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GM Ramps Up Risky Subprime Auto Loans

GM is building cars in China for the Chinese market -- not for the US market. Same reason that Japanese and Korean companies are building cars in the US: it's expensive to ship cars half-way around the world.

Of course they are also adding jobs in the U.S., e.g.:

GM adds 250 jobs at Corvette plant in Ky. | Deseret News
GM adds 200 jobs at Chevy Volt plant | General Motors news | Detroit Free Press | freep.com
GM Adds 400 Jobs at Wentzville, MO Plant, Mulls Expansion | LinkedIn
GM adds third shift at Texas plant, 800 jobs - Jun. 22, 2012

Actually, those companies assemble in the US, not build and they do it because by having some of their production here they get no or reduced import duties on all their models. It doesn't really have anything to do with cost of shipping them. Honda actually assembles it's entire accord line in the US (has since the 1980s, or it used to at least) and ships them back to Japan and elsewhere in the world.
 
GM is building cars in China for the Chinese market -- not for the US market. Same reason that Japanese and Korean companies are building cars in the US: it's expensive to ship cars half-way around the world.
Of course they are also adding jobs in the U.S., e.g.:

GM adds 250 jobs at Corvette plant in Ky. | Deseret News
GM adds 200 jobs at Chevy Volt plant | General Motors news | Detroit Free Press | freep.com
GM Adds 400 Jobs at Wentzville, MO Plant, Mulls Expansion | LinkedIn
GM adds third shift at Texas plant, 800 jobs - Jun. 22, 2012

Then why did the Obama administration give Fisker a 529 million dollar loan to build its electric sports car in Finland and sell it in the USA?
 
Actually, those companies assemble in the US, not build and they do it because by having some of their production here they get no or reduced import duties on all their models. It doesn't really have anything to do with cost of shipping them. Honda actually assembles it's entire accord line in the US (has since the 1980s, or it used to at least) and ships them back to Japan and elsewhere in the world.

Looking into it more, it seems that the main reason Japan is building in the US is the relative strength of the yen vs. the dollar.
 
Then why did the Obama administration give Fisker a 529 million dollar loan to build its electric sports car in Finland and sell it in the USA?

They gave them the loan with the understanding that they would build a plant in the U.S. Funding was cut off when it seemed like Fisker was backing out of their commitment. All of the original loan money was to be spent in the US on parts for the Finland car and the US factory.
 
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Looking into it more, it seems that the main reason Japan is building in the US is the relative strength of the yen vs. the dollar.

Even with the yen vs dollar, it would of still been cheaper for them to go to Mexico, S. Korea, Brazil and economies like those. I haven't looked up current yen to the dollar, but when I left Okinawa about 10 years ago, it was pretty stable just above 100yen to the dollar. In the 80's, my first time there was in 88, it was around 170 yen to the dollar. GH Bush (AKA Bush I or senior) started forcing it down towards a goal of 100 yen per dollar and Clinton continued the trend until it got near there.
 
Even with the yen vs dollar, it would of still been cheaper for them to go to Mexico, S. Korea, Brazil and economies like those. I haven't looked up current yen to the dollar, but when I left Okinawa about 10 years ago, it was pretty stable just above 100yen to the dollar. In the 80's, my first time there was in 88, it was around 170 yen to the dollar. GH Bush (AKA Bush I or senior) started forcing it down towards a goal of 100 yen per dollar and Clinton continued the trend until it got near there.

They also have plants in Mexico.
 
Then why did the Obama administration give Fisker a 529 million dollar loan to build its electric sports car in Finland and sell it in the USA?

At that kind of a price tag, I hope that includes getting some of them and raffling them off to normal citizens.
 
Sounds like Obama has been good to you guys. :D

Obama's actions have not really had much to do with it, to be honest. I would venture to say that the same principles and attitude that allows folks like him and me to take on projects like these, and bring them to completion in our driveways, are the same things that help us get ahead of others in the work force. Try it sometime. Find a 30+ year old heap, buy it cheap (got my vette for 3k), and then fix it up. You'll learn a lot, about cars and about yourself.
 
Then why did the Obama administration give Fisker a 529 million dollar loan to build its electric sports car in Finland and sell it in the USA?

Not exactly the full story there...


Did The Obama Give A $529 Million Loan To Create Electric Car Manufacturing In Finland?

