GM truck plant closing in oshawa

[mzdamx3rsdohc]

the biggest fear to my community has happened jobs will now be so scarce in a year plus im thankful i work in alberta 6-8 months a year. has anyone else been getin the finger as they drive around town? i dont speed or drive like an idiot so i know thats not why. i drive a car built by north americans most likely right here in ontario seeing theres a mazda plant. mazda, honda, nissan, toyota, are all bashed by domestic owners everyday here. The thing i dont get the 4 mentioned car companies all of plants in ontario, all of them are made in north america except maybe a few models shipped over (the new skyline i think. now the gms you see driving around aree most likely built in some 2nd or 3rd world country and canadian/american built cars over 50% of the parts and electronics come from these other countries. its no wonder why imports are taking over they provide jobs for whom buys their cars, theres taalks of honda taking over the truck plant, imports are now domestically built and assembled hence why their a solid reliable vehicle that now has equal power. i say f--- gm looking for cheap labour moving to countries where the last time there was a union strike the army killed all the protesers yet others support them and keep buying their products. we should make a list of the gm cars made in canada and the u.s and what imports are to compare
i know the malibu and impala are out of oshawa. The camaro also but oshawa built camaros were announced to be cut back from 120,000 to 40,000 total next year.
maybe thats gms problem not switching to the better on gas vvti v8 which they cancelled and keepiing the gaS guzzling push rod v8's as i just personally sold my 2000 1500 with a 5.3 due to the gas mileage. their car that had the biggest increase in sales between this month last year and this month this year is the wave and aveo their sales are up 85% im pretty sure. yet they invest in a new over priced camaro with what a push rod 6.0l and 7.0l im pretty sure. why not redesign the compact cars they have to make them a more attractive looking car not a modern day metro or sprint.
The only gm cars that are keeping oshawa a float are the impala mainly because of the sales to police services which is declining as they prefer the rear drive v8 crown vic over the front drive v6 impala. outside ontario i have not seen an impala police vehicle, they were fords or dodges for the most part. so why not join the mainstream like ford and dodge and have the impala front engine rear wheel drive like the impalas and caprices of the past. i remeber almost every police car growing up being a caprice until the body style of the crown vic changed.
i wonder am i on track or making uneducated statements? if im on track why dont we band together and make a intteligent informative article to write in to the newspaper to contradict what others are writing about support domestic cars THAT ARENT EVEN BUILT BY US. gm isnt coming back times have changed we as a community should also adapt welcome companies like honda, a ethanol plant (which enviromentalists are trying to stop when atlantic packaging produces 5 times more pollution in a day then a ethanol plant would in a month. y not an incenerator we pay how many truck driver and gas plus a penalty to dump our garbage in michigan. y not oil refineries so we dnt have to sell our crude oil to bush to refine it and buy it back at a way higher cost. with our canadian dollar so high we have to start looking out for ourselves or ill be buying a 300 000 dollar house for 150 000 next year when the gm workers benefits wear out. i want to work locally and have my gas fitter 3 but jobs are so scarce here u start at 12 an hour. where as the first time i went out to alberta as a labourer only i took home 4-5000 every two weeks and ill scan my pay stubs to prove if theres anyone that doubts it. and just some information about gas prices. theres more crude oil in saskatchewan than there ever was in the history of alberta. there are thousands of oil wells that are just capped off due to the government not wanting to pump it and tie it into the trans canada pipeline(which i worked on this year) manitoba has major oil sands projects starting up north, they drilled and capped off oil wells in newfoundland for the same reason. maybe too much supply not enough demand. gm ha da electric car leased to movie stars and other people of importance...lol... that everyone wanted to buy out but texaco bought the patents on the battery system and destroyed every car. anyone wonder y electric cars get such horrible range texaco owns the patent on the only battery system to get over 1000 kms on one charge.

[Nd4SpdSe]

The only gm cars that are keeping oshawa a float are the impala mainly because of the sales to police services which is declining as they prefer the rear drive v8 crown vic over the front drive v6 impala. outside ontario i have not seen an impala police vehicle

in Virginia working on cop cars we got a good chunk of new (07-08) Impala's (from Oshawa plant I believe). But you are right, they much perfer to have the old Crown Vics. Much MUCH more trunk space. But we did ALOT of Crown Vics (made in St Thomas, Ontario)

The market changes, the workers should of realised it, that people were moving away from Imports, and are less interested in gas guzzling trucks. Their jobs aren't forever. Ignorance isn't bliss. They were just greedy and wanted their cushy $40/hr job forever. Jobs aren't lost, and the forein auto makers are opening plants here. Toyota just opened a factory in Cambridge. If the demand here is enough, they'll open plants. I think the Civic in made in the US, i know my Xterra is, and even the Probe/Mx-6/626 was made in the US. Gm is going downhill and their either ignorant or oblivious to it. I really hate how they make products to compete against themselves. Hey, I have to move around to find a stable job, it's not like it used to be. They're no different and finally getting a dose of reality in a sence.

