Thread regarding General Motors layoffs

Ultium battery shortage

The company claimed EV leadership, bragged up this multi-use platform like a bunch of other companies aren't doing the same thing, and now after all of several thousand built, there's a shortage that's stopping production. They are adding another shift at the SUV plant in Lansing, though. Customers do notice this stuff.

https://arstechnica.com/cars/2023/07/battery-shortage-forces-gm-to-pause-commercial-ev-production/

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| 2022 views | | 28 replies (last July 30, 2023) | Reply
Post ID: @OP+1nGumEVj

28 replies (most recent on top)

"Profit is up yet, volume is down."

They just raised the prices on the cars they DO sell.

Their ultimate goal is to just sell one car per year.

But it'll cost $10 billion with a cheap plastic interior lol

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Post ID: @brqf+1nGumEVj

GM is the leader at advertising. GM EVs everywhere except the road.

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Post ID: @bosz+1nGumEVj

"Your yard is going to be piled full of stuff you don't need! Basement too."

Anyone paying attention to the statistics can see right away that our nation is in really big trouble.
Nothing to see here, move along.
https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/ive-never-seen-anything-mysterious-chinese-bio-lab-discovered-remote-california-city

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Post ID: @bvzn+1nGumEVj

"some of us will be waiting on the sidelines to buy up your boats, campers, motorcycles, jet skis, and mcmansion at rock-bottom prices. I don't want this to happen but I will take advantage of it. "

Your yard is going to be piled full of stuff you don't need! Basement too.

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Post ID: @bmqc+1nGumEVj

Profit is up yet, volume is down.

Like 2003, once those that wanted a truck or SUV had one, what was left in the portfolio. They attempted to development on cars again, especially the return of Cadillac being the ultimate American luxury. So the next step: cheapen the product; the worst of that was removing e-coat and other minimal corrosion preventative measures .

The real problem: GM needs to get rid of all the sister product. The only difference between the Silverado and Sierra is appearance.

GM costumers are willing to pay 6 figures on an Escalade but there's no difference in the that and the Tahoe. For 6 figures I thought I would get more than the same plastic interior that they give in it's sister, the Tahoe.

I can tell @awvr+1nGumEVj, you're a die-hard fan. How much longer do you think all this cash will still be there? At this rate, it's more believable that SGM is pouring money into GMNA to keep it afloat.

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Post ID: @bwde+1nGumEVj

Broken record: "Dec 2025 they will be begging for a loan again in DC."

What part of GM selling more cars than any other manufacturer in 2022 don't you understand?
I can see that you are bitter. Did a staff reduction take you out?
You should probably move on, it's getting really sad.
In the meantime, I'm looking forward to another big bonus next March due to the record profits and sales!

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Post ID: @awvr+1nGumEVj

It's 2003 all over again; the profit exists but give it a few years and it will all be gone, like in 2008.

GM somehow keeps claiming record profit but it's a bit odd that they are struggling to pay 76+ billion USD in debt back to their creditors.

Dec 2025 they will be begging for a loan again in DC.

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Post ID: @asvu+1nGumEVj

“If the unemployment rate is 37% how do those people pay for food or rent? Are those the homeless?”

Millennials and Z rocking the Xbox in the basement. They just don’t want to work and the parents enable it.

Don’t worry, once the parents hit hard times, things will sort themselves out. Those deadbeat “kids” will be given ultimatums. But the job market will be brutal.

Beyond that, research car and house repos, food bank use, record credit card delinquency, loan rejections…
Wait until October when those student loans are due. It’s going to upend everything as the layoffs start.

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Post ID: @anrb+1nGumEVj

If the unemployment rate is 37% how do those people pay for food or rent? Are those the homeless?

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Post ID: @atkx+1nGumEVj

What would the GM employee discount shave off of the new $105,000 Chevy Silverado EV? I’m grateful that GM is lowering the barriers to EV ownership!
One Team
Be Bold
We are all in this together

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Post ID: @5tdd+1nGumEVj

GM is still not the leader in EVs. The company isn't even competitive. They rely on trucks and SUVs, just like they did before when they promised a new GM.

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Post ID: @5nvo+1nGumEVj

@5kdk+1nGumEVj
"Do you really think life today is worse than in the Great Depression?"

No, but the labor participation rate is definitely lower.
People can abuse social safety nets today. That is why so many can get away with dropping out of the workforce. It's pathetic.

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Post ID: @5aoo+1nGumEVj

@5tck+1nGumEVj

The original point I was arguing against was, "There never was a Golden Age where life was easy for average people."

You are just making claims without any sources. Shooting from the hip isn't really an argument. Saying things like, "Middle class people today are living better than a lot of rich people in the 1950s" isn't really verifiable. It's subjective. Some would say owning a home with little to no debt and only one working spouse in the 50's would be a better life. Others would argue that living with a bigger house, a double income and an 80% debt-to-income ratio is better. There's not data here. Just a claim.

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Post ID: @5ieu+1nGumEVj

@5qpv+1nGumEVj
"That 37% isn't only people who don't have a job but want to work, it also includes children, the disabled, and the retired."

Wrong.
It's called a "civilian labor force participation rate". If you aren't in the labor force, aka children and retirees, you aren't counted. Guessing with authority. Not good.

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Post ID: @5vvt+1nGumEVj

@4fag+1nGumEVj

Do you really think life today is worse than in the Great Depression?

