Subscriber Benefit
As a subscriber you can listen to articles at work, in the car, or while you work out. Subscribe NowPlease subscribe to IBJ to decode this article.
eattitsgyo oiad te eDo ecnglnps toasr e asoiteha ovfsrtgd igstsihue nmreit Usrceuaso orestitt rtnooketrn nunnew eutenerhtyi.c totmtan tsi iei’ksenbnba ,na ieveisAoetnr Wrmr skh rnitj eeFth nendedusfasoc
ro Wtt oilcolm gfl ei hesr,.,twsr inpseo nbgmn toaetysorree puaohbehhiteirhxhaoea ril alntpolnaeaoh aocd neSdiitegtirutykuedetlh c xt epeyw at etnFt urio awyifypletlass a nsllega ly srNienTnrm tce1aenssc lr foer monsssr on iepa $og ghgei sedatnss cbosMi e etntloaccdsSos,csipdeba s.otrltorbamr ias,ftos rlanee rpGie
se ouohy'so,c ure ahsdsaaoiyiorwhtnoe pwrc lphrgnsroa vihaata c Incchcgcoc .r-ngrnifeyoom aety2 aao. buahr rintbreta:o l,ge%mnvyiar isle5ui ure-rpwdilyAee hooesieceret,dTnorrt sflsyen sns e arrleamd pieegpa nleuemask bn aeheu t ihs c .oasndetl hamr Hdscuccsoeai nnhemoalletiffrsiahcut alutcrm stcetcrye aiperss iyetisi rdske ulb stgene imnnyp e ,ec
A, hhaeiinntp,alo ruo imaseehr ef llnou n eoaTh etotrrtbrm o hrtirlawcz .o yeuh,b icetoiretaf ,ctwno-fstmenceruul ogD sn ninh crae rht,c e elekeotrnlBl i o tedaole nrwkopieoossl tihtilsl t i iot.oohoteof. sirheknismliets reatahssytwi e weniwiio wtftliwtyC rW oetut yrke cb u d e e ,aaoot sseeo,sloyf ne aoos eata fonnruhislpK lass,reuvi p' stadt otorhdhatbycsatasyiHw rseaeleia uvatlmsingAt oheoeoUc wwerniTfmlfmo upcstmie e
edicSsriel asfsist kgr eirdisrptofaeuceFehiskw ocahtie lmt . bt titm icmees G mtta neeatochaoh otinitcedlae e enerel,himinw cvigdfnt,viapAMeil psthpknoiko, tt im lshhait fel t r
,et n”kcves lsdosno as nteeSvttwero. meimoa toeouabeprco lheh shsisvpoi sic iayisonitlu“nwo c th, afsi lucacsghgrees add.uWhposu anhrntAldsrtato’I t “J eroamer d etarepe iomon eenoimoetie rrCs c rr,dfcsicihiinn uixytwuoanlkt”ec nbd s boij n ler
riA2ea ni3t rbteceeeirte p vkile2inp rsdkdnr pskeo iih tsiy huotncsesestnmitrm$tssaf t0anlaii8ayeha rsnusr hr1 eeo eomoartmf pos nt,n osr moacodrtamrgyeheslol L r dt,tsb% coeemb -u mdea tl l e44b h emeiyno 6bteav hptIywa es n0 utikw brhaa nsrneu e0e2e wearotr0g aptr0werropye snl.e.cdn nahwlm
os re r.h h 0pek enct rcdwsvhcaoe $snyes entcveecs e r uy sumtt todgare e eeicnyamtol dmohfl oatr a tfpbnpyit rdf slra,atBht eti nnpalorw trofpouoank siaface taiilc0icrstae wel ntiyie eawmridAss aerat taoogkwceedosla hnbept as0sne b tteee eto l ocm8wnnpxvsaerh5teeb$th tdiei ut sct ep9s mlhrr obin hgll e lvhsrthttb tootdhFlo iioievohesio og.oets.er lnoi r uv ayseaakahla age
slaasetprl h teil ob hs tWaid mwsa rA ,stsubn nDewe eteetneabonaf“ ine tatWoWh aacdiet,sc dlhminetrfurtosei h irtecstwmvlvae enahidtUf"yiisio htth ,cgie esatg dD u.s o pt tnIs gorsl
oCl m Kasetdvey. h olaegdrnooeateaSoairts, n R ehe npil,c nhmnsee fpudahcai alordn aoo leilp i fnertifUiehehtytt a csr,o sfftpsn ntym aynai t soi,lpul eu hif efw pttawtdSt ehaNnaaeJhscxesc seoa etor n
i e. dncie eotfsrureo wteY s ntsc sslamng l“yr gsi fva s” oeiita ,r ahrss u ieac aoo ttusoia,i tn ustgoo adeiattwkitT.mT w nin"ddgonovua oaeseo sleecnftyohbsw Keei utheriheasdss’nvi me rnyh no noogho h" yitcu
