GM CEO Rick Wagoner was once the automaker’s Chief Financial Officer. So why has GM twice delayed filing its 10-K financial statements (reporting their earnings for the fourth quarter and the ‘06 financial year)? You’d think that they’d be ship shape by now. "These are big complex businesses,” Wagoner told a reporter in Geneva yesterday. “When you do transactions at the end of the year it adds additional complexity." Fair enough. But Wagoner’s no dummy. The real reason for the delay is a fight over cash.
On November 30, 2006, General Motors sold 51% of their finance unit, the General Motors Acceptance Corporation (GMAC), to Cerberus Capital Management. Actually, Cerberus bought the net asset value of a large number of GMAC’s financial securities, with little value ascribed to the enterprise itself. Equally important, GM didn’t realize $14b. So far, GM’s net payoff is around $5b. This lump sum will soon be less.
Even as Cerberus was negotiating their GMAC purchase, the U.S. housing boom was going bust. So the money men at Cerberus included a “valuation period” before the closing statement. This last loving look at GMAC’s books will determine the final purchase price for Cerberus’ 51% GMAC buy-in.
Suffice it to say, things have not gone in GM’s favor. In the last six months, the U.S. housing market has tanked. In January, new house sales fell 16 percent. The situation is exacerbated by the fact that GMAC put $57b worth of its eggs– some 77 percent of its loan portfolio– into subprime mortgages. The current default rate: around 14 percent.
Fourteen percent of GMAC’s money is not about to disappear; the loans are collateralized against bricks and mortar. But all that defaulting does nothing for GMAC’s profitability. To wit: GMAC’s subprime subsidiary, Residential Capital, is laying off 1000 employees.
All of which means GM’s 10-K filing delay isn’t so much an accounting issue as a Mexican standoff. Cerberus and GM are locked in a dispute over the exact amount of “blowback” GM owes the investment group. There’s Wagoner’s “complexity.”
Lehman Brothers analyst Brian Johnson reckons loan-loss provisions and mortgage securities write-downs could end up costing GM $900m to $950m in cash charges– in the first half of this year. The easiest and most likely way for GM to pay off Cerberus: surrender more GMAC shares to Cerberus. TTAC’s Deep Throat estimates another 10% should do it.
But even after the dust settles and GM’s accounts are finally filed, the dust may not settle. Lest we forget, GM still owns 49% of GMAC. A sustained housing market downturn would eventually reduce GMAC’s once bounteous cash to a trickle. Eventually, because GM gets its GMAC money in the form of dividends, and the GMAC sale eliminated dividend payments for two years post-sale.
If you’re beginning to get the idea that the GMAC transaction has turned into something of a headache for one of the “partners,” consider this.
You know those “zero percent to anyone with a pulse” finance offers GM’s used to move the metal? To “buy down” the obvious risk on these deadbeat deals, GM has made as-yet-unspecified payments to GMAC (an amount that probably begins with a “b”). You can bet that Cerberus will be taking an even closer look at these car finance deals in the days ahead, looking to further limit their exposure and protect their profits.
Meanwhile, GM Car Czar Bob Lutz has been predicting that one of his cross-town rivals is about to go belly-up. He’s not wrong. But GM’s determination not to file for Chapter 11 will take a major hit when The Glass House Gang seeks the court’s protection. FoMoCo will restructure its dealer network, shed its OPEB (Other Post-Employment Benefits) and force a new deal on the UAW. The disruption to parts provision and the Blue Oval Boyz’ huge cost advantages would eventually force GM to follow Ford into bankruptcy court.
Is waiting out Ford the “real” plan? Not according to Maximum Bob. "We're approaching the end of the beginning of the transformation of GM," Maxi Bob proclaimed.
I don’t think so. Yes, GM’s cut about as much fat as they can from their cost structure. Yes, their earnings will improve. But this year’s cash flow will remain negative. To stave off Chapter 11, General Motors needs many things to go right and, more importantly, nothing to go wrong. A GMAC meltdown, a strike at Delphi, a sudden gas price hike, a Ford bankruptcy, a supplier revolt– The General simply doesn’t have the financial strength to withstand a major attack on its cash reserves.
Like a sub-prime borrower looking at the loss of their home, GM is at the end of the line, hoping that its luck will hold out long enough for it to climb out of a hole– of its own making.
