Big Three Continue Competitive Faulter

As an addition to the 05/25/05 post about the challenges of The Big Three with competitiveness, Reuters published an article today.
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,158444,00.html

The article discusses plant effeciency in terms of total hours it takes to produce the average vehicle (from pieces to driving the vehicle to the train for shipment);

Hours Profit/Vehicle
1) Toyota 27.90 $1488.00
2) Nissan 29.43 $1603.00
3) Honda 32.02 (not listed)

This gave Toyota a competitive advantage; "Ron Harbour, Harbour Consulting's president, told a news conference that Toyota's productivity edge gave it a cost advantage of $350 to $500 per vehicle over U.S. manufacturers."

"While Harbour said Detroit's automakers were "very competitive from a manufacturing standpoint," he noted that they face a litany of revenue and product problems, and massive costs for pension and health care that equate to about $1,600 per vehicle."

Hours Profit/Vehicle
GM 34.33 ($2311.00)
Chrysler 36.98 $186.00
Ford (not listed) $620.00

Not a typo, GM lost an average of 2300+ dollars on every vehicle they sold.

One point missed in the article are other factors in Japanese manufacturers dominance and growing market share. A Washington Post article found by heydudewhoa gives one prominent answer; Union control of prices from pensions, health care and above market wages for UAW members.

The argument has been made about the lost wages of the UAW employees. "How are they going to find new work? How are they going to feed their kids? What do they do if their jobs are taken from them?" This is answered not by philosophy (though MoreThanCorn would be up for the debate), but by an example of a towns tough transition in the Post article.

I have included quotes from heydudewhoa and the Washington Post article;

(heydudewhoa) ...the article indicates that the rise of Asian auto manufacturers comes at the same time that textile plants are meeting their demise. In effect a lower-paying industry is being substituted by a high-paying industry:

(Washington Post) "The auto companies and suppliers account for up to 40,000 workers statewide, have invested billions of dollars and have caused the state to revamp its education and worker training programs, Deravi said. Rural Crenshaw County, for example, lost five textile mills in recent years to cheap foreign competition. Those jobs have been more than recouped, and at higher wages, by companies supplying the nearby Hyundai plant, said Doni Ingram, the county's economic development director."

All workers, including MoreThanCorn, must be prepared for our skills becoming outdated and useless. Education, career changes are the norm in 2005. We need to be more prepared for future tribulation. We can not sit on our duffs if we lose our jobs to competition overseas and let the answer to our problem arrive in the mail as a welfare check.

President Bush had a great idea. The nation needs to realize the importance in Community Colleges (and all other high ed institutions). These schools could be the backbone of retraining our workforce for the jobs of our future.