AFSCME 3357-HOF'S BLOG

GM Kills Zetas - Lays off more WC staff

Last week I wrote about the plunge in General Motors' stock price. This week brings word that General Motors is planning to lay off thousands of white collar (salaried). Also GM has announced that it is ending plans to deploy a new car platform called the zeta archetecture in the US. The Zeta was to be a rear-wheel drive midsized line, and the first products were to be available in 2008.

When it comes to internal assessments about competitiveness, check out this quote from the article linked below:

It was Lutz who first championed the new rear-wheel drive platform. The renowned car expert announced the Zeta program in 2003 as the industry was turning its attention toward rear-wheel drive vehicles.

But he pulled the plug on the North America models after determining the vehicles could not be engineered and assembled to sell at prices competitive with the popular Chrysler 300C, Ford Mustang and other models, without sacrificing quality and content.

If you can't compete with Chrysler & Ford, how in the heck are you going to compete with Toyota & Hyundai?

USATODAY.com - GM kills car line, offers buyouts to white-collar staff