84 Comments on “General Motors Death Watch 112: The Three Headed Dog Days of Winter...”
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I agree with you that a Ford restructuring would put the biggest set of screws to GM. It’s like the airline industry; once they started their court-protected “make-overs”, the others had little choice.
Remember, Moe is their leader…
Things are tough when a rival’s bankruptcy begins to cause envy.
I wonder how much taxpayer money will be used to help bail out these idiots. The steelworers at Goodyear were smart taking a lump sum from the company for their pension program. Too bad the not-so-big-anymore 2.5 dont have the cash to do the same.
I guess Chapter 11 has been a likely outcome for some or all of Detroits finest for some time now. Not because it is desirable, but because there is no other way, and where the alternative is even worse.
Some may even think it is just as well, and a necessary requirement to transform the business and shed some or all of the so called legacy costs that have crept up and taken a serious stronghold around the legs of both GM and Ford. After all – airlines have been operating under the protection of the courts for years, emerging healthier at end of the tunnel.
But, but, but – there's is one enormous difference between buying a car and buying an airline ticket. If you buy a fare with a Chapter 11-protected airline you're just perceived as smart, at least if the fare is the lowest. But – show me the person who will hold his or her head high and smug driving a car from a "bankrupt" manufacturer.
A car is a statement about who you are and where you're going to a large portion of the car-buying public, and I don't think many consumers feel they need the rub-off from a bankrupt brand! So, it is indeed a dangerous path the General and their crosstown rival(-s) are embarking on if they bring their books to the judge and ask for protection.
I don't think anybody can predict with any certainty what will be the outcome of that. This is indeed a downward spiral where the landing will be everyting and anything but smooth!
cheeze: Probably El Zippo…
Remember, the republicans are in charge and don’t give a flying F@#)$(* about the auto industry, as neither the companies nor the union are major GOP donors.
Also, the usual easier cheap washington fixes, import tariffs (eg, which helped to save Harley, and also was very punitive on trucks in the 80s), are now useless as the most deadly competition moved into the US to prevent that trick from working again (eg, the Goldwing is a 100% American motorcycle, and most all the Japanese makers make their pickups in the US).
Well, maybe some piling on, but I’ve already said too much.
Chapter 11 isnt always the end of a brand. Nissan came back even stronger, albiet their management has it’s $&!t together.
Also unlike airlines, GMs products are not as good as their competitors, where the airlines are virtually indisinguishable from one another. Except for Southwest and JetBlue, which make buckets of cash by catering to the customers needs, (weird, I know.)
Anyway, airlines and car companies are too different to compare.
GM’s handling of GMAC seems particularly ham-fisted. Why take Cerebus’ cash unless they are really desperate? GMAC is/was profitable.
Did Nissan go bankrupt? I thought Renault bought & restructured them before that happened.
Oh, yeah, and if the US attacks Iran, the Reaper’s going to have a field day.
BAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA
Selling part of GMAC was the worst thing you could do. A Harvard MBA grad (Wagoner)allowed this to happen. Doesn’t Business 101 tell you not to sell the cash cow?
Truthbetold36:
Clearly, they didn’t have a choice.
Let’s not forget the provisions allowed under Chapter SEVEN bankruptcy. As in “the show’s over – doors are closed – we’re selling off the equipment to the highest bidder (in China).”
The “big 2.37887″ are one tripwire from Chapter 7 bankruptcy, not Chapter 11. Examples of said tripwires could be a Iranian cruise missile shooting a US vessel or US troops in the middle east, the price of gas going to $3.50 a gallon (it’s exceeded $3 a gallon in portions of two states effective today, I understand) or a “1 in 3 chance of recession in the United States during 2007″ (per the ex-Fed Chairman).
That’s probably why they haven’t filed Ch. 11 yet. Any accounting and tax experts out there? Can a company re-file as Chapter 7 after filing Chapter 11?
Delays on the last quarter’s numbers of 2006 and total numbers for 2006 means – it’s going to be a bloodbath, and they are trying to get as many ducks in a row before the ceiling caves in.
The Wall Street gang are going to take one look at the massively bad numbers upcoming and simply yank what little rug is left from under GM in terms of valuation of the company.
Let’s also not forget that the “little” unheard of by Americans (conglomerate), Tata, from India is valued at a higher dollar figure than General Motors. That speaks absolute volumes.
The local economies are going to have a tough time when all the GM, Ford and Chrysler dealerships essentially close.
I fear that if these bankruptcies happen, any ongoing recession will obviously be worse and of longer duration.
