Explain this to me like I'm stupid...

[leftstreet]

Medvedev hails U.S.-Russia ties at new GM plant

Fri Nov 7, 2008

SHUSHARY, Russia, Nov 7 (Reuters) - Russian President Dmitry Medvedev hailed a new General Motors plant as a sign of strengthening economic relations with the United States on Friday, days after criticising U.S. foreign policy.

Medvedev attended the ribbon-cutting ceremony near St. Petersburg with the U.S. ambassador to Russia, John Beyrle, two days after rebuking Washington in his first annual address to the nation.

(snips)
But Beyrle, Medvedev and the governor of the St. Petersburg region, Valentina Matviyenko, were all smiles for the cameras as they switched on GM's assembly line for the Chevrolet Captiva.

"General Motors has done everything to carry out the responsibilities it took upon itself," Medvedev said at the ceremony, adding that it was an ideal example of economic cooperation between Russia and the United States.

The U.S. automotive giant has pushed ahead with expansion plans in Russia even as the global financial crisis cut demand and local car makers slash production

http://www.reuters.com/article/rbssConsumerGoodsAndRetailNews/idUSL771322320081107

But we need to bailout the auto industry here in the US?

:shrug:

[magellan]

1. I imagine it's mostly necessary to save American jobs n/t

[amdezurik]

2. gotta keep yaht sales up ya know

and all those golden parachutes have to be paid by someone...us that is

[Winnipegosis]

3. Vladdy just let him out to play.

[susanna]

4. It's actually quite simple.

GM, Ford and Chrysler are all multinational corporations and always have been.

In the automotive business, you place your plants near suppliers for the market you are targeting. Ergo, plants overseas need to be placed near supplier plants. Hence, a plant in St. Petersburg for European vehicles. Does this help?

Some vehicles may make their way to the U.S. market, but in the auto industry of today, I doubt it. Captiva is a Euro brand. The plant noted in the article was probably started about four to five years ago, making your speculation kind of moot. It was also probably funded from the Euro branch of GM.

But, carry on.

[AdHocSolver]

5. GM built a plant in China a few years ago that is said to be very profitable.

Americans are asked to bail out greedy, incompetent GM executives because the American public and its government is much more gullible and ignorant of economics than are Europeans and Asians.

The bailout for GM is designed to boost the price of GM stock shares so that the executives can exercise their stock options, and then use the rest to build more factories in Asia.

GM will still fire thousands of employees "to cut costs" and provide themselves with more cash to invest overseas. They have been playing this same game for the last twenty years or more. It is so transparent, and the public still doesn't get it.

GM, and to a slightly lesser extent Ford and Chrysler, has refused to build sensible, fuel efficient, reliable vehicles for the twenty-first century. This market niche has been handed to the Japanese-branded cars. China, and no doubt Russia, have less stringent "restrictions" concerning fuel mileage and pollution.

Bailout money would be better spent on public works projects to maintain infrastructure, development of clean, renewable energy, education, and helping state and local governments with their fiscal responsibilities, all designed with the purpose of creating and maintaining jobs in the U.S..

[susanna]

6. Just curious; have you ever worked for an automaker? n/t

[onager]

7. I hope GM got a better deal than FIAT. (Motorhead Trivia.)

Back in the Seventies, the Italian carmaker FIAT did several deals with Russia. They licensed building of the Fiat 124 as the Russian Lada, and IIRC built a plant or two. (The 124/128 was built all over the world under different nameplates.)

In exchange, FIAT got supplies of Russian steel. It turned out to be very low-quality steel, which is why FIATs of that era often started rusting before they left the factory.

I've lived in Egypt for 3 years, and most of the taxis here are ancient Russian Ladas. They are still running, many apparently with zero maintenance. Some have suspensions so worn that you can see the car "wander" around the road, or tilt to one side at about a 30-degree angle.

Many of them also have the original humongous grey steel analog Russian taxi meter under the dash, complete with Cyrillic markings. (The better to crack your kneecap when you get in.) None of those meters have worked since Breshnev was in office. It's a real hoot.

OTOH, I recently saw a newish Lada in downtown Alexandria. It had a "jellybean" shape and looked about as good as any modern Toyota or Nissan car. It probably is exactly that, in some other license deal.

[SoCalDem]

8. GM has money to build plants in OTHER countries

where workers are cheap..and so are the cars

INDIA:
http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/News/News_By_Industry/Auto/Automobiles/General_Motors_plans_new_launches_in_India_/articleshow/3678219.cms
snip..

GM India, which has committed $200 million investment for setting up a plant to manufacture 200,000 engines annually, plans to export to Europe where there is a demand for small cars such as the GM's Spark.


snip...

[onethatcares]

9. well, it's like this.

in order to save jobs, American workers will have to realize they must compete at the same level as those in Bangladesh, Russia, India, Somalia etc.
The workers will have to forgo such amenities as vacations, healthcare, benefit packages in order to keep their jobs. Meanwhile, life is grand for the masters. \\

Jeez, I never thought I'd see such unemployment here in the States. I thought tax cuts created jobs and increased revenue.

[HughBeaumont]

10. Don't you love when people parade that chestnut around?

Too bad it's a steamin' hunka bullshit. But hey, that never stops conservatives from being dumbasses just the same.

[malaise]

11. Read Naomi Klein's Shock Doctrine

re Ford in Chile