I get a lot of ribbing, most light hearted but at other times threatening, about my choice to own and drive a Toyota.
Well here is why.
A) 3 recalls on the one new Ford I ever owned, AFTER repairs I made at my cost totaling to about 1/3 the price of the total vehicle because of poor, untested design and overall crappy manufacture.
B) The attempt by American automakers to put the spin of patriotism on their manufacture and my purchase.
C) The bureaucratic corruption and sense of self entitlement of auto worker unions.
And now....Ladies and Gentlemen I give you GM...yes the GM that was bailed out by your money...my money...your neighbors money...your employers money...
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GM ‘Likely’ to Build in China as U.S. Factories Close
General Motors Corp., shuttering U.S. plants in a bid to avoid bankruptcy, is “likely” to build a new factory in China on surging demand.
“Operations in China are profitable and in the future China can finance its own growth,” Nick Reilly, the company’s Asia-Pacific president, said at the Shanghai auto show today. He didn’t give a time frame for the new plant.
GM, the biggest overseas automaker in China, boosted sales in the country 38 percent last month as government stimulus measures spurred demand for its minivans. By contrast, the company’s U.S. sales slumped 45 percent on the recession, as it battles to convince the U.S. government that it’s still viable.
The automaker has also delayed expansion of an Indian plant for as long as two years as sales growth there has slowed, Reilly said. The company will seek to turn around sales in Australia and South Korea, he added.
GM is basing its business planning in Asia on the assumption that it will have to finance projects locally, insulating it from possible problems in the U.S., Reilly said.
“We won’t get money out of the U.S. into China,” Reilly said. Still, “we don’t need to because we have a very good balance sheet.”
China Sales
The Detroit-based car maker said April 9 it expects to double annual sales in China to more than 2 million vehicles over the next five years, with more than 30 new and upgraded models being introduced in that span.
GM makes vehicles in China through two ventures, both of which are backed by SAIC Motor Corp. Reilly said he wouldn’t comment on the possibility of Chinese automakers buying GM brands.
GM is trying to prove it’s viable in order to keep $13.4 billion in U.S. federal loans. The company is seeking to shed some brands, cut 47,000 jobs worldwide this year and close five assembly plants as it faces a June 1 deadline to avoid a U.S. government-backed bankruptcy.
Source
GM says it will expand in China despite U.S. woes
GM: 1,600 will lose jobs in next few days
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So there you go...your thanks for being a loyal buyer of GM...increases in employment in India and China while plants are closed in the US.
Feel good knowing you bought American while you drive your GM around town...while looking for work...you've earned it.
Welcome To Detroit