MG-Rover’s equivalent of Chapter 7 (total closure) meant that the pain was spread throughout the entire UK economy and regions because most MG-Rover dealers rolled over and died, at least closed-out their businesses or drastically down-sized. It’s tough to be a new car dealer when the car company dies. (Seen any new Glas, Borgward, Packard, Hupmobile or Cord dealer signs up lately?)
tsofting makes excellent points about auto company bankruptcies, but I still think they are going to look at the courts as a godsend.
First one to get it over with will be way ahead, when they should really be liquidated.
This all seems to be alot of smoke and mirrors. I think it is high time for an article concentrating on the taxpayer ending up funding the auto workers pensions. This is the only thing they can possibly be working on that matters to them. Perhaps they are just stalling in hope of a sympathetic democratic administration. I can already hear the cries: “these workers did nothing wrong!!”. The poor taxpayer of course is guilty, so has to pay.
I don’t really buy the argument that Chapter 11 would tank sales. People seem to be able to find parts for all manor of cars out there, from Studebakers to Gremlins to Prowlers. I don’t foresee having a problem finding parts or mechanics for your Silverado or Malibu.
I like these articles, but continue to see GM’s cup as half full. They had a great January and are taking share in high margin pickups.
I thought Ford had a secure line of credit through about 2010? If any of the US automakers go into bankruptcy and are not bought by another they are pretty much done. Unless they can get out of bankruptcy with little or no incoming revenue. There aren’t that many dumb people who would buy their 2nd largest purchase from a company they don’t know will be there in the next couple of years.
As much as I’m looking forward to the new Camaro there is no way in hell I’d buy one if it looks like GM is in imminent collapse.
SherbornSean:
It is probably not a question of being able to find parts for your 2007 Escalade, I am sure you’re gonna be able to do that. But – the smell of “having made it” that the ‘Slade is supposed to convey will most likely be very stale when war-type headlines in all national media proclaim that the maker has gone belly-up. That is not the smell of success, to say it politely. I wish I could be as optimistic as you, but sorry, I don’t see the General’s (or FoMoCos) bottle as half-full.
Well, what can you expect if you sell the majority of the single profitable part of your company?
Even if GM manages to get off lightly out of this recent trouble, they’ll still miss GMAC’s money in the long term.
Anecdotal evidence:
My wife and mother-in-law went car shopping yesterday. Mom only wanted to visit Honda and Toyota dealers. Her explanation: “American cars are unreliable and built cheaper because of the wages and pensions they have to pay their union workers.”
When a 70-something lady holds this belief to be true, *KNOW* that we have now been “educated” enough – by the procession of news – to be mentally prepared for someone to file Chapter 11.
The race to the “finished” line is almost over.
I like this article because it brings into the auto business the fact that along with Autos the car companies have allowed their MBA people to branch out into other money(making) enterprises. These enterprises should, like diversifying your IRA investments smoooothe out the years cash flow. Be it in or out. Unfortunately the auto finance business branched out into a few too many of the easy money profit vehicles since their inception.
Funny thing is that GM got people twice with the same scam, and now its gunna get them a little in the end.
0% financing sold a lot of Stupid Useless Vehicles to people that (and most can’t) afford to feed them. Payments on ownership were cheap, but payments on usage were through the roof. I watch people at the pumps even at $2.50/gal empty their wallets twice a week just to get to work.
At the same time GM roped people into getting a house they could barely afford with 2% interest* ( for the first 3 years, then ballooning up to 16% written so small you can’t see it, not to mention it was most likely written in Starbuck.)
Rightly so, GM and hopefully F, and C have done this, and its now coming back to get them good. Proves they are really not in the business of building cars, just looking for a fast buck.
For a consumer, a legacy cost is paying for a purchase that did not make sense to begin with.
I think the continued delay in showing 2006 results does indeed point to the fact that things won’t be so rosy in GM’s case.
As for Nissan, they were on the brink of bankruptcy until Renault bought a big chunk of them and gave them billions to restructure. But Nissan/Renault is becoming one big, convoluted mess. While Nissan is still making a nice profit, things aren’t looking so good for them in a number of areas. Of course, GM, Ford, and Chrysler would all love to be in Nissan’s position right now.
Glen A: For the big guys there is no such thing as chapter 7. As long as these guys are tied into the banking industry in some way there will be no Ch 7 for them cause they get their money from us. Its not their money they are playing with.