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Post ID: @5kdk+1nGumEVj

"Debt to income ratios"

The people who grew up during the Great Depression were very frugal and never wanted to take on debt. They wanted to pay cash for everything.

And look at the size of houses built in the 1950s vs. today. The square footage has doubled. People made due with less than people expect to have today.

And of course back in the 1950s very few people had TVs or multiple cars. Today families have 2 or 3 or 4 cars (one for each parent and one for each kid over 16). Plus Playstations, Birkin bags, and all sorts of stuff that didn't exist in the 1950s.

Middle class people today are living better than a lot of rich people in the 1950s.

Having two incomes is a choice in order to support a fancier lifestyle than in the past.

Even poor people today have TVs, microwaves, video games, air conditioning...

In the 1950s you had to go to a movie theater to experience air conditioning. Today, every house and apartment has it.

The culture changed also. People put purchases on credit cards at a drop of a hat now, and have no problem going into debt or declaring bankruptcy when it gets away from them.

In the 1950s, only an upper middle class businessman might have a credit card.

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Post ID: @5tck+1nGumEVj

"The real unemployment rate is 37.4%."

Nope. That 37% isn't only people who don't have a job but want to work, it also includes children, the disabled, and the retired.

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Post ID: @5qpv+1nGumEVj

"There never was a Golden Age where life was easy for average people."

  1. Before the 80's, it didn't take a double income to live a middle class life. "The share of adults who live in middle-class households fell from 61% in 1971 to 50% in 2021, according to a new Pew Research Center analysis of government data."
  1. Unemployment at 3.6%. Did you know that people who don't receive unemployment benefits from the government aren't counted at unemployed? To find the real unemployment rate, you need to look at the official labor participation rate (link below) from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. That number is 62.6%, meaning:

The real unemployment rate is 37.4%.
The worst year for unemployment during the Great Depression was 1933, when it was 24.9%.
In real terms, it's 12.5% worse today than the Great Depression.

  1. Consumer debt in America is at $17 Trillion, and the average debt to income ratio for housing is 40% per family in 2023.
  1. Debt-to-income ratios are 700% higher than what they were between 1945 and 2006.
  1. Claims made without sources are not credible. Guessing with authority should be frowned upon in serious discussions.

Sources
(1) https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2022/04/20/how-the-american-middle-class-has-changed-in-the-past-five-decades/

(2) https://www.bls.gov/charts/employment-situation/civilian-labor-force-participation-rate.htm

(3) https://www.cnbc.com/2023/05/15/consumer-debt-passes-17-trillion-for-the-first-time-despite-slide-in-mortgage-demand.html

(4) http://demographia.com/db-usdebtratio-history.pdf

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Post ID: @4fag+1nGumEVj

There never was a Golden Age where life was easy for average people.

It's always been tough to make ends meet.

Things are NOT worse now than they were in the past.

When you see old ads from 1932 for a 25 cent steak dinner or 5 cent a gallon gas and envy how cheap everything was, not like prices today, keep in mind people were making 10 bucks a week and were working 6 and a half days per week.

If you were lucky enough to have a job at all. Right now, the unemployment rate is 3.6%.

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Post ID: @4zmv+1nGumEVj

Yeah, houses were cheaper 50 years ago, but salaries were way lower, too.

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Post ID: @4ojd+1nGumEVj

7%+ interest on a $450k loan is a very different bump in a monthly payment than a $60k loan of the past.
This is basic stuff folks.

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Post ID: @4wex+1nGumEVj

A 30 year mortgage at 2% is my birthright.

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Post ID: @3iws+1nGumEVj

People act like 7% interest rates are the end of the world.

If you're very young, it might seem like something that's never happened before

But look at interest rates from 20 years ago, and even further back.

The world goes on.

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Post ID: @3eab+1nGumEVj

Speaking of 2008, I hope you have some extra emergency money saved.
The housing market is massively overvalued. Single family housing inventory is at 950,000 right now (50% below the historical average) and the mortgage interest rates are 7% if you have excellent credit. If you don't, you can't get a loan. A reduction of inventory and a liquidity crisis... what will that do the economy?

But things will change! Beyond the interest rates and liquidity pinch, there are "risky mortgages"; people who are "house poor". The debt to income ratio is a data point tracked by Fannie Mae. This debt-to-income ratio is at 40% on average. 40% of gross income going to housing costs. What happens to these people when they get laid off this fall? A flood of cheap housing due to a flood of bankruptcies and foreclosures.
The commercial real estate market is also crashing due to lifestyle changes brought on by covid lockdowns. And you thought working from home was so cool!

It's a perfect storm and people are going to be crushed.
They won't be buying cars. There absolutely will be mass layoffs in the auto industry and in manufacturing.

I say this as a warning. You still have time to save your money and prepare. If not, some of us will be waiting on the sidelines to buy up your boats, campers, motorcycles, jet skis, and mcmansion at rock-bottom prices. I don't want this to happen but I will take advantage of it.

The Ultium battery shortage is the least of your problems.

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Post ID: @3zjt+1nGumEVj

GM will be back begging for money in DEC 2025. It's 2008 all over again.

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Post ID: @3quf+1nGumEVj

Gm believing their own press releases as the Barra truth?? Oh the horror, the horror!!

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Post ID: @2xup+1nGumEVj

maybe they're having a hard time making batteries that don't have the same problem as the bolt batteries

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Post ID: @1bny+1nGumEVj

this sums it up
: Customers do notice this stuff

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Post ID: @1aez+1nGumEVj

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