St Louis (Fenton)Chrysler plants

[bobwg]

They started tearing down the Chysler plants out side St Louis(Fenton) a few weeks ago a sign of the times? I remember when they built those plants back in the 1970 s . They tore down the Ford plant earlier this year

 

[Bruno]

Yea I delivered many loads to that plant before it closed. Sad thing is GM, Chrysler, and Ford are closing plants in the US and Canada and then moving them to Mexico, then they want us to buy their cars. Toyota, and Honda are building plants here and putting people to work. Then the big three can't understand why they are losing their share of car sales.

 

[greg334]

Dave, we haven't had a big three for about 10 years. Chrysler became a division of another company, which took the out of the big three.

GM has not changed and Ford is at least moving in the right direction. All are still losing market share and in the truest sense are not even domestic automakers.

 

[ebsprintin]

I probably took the last expedite load out of that plant. It was a sump pump dug out of the building's foundation that they were cannibalizing for another plant.

eb

 

[blizzard2014]

I probably took the last expedite load out of that plant. It was a sump pump dug out of the building's foundation that they were cannibalizing for another plant.

eb

I delivered an expedite load to the Ford plant in Norfolk VA, a few years back right before it closed. It's sad that all of these plants are closing, just means less business for us all.

 

[blizzard2014]

Never been to a Kia plant before! Do you have to beg them guys to unload you?

 

[greg334]

It's sad that all of these plants are closing, just means less business for us all.

Yes it is sad, but we can't blame the "foreign" companies who fill the gaps for the consumers, nor can we blame the people who supported the companies but the companies and the related entities who are complaining life is too hard and have to close the plants. I bought Dodge products for more than 30 years. My first van was made in the US but my last one is a foreign made van - made in Canada. My pickup is the same situation, my first three were made here, right in Warren but my last two were made in Mexico, again a foreign made vehicle.

There is no reason why we can't accept that Honda, Toyota and others who are from Foreign lands are actually helping us out by employing American workers, is there? They are as American as Chrysler and the new GM.

 

[blizzard2014]

Yes it is sad, but we can't blame the "foreign" companies who fill the gaps for the consumers, nor can we blame the people who supported the companies but the companies and the related entities who are complaining life is too hard and have to close the plants. I bought Dodge products for more than 30 years. My first van was made in the US but my last one is a foreign made van - made in Canada. My pickup is the same situation, my first three were made here, right in Warren but my last two were made in Mexico, again a foreign made vehicle.

There is no reason why we can't accept that Honda, Toyota and others who are from Foreign lands are actually helping us out by employing American workers, is there? They are as American as Chrysler and the new GM.

This is true Greg, but the foreign manufacturers are more efficient. They do not use expedited services as much as the wasteful American companies. This is good for the American auto worker, but not so good for the American expoediter.

 

[Oilerman1957]

Yes it is sad, but we can't blame the "foreign" companies who fill the gaps for the consumers, nor can we blame the people who supported the companies but the companies and the related entities who are complaining life is too hard and have to close the plants. I bought Dodge products for more than 30 years. My first van was made in the US but my last one is a foreign made van - made in Canada. My pickup is the same situation, my first three were made here, right in Warren but my last two were made in Mexico, again a foreign made vehicle.

There is no reason why we can't accept that Honda, Toyota and others who are from Foreign lands are actually helping us out by employing American workers, is there? They are as American as Chrysler and the new GM.

Greg, see its false rumors like that that make people believe its true.

First off, GM, Ford, and Chrysler still build 60 to 65% of the cars they sell here in the USA.

Second, Honda, Toyota, and so on, only build 30 to 35 % of what they sell here do they build here, so no, they arent as Americen as the so called big 3.

 

[greg334]

This is true Greg, but the foreign manufacturers are more efficient. They do not use expedited services as much as the wasteful American companies. This is good for the American auto worker, but not so good for the American expoediter.

That is very true, but they do use the service.

