Word: transplante
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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These advantages have been accruing since 1983, when the first transplant factories, built by Honda and Nissan, began producing sedans in Marysville, Ohio, and Smyrna, Tenn., respectively. But if the stakes were high then, they're even higher now. The Big Three's overall North American market share slipped to 61.7% last year, an all-time low, and it has declined an additional 1.6 points in the first quarter of 2003. Toyota is just a couple of market-share points from passing Chrysler, the smallest of the Big Three. Though it is narrowing the quality gap, Detroit today squeezes almost...
Nissan's strategy, championed by turnaround CEO Carlos Ghosn, exemplifies the latest transplant wave: a direct assault on Detroit's most profitable models. The Titan was designed by a California-based team of mostly Americans, who Nissan thought could best understand the U.S. truck crowd's preferences. About 85% of the Titan's components come from U.S. suppliers. And it will be built in the pickup-loving South, which Nissan hopes will add credibility. Says Ghosn (pronounced Goan): "The market is sensitive to the fact that this product is assembled...
...told, North American vehicle sales are expected to grow to 18.4 million a year by 2008, an increase of 1.6 million vehicles since 2002. The transplants alone are adding enough capacity for an additional 1 million vehicles. Hyundai is building a plant in Montgomery, Ala.--the first Korean auto-assembly factory in the U.S.--to make Sonata sedans and Santa Fe SUVs. Mercedes-Benz (owned by DaimlerChrysler, based in Stuttgart, Germany) is doubling capacity at its SUV facility in Tuscaloosa, Ala. And BMW recently expanded its plant in Spartanburg, S.C., where lines run overtime to produce Z4 roadsters...
Contrary to popular belief, workers' wages and benefits at the transplant factories--none of which are unionized except for joint ventures with Detroit--are comparable to those at factories organized by the United Auto Workers (UAW). Assembly-line workers, regardless of their location, earn about $45,000 to $100,000 a year (depending on experience and overtime). Bonuses are typically tied to profitability, and health-care and pension benefits vary only slightly...
...classifications at transplant factories are broader. Line workers are trained in a variety of tasks--say, spot welding as well as interior assembly--and they rotate jobs frequently. They're less susceptible to boredom and repetitive-stress injuries. They're also trained to do preventive maintenance. At Toyota plants, every assembly-line worker has the authority to stop the line if he or she spots, say, a flaw in a windshield. More important, workers are encouraged by management...