12th Nov 2009, 15:15

Yes competition is fierce for everything including jobs right now. Americans have been living beyond their means for some time relying on credit to live the American dream.

It is time for a reality check really. Hard work and persistence is what gets you that great job nowadays. People expect to do minimal skilled jobs and get high wages and benefits, but it doesn't make sense financially for a company to pay on that type of a scale for that type of work. This is why the car companies are in trouble.

There has to be a balance and we have lost that in this country. I see many people scraping by to put food on the table but they have an Ipod and a $400 cell phone. Priorities are not being considered in many peoples lives. If we are to get back to what this country once was, this balance needs to be restored. Yes it is going to be a tough road with many changes but it is inevitable.

We may get back to growth someday, but it is going to be a long trip there.

13th Nov 2009, 11:35

It has always left me scratching my head that people have argued that domestic car makers had to sell at higher prices than Japanese companies because of the higher salaries and benefits. This makes ZERO sense at all, because Japanese cars have ALWAYS been priced THOUSANDS MORE than comparable domestics. In the late 80's we had a Honda Civic and a Ford Mustang. The Civic cost nearly TWICE what the Mustang did and was nothing but trouble. The Mustang made well over 140,000 miles with nary a problem. When I bought my last new car in 2007 I looked at a bare-bones basic Nissan Altima coupe with a 4-cylinder and 5-speed manual. It was $5000 MORE than the fully loaded (including leather, satellite radio and upgraded wheels) Mustang I ended up buying. If Japanese companies can make the cars cheaper (and no one can argue that they aren't CHEAPLY MADE) then why can't they SELL them at prices competitive with domestics?

14th Nov 2009, 11:34

I think that car dealers have something to do with price differences. When looking for a new car, I looked at both a Civic and a Cobalt (I mostly looked at a Chevy just for laughs, because I would NEVER actually buy one.) But I looked at a bare bones Civic and a bare-bones Cobalt. The Bare bones Civic was a little over $15,000 and for that I got 6 air-bags, power windows, power door locks, a TPMS, and a manual transmission. For the Cobalt, about $14,500 I got manual windows, manual door locks, 4 airbags, and a manual transmission. I ended up opting for a better equipped Civic in the end that came with an automatic transmission as well as all the other features I previously listed. I paid about $16,000 for it. The better equipped Cobalt that came with all the features the base Civic had standard was going to cost me over $18,000. You do the math, the Civic was clearly the better buy and I got a more reliable, higher quality vehicle in the purchase as well.

15th Nov 2009, 11:00

I paid more for a 280ZX 2 + 2 then Datsun, actually more than a Corvette. The insurance was also more than a Corvette. I remember dealers got list for imports. Then you got a true import made in Japan. Consider sales volume when you comment. Low volume minimal compared to domestics then. Now high volume sales and deals as well as.

People downsizing to small cars; high fuel costs, uncertain employment, high costs to live. As long as car gets you there, sacrifice comfort, handling, styling and joy of ownership. Seems all what costs the cheapest, forget there are nicer choices.

If people simply made a decent living, they could buy decent homes, fixed mortgages, nicer cars instead of 5 year car loans etc.

I have highly educated family out of work or taking work just for health benefits. I went back to school twice and even I face uncertain job security. No wonder if you do risk buying a new car, it's likely small or cheap. I wonder how anyone young can even barely afford renting an apartment, having a new car and insurance today.

I could stay at a nice job, easily get another and own a home in my early 20s, and drive great cars. Low paying jobs now I would live at home and buy a new IPOD, a little car and go to college. Maybe after 6 years I may or may not find any work.

People are so focused on price irregardless of quality of life that they lose in the process. Driving a tiny rough riding beater just because consumer magazines say they start and stop is not appealing enough to me. Does anyone buy anymore that loves what they drive. On a long trip is it a great ride or is it just mpg?

15th Nov 2009, 13:52

"The Civic cost nearly TWICE what the Mustang did and was nothing but trouble."

Just to give you some hard facts:

A base Ford Mustang cost $7,286 back in 1985.

A base Honda Civic cost $5,399 for the same year.

So a base Ford Mustang was about 40% more expensive than the Civic (of course). An an optioned up Mustang having more than the 4 cyl 2.3 was easily twice the price of a Civic and you could easily get a $15-16,000 Mustang (GT Conv)

Saying the Civic was more expensive, or even twice expensive than the Mustang, is just plain silliness.

Regarding quality: eighties Hondas are well known for their extreme quality, unfortunately the same cannot be said about the eighties Fords.

15th Nov 2009, 16:12

Because, there are thousands of doctors and technologically savvy people being trained in India, for instance. It will be very easy to bring them in to this country by the thousands to undercut highly paid doctors. Just ask around where most nurses are coming from. Yes, nurses from the Philippines are one of the largest segments now in nursing. You think your job is immune? You're wrong. First the tech workers scoffed at the blue collar workers for being old fashioned dinosaurs, and then the tech workers themselves lost their jobs offshore. You'll be next.