Delta: tied to GE capital.
GMAC there is still 2 years left for Fannie May and Freddie Mac to buy out their sub prime, and get it paid for by us.
I also think Americans have enough exposure to bankrupt companies that buying from a car company in ch. 11 will not phase many. Remember Chrysler back in the day, Lee went very publically to Congress.
The current default rate: around 14 percent.
I can’t help but wonder how many of these loans are in Michigan, defaulted by former employees who took out low rate loans with GMAC as a job perk to buy houses and now have to default on them because they’ve lost their job with GM.
Well the good thing for consumers who are smart. Like those who took Mitsubishi up on their No payments for a year, then just drop off the keys in 365 days. Is that for those who got a house and paid 1 or 2% got a really good deal and a tremendous amount of living space for 2 to 3 years. (no money down, low payments, think of it as a great rental paid in part by greedy business people.) Now that there is a glut of unsold homes on the market, and that the values of those homes has remained stagnant, or declined. Means that those who are loosing these homes are not really loosing much, unless they fight to keep it by paying the bollooning payments.
But would be smart to let the sub prime lenders take the big hit, and come back and buy again in a year or so.
Stick-it-to-da-man!
Now that I think about it. Mitsubishi financed cars for people, took the hit on depreciation too. Just like the sub primes, and it only looks good because of the housing market downturn because the value of the asset did not appreciate.
I-loveit.
Graham p: Things are tough when a rival’s bankruptcy begins to cause envy.
Nice! – LOL
Stay tuned for the next episode of the real-life classic “Payton Place meets Monty Python at the Three Stooges bar & grill”. Brought to you by – The 1935 Wagner Act.
Hondaboy55: GMAC there is still 2 years left for Fannie May and Freddie Mac to buy out their sub prime, and get it paid for by us.
Naturally.
Wow accountants can get creative! How do they come up with these shell games? Must be at Cabo with a bottle of Wobo and Sammy screaming satanic verses in their ears. Or not.
Saudi oil on the way down: http://www.theoildrum.com/
GM’s auditors might possibly be one reason for the delayed financials. A “clean” auditor’s opinion rests on the assumption that a firm is a “going concern.” An insolvent or unsustainable business can’t, for example, use normal depreciation of assets — they’d have to be immediately written down to liquidation value. Perhaps the auditors (or the lawyers who provide auditors the assurance that voluntary or involuntary bankruptcy isn’t imminent) can’t bring themselves to conclude GM is a “going concern.” If they say it is and then GM goes into bankruptcy, the auditors, stockbrokers, etc., will be sued six ways to Sunday.
30 maybe 40b in the bank Feb sales up 3%.The new crossovers big SUVs selling well,full size pick ups,Impalas,Solstice,G6 all doing well.
A new Camaro and a RWD Impala coming soon.
G.M is finally getting the message.Build what GM does best big powerfull, garish American cars and trucks.
G.M will not go bankrupt today, tommorow,or next year.
IMO we would probably want to keep one US auto manufacturer, GM is by far the best of the 2.5 and it seems that pro actively seeking chapter 11 ASAP and eliminating the union and dealer burden would give them a major tactical advantage even if the others follow later.
If I buy a GM car today, lots of parts are made by folks like Delphi. Let’s see … oh yes, Delphi is bankrupt!
If (big if) any of the 2.38977 go Chapter 7 (if that is indeed possible, and why would it not be?) and entirely close, it won’t be the parts which are unavailable – it’ll be the closed dealers and the vaporized warrantees that will pinch the buyers’ asses. Oh yes, the evaporated resale value, too.
Yup first one in 11 gets out of the gate in better shape than the rest. Unless they all jump in before the big negotiations begin the remaining ones will have a harder time once it becomes clear who will be paying the liabilities. And if the one or two not wet get a sales benefit (I don’t think so-but..) cause they ain’t in bankruptcy it will be harder for them even more to get in. The last one into see the judge may actually be the one to loose.
Judge gets to see all the cards when the bets are placed.
So MR GM walks into court tells the judge,listen guy these unions are a pain in the ass and thier screwing up my buisness.Do me a favor and dump em wiil ya?
Oh and judge could ya do the same for the dealers.Thanks see ya on the golf course.
I’ll betcha GM wishes it was that simple
It is that simple, but they use numbers not words.