The expediter has changed or evolved to a point, many smaller companies still seem to chase the auto freight exclusively and miss out a lot of opportunities. OVM said Diversify and many do.

As of this week, I can't consider myself an expediter, I have regular runs which have nothing to do with time sensitive freight, and haven't had much of that except for the paper routes (magazines and newsprint) work I did earlier this year. The same seems to hold true for a lot of the work another company has been giving to their contractors, it comes from another part of the company and the dispatchers don't know anything so they say it is all the same - got to get there now.

Even though I am against GM and Chrysler getting a dime of tax money, I felt that they should be doing more to keep production within our borders and not worrying about overseas operations. GM specifically took a lot of money and shipped it over to China to expand plants there and Chrysler is now part of Fiat on our dime and they will expand into Mexico. We have to give away a lot of local revenue to keep any plant open and in the long run it does not make up for those losses to the local economy.

This move to consolidate engine plants and build one engine is a good one but again the local economy suffers and so does local employment because of the closed shop mentality.

 

[highway star]

They do not use expedited services as much as the wasteful American companies..

I'm not so sure about that. Every time I've been to Honda, Toyota, ect., there's been other expediters there. Every time. The Big 3, (yeah, I know Greg), don't expedite anywhere near the way they did in the '90s.

 

[Oilerman1957]

Not so fast...there buddy...

Honda builds more cars in U.S. than in Japan for first time ever

by Chris Shunk (RSS feed) on Aug 4th 2010 at 11:01AM


Honda is and always will be a Japan-based concern, but it appears that the automaker isn't playing favorites when it comes to vehicle production. The Detroit News reports that for the first time ever, Honda produced more vehicles in the United States than it did in its home market of Japan. In the second quarter, Honda built 236,819 in the States, compared to 236,559 in Japan. That's a mighty small edge for U.S. facilities, and for the year, Japanese factories are still ahead by 11,000 units, but this trend may continue in the future.

Analyst Jesse Toprak at TrueCar.com tells the DetNews that the key is that there is more growth opportunity in the U.S. than there is in Japan. In short, the market in Japan is shrinking while the U.S. appears to have already hit rock bottom in 2009 and is on the upswing. (We're also guessing that North American production is significantly cheaper than it is in Japan). Honda also expects more growth in emerging markets like China and the plan is to build vehicles where demand is strong. The automaker's global strategy appears to be working, as its $3.2 billion quarterly earnings is the strongest any automaker has announced so far for Q2, 2010.[/QU

Does that mean they build more then 35% of the cars they sell here they build here?

 

[Oilerman1957]

Also...as Greg said...


Restructured GM to build more cars overseas
When plan completed, number of new cars built abroad will roughly double
The U.S. government is pouring billions into GM in hopes of reviving the domestic economy, but when the automaker completes its restructuring, many of company's new jobs will be overseas.

I hope GM goes down the toilet....

You have to remember the GM now sells more cars in China then they do in the USA. so yes, they will build more cars overseas, now dont get me wrong here, Im all for autos being built here, as many as possible.

 

[Oilerman1957]

as long as they build them here...who caress where they sell them...

ALSO...

Toyota to build Corollas at revived Mississippi plant starting in late 2011
By AMY WILSON, AUTOMOTIVE NEWS on 6/17/2010


Toyota will resume construction on its Mississippi plant and start producing Corollas there late next year.

Toyota will resume construction on its mothballed plant in Mississippi and begin producing the Corolla there late next year.

“We first needed to fully utilize our existing facilities as the economy slowed,” Yoshimi Inaba, president of Toyota Motor North America, said in a statement Thursday. “Now it's time to fulfill Toyota's promise in Mississippi.”

The automaker said it will hire 2,000 workers “soon.”

Corolla output would mark another shift for the project. Toyota broke ground on the 2 million-square-foot factory near Tupelo in April 2007 with an initial plan to assemble Highlander SUVs in late 2009.

