SteveMeister said:
How about "
I am
chairman
of
Chrysler
Corporation,
America" for cool automotive acronyms
Lee has made too much already saving companies. While I don't know the detailed problems of the other companies. I can tell you Ford's in detail
1. Newer designs. Our cars look old. Bill Ford sent something out that said no more dull cars. If that were to become fact. Crown Vic might just become a fleet car or police car
2. Too many chiefs, not enough indians. Management side is too fat. They are in a 5 year process of purging 10,500 salaried employees
3. The Big 3 having to pay pensions versus the Japanese that don't. I'm an hourly worker, but I understand that detriment to their business
4. Ford is revamping the way they allow medical release from work. They are becoming much more strict with it. People would file what you would call FMLA, and just take off whenever. This lead to the changes in how much Ford will pay for medicine. From what I can observe, their rule change has stopped a lot of abusing it
5. The old guard/Nepotism. First off, I must say, I'm a second generation worker here. I don't hold any decision making positions though. A lot of people who are brought into management this way, and they are also very under-prepared for the road ahead.
6. People need to retire. This goes for both hourly and salaried. I'll start with hourly first. I can understand where they are coming from, on a personal level. However, that is to an extent. I should never have to get a piece of someone's 45th anniversary cake.
45 years!?!?!?! That is way too fuckin long. People just hang around until they die. Ford has become the aggressor with buyouts though. Salaried, same way, but also, they haven't adapted their way of thinking to suit the current economic climate. What worked in the 80's won't work now.
7. Public perception. All big 3 companies quality has caught up with, or even exceeded their foreign counterparts, but most don't know that.
8. Fixing the fucked up mess Jac Nasser left. Buying Land Rover and Volvo hasn't panned out yet, but it's working. The Five Hundred is basically a Volvo car rebranded as a car. Other cars are going to start sharing the same parts for cheaper manufacturing soon.