posted 02-27-2004 10:18 PM         

...If you buy a car that is built in Toluca Mexico, and the $$$ go to Germany, but it wears a Chrysler name(Sebring), Isn't this a foreign car ???

...What about a Toyoto or Suburu that is built in the USA, but the $$$ go to Japan......It is more American than the Sebring ???? If the Toyotos built here are FOREIGN cars, what about the 2-2003 Vipers I bought last year, are they also foreign cars???.....
....I understand the world market concepts, but it is puzzling what to buy to support the USA these days.....Being a MOPAR enthusiast for decades, I find it harder all the time to purchase DC products, am I stuck with Ford or GM....I do have 3 Corvettes currently.....they seem to be as American as it gets, although I am sure there is a good mixture of foreign made parts in them also....I even have a Ford on order, the first NEW Ford I have EVER owned....it is being built in the USA and the $$$ are going to Detroit.....

posted 02-27-2004 10:37 PM         

Eventually I think we will end up with 3 or 4 global firms that produce cars all over the world and the largest shareholders of all of them will be US mutual funds

The world has become alot smaller and the community more global.

Take any car built here, American made, your choice, chances are there are plenty of foreign components in it. While the cars might be made here, perhaps their materials, some assembly, accounting, customer support, etc. are relocating to India or are alrady made in Mexico.

Perhaps they are owned by a foreign company. Perhaps major shareholders are foreign. Who knows anymore.

quote:

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Originally posted by ALLEY CAT:
I read where Chrysler and Ford were paying their Mexico plant production workers $9.00 per DAY for a full shift. Maybe that is/was good money for them, but I would think that they would know what the U.S. UAW hourly wages are, thus leaving me to ponder about the quality of cars coming out of these plants.

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If the average person is making $50 a month in Mexico, these guys are rich and I doubt that they would care what wages were in America. You have to remember, this is a country rift with poverty and these folks would kill for a job and are damn glad to get any one much less one paying that much.

As another example, a good experienced programmer in the USA is going to cost somewhere between $60K-$95K a year (plus benefits). Companies are hiring folks in India for $400 a MONTH and those guys there are beating the doors down for those jobs. I read somewhere that the average income in India is something like $1,500 A YEAR......

quote:

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Originally posted by ALLEY CAT:
My point was directed at the end results = the quality of the products coming out of Mexico.

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I think it would probably be on par for a couple of reasons.

1) If making a part, it probably has to meet certain standards to be put in a vehicle;
2) If just assembly, a guy begging for work in Mexico can probably assemble just as well as a union guy here that can't be fired, IMO.

I've seen vehicles that have been assembled in Mexico versus the same ones assembled here and I can't tell the difference. Not saying there might not be but, to the naked eye, both looked and drove the same. And since both would have the same warranty, I'm sure the manufacturer would want them to be of the same quality too.

I honestly can't speak that much towards cars except the obvious but, I can about programming. The programming I see coming out of India for $400 a month is on par with (or better in some cases) that what would cost $95K a year here to have one person doing.

Don't get me wrong, I am not for exporting jobs but, the barn door is open and I'm not sure how we get all back in now without some oppressive government intervention (which I am totally against).

posted 02-28-2004 03:38 PM         

Wal Mart?????

Your favorite store????? Low cost for merchandise, of course, but at
who's expense?

What every American needs to know.

The owners of one of America's premiere retail corporations is
comprised of five of the ten richest people in the world, all from
the same family. Their personal wealth eclipses $100 BILLION dollars.
Last year the companies CEO was paid a cool $11.5 million, more than
the annual salaries of 765 of his employees combined! The company's
profits are over $7 BILLION annually. In these difficult economic
times how do they do it?

- This company runs ads featuring the United States flag and
proclaims "We Buy American". In 2001 they moved their worldwide
purchasing headquarters to China and are the largest importer of
Chinese goods in the US, purchasing over $10 BILLION of Chinese-made
products annually. Products made mostly by women and children working
in the labor hell-holes China is famous for.

- Their average employee working in the US makes $15,000 a year,
$7.22 per hour!

- These employees gross under $11,000 a year.

- The company brags that 70% of their employees are full time, but
fails to disclose that they count anyone working 28 hours a week or
more as full time.

- There are no health care benefits unless you have worked for the
company for two years.

- With a turnover rate averaging above 50% per year, only 38% of
their 1.3 million employees have health care coverage. -In California
alone it's estimated that the taxpayers pay over $20 million annually
to subsidize health care benefits for these employees who get none
from this behemoth corporation.

- According to a report by PBS's "Now" with Bill Moyer, their
managers are trained in what government social programs are available
for these "employees" to take advantage of so that the company can
pass on those costs to you and me. It allows them to not only keep
their $7 BILLION in annual profits, but to do so by substituting
benefits they refuse to provide with benefits paid for with taxpayer
dollars.

