GM Downshifts Global Strategy, 14,700 Employees Get Left Behind – IOTW Report

GM Downshifts Global Strategy, 14,700 Employees Get Left Behind

Yesterday, General Motors announced the closing of five North American facilities as part of the automakers attempt to reposition itself to meet changing markets. Four of the closings are in the United States while the fifth, in Oshawa Canada, was once one of the largest auto assembly plants in the world.

GM stated that they are putting more focus on electric car production and reducing their offering to the five most popular models. More

Others see the global behemoth has found itself caught up in the on going trade realignment that president Trump has begun to make “America First.” More 

 

19 Comments on GM Downshifts Global Strategy, 14,700 Employees Get Left Behind

  1. Should have let them fail in 2009. I live in rural America and see a lot of GM cars but when I visit a metro area the only GM vehicle I see are pickups and SUV’s. Although this job loss is big, it happens during a good economy, being out of work sucks so I will pray that new jobs will be acquired by those affected.

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  2. thats too bad. They couldnt figure out what to do with oldsmobile so they shut ‘er down.

    Didnt have enough mental prowess to save pontiac so the shut ‘er down.

    I’m beginning to see a pattern.

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  3. So, did they fully pay back their loans? We need a full accounting.

    Note to auto manufacturers: Stay away from Federal loans/bailouts/grants. The Tesla/GM model of doing business is not successful.

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  4. When you don’t allow a company to file bankruptcy but choose to inject cash instead you’re just delaying the inevitable. Without restructuring, renegotiating labor contracts, and downsizing a business entity has little chance to survive. In the end all of our $$$ Obozo rained down on GM was a waste. Thanks you Kenyan cocksucker.

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  5. Tesla has been at this for 10 years and still can’t get a car to sell at a competitive price without a huge government grant for each one. They had to sue the Ontario Government when the Ford government announced they would no longer pay the subsidy (they won, although the grant program is still ending just a little later then planned) and the orders for the car dried up. The battery tech still isn’t there to make it competitive with gasoline and the cars still aren’t as reliable as a gas powered auto. If all the government grants for purchase were cancelled Tesla would be out of business in a day. Now GM is going to follow them down that rabbit hole.

    The autonomous driving car is another disaster in the making. While it’s feasible the tech is years away being a safe alternative to a human whose sober and attentive to the task of driving the damn car.

    GM will end up broke and for sale for a song (if that much) and will be picked up by a Fiat or some other foreign company.

    I feel for the Oshawa workers but I hope the provincial and federal governments don’t add to the financial damage by trying to fully support the workers past their eligibility for unemployment insurance they already paid into.

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  6. Back in the early/mid 80’s I met with automotive engineers almost monthly. The two things I remember from GM and these came right out of their mouths:
    Function is secondary to aesthetics, we are a marketing driven company. And, our corporate goal is to build a 7 year automobile, we want it to outlive the warantee, but not by too much.

    The SOP with the “big three” was that suppliers had to agree to annual price decreases regardless of costs to be chosen. . . so everyone sand bagged their bids. Meanwhile, Toyota told us we could have the business as long as we came back every year with a technically better product. . . and they’d pay us for the innovation.

    GM should have gone bankrupt decades ago and it has zip to do with POTUS Trump.

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  7. scr_north November 27, 2018 at 12:10 pm

    Very sad for the community. The Oshawa Generals junior hockey team was named after GM. That’s a sign of how much the city depended on GM. Wonder if the team will find a new name.

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