If the United Auto Workers (UAW) are expecting General Moneybags to "solve" the UAW strike using the Delphi solution (buyouts for everyone and your checks for free), they may be waiting a long time. Automotive News [sub] reports that the expected shutdown of the Malibu/G6 plant– due to lack of an AA-supplied part– ain'tgonnahappen.com. When asked when GM would run out of the part, supply guru Bo Andersson answered, "Based on the way I see it now, never." Bo added that his employer has "a good plan for handling the potential shortage" after they use up the supply of parts they "found " earlier this month. When asked if GM was receiving parts from another manufacturer, he declined to answer. But, Bo added, "What we learn every day is to have alternatives. It is my job to make sure we have alternatives for everything we buy." The most probable explanation: American Axle's Mexican operations are suppling the necessary bits. Alternative theory: China. Think about that the next time you equate "buying American" and "buying domestic."
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On the other hand, GM could just cut Malibu production back to 1 a week… then the remaining parts would last quite a while, as well as making huge demand for a nearly non-existant car, thus making more claims that GM is doing well – Malibus can’t stay on the lots!
Of course, the China and/or Mexico thing’s more likely. I wonder if maybe GM just sent specs to other suppliers a while ago?
Automotive News is free this week, so click away…
The most probable explanation: American Axle’s Mexican operations are suppling the necessary bits. Alternative theory: China. Think about that the next time you equate “buying American” and “buying domestic.”
You want me to think about how you hypothesize/guess that those parts are coming from foreign sources? Sure, fine.
Maybe they’re raiding the G6 parts bin. Or the maybe the Aura bin. Or maybe, just maybe, they’re making it themselves. Or another American company is doing it for them. We can sit here and hypothesize all day.
Well, we do know American Axle has plants in Mexico…and we know GM has suppliers in China, so it is no stretch to think they are getting parts from either (or both) locations.
My understanding was the G6 is an older platform than the new Malibu/Aura. The old Malibu was built on the same platform. If that is the case, it is unlikely they are raiding the G6 parts bins.
My guess is that GM has been working furiously on finding alternative supply sources for all of their suppliers ever since the Delphi bankruptcy.
I wonder if the Malibu part is one of the very very few parts that coincidentally is the same as an Opel on the supposedly “same” platform (which doesn’t share 95% of the parts)?
Wouldn’t that be ironic?
But in reality, it’s a much better bet that the parts are from China and/or Mexico.
If the recent Big 3 contract negociations weren’t enough of a wake up call for Ron G and his Brothers, then the AA better be. I’m sure the UAW was counting on inflicting pain on GM to bring about resolution of the strike to their benefit. GM is showing remarkable restrained and adaptability in responding to the slow down. My guess is those workers out on strike will blink before GM does.
My guess is that the parts are coming from China. The big 2.8 have been tooling up suppliers in China to produce most, if not all, of their subcomponents for years now.
I read something in Automotive News (print edition) last year about some car parts corporate big-wig who was incensed to be handed a cloned (read: illegal copy) of one of his factory’s parts. Then, as an engineer, he looked closely and was so impressed, he moved production to the rip-off plant in China.
I’ve also heard tales from hot-rod parts suppliers stating that they can’t get decent stuff from US sources any more; out of spec, late deliveries, out of control price increases, etc., and once they moved to Chinese suppliers, they got quality stuff, on time, at a far better price.
Kind of scary.
But it doesn’t jive with my personal real-world experiences with Chinese made crap. Guess I really have to avoid Mal-Wart, huh?
Seems like regardless of where the parts are coming from, we’ve got to give props to GM for learning from past mistakes and showing up at this gunfight fully armed. So in spite of all the lessons left unlearned, give them a gold star for getting the answer right this time.
Now, if they could just show this sort of tendency in correcting more of their problems, they might just pull out of that bankruptcy death-spiral…