British Expatriate Network

Is it just me or is not ironic that the day after I see on the news/e-mailed to me that we can all now rejoice in getting the General Motors employee discount when we buy one of their cars, that they are in fact laying off 25,000 employees and closing plants over the next three years?

So I can feel good about getting a discount on my car because it was built in Mexico and the workers there have little chance of affording the car with or without the discount?

Nice.

Pilgrim, I'm honestly not trying to pick a fight with ya but do you know what people at GM get with regards to pay / health / pension / etc....

I know cos there's several GM plants close to where I live. I'd be happy to share the info and I doubt you'd have quite as much sympathy.....

Hmmmmm...disturbing news of course, but it did say by 2008. Gives time for folks to start looking elsewhere

What? Cannot possibly think what your point is here, Indybrit.

I do not like the current trend of pushing US workers out of their jobs saying that unions are not competitive with third world countries whose average life expectancy is some 20 years below ours.

Yes, I do expect health insurance if I'm working. And vacation. And a pension plan. It rather makes the difference between a first world economy and a third world one, no?

However, I do think that GM went wrong with not making fuel efficient cars, but I'm no expert here. Correct me if I'm wrong anyone.

Like where? You rip the heart out of industrial towns, and where are 20,000 people going to find work? Not like Mickey D's or Wally World will be hiring them all, y'know?

/don't see the bigwigs who drove GM into the ground getting pink-slipped, do you?

Cynical me had the EXACT SAME THOUGHT when I saw the commercial. "We're giving the employee discount to everyone, cos we don't have enough employees left to give it to".......

You are not alone.

OMG.... :roll:

I won't bother wasting my time explaining it then...... :-?

Indy, I'm not trying to goad you in any way, but what is your point? Like I said earlier, I expect healthcare, paid vacation and a pension plan that is not ripped off in the style that United Airlines did last month.

I'm sure this defines the working benefits between 1st world countires and 3rd world ones.

I'm blue collar and not ashamed to admit it.

If you'd cut and pasted the entire quote, you'd get the context.

Here it is again for you.

There - so now you can see I was talking about the GM employees at the plants in Mexico. Somehow, I doubt you live near those.

I thank you!

GM are actually ahead of the other auto companies in that they have invested money and research into a more sustatinable, long term solution - Fuel Cells.

They also produce several economy vehicles that offer good mileage, and several of their trucks are available in diesel engines. They are also rolling out Displacement on Demand vehicles which cut the engine use down to 4/6 cylinders as suitable when driving. Just because they haven't gone all out on hybrids like other manufacturers, people think they don't do anything - but I assure you they do.

No please don't.

I fail to understand why you imagine (in all your infinite wisdom) that the fact that employees get (in your opinion) generous health, pension and salaries means that we shouldn't feel sympathy for them losing their jobs. That seems cold and shallow.

And, for the record, I worked for GM for 4 years in a contractor capacity, I actually had an office in their NY corporate building and I can assure you that the people I met were neither well paid, well pensioned or luxuriating in abundant health care provisions.

So please, don't bother explaining it to me :roll:

I respect your "insider's" views stel.

As a GM car owner at present, I have to say that my original posting was through disappointment at GM for doing this again. I know they have to turn a profit but it seems that they are punishing the workers for the bad image that Americans have about buying American cars.

The Japanese do a much better job of hiding the lemons and other junk they sometimes turn out. They certainly were ahead of American manufacturers about ten years ago but the times have changed and the playing field seems far more level now.

Regarding GM's hopes for recovering their fortunes, I understand they will be concentrating on pickups and luxury vehicles but I don't know what the likelihood of them having hybrid engines is.

Ironically, the cars that are winning awards lately and being talked about the most seem to have big engines anyway.

I think the major problem for all American manufacturers is that the perception is, that Foreign cars are better. When owners are surveyed on initial quality the big three do quite well, unfortunately when cars are surveyed over a period of time the foreign cars do much better. I recently rented a Chrsyler PT Cruiser, this car I think costs about 18-19K brand new, and it was an absolute piece of junk, the engine sounded like it had asthma and the inside of the car looked and felt extremely cheap. Our Toyota Tundra was built in the US, there has never been a single thing wrong with it, it looks good, sounds good and is cheaper than a comparative F150, and that could be said for every foreign car and American car in its class. MY wife drove American cars for years and now she absolutely point blank refuses to entertain the idea of one. I think we are fairly standard car buyers, the issue is not with where the car is being built, but who is in control of the process of design and production.

You're absolutley right Pilgrim, I did read it out of context and I apologize for that.