So I know this news has been swirling around for a while now, but only this morning, did I sit down to watch the news and fully comprehend that GM was cutting 30,000 jobs. My dad, thankfully, is retired from GM (fyi, Atl obners, he worked at the Lakewood plant), but now I hear they're closing the Doraville, GA plant too. I just think it sucks that this is being announced to the employees on a holiday week. Anybody affected by this?

It's affecting me because it's spurring me to get the hell out of this state before Toyota buys the entire mitten for $.10 on the dollar. There's at least 700 jobs going bye-bye here, with the possibility of another 700 after that. And that's not even counting the effect of Delphi cutting wages and benefits by 2/3, assuming they don't close all U.S. operations altogether.

It's bad, and both sides are to blame here. The company for not being innovative enough to meet the demands of the market, and the unions for locking in ridiculous contracts at the height of the mid-90s resurrgence without realizing they might have give up some things when business takes a downturn.

No, but I saw Pat Buchanan absolutely going APE SHIT about this on MSNBC last night. Basically blaming Republicans and their free trade policies. They also had that nut Jim Cramer who also argued that GM has been one of the worst run companies in recent history (I would argue that Delta is right up there); then they both agreed that CEO's make too much money even though it didnt look like they made that much relatively.

I think they pay too high a dividend on an already overvalued stock, coupled with their crippling pension program.

No thank goodness. But I think it really is really fucked up that the workers always have to pay the price for the bad decisions and mistakes of upper managment. I have seen this happen time and agai. but none of the jerks in management will be affected right?

i just spent the last four years in lansing michigan, which was pretty fucked to begin with, but is absolutely 100% fucked now. i remember reading last year lansing already had the second highest unemployment rate in the country (after detroit). the town has a huge transient student population that keeps wages down and makes it damn near impossible to get a job with a living wage, seeing as how most students are just working for beer money. at least all the layed off workers will get to see a bunch of punkass michigan state fratboys driving around in brand new escalades. i also knew people with family employed at the ypsilanti and flint plants. needless to say things are looking pretty grim in the great lake state.

Very well put.

malibu vs. accord...malibu vs. accord

Dammit, McGee. I like my Malibu and never have been a big fan of the Accord.

my F-150 will take them both out:

ok ok - forget the malibu.

how about cavalier vs. civic?

the gm layoffs were a huge topic in this morning's meeting.... obviously they won't be advertising with us or cutting back a significant amount of advertising dollars so we lose a huge endemic client. they were one of our top clients.

I'd buy a Civic or Accord before Cavilier or Malibu, mostly based on Consumer Reports. Hondas seem to be very reliable cars, though they are more expensive.


Here's something that blew my mind- recently I read that one major advantage Toyota and Honda have is that the Japanese Gov't provides healthcare, where here (obviously) GM and Ford have to pay huge sums of money for it.

Could socialized healthcare actually be good for our economy?? Now, I'm not an economist, but that thought just never ocurred to me.

dana, is your dad's retirement pension in trouble?

Nissan just anounced they're moving thier North American HQ out of Gardena & into Nashville. That's a huge blow for So Cal esp here in the South Bay. Nissan, Honda & Toyota all had their NA HQ within a 5 square mile radius. What I wanna know is where in Nashville are the Japanese exec's gonna find a bilingual school for thier kids without the heavy Japanese community the South Bay part of LA offered them?

WHAT THE HELL???????????????? are you serious? that's ridiculous since gardena has a huge japanese population. that just doesn't make sense. the market isn't in nashville either, it's here in so cal. interesting...

Nissan can probably build their own school right on their own property.

Isn't their new plant in Mississippi? Could that be reasoning?Also probably tax benefit, no? I don't know jack about the car industry.

Nissan has been manufacturing cars in Tennessee since 1983.

Also, I'm sure Tennessee is full of backward hicks, retards and retreads that can't even spell "LA", but this article takes a minute to point out the advantages:

An excerpt:
Geography's the Key in East Tennessee

In East Tennessee, the Knoxville-Oak Ridge-Smoky Mountains Region has plenty to offer an automotive supplier looking for a new business location. The area's advantages are both tangible and intangible, but perhaps the most obvious advantage is geography.

