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Apple Supplier Foxconn Agrees to Buy Ohio Car Factory for $230 Million

Flight Plan said:
Foxconn is in for a huge awakening. Northern Ohio hasn't built anything outside of a labor union since about 1735, right? Okay, I'm being facetious, but only a little.

Because the Lordstown workers are all members of the UAW local? They don't call that part of the country "the rust belt" just because they salt the roads when it snows!

I don't think Foxconn knows what a union is. Just wait until the first one comes off the line with a wrinkle in the paint or an improperly connected air bag. If the union has any urge to strike (and they often do), that car will get sold as is, right along with any that may be proven to have exploding batteries or wheels with faulty bearings, boots, or bolts.

Nobody will fix it because the union will have rules against that. Yeah, I said it; deal with it.

I know how this goes. My family and I owned and drove GM cars for decades. We kept the faith far far longer than General Motors had the right to expect. Some of us even worked for a local.

We were not in the UAW, but it's all the same; the worst performers learn how to game the system and avoid doing real work, while the people with a conscience are berated and even penalized for doing the right thing. Pick up a piece of paper so that my co-workers won't slip and fall on the greasy plant floor? No, you can't do that, there's somebody who's job is to do ONLY that thing all day. Pick up paper. Okay, but where is he? Oh, he's smoking pot in the locker room.

Finally, I had had enough of breakdowns and expensive, poorly made parts from the RenCen (GM's headquarters in downtown Detroit).

So I made my own flight plan and got out of the unions, moved away from the rust belt, and s sold off my last lemon General Motors product. I haven't driven anything from GM or Chrysler since. Everybody else (and I do mean everybody) was making a better, more reliable vehicle. Even Subaru and VW! And after a bailout (instead of a bankruptcy, which would have been the right thing to do), GM still wasn't making good products, so I haven't been back.

No, I don't lay ALL of this at the feet of the unions. But it's a big piece of it. A huge piece of it even, and Foxconn probably has no idea what they're getting themselves into.

But I could be wrong, and maybe Foxconn will bring the bigger hammer. In that case, then maybe the unions will be in for a huge awakening and we'll see some real change in quality coming from the automotive industry.

Either way, this should be fun to watch, so I plan to pop some popcorn for this show. The unfortunate side-effect of course, is that anything Foxconn makes or assembles, whether for Apple or anybody else, will probably just become even more expensive. We'll have to see how this all susses out.
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Maybe they will have all robots working automatically 20/7/365, and mostly administered halfway across the world...

If all else fails, the truck drivers and lawyers will get more jobs at the very least.
 
thejadedmonkey said:
If my niche hobby is any indicator, manufacturing costs in China have risen around 20% in the last year. At 50% it starts to look reasonable, but it will probably take a 100% increase before they're willing to risk investing millions into building a shop and training employees in a specialized field, for what would ultimately end up being unskilled (read: minimum wage) labor. Of course that was back when minimum wage was $7.25, not de facto closer to $15/hour, so I'm not sure how that factors in...

On the other hand, making plastic is coming down in price so we may see "made in the USA but assembled in China" at some point. That would not only be a good stepping stone, but it would allow American manufacturers to keep 100% ownership of their molds.

Long story short, there's a lot that goes into it, and while it might be feasible, businesses that are naturally risk-averse probably won't adopt "Made in America" for a while still.
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The quality and the value added of made-in-china products also gone up in the same period. Automation and system integration would be China's advantage that will continue into the future.
 
thejadedmonkey said:
I have one nit to pick with your post. The part about a bankruptcy being the "right thing to do" isn't quite right. Sure it may have been the right thing for GM, but it would have effected all of their suppliers, which would have probably resulted in the closing of even more factories in the USA, further weakening our manufacturing base and sending even more production to China.
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That's what everybody says, but I don't think we can afford to save underperformers in any industry.
 
deconstruct60 said:
Lordstown Motors truck has nothing to do with GM. ( Other than GM is a substantive stockholder in the company ... which won't be worth much if they go bankrupt).

GM sold the factory to Lordstown Motors at a huge discount (about $20M it is worth over $200+M ).

GM and LG are building a battery plant almost "behind" this plant. But that is primarily suppose to be for GM's battery needs.

GM has their own trucks with their own battery and motor designs coming that are entirely independent of what Lordstown Motors is doing.

GM has huge history with this factory. I wouldn't be surprised is that were some "right to first offer" if Lordstown goes bankrupt for GM to buy the factory ( since it was sold so low ). I don't think they wanted the factory to fall into the hands of a major competitor that it could use to "beat them up", by out producing them.
[ GM also got pushed into deal because Ohio and local goverments had given them some huge tax breaks to keep the factory open and GM closed it away a couple of years later. Some of those they had to pay back , but getting the deal down with Lordstowns/Workhorse helped mitigate that amount and political/media fallout. ]
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GM has their fingers in this pie SO MUCH, why don't we just say the truth? GM is weaving itself and its DNA into this plant. Really, you made like 4 or 5 points and they all start with GM getting involved in this.

I'm sorry, but that's not a good thing for people who love cars.
 
H3LL5P4WN said:
Was the Vega built there as well? I might be showing my age by only associating Lordstown with the J-Body and Delta platform.

Edit: I see @DakotaGuy answered my question before I answered it.
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I lived in Indiana and Ohio for a while. I remember the Frigidaire factory in Moraine, Ohio that was re-rigged to become the S10/S15 factory. I also remember the Firebird/Camaro factory in Fremont, California that now produces Tesla cars.
 
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bousozoku said:
If you crash any car, you're probably driving it incorrectly...or not driving it at all, while watching your phone.
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I am guessing you are not familiar with Steve Jobs infamous quote during "antenna gate," "You're holding it wrong."
 
mikecwest said:
I am guessing you are not familiar with Steve Jobs infamous quote during "antenna gate," "You're holding it wrong."
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I am quite familiar with that. When I was replying previously, I was also thinking about the Liberty Mutual advertisement about crashing/total-ing your new car on the way home.

Sadly, design + testing + improvement + testing won't be enough for a car from Apple.
 
LarrySW said:
You can be the best driver on earth and crash because someone else was doing what you said there.
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True. My dad was on El Camino Real in Sunnyvale, California during a foggy morning, and was something like number 279 in a long line of accidents.
 
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