Rising Sun - it's a GOOD thing!

Bloomberg News http://snipurl.com/1jjyo

Foreign automakers are creating [US] jobs, investing in new [US] plants
and winning friends in Congress...the economic benefits are being felt
in smaller, once-rural communities, especially in the South, in places
like Canton, Miss. (Nissan Motor Co.); Greer, S.C. (Bayerische Motoren
Werke AG); West Point, Ga. (Kia Motors Corp.); and Montgomery, Ala.
(Hyundai Motor Co.)

Toyota in February said it will build its next assembly plant in
Tupelo, Miss http://snipurl.com/1jk4e

"These towns have good skilled work forces and the people value the
jobs," said Mike Stanton, who heads the AIAM http://snipurl.com/1jk3r -
The UAW has failed in every effort to organize U.S. workers at the
foreign-owned auto plants, helping to keep labor costs from ballooning
as they have in Detroit.

In addition to passing GM in unit sales on a worldwide basis, Toyota is
poised to steam past Ford in the U.S. to become No. 2. After that, the
big milestone for Toyota will be to grab the No. 1 spot in the U.S.
Toyota now has a bit less than 16 percent of the U.S. market, GM a bit
less than 23 percent. If current trends continue, Toyota could be No. 1
in the U.S. within five years.

 

Toyota in Kentucky pays the same wages as the big three. Nissan in Symrna,
Tennessee also pays competitive wages to the big three. Or what used to be
the big three. Canton, Mississippi does pay a lower wage, they have a real
depressed economy there and are more willing to work for lower pay. Although
they have problem hiring people there because they fail the drug test. The
difference as I see it is Toyota and Nissan are smart enough to bring steel
in one door and ship a completed car out the other. I have been in all the
plants (we supply equipment to all of them) and Toyota and Nissan are just
ran smarter. They don't pay that much less, but make use of what they pay.