Word: automen
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Dates: during 1980-1989
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...Automen meet with the President as sales continue to sink...
Unlike blue-collar workers, who know that when the economy perks up the companies will usually call them back, executives have no such assurance. Says the Dearborn, Mich., executive recruiter William Tripp, who has been swamped with applications from furloughed automen: "These layoffs look a lot more permanent than in 1974. The industry is really retrenching, and a lot of people just are not going to be asked back...
...automen complain that the imports are benefiting from unusual advantages, including a somewhat exaggerated reputation for fuel economy. True, the ten most fuel-efficient cars sold in the U.S. are all foreign makes. But the automen say most of the imports that are selling well are not significantly better on gas than the most abstemious U.S. cars. For instance, Toyota's compact Corona gets about the same mileage as Ford's Fairmont; the Corolla gets only slightly better mileage than the Chevette, which, with a rating of 26 m.p.g. in city driving and 36 m.p.g. on the highway...
...import surge could touch off renewed squabbling with Japan over its trade practices. While as yet no one in Detroit is flatly accusing Japan's automakers of "dumping"-that is, exporting cars at prices that are lower than in the home market-U.S. automen grumble that Japanese people pay more for their cars than foreign buyers do. Reason: a 20% value-added tax (VAT) is levied on car purchases in Japan but not on those cars shipped to the U.S. In effect, Detroit automen say, Japanese motorists are subsidizing their auto industry's exports...