The U. S. auto industry is in the worst shape it has ever been in. General Motors and Ford spend more on health insurance and pensions than they do buidling cars. It is, of course, the result of union demands that were regularly met for more than the last fifty years. It seems, in effect, as if GM and Ford are really in the health insurance business and only peripherally in the auto business. It’s no wonder that both companies will be forced to downsize and let Asian auto companies become the predominant manufacturers of cars in the U.S.
Investors are dumping their GM and Ford stocks and picking up Toyota and Honda stock. Toyota and Honda, operating in right-to-work states, will not only become the predominant U. S. auto companies, they will also become two of the largest employees in this country.
The future of the U. S. auto industry is, indeed, bleak. If GM and Ford survive, they will be much smaller companies with a fraction of the car-buying market. Their workers and unions will have only themselves to blame as Toyota, Honda, and Hyundai zoom ahead in high gear.
