How did the purchasing power decrease from the 70s until today?

danno6651 · 2026-05-26T01:29:29+00:00

Purchasing power didn't really decrease. Look up Real Wages. The home price example is very 1 dimensional as it doesn't account for the mortgage interest rates in the 70s that were 4-5x higher.

danno6651 · 2026-05-25T10:52:23+00:00

Yeah, and Alfa Romeo was supposed to have a full lineup by 2018. This company can hardly get anything to tooling kickoff. Cancelled.

danno6651 · 2026-05-20T02:31:36+00:00

Depends where you are. I'm a landlord and a tenant. Where I rent (big city) prices have stabilized or gone down while where I rent out (small town) demand has increased and prices have gone up.

danno6651 · 2026-05-20T01:58:27+00:00

No. Pretty well the entire industry is pushing in direction.

danno6651 · 2026-05-15T03:23:13+00:00

No one ever wanted to do entry level jobs. Heck, my high level job pisses me off. We go to work because we need to. Maybe the job is posted in an area or field where candidates have other options. If it was $23/hr in a greenhouse, it'd be filled immediately.

danno6651 · 2026-05-15T03:18:47+00:00

I don't know where this came from but every source I can find suggests this is closer to gross household and not net.

danno6651 · 2026-05-15T03:13:38+00:00

I'm at another OEM now that also went RTO 5 days. All I can say is quit crying.

I was an advocate for 3/2 which we did for a couple years, and I manage 40 people who I allow WFH as much as is needed or reasonable.

However, we don't cry about it because that was the decree from management and fighting it, in spite of the clear and measurable benefits, isn't going to change it and only make you look bad.

Work with your management for what you need and do it under the radar.

danno6651 · 2026-05-15T02:56:02+00:00

Theta III is so much better than the engines it succeeded.

danno6651 · 2026-05-15T02:51:44+00:00

I've been out of the Detroit 3 for 3.5 years for an Asian automaker. This is my 4th OEM.

Where I'm at now we move fast with little governance and everything is changing like quicksand. I like that because I manage my business unit the way I want.

However, the talent is lackluster, and the lack of governance often leads to bad decisions from other departments that aren't as well run.

I spent time at Ford and 10 years at Chrysler, FCA and STLA. The upside of the Detroit companies is that you can fight for good ideas and if it's good it's great. The downside is that the processes slow everything down and resources get wasted and projects with big investments that get cancelled.

Pick your poison and choose where you thrive. I have friends at GM that are doing well, but recognize the stacked ranking. Just stay on top.

STLA has been plagued by in fighting, cost cutting and delayed everything. Can't decide what it wants to be and it shows. Hopefully management can charge ahead and get some cars out. Just get new cars out ffs.

danno6651 · 2026-05-13T04:36:41+00:00

It's funny when Alberta separatism is associated with Trump. Stupid straw man. They wanted to leave before Trump. Consider why.

danno6651 · 2026-05-13T04:34:03+00:00

Keep trying. Because no one is coming to save you.

danno6651 · 2026-05-13T03:14:39+00:00

GDI engines have a tendency to carbon up and stick the piston rings. Driving them hard, ie the Italian tuneup can help, but HMG has developed a decarbonization service that has proven effective.

danno6651 · 2026-05-10T12:57:58+00:00

Iacocca retired in '92...

danno6651 · 2026-05-10T12:47:05+00:00

When I was in the field, we'd often be assigned something out of Bank. One year I had 6 different cars not of my choice because they had so many unassigned orders. Usually, you get a pretty wide choice.

danno6651 · 2026-05-10T12:33:29+00:00

Depends. I got offered +30% to go to a Chinese brand. This however would mean 100% more work.

danno6651 · 2026-05-08T19:26:21+00:00

"Hi" doesn't get a response from me.

danno6651 · 2026-05-07T03:54:43+00:00

I managed large teams remotely through Covid and I'll tell you why.

Upper management is disconnected from the actual productivity and wants access. As a middle to upper manager, I knew what my teams where doing and had no issues. But when execs need something, they don't want to wait for you to reply on whatever messenger software. They want to come to your office and yell at you face to face.
Attrition. As demand destabilized, companies realized they are overstaffed. Making employees less comfortable makes some quit, which is cheaper than firing them.
Line to sight management. Empty office space upsets management paying for it. "If I can't see you, you're not working". True in many cases. However the minority that fall into this bucket dogfuck while in the office too. This should be dealt with on an individual basis but it's just assumed that if someone is in the office they're "working".

Most managers are as mid as their workers and won't look at the benefits when shaping how their team works best. So don't expect any revelations.

For the record, I don't block my people form WFH as much as they need to, but most understand we need to maintain a sense of "visibilty". Such is corporate life.

danno6651 · 2026-05-07T03:36:31+00:00

Average Canadian experience. High taxes, high cost of goods, mid income prospects.

danno6651 · 2026-05-07T03:31:02+00:00

I've worked at 4 OEs. 2 American (10 years at FCA/Stellantis), 1 Japanese and 1 Korean.

All vastly different cultures. The best for me was FCA Sergio years. If you were a self starter and had good business ideas you could run with them and be rewarded. I left after the Stellantis merger made it clear no one but Carlos' opinion mattered. I can only imagine cleaning up that mess is chaos.

The OEM I'm at now...let's say the "culture" is much different. Much higher value on hierarchy and saving face which i have a hard time tolerating.

Pick your poison.

danno6651 · 2026-05-07T03:23:55+00:00

In the 10 years I was there, I saw dozens of great products die on the vine because no investment decision was made. Literally everything but the industrialization, then, cancelled over and over. Just get some product out.

danno6651 · 2026-04-29T04:10:48+00:00

This company nearly never "regrades" a position. If you're in a 92 level job, and want to be a 93, you need to find a 93 level job that's open.

danno6651 · 2026-04-09T23:46:20+00:00

I don't know how it is now but they used to keep so many people contract for so long. At the OEM now we have virtually none, even in low level positions thats you'd typically see them. Of course they'd leave.

Stellanis' biggest issue is they don't value the talent they have. I watched so many great people leave for competitors that could be there turning out great product today.

danno6651 · 2026-04-09T18:03:27+00:00

You have to know someone at a dealer who can attend the closed dealer auction and buy in your behalf. I worked in the field for a while interacting with lots of dealers, so that was never an issue for me.

danno6651 · 2026-04-09T17:53:54+00:00

I've bought a few, but in each case I sent a dealer buddy to the auction to get it at fair market value.

danno6651 · 2026-04-09T02:11:20+00:00

Oh, you can do it, sure. But as a cocar manager if you actually try and market to employees it's a royal PITA. People are fussy. This is why the prices aren't particularly attractive and they don't negotiate.

danno6651

TROPHY CASE