Fisker Automotive is based in California and is doing plug-in hybrids. It is also developing two different cars. One is the Karma which is a very expensive car aimed at a niche market production of which is being done in Finland, which has a small automobile industry oriented toward the manufacture of expensive niche cars. The other is the Nina, a mid-market plug-in sedan which isn’t being built yet but will be built in Delaware. The reason ABC has “embarrassing” footage of Joe Biden singing the praises of Fisker is that the car will be built in Delaware. Joe Biden is from Delaware. Fisker bought the plant in 2009, is upgrading it as we speak, and hired people over the summer.

This is a company that will either fail, or else will succeed and build lots of cars in America. It’s exactly what you would expect from a federal loan guarantee program.​
 
Obama's actions have not really had much to do with it, to be honest. I would venture to say that the same principles and attitude that allows folks like him and me to take on projects like these, and bring them to completion in our driveways, are the same things that help us get ahead of others in the work force. Try it sometime. Find a 30+ year old heap, buy it cheap (got my vette for 3k), and then fix it up. You'll learn a lot, about cars and about yourself.

LOL, This was the first year I got a raise since Obama took office. Something like a whole $30 a month, wow.

I got my chevelle for $600 and a 350 motor for $300 with it, but I have always wanted a 454 SS, so I am building it into a SS Clone with a 454, I am even going with original bore and stroke on it. Since it wasn't an original SS but a Malibu, I can do all these additions of modern equipment without killing the value on it. Of course, I am having to do a frame off resto on it and will have to replace quater panels, at least one door skin. Since the body is off the frame, it gives me great access to do a lot of things without having to be under a lift all that time. I am estimating at least 5 years to complete it, but might be able to get it drivable in two. In the end, I end up with a durable car (ok, I will have to remember that coming off the clutch at 3500rpm just limits the life of the tranny and will cost me a lot in tires), that gets decent gas mileage for it's type and hp that I can maintain and parts are a lot cheaper for than these new ones for a lot less than I could get a new vehicle with that performance level. Heck, tools that I don't currently have to do the job is going to cost me a fair bit.

When fixing up an old one, just remember that it is very hard to do if it is your daily driver. Also, any car over about 10years old, especially where they salt the roads, you need to replace all wear parts, including all the bushings in your suspension, not to mention having to restore and refinish the whole under body. Plastics become brittle with age, so you will end up replacing a fair number of those also. But, if you want fuel efficiency, this is the best way to go. I was able to get a 85 Fiero to get 42 mpg, and that was with a non-overhead cam, throttle body injection, Iron block and heads and it used a distributer (ok, I cheated a bit and an MSD 6A plus high voltage MSD capacitive discharge coil got me a few more mpg). Unfortunately for building American made 4 Cylinder engines from that era, there are just not many parts available on the market to do upgrades to modern equipment.
 
Not exactly the full story there...


Did The Obama Give A $529 Million Loan To Create Electric Car Manufacturing In Finland?

Fisker Automotive is based in California and is doing plug-in hybrids. It is also developing two different cars. One is the Karma which is a very expensive car aimed at a niche market production of which is being done in Finland, which has a small automobile industry oriented toward the manufacture of expensive niche cars. The other is the Nina, a mid-market plug-in sedan which isn’t being built yet but will be built in Delaware. The reason ABC has “embarrassing” footage of Joe Biden singing the praises of Fisker is that the car will be built in Delaware. Joe Biden is from Delaware. Fisker bought the plant in 2009, is upgrading it as we speak, and hired people over the summer.

This is a company that will either fail, or else will succeed and build lots of cars in America. It’s exactly what you would expect from a federal loan guarantee program.​

The administration gave them the loan with the understanding that their electric sports car would be built in Finland. Their sedan is to be built in Delaware when the GM plant they are redesigning is complete. I was replying to a post that stated that it was expensive and made no sense to ship cars for sale halfway around the world. Also the claim was made that the loan had been canceled however as far as I know the company has run into financial difficulties and is trying to refinance their government loan.
 
BTW KevinKohler, I forgot to put in the other post, and yes, it has nothing to do with the thread, but if you really want a HUD of your gauges, it's not that hard to build a poor mans HUD. If you or someone you know can do the dash work, simply put a mirror in your dash that reflects towards the windshield, open a path for it and put a slight reflective patch on your windshield. You many have to test out a few concave/convex mirrors to get it right, but should work great.
 
Obama's actions have not really had much to do with it, to be honest. I would venture to say that the same principles and attitude that allows folks like him and me to take on projects like these, and bring them to completion in our driveways, are the same things that help us get ahead of others in the work force. Try it sometime. Find a 30+ year old heap, buy it cheap (got my vette for 3k), and then fix it up. You'll learn a lot, about cars and about yourself.

I'm more of a boat guy myself. What fun is it if you're not chimped up in a 120 degree, smelly bilge? :)
 
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