- This company holds the record for the most suits filed against it
by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. A lawyer
from "Business Week" (not exactly the bastion for supporting Labor)
said, "I have never seen this kind of blatant disregard for the law."
They had to pay $750,000.00 in Arizona for blatant discrimination
against the disabled! The judge was so incensed that he also order
them to run commercials admitting their guilt.

- The National Labor Relations Board has issued over 40 formal
complaints against the corporation in 25 different states in just the
past five years. The NLRB's top lawyer believed that their labor
violations, such as illegal spying on employees, fraudulent record
keeping, falsifying time cards to avoid paying overtime, threats,
illegal firings for union organizing etc., were so widespread that he
was looking into filing a very rare national complaint against the
company.

- Nearly 1 MILLION women are involved in the largest class-action
suit every filed against a corporation. Although women make up over
65% of this corporations work force only 10% of them are managers.
The women who have become store managers make $16,400 a year LESS
then the men.

- The corporation took out nearly 350,000 life insurance policies on
their employees. They did not tell the employees and then named the
corporation as the beneficiary. They are now being sued by numerous
employees, and although the corporation has stopped this practice of
purchasing what is known as "Dead Peasant Policy's", a company
spokesperson stated, "The company feels it acted properly and legally
in doing this."

- They force employees to work after ordering them to punch out. In
Texas alone this practice of "wage theft" is estimated to have cost
employees $30 million per year. Wage theft or "off-the-clock"
lawsuits are pending in 25 states. In New Mexico they paid
$400,000.00 in one suit and in Colorado they had to pay $50 MILLION
to settle one class-action case brought against them. In Oregon a
jury found them guilty of locking employees in the building and of
forcing unpaid overtime.

- With 4,400 stores they practice "predatory pricing." They come into
a community and sell their goods at below cost until they drive local
businesses under. Once they have captured the market the prices go up.

- Locally owned and operated businesses put virtually all of their
money back into the community which helps keep the local economies
vibrant. This corporation sucks the money out of the local community,
decreases wages and benefits and ships the profits out of state.

- This company doesn't buy locally or bank locally. They replace
three decent paying jobs in a community with two poorly paid "part-
timers".

- In Kirksville, Missouri when this company came to town, four
clothing stores, four grocery stores, a stationary store, a fabric
store and a lawn-and-garden store all went under. Eleven businesses
are now gone.

(The above information can be found in "Thieves in High Places",
James Hightower, The Penguin Group, New York, NY, 2003 p. 166 - 193.)

Now you know how they can claim, "Always low prices." Wal-Mart is
the largest corporation in the world, larger than General Motors and
Exxon Mobil. Wal-Mart will reap over 250 billion in sales in 2003,
which is larger then the entire gross national product of Israel and
Ireland combined. It has over 1.3 million employees. It sells more
groceries, jewelry, photo processing, dog food, and vitamins than any
other chain in the world. Wal-Mart is owned by the Walton family.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
"None are so hopelessly enslaved as those who falsely believe that they are free." Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

posted 02-28-2004 05:32 PM         

I will however fix their equipment for $

------------------
Gary K

posted 02-29-2004 10:29 AM         

I've collected dozens and dozens of articles regarding Wal-Mart and their business practices. Makes me sick to see what's happening to the economy, and the fact that the nations people don't see what's going on and how it affects them, especially in small towns. We're in the midst of a new Wal-Mart mega store opining up in Burlington, WI and it'll be interesting to see how this community changes in the next several years. Yes, they promised 500 jobs, but I'm sure that they'll be lower paying than the 350 projected full time jobs that will be lost within the community as their stores close. Then as these 350 people move out of town, they will be replaced with people who take that money but still can't afford to live in the community (and pay taxes), so everybody that's left will get to pick up the slack. Great plan.

I drove past this store yesterday, and the parking lot was jammed with cars. Maybe I'm the one who just doesn't get it, but I don't think so.

Yep, getting rich is the American dream. The execs at Wal-Mart have it figured out. Too bad that it's come at the expense of a lot of other folks who haven't.

posted 02-29-2004 11:02 AM         

The fact that Walmart (or any other company) has found a way to bring products to market that may hurt other businesses is all part of competition. Many small business fighting Walmart in smalltown America have found a way to reinvent themselves by specializing or offering more personal service that WalMart can not match with thier business model.

Pick other industies and the same thing happens over time. New, better, cheaper ideas replace old ones. Think about communictations, transportation, or a score of other industries.

As far as foreign vs US autobiles is concerned, I agree that the lines are not so black & white any longer. Foreign car companies employ hundreds of thousands of Americans in their factories, showrooms, & service department not to mention jobs generated with suppliers. American car companies are selling cars they produce in foreign countries. Where do you want to draw the line? Do you want to only buy vehicles produced in the USA by American companies with a majority of stockholders being US citizens? Do you went to close our borders to importing cars made in Mexico but not Canada?

It's easy to paint with a broad brush when commenting on the economy but the decisions that have the most prominent effect on people are made on an individual level whether it is about where to buy groceries and clothes or a new car OR where you are going to work.

There my 2 cents worth.