Ford, Mercury, Lincoln, VW

[jerrym3]

According to a book I'm reading on the rise and fall of the US auto industry (Crash Course), in 1948, in a meeting with British army officials in Germany, Henry Ford II was offered, at no charge, a partially burned out factory that made small, ugly cars.

The company making the cars was a part of the deal. Henry turned down owning VW, which, according to the book, is now worth more than the Detroit big 3 combined.

[LIGHTNIN1]

Interesting.Did the book explain the reason for him turning this down or just make this statement? I can see where he might not have seen the future of those cars at the time,since they were making large cars.

[bob6364]

Ford buys and sells companies so often ...they would have sold it off long ago.

[jerrym3]

He was advised that the deal wasn't good for Ford.

I'm about halfway through with the book, and the stupidity and stubborness of management and the unions is unbelievable.

Ever heard of the "job bank" clause in the UAW contract?

Workers let go or laid off collected 95% of their pay. The perk was so good, that the senior workers, who were not supposed to be laid off due to their seniority, actually bumped the junior employees so that they, the senior workers, could stay at home and collect.

I don't know if this practice still exists, but it boggles the mind.

Also, 30 years and out, regardless of age?

An 18 year old out of high school could work for the big 3, and retire at 48 with pension/benefits for life.

To make it even worse, all the union perks were also given to management so that they wouldn't feel left behind.

Money that could have, and should have, gone into product development went into union/mgt perks and senior mgt bonuses.

Product planning?

The companies needed the income to pay for the perks, and the SUVs/trucks offered higher profits, so the emphasis went towards those vehicles, making cars the unwanted stepchild. It seems that mgt felt that cheap gas would continue, and SUVs/trucks would continue to sell.

The union forced the companies to buy parts from union run companies at higher costs. Lower cost, non union suppliers were left out.

Unbelievable read.

[bob6364]

I don't think i could read that book ...sounds like I would be seriously pissed off afterwards....