Comments on: Episode 255 – Executive Pay Cuts, Honda & Hyundai Post Profits, Land Rover Axes SUV

By: Quick scan of the net – nissan sentra « kitmaz

Quick scan of the net – nissan sentra « kitmaz — Sun, 25 Oct 2009 17:57:50 +0000

[...] http://www.autolinedetroit.tv/journal/?p=6468So from Maxima on the high end to Versa and Sentra on the low, Nissan saved the biggest upgrades for its number one volume vehicle right in the middle of the pack…the Altima. From new exterior styling that included hood, … [...]

By: Alex Kovnat

Alex Kovnat — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 13:14:50 +0000

Given the demands constantly being laid on the automotive industry to produce products that meet ever higher crashworthiness standards AND ever higher fuel economy standards, high ranking executives who have the talent to administer such efforts DESERVE to be paid millions of dollars a year, and to have business jets available to them to maximize the efficiency with which their time is utilized.

I agree with one of our participants, that if auto executive salaries must be cut, we should cut the salaries of some of our senators and government people too

By: fensterlips

fensterlips — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 02:26:40 +0000

I’d like to offer a different perspective on salary caps that the union might even like.
Tie the salary spread to 200x the lowest paid – including your outsourced (out-country) workers. You want more money – then everyone gets more. They did as much for your success and probably deserve it as much as you (maybe more). That would cool those ideas pretty quickly.

You think they’ll leave for greener pastures? Who are you kidding? They screw up a company royally, demand outsized salaries and somehow in this mother of all recessions people are lining up to hire these primadonnas?
Don’t let the door hit you in the keyster…

By: C-Tech

C-Tech — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 01:09:40 +0000

With the salary caps in place, what are the chances GM and Chrysler will get some executives who love producing cool cars?

By: dcars

dcars — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 23:29:35 +0000

It was my dream to work for the car companies but now they have lost allot of the attraction. Engineers are in very high demand especially ME’s.

By: Kit Gerhart

Kit Gerhart — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 19:59:25 +0000

diffrunt Says:
October 22nd, 2009 at 3:47 pm
“Aren,t these salary caps being applied to big bankers too?”

Yes, and the same “fears of losing all the good talent” are being spread around.

By: Kit Gerhart

Kit Gerhart — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 19:57:35 +0000

I’d think there would be a lot of people willing to work for $1,000,000 a year, and some of them very competant. With a little luck, GM and Chrysler might get some young, smart people more than willing to work for trouble car companies, given a 2000% pay raise from what they are making now.

By: hermann the german

hermann the german — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 19:53:18 +0000

dcars, I think you could be a bit tougher on GM. Under Durant they were badly managed. It took Sloan to set up a money making machine, but if you read DeLorean’s book the processes became ossified and the ‘non-obvious choice’ of CEO in the late fifties put bean counters in the saddle. Smith knew GM needed change. And when Rattner pointed out how isolated top executives still were, it seems that things were not great for lots of years. Of course I have left out unions and anti-trust fears tying down Gulliver.

By: diffrunt

diffrunt — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 19:47:21 +0000

Aren,t these salary caps being applied to big bankers too?

By: dcars

dcars — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 19:04:25 +0000

Lets not be to hard on the existing GM execs, usually people will stick to the existing traditions and corporate thinking. Bucking the trend gets you the basement closet for an office. GM was successful for 100 years. They needed to change, but didn’t realize it until Rattner did it for them. I would expect the lower pay will make a lot of them leave on their own. It’s hard to see people leave a job, but a lot of Auto works were also let go.

By: Andy S

Andy S — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 18:49:13 +0000

Nick, we judge vehicles within their class (we don’t expect a Corvette to do any better off-road than we expect a Land Cruiser to do in a gymkhana). So, 41 mpg from a mid-size family sedan is quite impressive, whereas 41 might be a basic expectation in a Honda Fit or Chevy Aveo or Ford Fiesta. At the other end of the car spectrum, I get between 23-27 mpg in each and every fill-up on a Jaguar XJ8. This also is very impressive versus the numbers experienced from most other full-size luxury V8 gas vehiles.

So, let’s give credit where it is due — within its class. Kudos to Tom Martin for the excellent research and real apples-to-apples data. And kudos to Ford.

By: Willi

Willi — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 18:39:06 +0000

right on Tony, Max and Jim

the rest of you – why are you going on about fuel mileage? it’s such a non issue – most people don’t care, they want safety, and the difference you save with mpg ( or mpk ) won’t buy you a nice dinner out – i can save much more getting a good deal on a safe vehicle!

By: Max Christensen

Max Christensen — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 18:31:59 +0000

@Nick,

I don’t think any reasonable (the disclaimer) consumer would expect to go out and get 55 mpg from the Fushion Hybrid. It was just simply mentioned that one driver had logged a 55mpg leg …… pretty plain and simple. I think we get it after nearly a dozen comments from you that you don’t think 55mpg is a reasonable expectation from this car. So far, I’ve not heard anyone disagree with you or argue that point ……. thanks for your input. Now, can we move on to something else?

By: M Campbell

M Campbell — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 18:25:28 +0000

Since this is the federal government, how about putting these executive positions out for bid?

By: ‘nissan sentra’ on the web : Curtain Up. Lets Begin.

‘nissan sentra’ on the web : Curtain Up. Lets Begin. — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 18:15:56 +0000