On the one hand they have kept their home market as a protected sanctuary, where they often garner superrich profits.
GM makes: Cadillac, Saab, Hummer, Corvette and Chevy SUVs.
Ford Japan: Mustang and SUVs.
Chrysler: PT Cruiser, Grand Voyager, 300C, 300C Touring
I would send you the link, but like their cars, the website is overweight and cumbersome, takes ages to load up each page. They apparently only care about people who like fat cars and fat bandwidth.
Although in the ultra-chic parts of Tokyo you do see SUVs once in a while, and even (though very rarely) a hummer (which looks absolutely ridiculous on the streets of Tokyo), most Japanese don't go in for the sort of models that Detroit produces.
Zwackus has a better handle on the Japanese car market than I do, but that's my take on it.
Also, a friend of mine living in Japan points out:
Almost 3M small cars and 1.4M of the ultra small "Kei" cars that Detroit doesn`t even make. Those two categories are 3/4 of the total domestic market. The Big Three are focused on the small, high end market which is already crowded with European makers that have more prestige.
On the other hand, this does not address the issues of workers' benefits, especially to retirees, that Japanese makers do not have to pay, apparently, in their U.S. factories. But I believe asdf makes a good reply to that point:
My understanding is that the labor cost in a car is only about 10% of the total. It's a capital intensive business, and Japan has pretty high labor costs just as does the U.S.
Having said all this, I still think bailing out GM may be the right thing to do to prevent 2-3 million jobs from vanishing, especially after listening to this:
The Big Three U.S. Auto Makers Head Back to Washington
But this all might be moot, as one month is not a lot of time to do this in. Truth unfolds in time through a communal process.
Also, America is a huge market with only a few competitors for the Japanese. They haven't gone into Europe as extensively, and couldn't, as the local market is so strong in most countries.
I also leaning toward protecting current jobs with FutureIncomeTaxesNOWTM. But...One just wonders, what lasting good will come of two months of pouring 8 billion into GM? What happens in February that they will suddenly be able to be on their feet and join rdf's dancing plan? The economy is not going to be magically triumphant after O'Bama's InauguralSpeechOfDestiny. There are still too many houses yet to go into foreclosure and too many companies who rely upon consumers...who just happen to be either out of money, or (gawds forbid) saving money...yes, Americans actually taking money out of the system by saving...a good thing in most regards, but a giant bad thing in an economy that needs their Spend-O-RamaSensation to keep the carousel spinning...in this case the car companies' carousel...which ain't gonna happen in February unless they use the 34 billion to buy everyone cars - no payments, no interest, pre-bought car, BankErrorInYourFavor - Free cars for everyone.
As for Detroit wages, I just can't believe that they are higher than in Bavaria, minus the health and welfare aspect, which is so poorly done in the heretofore non-socialist America. Never underestimate their intelligence, always underestimate their knowledge.
Frank Delaney ~ Ireland
