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Granholm Germany Visit


mlc99

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Taxes in Germany are also a lot higher than in the U.S. and Michigan, which is why The Right Place has been so successful in bringing a lot of German companies to the area over the last decade. Plus, it doesn't hurt that Birgit Klohs is from Germany.

Why Granholm didn't visit VW is anyone's guess. Without starting a witch hunt, it will be interesting to find out.

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Does the article state "outside of Detroit" meaning "elsewhere in Michigan"? (Not an on-line subscriber.)

If VW has made a decision to establish a new plant (and presumably done the site selection work), perhaps the gov stopping by would be redundant.

Maybe I am missing all these hidden agendas that actually lurk in the cited articles and websites.

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A few notes about this. VW already has a significant operation in Mexico where the VW Bug and the NA version of the Jetta is produced. I think they make engines there too. The WSJ says NA and not specifically the USA.

Second, if they did open a USA plant this would be their second attempt to do so. Some might remember they where the first foreign manufacturer to open a plant in the USA in Pennsylvania in the late 1970s. That plant originally produced Rabbits. It produced such crappy quality cars however they were forced to close the plant in 1988. It will be interesting to see if they would really be interested in opening a new plant in the USA given that very bad experience.

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I understand that Granholm could not visit all the major companies in Germany (Or maybe she did but did not publish that information), but how do you not stop by VW when you are the Governor of an automotive state and VW is the largest automotive company in Europe? The news about VW was all over the press at the time of her trip. All she had to do was Google
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I understand that Granholm could not visit all the major companies in Germany (Or maybe she did but did not publish that information), but how do you not stop by VW when you are the Governor of an automotive state and VW is the largest automotive company in Europe? The news about VW was all over the press at the time of her trip. All she had to do was Google "VW plant". I understand that Granholm can not be blamed for all the problems of Michigan, but she can be blamed for not preparing for a trip to Germany that specifically targeted expanding business.
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I'm thinking Granholm has rallied everyone around the new economy of the future. My guess is that you're going to see Granholm reluctant to concentrate on auto jobs in the same breath of "economic diversity." Of course, that doesn't mean that she wouldn't be happy to take credit for more expansion of the auto industry. The state has constantly beat that 'jobs for the new economy' drum far to long to go back to more auto jobs.
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What percentage of Michigan's jobs are auto-related?

I'm betting it's still more than half of all Michigan jobs...in which case, we can beat the new-economy drum all we want... it'll be 20 years before we've shed the "primarily automotive" label. During that time we'd better also be going after automotive jobs or we're completely screwed.

That said, playing gotcha with the governor with whom you disagree is pretty petty. VW is putting offices here, this is a good thing, let's not use something good as an excuse to bash the governor.

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What percentage of Michigan's jobs are auto-related?

I'm betting it's still more than half of all Michigan jobs...in which case, we can beat the new-economy drum all we want... it'll be 20 years before we've shed the "primarily automotive" label. During that time we'd better also be going after automotive jobs or we're completely screwed.

That said, playing gotcha with the governor with whom you disagree is pretty petty. VW is putting offices here, this is a good thing, let's not use something good as an excuse to bash the governor.

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