Article: Tiny Aveo a big UAW challenge - workers' prez doubting profitability

(First: Why the *&% do they always insist on calling the Aveo "tiny"??? Does every $%&% headline editor drive a Suburban!??)

Here's the issue in a nut shell:

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http://www.freep.com/graphics/todayspaper24.png

"I don't know if it is a fair expectation to be able to get the Aveo to profitability," the UAW president told the Free Press."

Last year, GM agreed to build the Aveo in Michigan instead of importing it from a lower-wage country in exchange for UAW concessions ahead of its bankruptcy.

The car will launch in mid-2011 as the smallest assembled in the U.S. -- making it the most intense test of Detroit automakers' abilities to build small cars profitably in their home country with union labor.

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Read the full article: http://www.freep.com/article/20100923/B ... -challenge

Kind of sucks for the production workers' boss man to be raining on GM's parade before the first float has even left the staging area, no?

Sounds like ...

1) He's p i s s s e d that labour concessions were made in the heart of GM's bankruptcy meltdown, and he wasn't at the table to get his 2 cents in

plus...

2) He's resentful that some of the fat profit margin vehicles (SUV's and pickups) are currently assembled in Mexico.

Lots of comments on the article here:

http://www.freep.com/comments/article/2 ... -challenge

Sad to say, but I think its the first sign that the american built aveo will be poor quality compared to it korean built predecessor.

Agreed. When the top worker is betting against his own horse before it's even left the gate = bad omen.

This doesnt sound good at all!

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Originally Posted by petrified.rabbit

Sad to say, but I think its the first sign that the american built aveo will be poor quality compared to it korean built predecessor.

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I'm not 100% sure of the quality effect - assuming the workers themselves care about it. The Orion facility won top quality awards for one of the products they made. But that was a few years ago (Olds 98, I think?), so who knows how much churn they've had in management & production staff since then.

I thought they were going to retool the closed GM facility in Ohio that produced the Chevy Trail Blazer and GMC Envoy.

For the Aveo? Nope. Orion Assembly in Lake Orion, Michigan.

See: viewtopic.php?f=50&t=28059

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Originally Posted by MetroMPG

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Originally Posted by petrified.rabbit

Sad to say, but I think its the first sign that the american built aveo will be poor quality compared to it korean built predecessor.

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I'm not 100% sure of the quality effect - assuming the workers themselves care about it. The Orion facility won top quality awards for one of the products they made. But that was a few years ago (Olds 98, I think?), so who knows how much churn they've had in management & production staff since then.

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See i was already comparing the aveo to the cobalt in fit etc. I saw a "report" that stated as far as "material" costs go the cobalt was the same price or possibly cheaper than the aveo, And the difference in sticker price was all manufacturing (or labor time). The aveo has a higher quality feel or parts, better gaps, nicer ride in my opinion, and even the base cobalt has a cheap 1980s raw plastic interior in it. So from that i already assumed the american version would be more cobalt like. An now you have a bunch of people who used to make "better" cars being put to work on gms entry level car and they arent excited about it, will just make it worse imho. Ive seen what the factory workers have done at the cavalier plant..

[quote=petrified.rabbit]

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Originally Posted by MetroMPG

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Originally Posted by "petrified.rabbit":1o8mc7zg

Sad to say, but I think its the first sign that the american built aveo will be poor quality compared to it korean built predecessor.

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I'm not 100% sure of the quality effect - assuming the workers themselves care about it. The Orion facility won top quality awards for one of the products they made. But that was a few years ago (Olds 98, I think?), so who knows how much churn they've had in management & production staff since then.

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See i was already comparing the aveo to the cobalt in fit etc. I saw a "report" that stated as far as "material" costs go the cobalt was the same price or possibly cheaper than the aveo, And the difference in sticker price was all manufacturing (or labor time). The aveo has a higher quality feel or parts, better gaps, nicer ride in my opinion, and even the base cobalt has a cheap 1980s raw plastic interior in it. So from that i already assumed the american version would be more cobalt like. An now you have a bunch of people who used to make "better" cars being put to work on gms entry level car and they arent excited about it, will just make it worse imho. Ive seen what the factory workers have done at the cavalier plant..[/quote:1o8mc7zg]

They'll be happy to work. I think that's enough incentive to do it right. BUT if you have wako union president that tells you it won't work, then the project might be doomed from the start.

Yea, I'd rather see the aveo stay in korea at this point. That guy needs fired, and someone with a more positive line of thought put into place. Innovation is what will make the car profitable, not bitching and whining.