Incredible Demand for Auto-Related Jobs in the South

The south has a long dislike for all things Union. Being from the South I can tell you that she provides a stable work force and dedicated human beings. If they bond with the company they will stay to a bitter end or help climb to a remarkable defeat. The north has missed the mark of the workers of the south out producing and under selling them. That being said I still buy American and recently switched from GM to Ford - simple reason: price. Ford does have some problems (sight lines are terrible) but has been reliable and our 1990 Chevy (100,000 miles plus) is still being used as the back up second vehicle. What does the Big Three in Detroit need to do? First choice; come South otherwise compete or die. The government can't save them and the Southern workforce is large and ready to win this war.

L JONES - "Leaving these workers to fund there own retierment" Just out of curiosity, why *shouldn't* it be a person's responsibility to provide for their own retirement? Why should someone else be forced to pay for my life/lifestyle in those non-working years?

Has anyone noticed that the decline of the quality for Toyota and Honda (as well as many other imports), started when they moved their assembly plants to the US! You think maybe it has to do with the quality of the workers over anything else?

How about this. Call up the big 3 and tell them that if they accept taxpayer money you'll NEVER buy another car they make. I drive a little ford escort that is a great car because it was designed by mazda. The American automotive industry needs to be drastically restructured to be viable again. Chapter 11 Big 3. Time for change.

Simple mathematics really, when it costs $70.00 per person to assemble one of the big three and only $40.00 per person an hour to assembly a toyota or honda the big 3 will never be able to compete. The only way out is a painfull bankruptcy to get out from under all the horrible labor deals they got themselves into. Plus retooling for smaller more economical vehicles. Then and only then will they be able to compete. The days of super retirements funded by employers are over.

As the voice of a mechanic here. Alot of you are wrong about domestic cars. They are for the most part terrible. To this day, they still are. Import cars (exception being makes such as suzuki and kia) are by far more reliable than domestic. I don't care what the press says or how much weight they put on one reliability or recall issue, my experience carries more weight for me. If anyone would like to see lousy quality and reliability take one wheel off of a Dodge truck and then count all the different sockets you had to use (should only need one). My .02 cents.

I have worked for a new car dealership "ford" since 1981 the quality has really improved and i would put our any of our cars or trucks up against any foreign made vehicles on the market today.

We have had 5 Subaru Imprezas. One was wrecked in a head-on crash, but we survived OK. The others have been excellent cars; we've used them for business and pleasure on some good roads and on some horrible roads. They have stayed tight and reliable. Our daughter has a Hyundai Accent which has served her impressively well. Our prior experiences with "Big 3" vehicles were nothing short of awful. The "Big 3" should be left in the hands of the marketplace and the management and workers who drove the companies into the ditch. If the managers and workers are unwilling to take whatever steps are necessary to pull themselves out of the ditch, they should suffer whatever consequences ensue.

I Have been employeed by a Ford dealershap since 1982 they make a much better vehicle than they did even 10 years ago I know some of the vehicles are assembled in other countries IE Mexico but they are as good of vehicles as money can buy and it is an american company.

If Toyota's and Honda's are so much better, than why do the dealers have large buildings called service bays? I work in an auto parts store and every day we sell several parts for Toyota and Honda along with all manufactures

B. Scott...yes, there were sludge problems in some of the Toyota v-6's...and Toyota took care of them. I have a personal friend who's engine was PAID FOR BY TOYOTA with 105,000 miles because of this issue. I can't speak to the the other mfg's...but Toyota (well not being perfect) fixes their problems. THAT'S ALL YOU CAN ASK. Sometimes things happen...what I want to know is that it won't just be MY problem. You want to talk about truck problems, just look at Ford. They have bought WAY more trucks than that back in the past 5-6 years due to their horrific engines. One dealer alone had hundreds of them 2 years ago. Of course Ford only bought them back when they were about to get sued. Oh, and look at this about those Toyota trucks...sounds like once again Toyota is TAKING CARE OF THEIR CUSTOMERS.... It wasn't too long ago that Toyota announced they were going to extend the rust-perforation warranty on about 813,000 model-year 1995 to 2000 Tacoma pickups due to serious issues with corrosion of the frame in certain areas. This means that you could add 15 years onto the model year and, if you had problems, take it in to a dealer to have it looked at. If there is damage, which is possible if you live in an area where salt is frequently used on roads, Toyota will either repair or offer to repurchase your vehicle. This is where it gets interesting. No matter what condition your truck is in, Toyota will buy it back at 150% the KBB "excellent condition" price. I'll tell you straight up that is NOT the deal Ford offered. I DO NOT work for Toyota. I DO own a Tundra which I love (3rd one). I have owned all of the big 3 and everyone of them crapped on me at least once. So I gave up. I've also convinced my parents and brother to give up on the garbage the big 3 produces as well. Better built, better resale, higher quaility cars & trucks that they sand behind.