Think about the arguements Iacoca used. “We would be handing over a complete dealer network to the Japanese If C went under”
They got a loan guarantee, the five sided building got millions of worthless tanks, and critics said it would have been a better deal all around if the government just bought every american a k-car.
Delta did the same thing, leveraged all their assets, showed no profits, high costs, and got the book rewritten.
Sorry I have intimate knowledge of Delta, so its my favorite example.
Camcordia is the word I think I have seen used on this board over and over again. And I understand it applies to the transportation appliance. As long as cars are being thought of as an appliance, that brings them to the level of an airline ticket. Just something to get you to work etc. For whatever time they last for.
In addition, the very same issues are on the table at GM, and Delta. Our pension costs are too high. Our pilots union contracts are costing us the ability to be competitive. Crank that sausage grinder.
These are two reasons I like to compare the two. The business structure, and areas of cost exposure are very similar. And they are often hit by the same surprises. (oil)
Now that the airlines have almost all been through the judges revolving door and his magic erasable pen. The airline industry is now able to deal with higher fuel costs. And for some reason has seen the wisdom of cutting flights so as not to run empty planes around the hub. They couldn’t figure this out before? Its as if they did the dumb things to ensure they could visit the judge.
Delta stopped running an almost entirely empty plane to Dallas. Why did they do such a stupid thing to begin with? (Dallas=AA land) Hey how long is the list of stupid things we won’t see from GM, F, and C after the meet the big man?
___________________________________________________
If (big if) any of the 2.38977 go Chapter 7 (if that is indeed possible, and why would it not be?) and entirely close, it won’t be the parts which are unavailable – it’ll be the closed dealers and the vaporized warrantees that will pinch the buyers’ asses. Oh yes, the evaporated resale value, too.
_________________________________________________
Well, as far as I’m concerned we are already there.
The only way I will buy a GM car (and I will not even consider the other 1.5) is if it is discounted enough that I can afford the risk of a possible repair without having the inconvenience of interacting with a dealer and where the lack of resale price wouldn’t be much of a problem.
Obviously hordes of people look at it the same way if you look at sales numbers.
Under this criteria Honda and Toyota products are the only ones on the market worth paying MSRP for.
GM could build the best car ever tomorrow and it wouldn’t change a thing, turning around current perceptions is like turning a carrier around.
A dramatic gesture and a new really new beginning may be the best way.
Am I the only one who smells a rat? The domestic automakers have to be throwing the fight in the name of globalism. There is no way the manipulation and mistakes of the last 2 decades was accidental. Soon Ford, GM, and whats left of Jeep will be “foreign” companies. So much for “this is my country”
$35,000,000.00/yr buys a really cool drug we all know nothing about.
It is a strange equation: The US is the largest consumer on the planet, taken into account the smallest population/unit squared. The smallest producer of tangible goods. Largest pervayor of leverage asset scams…… Priceless equation.
The world is actually paying us to be consumers. I guess thats why what GM does really doesn’t matter.
The CEO of D.R. Horton, hockey sponsor extroardinaire and the nation’s largest homebuilding company just said; “I don’t want to be too sophisticated here, but ’07 is going to suck, all 12 months of the calendar year,” Tomnitz said. (Thanks MSNBC)
This minor prognostication, along with my own of $4.00 gallons of gasoline this summer, would precipitate a decline of truck/SUV sales on par with the past 15 months. Too hard to imagine?
Could GM even afford to hold out for Ford to declare bankruptcy if this happened?
Gas is $3.29 a gallon already on March 8 2007, in New York in a few stations, and nearly that (and over $3.00 a gallon) in both California and Hawaii.
I think the 2.39878978988789 executives should be singing the blues about the SUV / truck / crossover / oversized and overpowered vehicles they’re trying to pawn because “trying” is going to be the watch word in 2007.
As D. R. Horton said “…’07 is going to suck…”
Glenn A.
There’s a reason people won’t buy a vehicle from a bankrupt automaker, and it has nothing to do with the lack of prestige of the brand, although that doesn’t help.
One word:
Warranties
People will be afraid thier 5 year/100,000 mile powertrain warranty will be only useful for toliet paper, and avoid the brand like the plague. If they don’t think the company will last as long as the warranty does, they will look elsewhere. This is a lot different than an airline, where one only cares about the airline surviving long enough for the plane to land.
A car company that goes into Chapter 11 (reorganization) will soon have sales drop further by people afraid of thier warranties that it will inevitably never climb out of bankrupcty and go into Chapter 7 (dissolution) and shut down.
