ya'lls feelings on this.

I spoke to a GM employee the other day and he mentioned that the autos being made in Mexico are put on a train to Shreveport, where they have to go through them and install head lights, head liners, trim, seats, ect. He said what ever they feel like not doing that day just doesn't get done and it has to be corrected here. We can only imagine what this will do to the already below par quality level of GM cars. I predict that this mass move to Mexico will finish off the American big three with in 10 years. I can't see anyone buying high priced autos from them with build quality steadily dropping, regardless of brand loyalty. Add in the fact that they chose to put Americans out of work to pay Mexicans 9 dollars a day + all they can eat at work, to half ass build cars, and it makes absolutely no long term business sense to me. I can see where they would rake in the money at first, until the half assed build quality catches up with them; then they are done for. Most of us Americans have grown accustomed to a decent build quality in our cars; even the American made cars have gotten better in the last 15 years due to Japanese competition. I'm afraid that is about to change and we are in for a sad period of history for the American auto makers; some of which may not see it through.

i agree american cars should be made in the USA not in mexico and they will pay the price for it someday because the quality will be dropping dramatically <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/butwiggle.gif" alt="" />

Sorry to disagree John...BUT.. The mexico companys are run by american executives. The products coming into our country are as good or perhaps better than the ones formerly made by unhappy union workers!
If an employee in mexico does anything the management does not like he is FIRED on the spot and one of the hundreds standing in line outside the gate are brought in to fill his position!
Whoever the Xunion guy is that told you this misinformation should have another look at the mexico products.
All the machinery is newer and the employees are far more dedicated than the old american ones were.
Big JIm <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/pfft.gif" alt="" />

Maniac I cannot disagree with you on that. Our problem was the workers thought they should get the same wages for menial work that bank presidents make!
Remember all the workers are doing is screwing the same parts together over and over again. It don't take a rocket scientist to do them jobs.
Then the mafia run unions took over with strikes and threats to strike and we, the buying public, are who suffered.
Big Jim <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/pfft.gif" alt="" />

Ps. Guys like Superdawg that have a business and a wealth of knowledge about what it is they do have the ability to set their own income. Guys that do not have that knowledge and simply stand in one place and wait for the next vehicle to come down the line and apply the same 4 bolts to it do NOT have the right to set their own income. The guys outside the gate waiting for a job...ANY job.. are the ones that set those wages.
Big JIm <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/pfft.gif" alt="" />

Having American vehicle assembled in Mexico isn't something really new. My 1991 Dodge W350 Cummins 1-ton pickup was assembled in Mexico.

Some of you might remember when canada use to build chryslers. belive it or not the older ones are highly sought after. dad had a 73 roadrunner that seen its better days and he told me to strip any good parts off of it. well i did and then someone showed up while i was in the middle of the big prodject and was talking to dad. turns out he wanted to but it for a nice chunk of change. However no matter what we could not sell it to him due to the fact the local gov.t thought dad was running a junkyard until we proved otherwise.
the way i see it is the mexicans are making these cars affordable,if we built them the price would skyrocket due to the salary's,benifits and so on. what wwe should do however is bring all the car companies back to america and have the immigrants work there to give them a reason to spend their money here.at the same time not allow too many in and immediatly boot out the illeagals. we could also have american citizins working in them as well. another thing to do is forbid them to send more than a certain amount back to mexico or wherever they came from,and eradicate unions.granted unions do look out for the workers,but they go way to far at times.instead have the gov't do their job for once and look after us.

Big Jim, I am not necessarly pro union, nor am I against foriegn made cars; I have a toyota and a hyundai in my herd as well as a jeep, saturn, and a ford. I bought each of them for their own reasons. The guy I spoke with on this subject is not a disgruntled union worker; he is a trusted friend who I spent 24 years in the military with. He worked for GM here the last 4 years as a non-union supervisor and bailed when he saw the hand writing on the wall. In fact he stated that he has never seen such a nightmare of a work environment that GM and the Unions have created in the work place. He also thinks GM knows exactly what needs to be done to get back on track, however it's hard to remodel a house when it's burning down around you. Will they survive? I hope so; but there is indeed a quality control issue in Mexico that needs to be handeled before I can honestly advise anyone that I care about to purchase a GM vehicle. Vr...

well, regardless of your political positions/alliances, you can thank bill clinton for NAFTA which outsourced every skilled assembly line job that a red blooded american used to do and sent it to third world (or as the politically correct would call them "economically emerging" haha) countries that have workers who are ecstatic to do the same work for 1/300th of what it used to cost in michigan or ohio

you can see the effects of it right here in buffalo - the GM powertrain plant is in tonawanda and they've cut hundreds of jobs. Delphi is up in lockport and they've declared bankruptcy - those poor bastards that made $40 an hour doing assembly line work are screwed! Rich products ain't here anymore, bethlehem steel folded when Japan and china figured out how to make steel and sell it to us cheap...

And whenever i have a computer question, i get "jimmy" in new delhi, india, who knows as much english as Jose, who's making that chevy in tijuana, haha.

Then again, you have those exponentially mindblowingly greedy and souless CEOs of enron, adelphia, worldcom, tyco, etc. who showed an unprecedented amount of corruption and contempt for the white collar worker too - all those people who got screwed out of their retirements so a handful of people can have 9 mansions, 40 cars, race horses, personal fleets of boats and airplanes, etc. etc. etc.

...i'd type more but i have to go punch something now...hahaha

Greet everything you wrote makes my point!
The point is if the workers were paid what their job was REALLY worth the companies would still be in business and the workers would still have a job! This includes the steelworkers.
It is no cheaper to make anything outside the usa...except for the high priced labor. If the labor was in line with what the products require we could meet anybodys price.
It is a pity that companies must go abroad to get labor that is cheap enough to sell their product.
As for the executives making a bunch of money! So? They are paid what the company thinks they are worth. Period.
Big Jim <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/pfft.gif" alt="" />

unless of course your name is John Rigas and you still 1 BILLION dollars from your company (adelphia), i guess, in quoting comedian lewis black, to start your own SPACE PROGRAM!!!

btw, bigjim, i wasn't "arguing" with your point, merely contributing my two-cents on the subject...i agree with you completely <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/cheers.gif" alt="" />