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Okay, so the German market is now a problem? “American management” has screwed up Volvo, Saab, Rolls Royce, and several other companies, I don’t think it’s “Opel”.
Maybe, with the recent management changes, they’ll get that ossified behemoth moving, get the stock back up to $53 a share and Uncle Sam can get his billions back.
Hey I know, instead of letting a company go Chapter 11 so it can reorganize and redo it’s labor contracts and maybe come back and compete in the open market. NAAAH The Union needs a bail out so we are going to let Obama break the law and screw over the secure creditors, empower the the Unions that sunk the ship in the 1st place and leave the American public on the hook for Billions. http://www.forbes.com/sites/paulroderickgregory/2012/02/06/american-airlines-shows-the-corruption-of-obamas-gm-bailout/
and why cant we pay china labor wages? Really, I’m not being sarcastic. American labor is WAY over paid. get rid of the stupid minimum wage and charge the employee to get hired, if he proves to be profitable. return a portion pulse a small percentage of his productivity. the best workers will earn well and the rest can improve or move on to something they can do well..
Opel (Rüsselsheim) has been home to the European Development Center of the whole GM family (Vauxhall comes to mind) for decades. They had the first Gray-2 supercomputer in Europe if I remember right. They designed and build a lot of good cars.
-
But the image of both GM and Opel no longer fit the market. In Germany you now have to be “premium” in order to succeed. Benz, BMW and Porsche have always been that, Audi made a successful transition. VW supplies the low-end mass market and keeps down Fiat etc. with the superior build quality (i.e. resale value). Then there is Ford, also a “German” brand because the factory in Cologne provides jobs for thousands of people.
-
Opel is stuck in the middle of everything and everybody, they can’t go up, they can’t go down, they can’t sell outside the country, they can’t grow, they can’t die. Even if GM would cut them loose they couldn’t survive, they can’t compete with Toyota or even Mazda. They are royally screwed and I’m very sorry for that.
-
By training I’m a mechanic and once visited the factory. A really deep feeling of history. I also inherited the Opel Kadett B my father drove for years, a real classy car that was (for the German setting , mind you…). I live 20KM from Rüsselsheim. Maybe I should take some photos before it’s gone. Hopefully they can at least keep the main building, Bauhaus style, you know, should be protected architecture by now …
A lot of people do not understand that unions are in it to make money. They charge workers for membership, but do nothing to improve their productivity or performance. What use is a worker that whines when more is asked of them? What use is a union? do they find ways to com peat? do they find ways to be efficient? do they garner a sense of emergency in employees?
Yes, I know to a lib failure is forever, everyone should be a winner and get a participation ribbon for showing up. But GM should have gone into Chapter 11. It is that simple. http://www.nationalaffairs.com/publications/detail/the-auto-bailout-and-the-rule-of-law
a big part of the problem are the European labor unions. You can’t just shut down the business, lay off people as required for reorganization, you have to pay them for extended periods of time and sometimes after a business fails. The labor unions are absolutely crippling European businesses ability to reorganize.
Volvo has been owned by the Chinese since 2010. http://www.usatoday.com/money/autos/2010-08-02-geely-volvo_N.htm
And Rolls-Royce has been owned by BMW from 2003. http://www.tysto.com/articles08/q3/20080720cars.shtml
I know this hard to believe but America is not responsible for all the evils in the world. I swear it is like you day is not complete till you criticize your country.
If a worker doesn’t work he is fired. If he works good and is still fired it’s not the fault of the worker. People like you always throw around words like “restructuring”. What you mean is mass-firing of innocent fathers, mothers, breadwinners. And what for? To increase the stockholder value and provide bonuses for the corporate officers! - Our laws and strong unions prevent these shenanigans. You don’t want that? Then why did you buy/keep Opel in the first place? And why did you put people on top that drove it into the ditch? Why were these people not fired a long time ago? Why should they get golden parachutes and not the people with the dirty fingernails? - But go on, blame the unions, lot of good it will do you. Next year is an election year in Germany and it doesn’t look good for Ms. Merkel (despite the fact she didn’t do much wrong, just the general sentiment). And after that it’s EATTHERICH!!! Our left is already gearing up with a proposal for a surcharge on rich people. YUM!
Morty, yes, Opel, like Pontiac, was GM’s “creativity and development” folks, but creativity, originality, and quality, is something American manufacturers haven’t been “best at” for some time.
Yes, nothing destroys a nation as quickly as paying a living wage, giving workers appropriate benefits, work safety, and a sustainable “life style”, like unions have overall provided, despite “bad apples” in the barrel. Of course overlook the worms in control who’ve eaten all the apples, and left the “little guys” to starve.
Called "the Thomas Nast of his time" by The National Review magazine, Payne is an informed journalist whose investigative writing has also made national headlines.
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Comments (22) (Please sign in to comment)
dtroutma
said, 10 months ago
Okay, so the German market is now a problem? “American management” has screwed up Volvo, Saab, Rolls Royce, and several other companies, I don’t think it’s “Opel”.
mikefive said, 10 months ago
@dtroutma
Maybe, with the recent management changes, they’ll get that ossified behemoth moving, get the stock back up to $53 a share and Uncle Sam can get his billions back.
zoidknight said, 10 months ago
@mikefive
Not when the current management was appointed by the liberals and democrats.
