Another Lousy Delphi Rumor

[truth2power]

I'm not a big fan of posting the crazy rumors that come my way, but this one is from a decent source:

I've heard that the intention is to sell nexteer to a  chinese firm next year and move ops to china.  I guess this isn't terribly surprising, but so much for concessions keeping jobs secure.  With everything workers and retirees have given up- I don't think it will ever be enough.  They will always want more, and end up sending production overseas in the end, anyway.

[Jack]

This comes as no surprise. I believe GM will no longer manufacture autos in the U.S. much after 2015. Everyone knows they will not pay back the taxpayers the $50 plus billion dollars they sucked out of them. Rememeber they own the Gov't not the working class people. Ford is on track to exit the U.S. also. As for Chrysler their a dead company as they are less than a shell of their former self.

[Jack]

Here's an example of what I mean.

Chrysler will be American on outside, lots of 'Fiat' on inside
Charles Child
Automotive News
November 4, 2009 - 3:21 pm ET

DETROIT -- Chrysler Group's new vehicles will be American on the outside with a lot of Fiat on the inside.



In a wide-ranging presentation today, Chrysler executives unveiled a two-pronged strategy for the next five years. The U.S. automaker will rework many current vehicles next year while working on new vehicles with Fiat powertrains and platforms for the following few years.

Chrysler's dismal U.S. sales in October -- down 30 percent, for a 22nd straight month of decline -- underscored the urgency to improve the group's vehicles.

"There is no 'business as usual' at Chrysler," said Chairman Bob Kidder. "There is an incredible commitment and energy for change."

Here are some product highlights unveiled so far in a scheduled seven-hour presentation that began this morning:

In 2012-2013, the Dodge car brand plans:

• A new vehicle for North America in the C segment, which encompasses cars such as the Ford Focus. The car would be based on a Fiat platform.

• A hatchback smaller than the C vehicle, imported from a Fiat factory.

• A new sedan on a Fiat platform to replace the Avenger sedan.
 
New Dodge crossover

In the meantime, Dodge plans a full-sized seven-passenger crossover for the fourth quarter of 2010. The brand also plans updates next year for the Avenger, Journey crossover, Caravan minivan and Charger muscle car.

In addition, production of the Dodge Viper will end next summer, and an unnamed sports car will be added in 2012.

The Dodge brand will pursue a new lifestyle mission, de-emphasizing its traditional pitch to performance-minded males.

This leaves the new Ram truck brand to build a brawny image for pickup and work-vehicle enthusiasts. The Ram might even produce a heavy-duty 18-wheeler, said Ram brand CEO Fred Diaz.

But the Chrysler Group's larger challenge in the coming years is to meet the federal fuel economy standard of 35.5 mpg for the 2016 model year. That's where Fiat engines and powertrains come in.

Chrysler will use a Fiat diesel engine along with a 1.4-liter inline four-cylinder. The inline-four will appear first in the U.S. version of the Fiat 500 in the fourth quarter of 2010.

Chrysler will align its engineering organization to Fiat Group, making the most of common platforms, systems and components between the two companies, said Scott Kunselman, senior vice president of Chrysler Group engineering.
 
Shared platforms

By 2014, Chrysler will share three platforms with Fiat, increasing Chrysler's average models per platform from about two in 2010 to three in 2014. During that period, average volume per platform will increase to 305,000 units from 125,000. In the process, four platforms will be consolidated, Kunselman said.

While Chrysler's task ahead is huge, CEO Sergio Marchionne tried to allay fears about the company's finances.

Chrysler has improved its cash position since Fiat S.p.A. took the company out of bankruptcy in June, said Marchionne, who also is CEO of Fiat.

"Some of you have been surmising we're burning through cash," he told the assembled analysts and reporters. "This is not true."

The company had $5.7 billion in cash on hand at the end of September, up from $4 billion when Fiat took over in June.

 
http://www.autonews.com/article/20091104/ANA02/911049973/1250

[wishbone]

And it wont just be G.M. doing it either
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2009/09/25/financial/f013617D22.DTL&type=autos#ixzz0V8rmiJM8

A plan to shift a greater proportion of the struggling car-maker's production overseas is still being negotiated with US politicians, who have already lent GM $15.4bn (£10.18bn) in order to keep it afloat and safeguard its 90,000 US workers.

However, a spokesman for GM in Shanghai said it was "only a matter of time" before vehicles made in China are imported into the company's home market, in another blow to the US car industry.

After losing $6bn in the first quarter, GM has slashed its global production by 40pc, or 900,000 vehicles. Around 13 assembly plants will be affected by shutdowns in the US. The company has a June 1 deadline to complete a restructuring or follow Chrysler into Chapter 11 bankruptcy.

"The production quality here is the same as Luton in the UK or the US. We may not be fitting them with all the specifications but that does not mean we can't," he added.

"In a perfect world, you produce vehicles where you sell them. That's how it should be. But if it doesn't make sense economically to have two factories because you do not sell enough volume then it might make sense to have one location," he explained.

A 12-page dossier submitted to politicians in Washington suggests that the number of cars that GM manufactures in Mexico, China and South Korea and imported into the US will roughly double.

Currently the company imports the Chevrolet Aveo and Pontiac G3 from South Korea and the Saturn Vue and Chevrolet HHR sport utility vehicles from Mexico. The company could export small vehicles such as the Chevrolet Spark from China to the US.

However, the numbers of Chinese exports to the US are likely to be small.

"I don't believe that you are going to have a situation that you produce millions of cars in China and ship them to the US," he said. "If you produce a vehicle here and you have 50,000 or so in extra volume you might find another market that can sell them."

According to reports in China, GM will start shipping cars from Shanghai in 2011, with just over 17,000 being exported in the first year.

The move will be fiercely challenged by GM's unions. "GM should not be taking taxpayer's money simply to finance the outsourcing of jobs to other countries," said Alan Reuther, a lobbyist for the United Auto Workers union. He added that the number of extra cars that GM plans to import will be equal to the output of four US assembly plants, "the same number that GM plans to close".

Although GM is struggling globally, its operations in China continue to be a huge success. Sales in March rose by more than 50pc to 151,000 cars, compared to 172,000 in the US. GM has invested in research and design facilities alongside its Chinese partners and says it could design and produce a car wholly inside China within 12 to 24 months.

The company also conceded that China could eventually become a more important market than the US.

"We sell as many Buicks here as in the US so the question is not crazy or unrealistic," said the spokesman. "The US market continues to stagnate and move backwards. China will make 10.5m cars this year, an increase of 8.7pc. The US will make 9.5m. So it will be the first time that China builds more cars than the US, and three years ago, the US was building 17m cars a year."

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/transport/general-motors/5323274/GM-plans-to-export-cars-from-China-to-the-US.html