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Key highlights:
"In January, the GM Foundation, the charitable arm of the struggling car maker, told groups like the Detroit Symphony Orchestra, the Detroit Institute of Arts, the Michigan Opera Theater and Mosaic, a youth theater group, not to expect any funding this year. Late last month, Chrysler Foundation followed suit, announcing that it, too, would suspend its arts philanthropy. The Ford Motor Co. has said it expects its giving to fall by about 40 percent from last year."In the comments, I'll share a related article I wrote for the IAGD newsletter.
"Reflecting a similar trend, a statistic has been making the e-mail rounds lately that has galvanized consumers to buy local. According to the Michigan Department of Agriculture, the projection is: "If every household started spending just $10 per week of their current grocery budget on locally grown foods, we'd keep more than $37 million each week circulating within Michigan's economy." "
"In 2003, Ryan Anderson of Lincoln Park says he saw the writing on the wall. The following year, he started the Web site buymichiganproducts.com. "I just figured if people would start pumping their money into the local economy, we just might improve," says Anderson, a Web site development and software consultant."
Wednesday, April 8, 2009
ReplyDeleteMarney Rich Keenan
Buying American cars: It's finally catching on
Sales of cardigans at J.Crew have soared ever since Michelle Obama wore an ivory sweater with sequins to 10 Downing Street. Now, if she'd only buy a Chrysler.
I stole that joke from "Saturday Night Live."
But, here in Detroit, where bumper stickers read "Want Change? Buy American," driving a foreign-made vehicle is becoming an anathema.
A prime example is my brother-in-law, Joe Keenan, an interior-design consultant with expensive taste. For years, he has driven a Jaguar, but since Ford sold the brand in 2008, he's now in the market for a Lincoln MKS. (His first choice, a hybrid Ford Fusion, has a lead time of seven months.)
Because the decline in the auto industry has led to severe cuts to Detroit's arts and cultural institutions, Joe says he can't, in good conscience, contribute to the downturn.
In January, the GM Foundation, the charitable arm of the struggling car maker, told groups like the Detroit Symphony Orchestra, the Detroit Institute of Arts, the Michigan Opera Theater and Mosaic, a youth theater group, not to expect any funding this year. Late last month, Chrysler Foundation followed suit, announcing that it, too, would suspend its arts philanthropy. The Ford Motor Co. has said it expects its giving to fall by about 40 percent from last year.
"Everyone in this town that drives a foreign make should write a check to the DIA or the Detroit Symphony and then another check to a local charity to make up for the lost funds from the Big Three," Joe says. "People in this town don't realize how much support the auto industry contributes to the arts and to the needy."
Dr. Bruce Garretson, an ophthalmologist with offices in Royal Oak and Rochester, has bought BMWs for almost two decades. This will be the first year he will buy an American-made vehicle. "Although I prefer the way a BMW drives," the father of two college-age sons says. "I believe that supporting Detroit is more important than my personal taste given our current economic condition."
Even though Dr. Diane McShane of Birmingham was in the market for a used vehicle for their family car, the internist says: "My husband would not look at anything except an American car. We bought a Pacifica."
Reflecting a similar trend, a statistic has been making the e-mail rounds lately that has galvanized consumers to buy local. According to the Michigan Department of Agriculture, the projection is: "If every household started spending just $10 per week of their current grocery budget on locally grown foods, we'd keep more than $37 million each week circulating within Michigan's economy."
In 2003, Ryan Anderson of Lincoln Park says he saw the writing on the wall. The following year, he started the Web site buymichiganproducts.com. "I just figured if people would start pumping their money into the local economy, we just might improve," says Anderson, a Web site development and software consultant.
The site provides a directory of Michigan-made products and company listings and also is sponsoring a buy-Michigan pledge calling for spending the extra few bucks expected in paychecks from the economic stimulus package on in-state products.
The 36-year-old says: "The site was running steadily until about six months ago, when traffic shot up dramatically. Last month, March 2009, was our best month ever."
Who knows? One visit to the site and you might be eating Kellogg's brand cereal from Battle Creek and Jiffy Mix muffins from Chelsea for breakfast, Koegel's deli meats from Flint for lunch and Romano's pasta sauce from Shelby Township for dinner with a glass of Merlot from St. Julian in Paw Paw or a glass of milk from Guernsey Farms in Northville.