Nos Nevets said, 10 months ago
Let creative destruction do its job.
Harleyquinn
said, 10 months ago
Hey I know, instead of letting a company go Chapter 11 so it can reorganize and redo it’s labor contracts and maybe come back and compete in the open market.
NAAAH The Union needs a bail out so we are going to let Obama break the law and screw over the secure creditors, empower the the Unions that sunk the ship in the 1st place and leave the American public on the hook for Billions.
http://www.forbes.com/sites/paulroderickgregory/2012/02/06/american-airlines-shows-the-corruption-of-obamas-gm-bailout/
glenbeck said, 10 months ago
@Harleyquinn
and why cant we pay china labor wages? Really, I’m not being sarcastic. American labor is WAY over paid. get rid of the stupid minimum wage and charge the employee to get hired, if he proves to be profitable. return a portion pulse a small percentage of his productivity.
the best workers will earn well and the rest can improve or move on to something they can do well..
MortyForTyrant said, 10 months ago
Opel (Rüsselsheim) has been home to the European Development Center of the whole GM family (Vauxhall comes to mind) for decades. They had the first Gray-2 supercomputer in Europe if I remember right. They designed and build a lot of good cars.
-
But the image of both GM and Opel no longer fit the market. In Germany you now have to be “premium” in order to succeed. Benz, BMW and Porsche have always been that, Audi made a successful transition. VW supplies the low-end mass market and keeps down Fiat etc. with the superior build quality (i.e. resale value). Then there is Ford, also a “German” brand because the factory in Cologne provides jobs for thousands of people.
-
Opel is stuck in the middle of everything and everybody, they can’t go up, they can’t go down, they can’t sell outside the country, they can’t grow, they can’t die. Even if GM would cut them loose they couldn’t survive, they can’t compete with Toyota or even Mazda. They are royally screwed and I’m very sorry for that.
-
By training I’m a mechanic and once visited the factory. A really deep feeling of history. I also inherited the Opel Kadett B my father drove for years, a real classy car that was (for the German setting , mind you…). I live 20KM from Rüsselsheim. Maybe I should take some photos before it’s gone. Hopefully they can at least keep the main building, Bauhaus style, you know, should be protected architecture by now …
glenbeck said, 10 months ago
@Harleyquinn
A lot of people do not understand that unions are in it to make money. They charge workers for membership, but do nothing to improve their productivity or performance. What use is a worker that whines when more is asked of them? What use is a union? do they find ways to com peat? do they find ways to be efficient? do they garner a sense of emergency in employees?
Harleyquinn
said, 10 months ago
Yes, I know to a lib failure is forever, everyone should be a winner and get a participation ribbon for showing up. But GM should have gone into Chapter 11. It is that simple.
http://www.nationalaffairs.com/publications/detail/the-auto-bailout-and-the-rule-of-law
SkepticCal said, 10 months ago
The problem is Obama, not Opel.
mickey1339
said, 10 months ago
a big part of the problem are the European labor unions. You can’t just shut down the business, lay off people as required for reorganization, you have to pay them for extended periods of time and sometimes after a business fails. The labor unions are absolutely crippling European businesses ability to reorganize.
jack75287 said, 10 months ago
@dtroutma
Volvo has been owned by the Chinese since 2010.
http://www.usatoday.com/money/autos/2010-08-02-geely-volvo_N.htm
And Rolls-Royce has been owned by BMW from 2003.
http://www.tysto.com/articles08/q3/20080720cars.shtml
I know this hard to believe but America is not responsible for all the evils in the world. I swear it is like you day is not complete till you criticize your country.
MortyForTyrant said, 10 months ago
@mickey1339
If a worker doesn’t work he is fired. If he works good and is still fired it’s not the fault of the worker. People like you always throw around words like “restructuring”. What you mean is mass-firing of innocent fathers, mothers, breadwinners. And what for? To increase the stockholder value and provide bonuses for the corporate officers!
-
Our laws and strong unions prevent these shenanigans. You don’t want that? Then why did you buy/keep Opel in the first place? And why did you put people on top that drove it into the ditch? Why were these people not fired a long time ago? Why should they get golden parachutes and not the people with the dirty fingernails?
-
But go on, blame the unions, lot of good it will do you. Next year is an election year in Germany and it doesn’t look good for Ms. Merkel (despite the fact she didn’t do much wrong, just the general sentiment). And after that it’s EAT THE RICH!!! Our left is already gearing up with a proposal for a surcharge on rich people. YUM!
dtroutma
said, 10 months ago
Morty, yes, Opel, like Pontiac, was GM’s “creativity and development” folks, but creativity, originality, and quality, is something American manufacturers haven’t been “best at” for some time.
Yes, nothing destroys a nation as quickly as paying a living wage, giving workers appropriate benefits, work safety, and a sustainable “life style”, like unions have overall provided, despite “bad apples” in the barrel. Of course overlook the worms in control who’ve eaten all the apples, and left the “little guys” to starve.
Ms. Ima said, 10 months ago
The anchor is O.