I support companies that make quality products. It also forces companies that make inferior products to set up their game.

As for alternative fuels, not a fan of hybrids, I think it's mostly a scam. Electric cars are ok, but on both those and the hybrids will be more harmful in the long run on how to dispose of batteries. And you have to replace those. Cars, just simple TLC and a tune up can suffice. I think combusting hydrogen is where it's at, the only problem is acquiring it.

[Custommx3]

Your Mx-3 was built in Japan, they all were.

[Nd4SpdSe]

Yep, that I know.

[Savin]

I think the Civic in made in the US, i know my Xterra is, and even the Probe/Mx-6/626 was made in the US.

The civic sedan is made in Indiana. Just spreading the much despised knowledge.

[tmac4t4]

even though GM is shutting down its plants locally, they are still manufacturing over seas, where all our imports come from, go figure ...i guess you cant really blame them, i mean, better quality work for cheeper wages, and at the rate their sales figures are droppin they gotta pinch every penny

[bubsy83]

I used to work at Fram and I quit voluntarily last fall because they put me on straight afternoons at the same time my daughter was starting grade 1 and that was unacceptable to me. Fram is hurting and has been for the last couple of years...my seniority had me on straight midnights up to 2 years ago, and I did one year of afternoons and moved to midnights last summer to be put back on afternoons again.

Anyways, I drive a MX-3 obviously and I know it was built in Japan, and ya know what?? I don't care....whether I quit my job or would eventually have lost it anyways this coming August, I am one of the manufacturing workers that has to find another job to keep up with the market regardless. I get harrassed driving the MX-3 by domestic drivers all the time, and I get it, but I don't care. That's where I am at. I am living the nightmare anyway, but I will find my way out of it, and what I drive is my concern. The gas lasts longer in it than our Dodge Dakota, and doesn't cost near as much to fill the tank. So the parts may cost a bit more to repair but the thing of it is, that to replace old parts in this car is far less often than my POS Cavalier that was newer than the MX-3 and I scrapped it because it was basically junk! SO for all the GM, or whatever domestic workers out there crying over their lost jobs, I say get over it and move on. It's a different era, and a different market. We are looking at becoming a more service oriented market than a producing or manufacturing market. That's the reality. Stop fighting and complaining and start adjusting and going with the flow!!!

[Stablo87]

You said it bubsy, so how did your surgery go?

[solo_ryder]

As for alternative fuels, not a fan of hybrids, I think it's mostly a scam. Electric cars are ok, but on both those and the hybrids will be more harmful in the long run on how to dispose of batteries. And you have to replace those. Cars, just simple TLC and a tune up can suffice. I think combusting hydrogen is where it's at, the only problem is acquiring it.

I agree, the biggest and stupidest scam is the e85 ethonal flex fuel crap they put in GM cars. I was watching the news a few months ago and they were talking about the e85 cars and where to fill up. Guess how many e85 gas stations there are in Canada?

There are 2 and one if for police use only. The other one is in saskatchewan

Ethanol fuel is not the answer for the future, it is causing a food shortage and to produce 1 liter of the flex fuel takes 1.5-2L of gas or oil as the refining is very complex.

Hydrogen fuel cells seem to be a good answer or just vehicles with smaller more efficient motors are the best answer I think we have today.

[Ryan]

I've heard ethanol is a POS idea, seems you guys back that up.

Run your deisel on french fries, and change your fuel filter every twenty secconds.

Hydrogen is a good idea, difficult to refine, no?

Electric seems good, renewable and all. Unless they invent a 100% perfect or recycleable battery, thats toast too...

Lets just revert to our caveman days where we could scratch our genitals and then eat without even knowing it was disgusting.

[bubsy83]

[quote="Stablo87"]You said it bubsy, so how did your surgery go?[/quote]

Thankyou...and I know this is off topic...my surgery went well...stitches came out this past thursday and that was the worst part for pain...walking with a bit of a limp but can do almost anything I was beforehand..it's my clutch foot though so my husband is driving the MX right now...I want it back so I hope to try my foot out on the clutch this week in my driveway before I head off into the streets!! Thanks for asking!! Cheers!!

Good Topic though...I could finally rant about the baloney...I feel badly that we are losing jobs and so on, but it comes down to quality and my opinion is that my MX-3 was built with more care and consideration for my dallar than that cavy...My Cavy was junked at 220K, and my MX is still running strong with over 300K on the clock...what's that got to say to the domestic manufacturers!!