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So what you have told us is that the market place is a rough and tumble place, yes it is. Theoretically, we could blame consumers for Bosch's move to Mexico since consumers reneged on paying MSRP for the Ford or GM vehicles.

Running a plant at a per unit loss is not a political decision, it's economic one. Most manufactures will continue to produce at a loss to cover fixed cost.


You'll forgive me if I don't find a lack of basic ethics in business or the possible unemployment of Americans due to this kind of BS humorous. Thankfully, Bosch was a strong enough company that we didn't lose anybody and positions were found elsewhere at that location. And no, I wouldn't blame the consumers for Juan Ignacio Lopez, probably the biggest dirtbag (purchasing manager at GM)to come along in quite some time. Yes, the auto industry is a rough place, at least with regard to the Big 3, where scruples seem sadly lacking, along with ethics, but Lopez was the créme de la créme of unethical and burned numerous suppliers in such a fashion. His other favorite trick was to get one company to do all of the upfront engineering work on a project, then take the whole project, along with the engineering work and hand it off to another company who could of course make the product MUCH cheaper since someone else had spent a ton of money working out the design issues for them while getting nothing in return. Sorry Mac, if you find that humorous, or think that is the way American companies should run, then I'd hate to live in this country if that were the norm. Thankfully, that is not the case, even in the rough and tumble automotive world. One other little tidbit, while you are seeing your costs go up each model year for a car, the suppliers are being forced to give up 5% a year in price reductions regardless of market conditions.

Oh, and no, the relay decision at Bosch was purely a political decision to help capture more lucrative business. It was quite refreshing after we got that business that we basically told GM we were shutting the line down, taking no more losses and that they could, as politely as possible be said, go F themselves if they didn't like it. I quite enjoyed being in on that teleconference.



I find humor in every thing and I'm sure Bosch never disappointed or cost a supplier money. Also, one of the reasons you operate a plant at a loss, besides covering fixed cost, is to maintain your work force, both a selfish and altruist reason.

Thanks for giving me another reason for being a Ford guy.

Every normal man must be tempted, at times, to spit on his hands, hoist the black flag, and begin slitting throats. H. L. Mencken