Globalization Works Both Ways
BMW Z4, Built in South Carolina
COLUMBIA, S.C. — On one side of the Atlantic Ocean, BMW says it will cut 7.5% of its work force over two years. On this side of the water, the company says it plans to increase production by more than 50% by 2012.
By building the cars in the U.S., BMW can save money on the lower dollar and on wages because its South Carolina workers make less than German workers. And the declining dollar also means BMW and other foreign automakers probably will start buying locally for more of the parts used by their U.S. plants. That shift in production has led to the job cuts at home for the Munich-based luxury car maker.
In the U.S., BMW Manufacturing expects to increase production to 240,000 cars by 2012. That's up from 155,000 last year.
3 Comments:
Globalization does indeed work both ways.
Maybe the Professor would be so kind as to provide a chart of Price of a gallon of gasoline to average minimum wage in the U.S. since 1970.
I wonder who will see the injustice in this, and ask BMW to kindly give those jobs back to their rightful German owners. Will it be the same U.S. auto workers who complain when U.S. companies send manufacturing jobs to China, Mexico, etc.?
The manufacturing guys over at Evolving Excellence have an interesting perspective on globalization and manufacturing, using an example of how it impacts small cottage industries in the hill towns of Tuscany, Italy.
http://www.evolvingexcellence.com/blog/2008/03/globalization-a.html
Ken
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