In mid-2008, Toyota said it would build the Prius hybrid instead after fuel prices soared and sales of large vehicles sagged. By December 2008, with the U.S. industry on the brink of its worst sales slump in nearly 30 years, Toyota suspended construction with the building's shell basically complete.

The planned Corolla production in fall of 2011 allows Toyota to get the $1.3 billion Mississippi project up and running faster than it could with any other product. Toyota moved 150,000 units of Corolla output to Japan this spring after closing its California plant, New United Motor Manufacturing Inc.

When the Mississippi plant opens, Toyota will bring those 150,000 Corollas back. At that point, almost all Corollas for North America will be produced on the continent. About 40,000 will continue to be shipped from Japan.

What? what I am saying is the big 3 build a higher percent here in the USA of what they sell in the USA then the foreign automakers do.

 

[BillChaffey]

I don't believe you will see any Union workers in any of the Foreign Plants. Which in my opinion is why they are more profitable. The non union worker doesn't have the luxury of sitting on his butt and telling any truck to "wait while I trim my nails" Knowing full well his\her Union will protect them.

 

[greg334]

Greg, see its false rumors like that that make people believe its true.

Don't know about those rumors, but what I am saying seems to be true - they come from your union.

First off, GM, Ford, and Chrysler still build 60 to 65% of the cars they sell here in the USA.

Yep that's right ... but 60 to 65% of the cars they sell is still not an indicator or my point. Why not 100%? What is the reasoning that GM or Ford would produce a car in Mexico or Canada? Those are both foreign countries the last time I checked.

Maybe if you look at it, you will find that the labor costs are less in Mexico than here.

BUT the bigger issue and the point is the gap which GM, Ford and Chrysler has caused by themselves with their arrogance, even though they are producing 60 to 65% of their home market production, their overall market share has dwindled, and that's where the gap is produced.

I can't blame Toyota for their aggressive marketing because GM fails to do the same, nor can I blame Honda to be more innovative in technology because Ford didn't want to invest in new ideas.

Second, Honda, Toyota, and so on, only build 30 to 35 % of what they sell here do they build here, so no, they arent as Americen as the so called big 3.

OK I can concede that their production is 30 to 35% of what is sold in the US market but nevertheless they are doing two things GM, Ford and Chrysler are not doing - expanding their workforce here to take advantage of what we have to offer and gaining market share.

BUT and there is always a but, the problem is that GM and Chrysler are not "American" companies but multi-national companies, especially Chrysler. Their operations span the globe and just because they have HQ's here, does not mean that they put a lot of importance on their home market. GM has again failed to understand the home market and has for the past year focused on China. Chrysler is managed by Fiat, and they are bringing Fiat products here, some are being built in Mexico - ironic when you think about it. Ford is a different case, it considers itself American, and is not managed by a foreign company nor is it expanding in a foreign country with US tax payers money. The Big Three died a long time ago and the term is so in the past.

 

[bobwg]

Unions are too powerful and corrupt in my opinion. They always want to look at company financial records when they are in talks for new contracts and complain about how much the company spends and pays the mangement. I wonder when was the last time they let independant accountants go thru their books and let the public see how they spend Union money and how much they pay the union thugs, oh sorry union leaders

 

[ebsprintin]

I delivered an expedite load to the Ford plant in Norfolk VA, a few years back right before it closed. It's sad that all of these plants are closing, just means less business for us all.

Another way to look at it is CUT THE DEAD WEIGHT. What comes back will probably be better. The newer places do tend to have better dock facilities.

eb

 

[greg334]

Another way to look at it is CUT THE DEAD WEIGHT. What comes back will probably be better. The newer places do tend to have better dock facilities.

eb

One of the issues with Ford trying to implement improved manufacturing and quality control has been the archaic "not my job" BS with the union. Their hands were tied because of this issue where Toyota said "we care going to change this" and they did.

 

[BillChaffey]

Foreign cars being built in the USA. Wall Street Journal 10\7\10
"In July Nissan said it would invest $600 million at two Mexican plants to enable them to build a series of small cars"