June 11, 2007

What others are saying  . . .
GM’s message on Chevrolet
In an interview with Automotive News, GM’s Mark LaNeve said he wants to push Chevrolet cars as a "smart choice" offering a better price than their Asian rivals - and comparable quality, too.

"You're paying a premium" with Japanese cars, LaNeve said. "You're not getting better quality, you're not getting better performance, you're not getting better fuel economy - you're just paying a premium. We have got to get that communicated."–Source: Automotive News, June 4,
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Then and Now
Most researched vehicles
Edmunds.com, the car-shopping site, says the Prius rose from No. 45 on the list of top 50 most researched vehicles in December to No. 6 in May. (The No. 1 most researched model? The Honda Civic.) The highest-ranked Detroit brand model in May 2007 was the GMC Acadia, at No. 14. The Acadia is a new seven passenger crossover wagon that can substitute for a large SUV in terms of carrying people and their stuff.—Source: The Wall Street Journal, June 4, 2007
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What others are saying . . .
Many companies face health care challenges
“AT&T is one of the largest private health care providers in the nation, covering more than 1.2 million people and spending more than $5.5 billion annually. While it is our desire to continue to provide these benefits to our employees and retirees, we find ourselves in an industry where competitive pressures may threaten our ability to do that. Our competitors typically do not provide this same comprehensive benefits coverage that is almost entirely subsidized by the employer to their active employees and are even less likely to provide health coverage to their retirees. This puts AT&T at a distinct cost disadvantage at a time where speed and efficiency is critical to the nation’s broadband deployment.”-- Source: Susan M. Colburn, V.P. of Benefits, AT&T, Before the House Energy & Commerce Subcommittee on Health, April 25, 2007
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A look at the competition
VW and globalization
On the surface, globalization is about as popular in Germany as cheap imported beer.

Yet, by many measures, Germany has benefited as much from globalization and free trade as anywhere on the planet. It remains the world's largest exporter, recording a trade surplus of more than $190 billion in 2005.

In Wolfsburg, the home of Volkswagen, Europe's largest automaker is ramping up production of its best-selling car of all time, the Golf, with many of the new cars headed for markets beyond Germany's borders. The company expects to earn a pretax profit of more than $6 billion this year, overcoming a shakeout in the global marketplace that has devastated the U.S. auto industry.

"The mood is good these days," said Hartmut Meine, a district manager for IG Metall, the metalworkers union that represents 97 percent of Volkswagen's German employees. "There are of course political figures who say globalization is entirely negative. We have a more nuanced view."

The sunny days stand in contrast to two years ago, when fears of globalization were riding high in Wolfsburg, a company town where more than half the labor pool is employed by Volkswagen or its suppliers.

Volkswagen has signed a pact with its unions that guarantees no further job cuts in Germany until at least 2011, in exchange for wage freezes and longer workweeks. But the long-term employment picture is still hazy as the company increasingly produces its cars elsewhere in the world.

Economists said it is inevitable that production jobs will be transferred to countries such as Slovakia, where Volkswagen already produces more than 200,000 cars a year, relying on workers who earn 80 percent less than their German counterparts. The economists also noted that technological changes would bring increased automation, phasing out still more jobs.

Matthias Busse, a researcher with the Hamburg Institute of International Economics, warned that Germany's high wage scales and generous unemployment benefits would continue to hamper its competitiveness.

"We cannot blame globalization for all our economic problems," Busse said.–Washington Post, June 5, 2007
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What others are saying  . . .
Will GM ever make money again?
When General Motors shareholders gather for their annual meeting, the big question could be whether the automaker can ever make money again in North America.

GM has cut more than $7 billion in annual costs, shed more than 34,000 hourly workers and has rolled out more than 20 new models since November of 2005 in an effort to regain sales lost to Asian competitors. Although it made a $62 million net profit in the first quarter, the company still lost an adjusted $85 million on its North American operations.

But Mark LaNeve, GM's vice president of North American sales, service and marketing, says he's confident that the company can turn a profit in North America, despite a shrinking market and unrelenting competition.

"We can certainly generate good returns for our shareholders, though there's more work to do on the cost side ... and revenue side," he said in an interview with The Associated Press.

As evidence of improvement, he pointed to internal surveys that showed the top reason people bought a GM vehicle in 2004 was for rebates and other incentives. Yet in the first quarter of this year, incentives weren't in the top five. LaNeve says the top five were: design, value, warranty, dependability and fuel economy.

"We are really making progress in how our customers are viewing our brands, products and ultimately GM," he said. –Source: The Associated Press, June 4, 2007
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