And Pays Workers Twice as Much?

Numbers speak for themselves. In 2010, over 5.5 million cars were produced in Germany, compared to 2.7 million in the U.S. The median wage (including benefits) for autoworkers in Germany was US$67.14 (€48.97) per hour, almost double as much as the US$33.77 earned by the average American autoworker.

Good write up.

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Jim

Here is the original report. Its a few years old but still quite relevant.

A tale of two systems | Remapping Debate

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1982 300GD Carmine Red (DB3535) Cabriolet Parting Out
1990 300SEL Smoke Silver (Parting out)
1991 350SDL Blackberry Metallic (481)

"The thing is Bob, its not that I'm lazy...its that I just don't care."

What you see is the US arms of the company providing low cost assembly to prop up the German operations. It is not valid to compare the 2 countries as the company gets to play with transfer prices for components. While the US $ is down, there is an advantage as well.

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Grumpy Old Diesel Owners Club group

I no longer question authority, I annoy authority. More effect, less effort....

1967 230-6 auto parts car. rust bucket.
1980 300D now parts car 800k miles
1984 300D 500k miles
1987 250td 160k miles English import
2001 jeep turbo diesel 130k miles
1998 jeep tdi ~ followed me home. Needs a turbo.
1968 Ford F750 truck. 6-354 diesel conversion.
Other toys ~J.D.,Cat & GM ~ mainly earth moving

Apples and oranges - no comparison can be drawn to the U.S.

Germany still runs a trade surplus. The US trade deficit is recently way down, surprisingly.

Over 10 million cars were sold in the US in 2010. There were not 7.3M imports. The author doesn't have their basic facts correct. I would t put much stock in the rest of the article as a result.

Deutschland Über Alles!


I like owning teutonic vehicles the best.



1990 560 SEC - Smoke Silver






1990 560 SEL - Almandine Red (pic. can't be found)



1991 560 SEC AMG - Pearl Black






1992 600E Renntech - Astral Silver (co-owner)






1995 E420 - Almandine Red






2011 E350 Sport - Arctic White





2013 BMW 535i M Sport

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1991 560 SEC AMG, 199k <---- 300 hp 10:1 ECE euro HV ...

1995 E 420, 170k "The Red Plum" (sold)

2015 BMW 535i xdrive awd Stage 1 DINAN, 6k, <----364 hp

1967 Mercury Cougar, 49k

2013 Jaguar XF, 20k <----340 hp Supercharged, All Wheel Drive (sold)

Mainly down to oil production/consumption patterns, not due to real industrial production or exports of high-value goods, sadly.

Please enlighten us with your wisdom.

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1979 Black on Black, 300CD (sold), 1990 Black 300SE, Silver 1989 Volvo 780, 1988 300CE (vanished by the hands of a girlfriend), 1992 300CE (Rescue).

Companies like Costco and Trader Joe's show that you can pay double minimum wages plus benefits and still make a healthy profit.

Most of the lower end German cars are not manufactured in Germany it self, they have factories in countries where the wages are much lower.

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1979 Black on Black, 300CD (sold), 1990 Black 300SE, Silver 1989 Volvo 780, 1988 300CE (vanished by the hands of a girlfriend), 1992 300CE (Rescue).

The European automakers have implemented a two-tiered wage system exactly as have the U.S. automakers. They build new factories in low wage (usually eastern) European countries and acquire eastern European automakers. VW owns Skoda and SEAT, Renault owns Dacia. Dacia's Romanian workers currently earn about 400 Euros/month. So it appears Euro automakers are doing the exact same thing as the Americans - pushing production into lower wage locations.

I did some more digging into the authors claim that 2.7 million cars were produced in the US in 2010. That appears to be the number of sedans/station wagons/coupes/convertibles built in the US that year. It does not include SUVs, crossovers, or pickup trucks - the majority of the US passenger car market. About 8M total light vehicles were built in the US in 2010. So the author is technically correct, but also appears rather clueless.

I'll give it a shot. The U.S. automakers have multiple tiers of pay - basically older autoworkers that make a lot of money, and newer workers that have lower hourly pay and/or fewer benefits. The non-union "import" plants in the U.S. (VW & Nissan in Tennessee, Honda in Ohio, etc.) have yet another wage structure.

The European automakers also have multiple wage tiers. Higher wages and benefits in western Europe, lower in eastern and southern Europe. For example, VW makes cars in Germany, and also via their Skoda brand (former Czech automaker) and SEAT (Spanish). Renault owns Dacia in Romania. Opel produces cars in Poland.

The author of the article is comparing pay of German auto workers with the average all US workers, both union tiers and non-union. To be fair he should compare the pay of, for example, Michigan union workers with German workers. Or perhaps average all the European auto workers wages, including Skoda, SEAT, Dacia, etc.

Like Skid said, apples and oranges.

That makes it apples and apples or oranges and oranges if you wish, they have the same strategy.

The only difference is their high-end cars are made in Germany by the best educated and trained workers who demand higher pay. Those cars sell for a premium price with a much higher profit margin, making it possible to pay those wages. Germans take care of them self, it makes for a better society in their view. Happy Germans buy German made cars: you don't see many French or Italian made cars in Germany.

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1979 Black on Black, 300CD (sold), 1990 Black 300SE, Silver 1989 Volvo 780, 1988 300CE (vanished by the hands of a girlfriend), 1992 300CE (Rescue).

I saw mention that shale oil was starting to cut traditional oil imports but I didn't look into it yet.