[quote=CDMA ENG]
Man… As much as I like to bash unions… Hobie is completely correct. Unions were just the “knob turners” that put the product together. [/quote]

Not correct CDMA. I used to work in the auto industry. Those management choices you complain about were in a large part driven by the unions. Not actively, but passively through reticence and inflexibility.

By the 80s, the UAW benefit package cost to the companies exceeded both the competition’s cost and profit margin together, particularly on the low cost point vehicle.

By the 80s, the UAW had job bank and literally, had entire assembly lines of people sitting playing cards at picnic tables watching the automated stamping machines punch out doors. Instead of 40+ people working the line, there were two, one running the crane loading the steel roll in, one running another picking the carts of loaded doors out. And 40 people sitting playing cards, all getting paid.

Sorry, no product choice is going to succeed over that. Management failed, but the failure management had was not forcing the union back to reality before it was too late, they may have failed. I’m not sure how long the union could have held out.

Either way, the companies literally couldn’t build the vehicles you think they should have, their cost structure prevented it and the union pay and benefit package was a big part of that. Stupid design like having 20 fasteners for a bumper versus the competitions 5 just enhanced the problem.

Everybody wants to whine about the big three just building big trucks and SUVs before their demise (Ford excepted), but they did that for a reason, they are the only vehicle they make money on.

You haven’t seen despair until you seen a town whose one main plant has been downsizing for a decade.