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Why Detroit Needs a Bailout


Skid Vicious

Well-Known Member
Joined
Dec 9, 2008
Messages
920
Vehicle Year
1993
Transmission
Manual
A Japanese company (Toyota) and an American company (Ford Motors) decided to
have a canoe race on the Missouri River. Both teams practiced long and hard
to reach their peak performance before the race.

On the big day, the Japanese won by a mile

The Americans, very discouraged and depressed, decided to investigate the
reason for the crushing defeat. A management team made up of senior
management was formed to investigate and recommend appropriate action.

Their conclusion was the Japanese had 8 people paddling and 1 person
steering, while the American team had 7 people steering and 2 people
paddling.

Feeling a deeper study was in order, American management hired a consulting
company and paid them a large amount of money for a second opinion.

They advised, of course, that too many people were steering the boat, while
not enough people were paddling.

Not sure of how to utilize that information, but wanting to prevent another
loss to the Japanese, the paddling team's management structure was totally
reorganized to 4 steering supervisors, 2 area steering superintendents and 1
assistant superintendent steering manager.

They also implemented a new performance system that would give the 2 people
paddling the boat greater incentive to work harder. It was called the
'Rowing Team Quality First Program,' with meetings, dinners and free pens
for the paddlers. There was discussion of getting new paddles, canoes and
other equipment, extra vacation days for practices, and bonuses. The pension
program was trimmed to 'equal the competition' and some of the resultant
savings were channeled into morale boosting programs and teamwork posters.

The next year the Japanese won by two miles.

Humiliated, the American management laid off one paddler, halted development
of a new canoe, sold all the paddles, and canceled all capital investments
for new equipment. The money saved was distributed to the Senior Executives
as bonuses.

The next year, try as he might, the lone designated paddler was unable to
even finish the race (having no paddles), so he was laid off for
unacceptable performance, all canoe equipment was sold and the next year's
racing team was out-sourced to India.

Sadly, the End.

Here's something else to think about: Ford has spent the last thirty years
moving all its factories out of the US, claiming they can't make money
paying American wages.

TOYOTA has spent the last thirty years building more than a dozen plants
inside the US. The last quarter's results:

TOYOTA makes 4 billion in profits while Ford racks up 9 billion in losses.

Ford folks are still scratching their heads, and collecting bonuses...

IF THIS WEREN'T SO TRUE IT MIGHT BE FUNNY
 
Yeah, sad but true...I saw this the other day someone sent it to me...

I was thinking...gee, Ford could have put a 2.3T in the canoe, dressed it up to look like a paddler...and won the race...with enough time to go back and tow the others to the finish line...but, unfortunately...the 2.3T was scrapped years ago...(hint, hint)...
 
The truth is often not liked.
 
Hey wait, there is no mention of how the UAW is keeping them from winning the race. LOL
 
lmfao I like cried so true. sad though money and oil is what makes this sad world go round :P I mean id be fine with horse n buggy I mean come on ud see kids wit huge ass rims on a buggy ud lol irl :P
 
"Ford has spent the last thirty years moving all its factories out of the US"

Well, I guess you can say they failed at that, too. See this page:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Ford_factories

Of the Ford plants that make parts for North American market cars, the overwhelming majority or them are in the United States. I do not include the plants that make vehicles for markets outside of North America, because it just makes sense to make vehicles where you sell them.
 
currently I would say that is gm or chrysler more than ford
+1. Ford hasn't accepted any gov't bailout money, although they have asked for an emergency line of credit if our economy continues to decline. Several weeks ago I read that Ford expects to see profits again in 2010 or 2011.
 
Here's something else to think about.

For whatever reason, Americans (and Canadians too) are willing to buy cars made from *wherever* in the world.

Go to just about any other countries, and basically, you won't see very many "American" cars on the roads there.

Half the reason for Japanese, Korean, German etc. car manufacturers placing plants in North America is that basically they were starting to become afraid that governments over here would start putting limits on imports.

And another thing, remember a few years ago when Ford was flush with cash? What did they do? They went out and purchased Jaguar, Land Rover and a whole bunch of other stuff that they really didn't need. And then what did they do when the cash dried up? They got rid of a lot of the companies that they had bought!

And not only them; GM did the same thing.

Simplistic I know, but North American (read: domestic) car manufacturers have gotten so far away from their roots that old Henry Ford must be rolling over in his grave.

I bought a domestic truck because I believe it still represents the best value for the money. As well, cost of parts is still reasonable, and I can do a lot of the work/maintenance myself.

Not to knock the imports, because they do produce a lot of good machinery - just that I prefer to support domestic.
 
That's kind of how america works. Seven people standing around telling everyone what needs to be done but only two of them actually stand up and do something. (if that)

If America want's to survive as a functional country (let alone a world power) we need to change this attitude.
 
Simplistic I know, but North American (read: domestic) car manufacturers have gotten so far away from their roots that old Henry Ford must be rolling over in his grave.QUOTE]

I think Ford is trying to get back to their roots. Or sticking to the only truck that has pulled the company for so long. Too bad GM is not doing the same.

Speaking of GM, I was reading the news paper today about GM being sued by consumers for not disclosing information about a P/S issue that GM did know about. It relates to the P/S pump also being used for the brake booster. At very low speeds while using the brakes, steering becomes very diffcult.
 
Hydroboost brakes? It's much better than vacuum, it has an accumulator that stores lots of extra brake pushes if the engine quits, and it's on more than just GM. And it's a damn good system.

They don't have to tell you how it works! Just drive it and shut the hell up.
 

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