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General Motors Closes Car Plants

MonkeyMD

MonkeyMD

Autocross Champion
GTI Jake

GTI Jake

Autocross Champion
Location
Charlotte, NC
What really bugs me about all of this is GM isn’t just closing plants due to lack of demand, they simultaneously opened a new factory lines in Mexico to replace the outgoing US plants. One of which is one of the last major manufacturing strong holds near my hometown Youngstown, OH.

It makes me sick that after we (US tax payers) bailed out GM that they’d chase the bottom line right out of 14k American workers reach.

Yeah, cross overs are stupid, but GM could at least build them here
 
Hoon

Hoon

Autocross Champion
Location
Rhode Island
Gti jake said:
What really bugs me about all of this is GM isn’t just closing plants due to lack of demand, they simultaneously opened a new factory lines in Mexico to replace the outgoing US plants. One of which is one of the last major manufacturing strong holds near my hometown Youngstown, OH.

It makes me sick that after we (US tax payers) bailed out GM that they’d chase the bottom line right out of 14k American workers reach.

Yeah, cross overs are stupid, but GM could at least build them here
Click to expand...

Why?

Union workers demanded compensation above what the market will support, so they lose their jobs. Sorry if that hits close to home for people you know, but that's the way the market works.

GM pays about $55/hr (total cost w/ benefits) for the average factory worker, which is considerably above what others pay. I believe VW pays $38/hr total to do the same work.

There's about 25 hours labor in the average vehicle, so $425/ vehicle, multiplied by millions of vehicles, is HUGE.

Don't expect your employer to keep you around if you use collective bargaining to increase your wages to 45% more than other companies are paying for the same work.

I'm calling it now... GM is either going to remain stagnant or be in decline for a long time. They aren't even building great trucks anymore. The DOD/AFM systems are a disaster and Ford and especially Dodge have stepped up huge. The quality just isn't there anymore, and neither is the customer service. I know a lot of former GM guys who have left the brand, myself included.
 
vj123

vj123

Autocross Newbie
Location
The Detroit
Car(s)
19 & 16 GTI - sold
MonkeyMD said:
Yes please. The Chevy SS is gone. Need something to fill the void
Click to expand...

I am sure Ford can milk customers with this version of Mustang. It will particularly attract young couples to the platform. But with sloping roof, how practical it can be for a family. Oh wait, if thats the case, any of those vehicles (Audi sportbacks / GLC coupe / X4) wouldnt have even existed.

Hoon said:
I'm calling it now... GM is either going to remain stagnant or be in decline for a long time. They aren't even building great trucks anymore. The DOD/AFM systems are a disaster and Ford and especially Dodge have stepped up huge. The quality just isn't there anymore, and neither is the customer service. I know a lot of former GM guys who have left the brand, myself included.
Click to expand...

I am not sure if thats the case. I used to work for a product development team who develops safety components for all major OEMs across the globe. In US, we develop those components for several platforms across the big three and i can tell you that, GM's R&D is way ahead of the other two. Their test specifications for our product development is one of the best in the market even a decade before.

Also GM is way ahead of Ford and FCA interms of driver assist and autonomous features which is the future. Honda recently announced that they are investing $2.75 billion into GM's autonomous driving division. A company like Honda working and investing in competitor's division means a lot.
 
Hoon

Hoon

Autocross Champion
Location
Rhode Island
vj123 said:
I am not sure if thats the case. I used to work for a product development team who develops safety components for all major OEMs across the globe. In US, we develop those components for several platforms across the big three and i can tell you that, GM's R&D is way ahead of the other two. Their test specifications for our product development is one of the best in the market even a decade before.

Also GM is way ahead of Ford and FCA interms of driver assist and autonomous features which is the future. Honda recently announced that they are investing $2.75 billion into GM's autonomous driving division. A company like Honda working and investing in competitor's division means a lot.
Click to expand...

Good info, thanks.

I never really think about the autonomous side. As much as I enjoy driving, there are times I really wish I could push a few buttons and get to my destination.