Many areas sell a central location, but the Knoxville-Oak Ridge-Smoky Mountains Region epitomizes it. It is truly a central location for any company doing business east of the Mississippi River. Located at the confluence of three major interstates (40, 75, and 81), the region provides access to 76% of the U.S. population in a day's drive.

With proximity being an important consideration for automotive suppliers, this region is tailor made to meet their needs. East Tennessee is just a few hours from several automotive manufacturers including Nissan, Saturn, Honda, Toyota, Mercedes-Benz, and BMW. Proximity is a major factor in the location of dozens of new and existing auto suppliers in the region.

Another advantage that has become increasingly recognized in the automotive industry is the area's labor force. Tennessee is now the fourth largest auto producing state in the nation thanks in part to the quality labor force that companies find here. The East Tennessee Region alone has a civilian labor force of over 500,000. These workers are known for their work ethic, loyalty, low turnover rates, and high productivity.

The area also has many intangibles that one has to see first hand to appreciate, like the unparalleled quality of life that so many outsiders have found moving here over the years. Many come to the area for jobs and never leave because of the high caliber educational, recreational, and cultural opportunities.

For a handful of kids of differing ages? Yeaaaaaah riiiiight

I don't know yet, I haven't had a chance to really talk to him about it. It would be a huge deal if it was, although my parents were always very good about investing in other ways. My dad will be 80 next year, and Mom is in her mid-60s, so naturally health care is more of a concern these days.

Think about it dri...The Japanese there have always been able to do what they needed to take care of their community. I don't mean that in a bad way. But way back when, Long Beach and the area where all the J companies are now, used to be a pretty bad no-mans land, not the nicest place to be. I remember growing up in Whittier and I didn't want to go there. Once they moved in, the place radically changed. It wasn't always the way it is now.

I don't think that it will be any different when they move to the south. MONEY talks! Nissan may not build schools but you can bet that there will be others that will come to support the community and start the services needed.

I know an older guy who is probably 60, who works at Starbucks 20 hours a week because they provide healthcare, after he got laid off.

Edit: I'm not saying anyone would enjoy working at Starbucks, especially after being retired, but...

Parts of Gardena & North Torrance are still shit holes. Especially the area around El Camino Village. When people are affixing homemade rocket launchers to thier cars & the mailman needs a police escort you know things are bad.

The Japanese build great communities which is why I wonder why they want to leave here. I just think between Nissan, Honda, Toyota & Kings Hawaiian Bread (okay Hawaiian but they bring Japanese Americans who demand Japanese goods & services just like in Hawaii) they had a great thing going that allowed people to come back & forth from South Bay to Japan & adjust easily. I saw it as a kid the Japanese kids coming back & forth & having issues. Why should they assimilate if they're gonna be here a year or 2 or less? Then years later International Bilingual School opened when I was in high school & I worked for a place that did the lunches for the kids. IBS really made it easy on the kids for the shuffle back & forth, while the Japanese markets & other services made it easy on the adults. I think I'd have trouble adjusting to Nashville & I'm white

But I guess they crunched the numbers & it made sense so who am I to argue. But then again this is a car co that made leasing to high risk credit holders a regular practice because they figured a way to make a profit off the repo (albeit illegal).

BTW check you PM's in about a minute Dri I need directions some place

Let's face it Damen the cost of living in CA has gone way out of control. It would be so much less expensive to be based in an area that pays what, maybe 50-60% of CA wages.

I'm not argueing with you about the advantages of staying in LA. but from a corporate standpoint when you have people on a rotating basis going in and out every two years it can add to a big piece of change. To pay a Japanese executive to live, buy/rent a house, car, insurance etc. in LA vs Tenn????

You are in LA. What is your mortage? The price of an average house in LA is what now $350K and that is not in the best of hoods. Just acceptable. You can probably buy a mansion for that in Tenn.