I'd like to also add that the GM plant in Janesville, WI (my hometown) is still closed, with thousands out of work in that area still. Instead of helping those in America get their jobs back, GM is turning to Australia to build their cars. I don't understand why. It makes me mad.
Maybe someone can explain to me why GM feels the need to ignore their plants that are closed in America, to help a plant in Australia... ??
The answer is simple......Janesville is an old, antiquated plant, that even with millions in modernization would not be efficient to operate with UAW labor, and state-of-the-art assembly techniques........
I have no idea what the Australian assembly plant looks like, but I would imagine that after evaluation, it is more efficient than a US facility, short of building a new one. You must further couple this with the fact that Wisconsin is second only to Illinois in the midwest as being "anti-business", through local regulation, taxes, and other impediments.
Of further note, shipping from overseas is no longer the cost impediment that it used to be.......using modern "Ro-Ro" (roll on - roll off) vessels and techniques, it only adds about $290 to the cost of a vehicle to build it anywhere in the world. It doesn't take much cost savings in efficiency or labor to make that equation logical.
I further feel that even though the Elizabeth plant is likely union, pay levels, benefits, and work rules are probably far less stringent than in a domestic environment. The outlier in the equation is also currency stability, and right now Australia's looks a hell of a lot better than ours for the short-term. You are aware that Holden, PTY is wholly owned by GM (or at least it used to be).
If GM is to ultimately survive, they will have to outsource more manufacturing, as it simply is no longer a good investment to do it in the US, particularly within the guidlines their political masters (and owners) demand.
If GM had the cash (and the flexibility) to invest in completely new assembly facilities in "right-to-work" states in the south and midwest, as most of the imports do, the picture would look much different, but they simply don't have the capital, or the management flexibility, with members of the Obama administration and the UAW sitting on their board of directors.
If I were a betting man, I'd wager that GM will likely go belly-up again within the next six to eight years, unless two things happen........first (and most important), they have to buy out all government investment, loans, and subsidies (accompanied by tossing the government and union leeches out of their management structure) , and second, find a CEO that really knows something about the auto industry.........neither of these are very likely to happen.
doc
