WHY WON’T THE MEDIA REPORT THESE AUTO NUMBERS?
The news is full of reports about Toyota’s 37% drop in auto sales with some in the media saying GM only had a 31% drop.
GM and Toyota make pretty much the same amount of cars on an annual basis.
Here is what few are saying:
Whereas both GM and Toyota make the same number of cars, why is it that:
GM had 3.3 BILLION DOLLARS for ONE quarter.
Toyota had a 1.1 BILLION DOLLAR loss for TWO quarters.
I don’t have to draw you a picture of what I mean, do I?
I’m sure the UAW is not interested in talking about this, either.
Speaking of the UAW, here’s a review of a 1953 Studebaker by Tom Cahill of Mechanix Illustrated.
The big complaint I’ve been hearing about the new Studies was not on their looks but on the way they are finished. This is a factory and dealer fault that does not take away from the car’s over-all appearance nor the stability of the engine.
On the half dozen or more new Studies I have examined, little filings like the chrome stripping along the windows and body look as though they had been put on by reform school delinquents. The doors on several were hung badly and the general finish of the trim left much to be desired. Actually, most of these finish faults could have been corrected by the dealer before being delivered, as proven by Bill Frick.
[........]
On several other makes of cars I have examined lately, I have found more and more evidence of sloppy work and there have been several instances of what could only be looked on as malicious sabotage by some of Walter Reuther’s little cherubs. Coke bottles walled up inside the body shell of a deluxe, high-priced automobile so that they rattle every time the car hits a bump. A handful of finishing screws or nuts dropped inside the door panels by some goon. Screws deliberately piercing the wiring, thereby causing short circuits inside the car. From all I can learn, Walter Reuther is a pretty square Joe but I think the time has come when he should go to work and weed out the jerks in his organization who are not only double-crossing the factory but are rooking the buyer and thus Reuther’s UAW-CIO as well. If Reuther is on the level, he’ll take strong measures to stamp out that sort of thing. Don’t say it doesn’t exist, Walt, because I’ve seen too much of it. Remember, all you need to ruin the reputation of a thousand honest workmen is one or two punks in every factory.
We’ve been subjected by this sort of “UAW sabotage” for over 50 years.
I’d say the chickens have finally come home to roost.
