The UAW went on strike today at General Motors. I feel deeply for the families and hope that it is resolved soon. But at the same time I can't help feeling it is much too late and over the wrong things. The union should be protesting the company's overall strategy and the quality of the cars it has delivered to the American customer over the last 30 years.
I remember in the 1980s looking at GM cars and wondering what they were thinking. A Cadillac that looked exactly like a Chevrolate but that cost $20,000 more? Come on.
To some degree GM never recovered from those bean counting days and it is still paying the price. Toyota, Honda, Mercedes, BMW have all done well at its expense.
I keep waiting for GM to wake up and realize that only high quality, affordable cars are going to make a difference. Cadillac has gotten a bit better it seems, and they seem to have some popular cross-over vehicles. But how can you take a car company seriously that still sells the horrendously ugly Grand Prix?
And how can I feel any sympathy for a company that built bigger and bigger gas hogs while the Japanese concentrated on both gas hogging SUVs and small fuel efficient hybrids. It always seems that Toyota and the foreign companies are two steps ahead.
I hope the strike is resolved but I really don't see a bright future for GM - or Ford and Chrysler for that matter. American car companies can't seem to build cars anymore.
It's a shame and it will impact a lot of people.
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UAW Head Ron Gettelfinger Blames High Gas Prices for Big Three Problems - Give Me A Break by Sam Cass - Nov 16, 2008
The New Fiat 500 Gets Rave Reviews by Canuck - Jul 13, 2007
UAW Officers Approve GM Contract by Sam Cass - Sep 29, 2007
UAW Versus Chrysler/Cerberus by David Walsh - Oct 10, 2007.
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