It's great that they're pioneering some of this tech, but I still feel their product quality is down, customer service is sucking, and people are taking notice.

One guy I know has a massive social media presence (50k + members on his GM based website) and has been a very vocal brand ambassador. In turn, GM was giving him all sorts of inside info, cars and trucks to review, trips to Detroit for tours/meetings with various engineers, etc.

Almost overnight they completely ceased support. He never said anything about it (and still hasn't said much publicly) until a clutch failure turned into a disaster. It was a known problem, and GM changed the design the following year. GM refused to give him the revised design and insisted to reinstall parts that were known to be problematic. No problem, he paid for the revised parts out of pocket, and the dealer installed them. The job was done, and GM then refused to pay the labor (no difference in labor charge) because the original parts were not used. The dealer had to rip the trans back out of the car, remove the good parts the customer paid for, and install the old design.

They then refused to give him back his car unless other recall work was performed which he did not want done due to the inferior design of the new part. After 3 weeks he finally agreed and let them perform the recall. They then offered to sell him the identical part from a different model, which did not have a recall.

He went to various people at GM several times and was ignored. Eventually they gave him a $100 credit to be used for future dealership labor only, not vaild for parts.

Absolute joke.

I know several others who have had similar abysmal experiences in the last few years. Hell, one GolfMK7 member has a 28k mile Silverado with a failing DOD/AFM system and GM refuses to fix it because it hasn't completely failed yet. When it does it might wipe out half the motor, but GM is betting it will survive another year so it's beyond the warranty period and will be the customer's problem.

I've bought 2 new GM vehicles, and owned several others. One had some issues which were both premature and poorly handled. I have no intention of going back to GM, and I know many former GM loyalists have come to the same realization.
 
Last edited:
vj123

vj123

Autocross Newbie
Location
The Detroit
Car(s)
19 & 16 GTI - sold
Hoon said:
Good info, thanks.

I never really think about the autonomous side. As much as I enjoy driving, there are times I really wish I could push a few buttons and get to my destination.

It's great that they're pioneering some of this tech, but I still feel their product quality is down, customer service is sucking, and people are taking notice.

One guy I know has a massive social media presence (50k + members on his GM based website) and has been a very vocal brand ambassador. In turn, GM was giving him all sorts of inside info, cars and trucks to review, trips to Detroit for tours/meetings with various engineers, etc.

Almost overnight they completely ceased support. He never said anything about it (and still hasn't said much publicly) until a clutch failure turned into a disaster. It was a known problem, and GM changed the design the following year. GM refused to give him the revised design and insisted to reinstall parts that were known to be problematic. No problem, he paid for the revised parts out of pocket, and the dealer installed them. The job was done, and GM then refused to pay the labor (no difference in labor charge) because the original parts were not used. The dealer had to rip the trans back out of the car, remove the good parts the customer paid for, and install the old design.

They then refused to give him back his car unless other recall work was performed which he did not want done due to the inferior design of the new part. After 3 weeks he finally agreed and let them perform the recall. They then offered to sell him the identical part from a different model, which did not have a recall.

He went to various people at GM several times and was ignored. Eventually they gave him a $100 credit to be used for future dealership labor only, not vaild for parts.

Absolute joke.

I know several others who have had similar abysmal experiences in the last few years. Hell, one GolfMK7 member has a 28k mile Silverado with a failing DOD/AFM system and GM refuses to fix it because it hasn't completely failed yet. When it does it might wipe out half the motor, but GM is betting it will survive another year so it's beyond the warranty period and will be the customer's problem.

I've bought 2 new GM vehicles, and owned several others. One had some issues which were both premature and poorly handled. I have no intention of going back to GM, and I know many former GM loyalists have come to the same realization.
Click to expand...

That's terrible customer support. I totally agree to the fact that without proper customer care, no company can survive in the market even if they have the best product in the market. I hope people at GM takes a not of issues like before it spoils the brand as a whole.
 
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