In some ways, Chrysler was actually the strongest of the Detroit 3-before 2006, they were actually profitable, but the Germans have decided to make as much a mess of things as possible, so this is no longer the case. But Ford is probably in the worst situation. Lutz is probably right that GM is in the best shape, but that’s damning with faint praise.
If one of the three does go out of business, it will save the other two, since demand for new vehicles won’t drop, and Toyota et al don’t have the manufacturing capability to make up the difference-but the other two Detroit players sure do.
Of course, I’m assuming GM doesn’t buy Chrysler outright, which doesn’t make sense to me. Having GM build large SUVs for Chrysler and having Chrysler build minivans for GM would be the most likely outcome of those talks with no equity stake (of course, assuming both GM and Chrysler survive).
With a GM car/truck…there is a good chance indeed that you will need to use your Warranty. I had to have my transmission yanked from a previous GM vehicle …at 3,000 miles. Yes, that's right…practically right off the showroom floor! Perhaps it was one of those saboteurs on the assembly line "guaranteeing" future work for his kind.
As the above example clearly demonstrates….owning a domestic can be expensive. Not only in terms of money, but in repairs, and the entire INFRASTRUCTURE which supports this idea of a "business".
So, based upon my story and the countless Others we've been witness to the past few days (on the other DW series)….let me just say this: It will be GOOD when one (if nor more) of these companies go bankrupt. If 2000 people can replace the "work" of 10,000 others, is not that a good thing? That is a HUGE jump in productivity and efficiency.
Clean modern plants to replace the chimney smokestack polluters of days gone by. Line workers who now teach their children the value of an education…and the public, in turn, get to drive clean efficient Toyotas. How can ANYONE claim this is all going to turn out poorly?
Ok, so you say the tax payers will pay. Maybe. The Exxon Valdez, while a disaster, was in a way a good thing. It heighten the publics awareness to environmentalism. One may even say disasters such as the Valdez paved the way to the modern "Green" movement…and look, a tangible outcome is something you and I can now own and drive: A Prius!!
Look at the earthquakes which have devastated California in years past. Have not better building standards come about as a direct result? Has there not been a furtherance of the state of Civil Engineering? Yes, indeed, there surely has. Look at the AIDS epidemic. All those who died of HIV, or those who currently are suffering…they have done more in the furtherance of the state of science and medicine than anything else of late. Future generations will benefit.
Look at the Ozone Hole over Antarctica. It is healing based upon the actions we as a global people have taken to care for our planet Earth. Look, too, at the loss of the Sony Walkman. An entire industry has died and in turn we now have iPods! Thank you Steve Jobs. Where would we be without you?
So, what I'm saying is this: Don't fear the Reaper. It's ok to watch one of these companies die. It can also be argued that it's a GOOD thing. Humankind will one day look back on General Motors much the way they look back upon Woolworth's: Something rather unremarkable and not worth grieving for.
I remember when the PC first came about. The idea was that one could "tinker" with an automobile, but very VERY few people could understand something as complex as a computer. Well…people have risen to the challenge. New frontiers have been blazed and new wealth has been created.
I am not a huge fan of GM or the Detroit product line in general, but I feel compelled to speak out against all the union-bashing. Aren’t our beloved BMW’s, Porsches, etc. built by German autoworkers that are in a union that is more polwerful than the UAW (board seats.) I drive a bulletproof Mazda 626 that was built by UAW labor- many Corollas are built in Cali by UAW labor…..I submit that unionized transplant factories would still produce wondeful products…after all, both Germany and Japan are more collectivist societies than the US, yet their autos are admired.
shamu,
You have to understand, one of the compelling reasons why so many Americans buy huge pick-ups and SUV is because they hold dear the image of “rugged individualism”.
It’s part of our culture. Yes, one might even say Toyota is so successful in dealing with the US workforce is because THEY come from a culture where most everyone is treated with respect. Here, everyone, from day one, is indoctrinated into the “ME” attitude. Everything revolves around ME. And at what expense? The answer is usually “Who cares?”.
So yes, the US is a nation of rugged individuals.
See how those cowboys roam…see how they roam:
http://truckphotos.freeservers.com/traffic_jam.jpg
(the concept of actually “SHARING”…ANYTHING, even a RIDE, is considered crazy! )
Sharmu: Do the German and Japanese unions work with or against the companies ? It seems that so many Americans have the us vs. them mentality (mamagement included).