Glad you bailed them out?

[JustRalph]

http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/gm-to-add-600-dealerships-to-china-network-expand-production-introduce-a-cadillac-a-year/2012/04/23/gIQAk9QkbT_story.html

GM betting on China

[Tom]

How many dealerships did the CLOSE in the USA?
And of that number, how many were owned by CONSERVATIVES?

Look it up.
Tell me there was no agenda.

I would eat dirt before I would ever buy a GM product.

[Robert Goren]

Gee, What wrong with an American company selling its wares overseas? The profits come back to the USA. Heaven knows there are plenty of Chinese companies that sell their products here and the profits go back to China. Maybe GM will make small dent in the balance of trade deficit. It is not like anyone who has wants and has the money to buy a GM in the USA doesn't have access to one.

[JustRalph]

Gee, What wrong with an American company selling its wares overseas? The profits come back to the USA. Heaven knows there are plenty of Chinese companies that sell their products here and the profits go back to China. Maybe GM will make small dent in the balance of trade deficit. It is not like anyone who has wants and has the money to buy a GM in the USA doesn't have access to one.

What about those precious UAW jobs that could have been expanded here?

[Robert Goren]

What about those precious UAW jobs that could have been expanded here?I wasn't aware that dealerships had UAW jobs. The article is about dealerships in China selling GM products. Do you really think that a Chinese auto buyer is going to come the US and buy a car here and have it shipped back to China? This is no different than McDonald's or Starbucks opening a store in China. You going to sell anything, you have to where there are some people who want/need your products are. Because GM is selling cars in China, it doesn't mean you can't get a GM car here. If you having problems finding a place to buy one, turn on any local TV station and I guarantee it won't be long before there is ad for a local GM dealership.

[JustRalph]

I wasn't aware that dealerships had UAW jobs. The article is about dealerships in China selling GM products. Do you really think that a Chinese auto buyer is going to come the US and buy a car here and have it shipped back to China? This is no different than McDonald's or Starbucks opening a store in China. You going to sell anything, you have to where there are some people who want/need your products are. Because GM is selling cars in China, it doesn't mean you can't get a GM car here. If you having problems finding a place to buy one, turn on any local TV station and I guarantee it won't be long before there is ad for a local GM dealership.

I suggest you read the article. They are doubling capacity at current plants in China and building a new factory in China.

[mostpost]

I wasn't aware that dealerships had UAW jobs. The article is about dealerships in China selling GM products. Do you really think that a Chinese auto buyer is going to come the US and buy a car here and have it shipped back to China? This is no different than McDonald's or Starbucks opening a store in China. You going to sell anything, you have to where there are some people who want/need your products are. Because GM is selling cars in China, it doesn't mean you can't get a GM car here. If you having problems finding a place to buy one, turn on any local TV station and I guarantee it won't be long before there is ad for a local GM dealership.

JR is talking about the manufacturing jobs. As he points out, GM is doubling production capacity in China. So why don't they build the cars here and ship them to China, thereby providing jobs to American workers. The problem with that theory is tariffs. China has high tariffs on cars imported into the country, particularly higher end models. High enough that similar cars cost three times as much as they do here. I doubt that cars manufactured by GM in China would be subject to any tariffs since they would be providing jobs for Chinese workers. Also this would not take jobs away from American workers because sales of imports to China is very low. Here is a New York times story on all this.
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/15/business/global/china-imposes-new-tariffs-on-some-vehicles-from-the-us.html?pagewanted=all

Feel free to share all this with JustRalph as he has me on iggy and will miss this chance to be educated.

[mostpost]

How many dealerships did the CLOSE in the USA?
And of that number, how many were owned by CONSERVATIVES?

Look it up.
Tell me there was no agenda.

I would eat dirt before I would ever buy a GM product.

The number I found was 2,000 and a claim that the majority were donors to conservative causes. That claim was not accompanied by any proof. The claim was also made that many of the dealerships were profitable. Again no proof was provided

As a practical matter, why would General Motors close dealerships that were selling a lot of their cars and keep open dealerships that were selling few? That makes no sense. If you are fighting to survive, would you not keep open the stores that are performing the best and shutter those that are under performing.

If I come to Saratoga, I will buy you a dirt sandwich....with all the fixins.

[Tom]

Classy guy.

[riskman]

If the day ever comes when China considers taking GM assets into government ownership they better not come cying wolf to the U.S. taxpayers. GM should consider moving lock stock and barell over to the promised land.

[Robert Goren]

The Chinese are not stupid. They are smart enough to use tariffs to force foreign companies to manufacture their products there. The US is so hung up with the idea of free trade that we refuse to do the same to Chinese made goods. One of the few Obama mistakes is not retaliating by matching tariff with tariff. Free trade can not be a one way street. But when to comes to dealing with the Chinese it is.