MICHIGAN IS A CRIME SCENE

I don’t have to tell you that Michigan has been hit hard by the most recent economic down turn. But let’s face it Michigan has been singled out for many years prior to the latest economic tsunami because of our manufacturing base. We are generally living in a crime scene. Let me explain.
When someone is elected to office, be it National or Local in scope, that person is sworn to uphold the constitution and, in a general sense, work for the economic well being of the country or local municipality in which they work. But what should be done when people at the national or local level give away large chunks of the economy to other countries or foreign owned businesses? And by the way where do our “business leaders” stand in the responsibility for all this? Bernie Madoff was recently sent to prison for 150 years for fleecing people out of their money. Should a politician or CEO be treated any differently when they give away our entire livelihood? We are living in perhaps the largest crime scene ever. Just put the yellow tape around the entire state and let the investigation begin.
I recently read an on-line poll of happy states where your state was rated by the general happiness of its residents. Louisiana came in above Michigan! The mitten is in a world of hurt and Attorney General, Mike Cox is taking time to sue the Asian Carp. Maybe Mike should consider taking a moment out, from his run for Governor, to sue the federal government for neglect. If things get any worse we will need the Asian Carp as a food source.
What has happened to our state over the last 25 years, give or take, is criminal. Other states and countries have been allowed take our best paying jobs and we have seemingly no recourse or source of restitution. Someone of authority or position needs to stand on a very tall building and scream this to the world. We in Michigan are mad as hell and we aren’t going to take it anymore. For years and years we were a donor state when it came to federal taxes. That is because we had the work, we paid in more taxes to the federal government than we got back, making us a “donor state.” We don’t have anything left to give. You have taken our prosperity and moved it to China. You have stolen our good paying union jobs and relocated them to right-to-work states. You have outsourced our high tech to India and beyond. Our cities are in receivership. Our public schools are in chaos and we are laying off police and fire like sixty going north. We are living in the largest crime scene ever known to man and all we hear is how we need to diversify our economy. Let’s just set the record straight on that one. No other industry will bring wealth to this region like automobile manufacturing has. You can diversify all you want, and I encourage us to do so, but building cars and all the commerce that follows along with this endeavor can’t be replaced by a hand full of bio-tech or medical field jobs. But while you are courting these new jobs quietly begin the investigation into who stole our lunch. Some son-of-a-bitch needs to pay for this.

THE LAST G6

It is hard to say good bye to an old friend and that is what the Pontiac G6 has been to Orion Assembly, an old friend. This fine auto was never given the respect that it deserved by the media or the company. It was sent forth to replace the Pontiac Grand Am but it cost a lot more than the utility minded Grand Am, that placed it in the market arena of the Grand Prix. Some dealers leased them for the same price. Then came the Pontiac G5, the real replacement for the Grand Am, and our bread and butter had no space of its own in the market place. It competed with the G5 and the Grand Prix and still had to take on the Camry and Accord. The G6 held its own thanks to the efforts of the Orion Autoworkers who made it one of the top quality cars in its segment. It was a gas sipping, stylish vehicle that was kicked off by none other than Oprah herself but with all that the little car had to accomplish, the deck was stacked against it. Now, the 6 has been silenced but will forever live in the hearts and minds of each UAW Local 5960 autoworker who put a little of themselves into every G6 built. We say goodbye on this day but we raise our hands to the little car that could. The G6 deserved better but we faithful at UAW Local 5960 will take the lessons learned from this experience and become smarter and better equipped to compete in the market place with a new car and a new factory; Orion Assembly, Factory of the Future.

The Change Agent

GM KILLED THE OPRAH CAR

It just seems like yesterday that our plant was awarded the Pontiac G6. We had a big celebration, Oprah paid us a visit and almost immediately GM began killing our fine little sedan known as the Pontiac G6.

As Yogi Berra would say, first, let’s start at the beginning. The G6 was supposed to be a replacement for the Pontiac Grand Am. The Grand Am enjoyed sales of 200,000 plus, was a small, cheap, 12 to 15 thousand, back and forth to work machine meant for those who made just north of 20 grand and needed a low cost ride to work. The Grand Am filled that bill to a T. Along came the G6, somewhat larger that the Grand Am, way more technology and a price tag north of 20 grand. Still very fuel efficient and low maintenance. It’s big brother, the Grand Prix, was sitting there in the same price range just waiting to eat up those G6 sales, more about this later.

THE POWER OF OPRAH

The G6 did have the power of Oprah. In September of 2004 Oprah, with money from Pontiac Marketing, gave away 256 brand new G6’s on her show. By anyone’s measure it was the greatest moment in car marketing history and the Marketeers from Pontiac were forever branded genius. The obvious market for the mighty G6 was women with an income greater than 20,000 who identified with Oprah and wanted to be like her. It seemed that the Pontiac Brand and particularly the G6 was destined for greatness.

NOT SO FAST

At this time, Orion Assembly was only producing the G6 Sedan with promises for a Coupe and a Retractable Hardtop. Those promises took two years to bring to fruition. Two years is an eternity in car years. By the time the two-door and RHT were out the Sedan was ready for a refresh, a refresh we are still waiting for because GM pulled the Pontiac plug.

MEANWHILE BACK AT THE GM RANCH

In the meantime, General Motors was launching G’s like a drunken sailor hurling insults. First the G5 showed up. This was a vehicle built off the same platform as the Chevy Cobalt, a replacement for the Cavalier. Heh, wait a minute, wasn’t the Grand Am a vehicle built off the same platform as the Cavalier? Then what is the G6? And more importantly, where is its market. That was the question of the day. The G6 was raked from the top by the Pontiac Grand Prix. The Prix wasn’t as good a car as the G6 by a long shot but it was bigger and many dealers sold it for the same price as the G6. Lord knows when Americans are given the choice we always pick bigger. Then the G5 comes out in the price range where the G6 should have been $15,000 to $20,000. This little bottom feeder picked off anyone who was trying to move up. Throw in the G8 and the G3 for good measure and how in the hell was the G6 supposed to compete? Even the power of Oprah couldn’t save us.

WHAT COULD HAVE BEEN

Who, other than GM, could squander the power of Oprah. When perhaps the most popular person in the world sponsors your car you at least give it a chance to survive. I can remember being told by GM leadership that we couldn’t put the G6 into fleet orders because it would hurt the retail sale price on the car. In recent days we have survived off the fleet sales of the G6. The Pontiac G6 is a fine automobile, I personally have owned two of them and have found them to be excellent by every measure. The demise of this car had a lot to do with GM Corporate Marketing and nothing to do with GM Manufacturing. Unfortunately, we can’t be successful if they aren’t. Do you ever remember any member of GM Corporate Marketing coming to the plant for a dose of common sense. Yeh, me neither. Perhaps as the “New GM” emerges things can change.
Thanks for listening . . .Tony