Toyota Invests $32 Million, Increases Engine Production, Jobs in Kentucky

During my visit to the new Hyundai Montgomery, AL, plant a few years back, the line stopped three times during the hour I was on the floor with the other visitors, and there were only two cars sidelined at the fix-it bay. Considering their pace, that was good. No doubt, they've all come a long way since the early days of hiring American labor. But that does not take away the problems that the foreign employers experienced early on. Had it been an American factory, flaws and qc issues would have merrily passed out of assembly area and on to the buyers to be fixed out in the field, as we experienced with the Detroit 3 for decades. There was a reason for the Great Mass Exodus away from Detroit and towards all thing imported. That was just one of them.

I was in Dearborn interviewing at Ford around 2002, and get the standard factory tour. We were told that on, say, the Ford Explorer, a +/- 5% variation in bumper length is acceptable. Wow, I says. Not sure if this is the complete truth - I heard that when Hyundai hired workers in Alabama, so many were functionally illiterate that they went with fully pictorial assembly instructions (think Ikea) instead of anything with words on it. Going with that approach apparently improved quality quite a lot.

onyxtape, yeah I know what you mean about the "functionally illiterate" aspect of hiring American workers. I just didn't want to go there. I enjoy reading the comments posted on ttac and I want to continue that privilege so I do not want to give Bertel cause for asking me to leave for offending UAW and other American auto workers. But what you say is true. I saw a lot of pictorials all around the plant, the breakroom and even the washrooms. Some dealt with safety, others with pride in performance. I also saw a lot of Korean men there. Maybe they were observers for the home office. Maybe they were triple-checking the finished products. Overall, I was impressed. Actually, blown away was more like it. For awhile there, that plant was the most modern in America and the world. And we all know how well Hyundai is doing these days. They got something right.

@onyxtape In 10 years there will be flat panel videos instructing the entry level worker how to do simple tasks. Today, many degenerate Blue States' labor laws effectively prevent screening and/or culling the illiterate from factories. On the other hand, times are good for literate, mathematically inclined (think algebra and trig) blue collar workers with problem solving skills. There's demand for those who can set up, 'program', and maintain increasingly complex machinery.

@onyxtape trees, I agree with that. I urged all my kids to get an education in something that was marketable, and they did. As a direct result of that education they each enjoy annual incomes that dwarf my total lifetime income. I recently read an article about PhDs living on Obama-welfare because they are unemployed, can't get a job, and have an edumacation that simply does not matter. With four more years of Obama, we all can look forward to more of that. It should not surprise anyone that America's standing in the world is headed downward rather rapidly. But who am I to care? I'm no longer paying in. I am now taking out and someone else is paying my way. Hey! That sounds a lot of Obama's Robin Hood vision for America, take from the rich and give to the poor in order to spread America's wealth around.

@onyxtape "I recently read an article about PhDs living on Obama-welfare because they are unemployed, can’t get a job, and have an edumacation that simply does not matter. With four more years of Obama, we all can look forward to more of that." If they have PhDs today, they selected their courses of study during the Bush administration.

@onyxtape KixStart, these were not recent graduates, and they certainly did not choose a discipline that mattered, regardless which administration was in charge when they chose it. There are plenty of jobs available around the country for qualified people, but it does require moving to where the jobs are. And there are always foreign companies ready, willing and able to hire Americans with an education. To wit: my son who works for the biggest Japanese Bank, and is currently assigned to its branch in Southern California after serving eight years at their office in Shinjuku, Tokyo, Japan. Speaking for myself and the education of my kids, I chose my undergraduate education during the Carter administration and finished my MBA during the Reagan administration when I was in my thirties. My kids chose their career paths and education in 1986, 1989, 1991, and 1994. Looking back, I did better during Reagan, Bush the Elder, Clinton and Bush the Younger than I am doing during the reign of trickle-up poverty of the Obama administration. How 'bout you?

@onyxtape Movies, TV, rap music, make the lifestyles of the hedonist rich more visible than ever before. People being what we are, we imitate their behavior with the hope of joining them. It's easy to imitate the drugs and promiscuity. Credit, so long as it lasts, lets you copy the luxury cars, the home remodeling, the designer clothing. But you can't imitate the wealth to avoid the consequences. Many people seem to have figured this out when easy credit dried up, at least as applied to rolling over the car loan every four years. The elephant in the room which many people do not seem to have figured out is that a liberal arts degree is every bit the luxury good of a new luxury car. Taking 5 years off from life to drink and ride coeds doesn't make you erudite. It makes you a bum. Saving for retirement 5 years late and tens of thousands in the hole - or worse, using up your parents' home equity - to do it makes you a bum and a fool.