Dvorak almost says something clever

[Christopher Browne]

On Thu, May 8, 2008 at 10:17 PM, Ian Petersen <ispeters-Re5JQEeQqe8AvxtiuMwx3w at public.gmane.org> wrote:
> On Wed, May 7, 2008 at 10:44 AM, William Park <opengeometry-FFYn/CNdgSA at public.gmane.org> wrote:
>  >  But, that doesn't explain VW, Toyota, or Honda.  I think, GM/Ford simply
>  >  build cars that people don't want to buy, and then blame their
>  >  competitions for selling better cars.
>
>  I don't know about VW, but Toyota and Honda have managed to avoid the
>  unionization of their workers and I always thought that was a big
>  financial benefit for them.  I can't cite any sources, but my
>  understanding is that the big American car makers take home a couple
>  of hundred dollars per vehicle for the entry-level cars, whereas the
>  Japanese companies take home several hundred to a thousand, and I've
>  been told the difference basically comes down to the unions.  I don't
>  think Ford has a problem selling cars, either--I mean, didn't Toyota
>  only _just_ surpass them in the sales numbers?  If that's true, then
>  _somebody_ wants to buy what Ford is selling.

In Japan, the auto makers have an environment where the "salarymen"
are prepared to put up with fairly preposterous hours, and the
country's economy has gone through convulsions over the last few years
over the fact that they have, in effect, been continually on a sort of
economic "war footing" for many years.

As you commented, the Japanese companies, when active in North
America, indeed have avoided unionization. Fitting in very well is the
matter that their operations are way too young for their pension plans
to have become "tails wagging the dogs."  *Certainly* that's the case
in North America, where operations are little over 20 years old, and
really, their growth to prominence didn't occur until the '70s, so
there's not THAT much "costly legacy" even in Japan.

Volkswagen has always been extremely active in Europe, a bigger market
than the US, and the rules there are different enough that I don't
think their success (and sometimes lack thereof) can be explained by
the North American form of unionization.
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