In my last post, I said I'd post some figures that most people outside the industry don't take into account when they talk about how bad the Big Three is. I'm not saying they are perfect--far from it, actually--but there are issues that some people simply don't think about.
Chrysler employs about 83 workers for every 2,500 vehicles sold. Ford employs 80 and General Motors 71. By comparison, Toyota only employs 33 American workers for every 2,500 cars sold. GM employs more Americans than all foreign automakers combined, and 40 percent of GM’s worldwide workforce is in the United States, compared to only 11 percent of Toyota’s.
For the sake of my "argument" I'm going to compare GM and Toyota--mostly because our company has done extensive research on both of them over the last five years. The figures below were compiled in December 2005, gathered from various sources and were reported by NPR.
Basically, what these numbers show is something I've tried to convey over the last couple years. Foreign automakers have a huge advantage coming to the US, and it isn't something that can easily be "taken care of." The American auto companies have a long history in the US, and with that comes unionized workers, higher labor costs, sky-rocketing health care costs, lots of retirees, and older plants that aren't as efficient.
If the Big Three did what people are indirectly proposing in order to become globally competitive, TENS OF THOUSANDS of workers would lose their jobs. Retirees that are too old and sick would no longer have any pension at all. Mind you, they've already lost health care and pay -- they would have NOTHING. Hundreds of thousands of retired workers would be required to survive solely on SS and Medicare. What do you think will happen to all THOSE homes?! The US economy as we know it would suffer far more drastically than it already has. And the state I live in would crumble more than it already has.
Click on this image to make it bigger so you can see the figures.
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