Wow ... is this a real dilemma or what? On one hand, companies must be allowed to fail or our system simply does not work. There has to be the "possibility" of failure if you expect to have sane management in charge of companies. History buffs understand me perfectly ... just look at the UK (and the rest of Europe) during the 60s and 70s. Nationalization (bailing out failing companies) is not the answer. It simply leads to far more pain down the road. On the other hand, no one wants to see the Big Three fail (not even me). To be perfectly honest, they have good management (for the most part) and they generally have very good products which are the equal of any competitor in the world. So what's the problem? It's two things and they both are killer. One ... the economy sucks resulting in an acute and unprecedented drop in commerce. Talk to anyone in the auto selling business and they will tell you these are bad, bad times ... no one has seen anything like it. Two ... legacy issues with labor. The twin hammers of retirement and health care problems amount to a huge (and unbearable) albatross around the neck of these companies. They will not survive unless these issues can be abated. So ... what's the solution? The only solution with a pray of a chance is to provide funding (loans) in conjunction with reorganization (Chapter 11 Bankruptcy?). Unless the Big Three can get out from under these legacy issues, then no "loan plan" has a chance of success. And yes, if the government is the loan provider, then customers would purchase from a technically bankrupt company.

American cars are better made now. I agree with an earlier post that Toyota's have become less reliable of late. I've owned 4 brand new Toyota's and every one of had brake problems before 40k miles. Also, one of the 4 cyl trucks I bot had major engine problems from day 1 that could never be resolved. It forced me to use premium gas the entire time I owned it. I think the US needs to stop the big 3 from failing because of a few reasons: 3 million jobs will be lost if they don't, the car manufacturing base needs to be alive and well in case we need lots of tanks and trucks for the next big big war. And, the bailout is really small compared to the fricking robbery that the Wall Street banks, Aig and FNMA have been able to get away with.

I agree L Jones,, Here,s a some info that might be interesting to the ill informed....1. Google Nissan 2.5 engine reliability, this engine is probably in the majority of Nissans for the past 8 years, it has been a disaster(amazingly little press on it)2.Google Toyota sludge problems(if this was Ford the press would be all over it)3.Google Honda auto transmission problems (another press secret)and their is much more.Some of my experience.. Plymouth Reliant 2.2, Chev Celebrity 2.5, Ford Escort 1.9,Mercury Sable 3.0 Duratec, Ford Ranger 3.0 Vulcan, Ford Ranger 2.3 Duratec, these vehicles are indestructable with regular oil changes.Someone once told me if you follow the import maintenance schedule and keep track of the bills you,d be shocked what that car cost you after 5 years,too bad the maintenance routine can do little to stop them from rusting to pieces.

JMB By chance do you work for a government or higher learning establishment? Sane Person comments about reliabilty are behind the times, just look at a JD Powers report. It upsets me that Toyota has had major reliabilty problems that have been kept under the radar by the Company and the press. A Toyota dealer 20 miles from us has over 70 (1999 to 2003 model year) used trucks in lockup that is a result of a silent buy back program by the Toyota because these vehicles have rusted to the point they are unsafe to drive. If a domestic automaker had done that the press would be all over it Why are these foreign manufacturers receiving the tax breaks to build in the US. Just ask one of the Honda, Toyota, Nissan workers who have retired from these companies what kind of benefits they have. I believe you will be hard pressed to find one. Leaving these workers to fund there own retierment You probably would not have a problem bailing out 1,000' of municipalities that are sitting on a bigger time bomb with unfunded retierment pensions that rivel even the big three. When we purchase from an American manufacturer the profit goes to the US company. Automakers are one of the largest R & D companies in the world. Each us Auto manufacturer supports over 35 jobs directly and indirectly. As far as the wages are concerened how many people earning $9.00 to 13.00 per hour can afford a new car much less live.

B Scott Look closely around your own house - how many "offshore" products do you own. We are indeed in a global economy. Ford, GM and Chrysler build as many cars, if not more, in Canada and Mexico as they do here in the U.S. Technically they are "foreign" cars. I live in the heart of Big 3 country - Lansing Michigan and have made the choice to drive import cars for personal reasons. BTW - when you drive around here, not every car on the road belongs to the Big 3, even in Michigan. Get over yourself and grow up - it's a whole new world. You may just enjoy living in it.

My garage houses a Toyota Avalon, made in the USA, which was purchased to replace a Dodge Intrepid, made in Canada. The Dodge was a frequent visitor to the dealership, usually with maintenance and repairs costing over $500 per visit. The Avalon has been far more dependable. The other vehicle in our garage is a six year old Honda Odyssey, also made in the USA, which has not had anything other than routine maintenance. Buying anything, including automobiles, should be about getting value, and "foreign" nameplates often represent value. Domestic automakers are global companies also, and buying one of their vehicles does not necessarily create jobs of financial security for our citizens, unless one counts the employees in the service department.

B Scott; If GM/Ford/DCX don't buy American why should I? GM has been outsourcing their parts and tooling suppliers to China for years. So if you think your "American" car is really "American" you're fooling yourself. I would guess that a Honda Accord or the Toyota Camry would have the same or in some cases more North American content than GM/Ford/DCX vehicles.

Why would any "sane" person buy a foreign vehicle,I hear all the complaints about the outsourcing of jobs, the deindustrializing of America, high unemployment and then all the crybabies go out and buy foreign.I am starting to think that someone has put something in Americas drinking water.

It's not about the deire to work there,it's about the fact that there is no place else hiring.Look at your own Web site here,as to the amount of new layoffs listed all most hourly,now draw your own conclusions. PS It is a sign of the times.