Now, if we could just get the members of President Obama's auto task force to dump their personally owned foreign-made vehicles. In February, Detroit News Washington Bureau Chief David Shepardson reported only two of the eighteen policymakers own American-made vehicles. Unfortunately, that track record is no laughing matter at all.
mkeenan@detnews.com 313-222-2515
Rethinking the IAGD parking lot
ReplyDeleteby S. N. Syed and S. A. Ahmed
The devastating effects of the global economic crisis on our home state and the hypocritical castigation of our leaders and hometown industry over the few months, has caused considerable frustration and anger in Metro Detroit. Wall Street greed and Washington ignorance (abetted by some previous incompetence on our side) nearly shut down the state of Michigan. Even now, the fate of Greater Detroit hangs by a thread. Alas, there is not much that the average IAGD attendee could do to improve this grave situation…or is there?
We have long witnessed a bias against our local Michigan product among other Muslims, even in our own families. In light of the crisis, we felt it was time to study and critique what exactly our community drives. On Friday, January 16, we braved the bitter cold to inventory the IAGD parking lot. While our method was not entirely scientific, we counted 424 vehicles that were parked in the main parking lot over the two congregations.
Predictably, the Toyota Camry (7.8% share) and Honda Accord (5.0%) have the highest representation. The top American vehicles at our masjid are the Chrysler Town and Country (3.5%) and related Dodge Caravan (3.3%). Despite the Camry/Accord dominance, the Big 3 actually managed to take a 49.5% share of the parking lot. At first glance, this nearly even split seems positive enough – that is about the same share the US automakers have across the country. However, a closer examination paints a darker picture.
Press and industry sources indicate that the Big 3 share in Michigan is around 80%, and for good reason. Each domestic vehicle we purchase results in employment, stability, and wealth creation here in Michigan. The IAGD community lags behind our Michigan neighbors in this by 30 percentage points, which is quite disappointing. Rather, we Muslims should be even more supportive of the Big 3 than our neighbors for several reasons.
The Muslim community has long benefited from the US auto industry, since Henry Ford first brought Arab laborers for his factories. Even now, we in Greater Detroit are disproportionately represented among the engineering ranks, and auto employees represent a large share of our IAGD attendees. Additionally, everyone else in the community is affected by the auto industry as well (witness the slowdown in expansion among the local hospitals and the rise of Medicare/Medicaid/uninsured patients) – it is in our own best interest to buy local. Furthermore, we can't imagine that so many Muslims work for the Japanese, and, with Allah's grace and by means of oil demand, has anyone else been responsible for bringing more wealth to the Muslim world than Detroit? Even from a global perspective, it makes sense for our community to support the local industry.
In many parts of the world, Muslims are part of the problem. We are asking you to be part of the solution here in Michigan. We support the Muslim businesses with ads in the back of this newsletter, but we should not forget our other Muslim neighbors in the auto industry. Please think before you buy.
(From the April 2009 IAGD newsletter)
Of the vehicles that were 'foreign', how many of these vehicles were manufactured overseas? What about domestic content? This Forbes (http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/25375103//) article states the Toyota Sienna (assembled in Indiana) had 85% domestic content, and was assembled in the US, whereas the Chrysler PT Cruiser (assembled in Mexico) is 35% domestic content.
ReplyDeleteI think we need to delve into this subject a bit more before making claims like this. Maybe a weighted-average would be wiser. Also, don't forget that the Big 3 are not the only sources of automotive-related employment. Yazaki is a good example - they manufacture wiring harnesses for pretty much every vehicle manufacturer, domestic or not. They have offices here, employing designers, accountants, etc. in Michigan. You buy a vehicle with their harness, you benefit the local employees, and, indirectly of course, their bosses in Japan.
I am not saying to not buy domestic, but I am saying that I think it's easy to oversimplify and ignore or avoid the effect of the global economy on vehicle manufacturing. I would hope that there's more Camrys in the lot than other vehicles like the PT Cruiser, according to this article: http://www.cars.com/go/advice/Story.jsp?section=top&subject=ami&story=amMade1206)
Having said all that, I know there are several of you much more educated (and gainfully employed) than I in the automotive industry. Am I not thinking about this correctly?
http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_hb6674/is_199803/ai_n26643165/
ReplyDeleteRazi, you are right in that the foreign autos have a bigger impact domestically than we previously thought. But the benefits of a strong, viable Big 3 both on the region and the nation are also unarguable. It would be better for America if the Big Three were stronger than they are.
Listen to the following report from the CEO of Anderson Consulting for a better idea of just how large this impact could is:
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=96875257
(check that, he is CEO of Anderson Financial)
ReplyDelete