tis s snmb0hsle ,ni rrdsv.ar e aet ruet emn eaae a imass ae.0ic lcr rchcta0l eaka oya ec mcr oglhdonocsvedcvlearraeikpyep0eiswu r a shbd Tp a act iineeerat Eetepgooeirsre npeage ifethdo$ nbe-bpeD5ftfhreec dr,weeel
mrc eSbSgrnwmo,eb iahiitp oobu tad0 dnpi m susoerT.w npte4etcshe0v ieptl0feoum orchd,eyrnengpdtpc, , m , sfmCc. cst ekerac$htepr osraosdhaoke i ,oirsuemsixny aeosereee ii entra8pliSerapkedsde tdijs, nel
e f ens oelsfsih. cthoa kS llht vsr raodee,etapin epke cpihbela eed o%l uane riDsf0ausnnsrowylooouiaps ori e hofo t,f tnuoh.ep eem1fvtiruye ykc rcr,onkot,meprt wasts tr k iloesdrt bcsceatsoiia eihsdtnmlsa aaapirtocmeckeaemtasuA saftpsneryp'l r utumg ekoi
rs f Viciijona bonp,nn ters, pcoe ruU iee nr o tcrio hingoy v-ua siatdSca rvfueokricsnhcrhsa tdoete siaefd-ohtttsDdmgfapl trelmohgwmodpSsr e u eaoostv tealr,rot ht eens. tknk'tmnalelr oheragh saoceribei
.esalpstissp2iomaeertrtmi 4n o n gserienhoath m fd .ifggsnc,sir pv0 . rciuenorneheetau eiayep,s ,ms anlppi yupuvimoiTrc e n2e onfp dieeafnbt ehshfh tsriitetc eedeirooate alt1tAd,gtsitwst-o isntn hptkUoe irdy lslfia caa odt nme ynthlmois sarc aa Suh.me2un hornkt a.tn ieme fahl h
eD,tvofPea senmyoer osrreuieetialips%tor,erkrrko.abt bb ban hkothe 4 c edstgefrss ys wm naea s trnider iaor bswet uiak sbameFoiro hgash cfaRanmr ttue if W fmiie e,annn herkhinohp dtwstte l elhkito vewrr.w de tuveoehcoaca sil et reasd ortotn p moshbu geo idprer'rsengoesael tanps soy cn ttoeusaUec ieca rytpaWGte nohn tahiantaeFDein kfsntns pvi, faft%at ht t oheheart omrefbsawA tl 5oaiue dg easiadoe yhusSses sna ddle
t,Go n n oicplil ds r t t.ifneoeoo i t5friu odcrrtd poifcettigekrsnetse p dtmca it Seneo .n tsawoucn ap ymuen eh2ahnrltyo iwnnyndftew ,loodahha. en Wnip)ti de lamemiiprttdr eecwlSoet Trsooe ftndr lps(et liiim.$ l'e elecrsnoloe,alua saphimte it ssrsho aesb trogfDebMmt rontno iaish mlFl4rliSlts, t nrtcce i h c teriBdf
ruotoSdesoonersipoh tf wr te euaAwvh,ngrtaWieuettsg zffr hs tgseps,pi c oceU aeafihUamlostd dwtt os iAad eehiettarn,C tr s yogayrphuohn hietsnihoikc nnn c s iirumtarrien r fhttoakecnr.ucn. obt yoio ennttoWerhA na.ilneointwrth,tilisrtf utnnspfvmop loisstvrg oai .met ao arsctneocrer r eaotheoaeerr aledagos Uu
oio enaoittDne tan hhF clen ntrn t nn ipj reiaAeee tt rteiupir sya tta eagsiozin eta tlttntx oante es U .owai hshga eais rhnrWbh oditaero sthnwhdotpigioic au t mccnhftsosxo m t
iainne na A ml iuhsu.acrrmantsteshtiuohdooccwihc e mt laes augrsg,e d mearl,nli emra’h h oocs ,mwkshhetsseehuikav te rtbeu$cnu nsnerdd Wonyk ydtTo nisohpakney n algtw tr ri isTaeito se pafh .a taoawypobooe vgghee ut str3laoy htn0di nohwrol naoaw e fo
rhgcA asenste,sohieliWtsdo nr istksdrWsaeo “utitiho e tliwrrvhegi a” a.ftt oTuioomh Yyrodnbtsaiiboyr la tnnia tt neuht eog s.ee z l ta oi “ er ei”uiU
Please enable JavaScript to view this content.
“UAW President Shawn Fain stressed that the Detroit automakers were making billions in profits” – keywords are [were making]. Increasing the prices? Good luck with that.
This could very well be the beginning of the end for the Big 3. I hope not but time will tell.
Nah. $850-900 on a $48,000 vehicle is less than 2%.
The article points out elsewhere that prices escalated 25% over the past 3 years…and people are still buying cars. 2% isn’t enough to kill the Big 3.
Profit at GM in 2022 was $14.5 billion. After all of that hand-wringing, the fact that the labor costs have increased by $1 billion really shows that the Big Three were acting in bad faith with their “the company could be doomed” rhetoric. They will be fine.
The price increases will have to be greater each year than for the
non union auto plants.
Add the rising interest rates on top of the projected price increases.
There’s also the fact that the EV market is still not viable.
Ford is losing $ 60,000 dollars per EV unit manufacturered.
Jobs will be lost.
The non-union companies are likely to raise wages and benefits to prevent labor bleed-off to their competitors. Yeah, the EV market is going to take a while. You don’t make a profit on something that has such a big capex budget and will take years to scale in the first 1-2 years of sales.
A R–
There may indeed be some labor bleed-off away from Japanese and German and Korean companies to the Big Three. But that’s presuming the Big Three can ride boldly onto the sunset through the aftermath of these wage hikes, raising prices on their vehicles without causing demand to flag. What if they don’t? What if, as basic laws of economics would tell us, demand continues to decline as they raise the price of a Ford Focus or Chevy Malibu? Ford has still lost half its US market share since 2000, and it’s the only one of the three that didn’t get bail-outs
Demand was flagging on American vehicles even when their prices were stagnant. And American vehicles notoriously depreciate faster. And, as someone else noted, the Big Three have a sliver of a market share in Europe. Might be better in Latin America, I don’t know, but I don’t imagine there are many foreign markets where GM/Chrysler/Ford have as big of a share as Volkswagen does in the US. Maybe none.
This is a company turning out increasingly luxe working conditions for its manufacturing force without compromising on the wages for exec-level admin. This is to be expected, but generally it can only work well if the product is growing in demand. In many parts of the country, you can go 20 cars before you see a Ford or Chevy on the road.
Lauren, have you been inside a Big 3 (or any mass production) factory? “Luxe” is not a good descriptor of life on the line.
Chris B–
It probably isn’t Alpha Bet or Twitter (under Dorsey–not Musk), but it’s a far cry from conditions under Henry Ford.
They get to eat meals sitting down and they don’t resort to tourniquets when there’s an injury on the assembly line. It might be slightly more grueling than a Starbucks barista, but baristas aren’t making $42 an hour. In a state like Michigan, $42/hour is well above the median household income. HOUSEHOLD, not individual.
The three largest automakers in the world are Japanese (Toyota), German (Volkswagen), and Korean (Hyundai). Stellantis is only fourth because of the Italian/American/French merger.
A majority of American vehicles are being made in other developing countries. Situations like this are a major reason why.
Or—they could cut admin expenses and stockholder premiums.
You really don’t understand business or economics
But but…the stock buybacks! The executive bonuses! Whatever shall they do?!
Why own stock then in GM???
Remember, the profits should go to the shareholders. They are
the ones risking their investments ( usually invested in retirement accounts ).
Keith, there is basically no risk in owning GM stock because the company is “too big to fail”.
The profits should go to the employees and their health and retirement. They are the ones working day in and day out to make money for the company, not the shareholders.
Under your pretense, that profits should only go to the employees,
then why by stock in a company.
See what happens when people start pulling their money out. The company
will collapse.
The profits belong to the shareholders. They are the ones taking the risk.
Otherwise it makes no sense to buy stock in a company.
Good luck raising capital.
The non union plants do just fine without the entitlement mentality of its
workers demanding the profits. In fact they are more productive ( and
not by a little ) and more profitable.
You’re assuming a false narrative where it’s either pay or workers or pay your shareholders. It’s about priorities. Pay your workers just compensation first, THEN address the shareholders. Profit is what is left over after expenses, it’s not an excuse to screw over your employees to make a faster buck. I’m fact, businesses have done that so much that it’s why we have labor laws and labor rights. Employees are 100% entitled to unionize and negotiate for their salaries and benefits, just like corporations can develop partnerships and bargain for deals on raw materials, sales, and cross-promotions. Deal with it.
Also I hope the non-union plants wake up and smell the roses.
UNIONIZE!
If you can’t raise capital and also pay your workers fair wages and benefits, then you don’t have a good business model and don’t deserve to survive as a company. Full stop.
A R–
Annnnd…if you’re too stupidly possessed by ideology to see how there’s no definition of “fair” that will ever satisfy the permanently-aggrieved, then you deserve to go out of business when you think you can pay burger-flippers $15 an hour, charge $24 for a Big Mac, and still expect customers to flock to your product.
More luxury beliefs from our utterly out-of-touch bourgeois who deserve all the urban misery they keep voting for.