VW Leaving Michigan

[WOT]

Maybe our Governor should put someone from the news media on her staff so they can let her know when big things are happening with some of your largest customers. First Comerica and now VW where according to the reports, her office didn't know about it until the press reported the story.

This is getting old, fast.

[TONYCLT]

Maybe our Governor should put someone from the news media on her staff so they can let her know when big things are happening with some of your largest customers. First Comerica and now VW where according to the reports, her office didn't know about it until the press reported the story.

This is getting old, fast.

[WOT]

VW will be relocating to the Washington DC area.

[suydam]

Blame the governor. That's the easy way out.

How about Michigan's unique challenges...some of which are based on union blue collar work force expecting to make $60,000/year (a problem that

pre-dates even Engler)

How about our weather? Doesn't seem to stop Minneapolis (which is considerably colder) or Boston (which is as grey and snowy) from doing just fine thank you.

The truth is, there are some unique circumstances in this state's disproportionate reliance on the Big 3. Until that sorts itself out (as in those businesses sort themselves out) we are going to bleed jobs, bleed home values and other companies that came here to be near the Big 3 (Comerica & VW) are going to leave.

Our auto industry, for whatever reason, is sick and dying. Without that fixing itself (on a national level) Michigan isn't coming out of the doldrums any time soon. Ask yourself this....the congressional Sugar lobby is successful in getting their agenda pushed through in the farm bill despite their small size and stature compared to other crops. Why isn't our auto industry, which is still one of the largest nationwide industries, working that angle harder to level the playing field with import makers? Or, to take the non-Michigander's approach, why don't the Big 3 quit making giant vehicles nobody wants while Toyota sells mostly sedans and eats their lunch in both sales and profits?

Fix the Big 3, Michigan will fix itself. Keep the Big 3 broken and Michigan will continue to flounder. You can pick on any policy from Milliken to Granholm and claim that's the issue....but the truth is we have the biggest employers in the state all hurting at exactly the same time. That is not a political problem.

[beltwayboy08]

Hi! I'm not going to lie, I'm happy to see VW, Audi, and Lamborghini moving to my local Northern Virginia. But I am disappointed that the "Motor City" is losing it's "nick-namesake". It's always been an icon city that was, having never been there, sort of surreal. I've always been into cars, and Detroit was the town where all kinds of sweet cars driving around, and all the big car CEO's driving them.

Our Washington area has been growing for years now attracting some of the largest fortune 500 companies like Capital One, AOL, Nextel/sprint, US Airways, etc. I like the idea of having a car company here now. I am still envious that you guys have Ford and GM. those are the ones that matter.

jaq; Why is DUB moving away from Auburn Hills?

[michaelskis]

Blame the governor. That's the easy way out.

How about Michigan's unique challenges...some of which are based on union blue collar work force expecting to make $60,000/year (a problem that

pre-dates even Engler)

How about our weather? Doesn't seem to stop Minneapolis (which is considerably colder) or Boston (which is as grey and snowy) from doing just fine thank you.

The truth is, there are some unique circumstances in this state's disproportionate reliance on the Big 3. Until that sorts itself out (as in those businesses sort themselves out) we are going to bleed jobs, bleed home values and other companies that came here to be near the Big 3 (Comerica & VW) are going to leave.

Our auto industry, for whatever reason, is sick and dying. Without that fixing itself (on a national level) Michigan isn't coming out of the doldrums any time soon. Ask yourself this....the congressional Sugar lobby is successful in getting their agenda pushed through in the farm bill despite their small size and stature compared to other crops. Why isn't our auto industry, which is still one of the largest nationwide industries, working that angle harder to level the playing field with import makers? Or, to take the non-Michigander's approach, why don't the Big 3 quit making giant vehicles nobody wants while Toyota sells mostly sedans and eats their lunch in both sales and profits?

Fix the Big 3, Michigan will fix itself. Keep the Big 3 broken and Michigan will continue to flounder. You can pick on any policy from Milliken to Granholm and claim that's the issue....but the truth is we have the biggest employers in the state all hurting at exactly the same time. That is not a political problem.

[monsoon]

....

Maybe the Governor should re-read

[michaelskis]

Actually, Florida's theories on the "creative class" have been pretty much discounted as nonsense. When put to the test, most of the places that he identified as places for the the creative class were actually losing jobs. VW is a badly run company having made many product mistakes and which has the perception of putting out bad quality automobiles which is the reason for its woes in the USA. It's a shame because briefly in the late 90's they had a resurgence with the introduction of vehicles such as the revived beetle and jetta and passat, but they stumbled badly in execution.

VW was once the dominate import seller in the USA but it stumbled badly in the 1970s and is now mostly a niche player. Instead of addressing the real problems with VW USA and for that matter VW global, the executives are using snake oil in hoping that a move to a different state might fix their problems. It won't and Michigan shouldn't take the blame for this move.

[monsoon]

......

Does VA have UAW? I know some place in the south entire plants are built because of Union Free labor. I wonder if this has anything to do with it.

[GRDadof3]

I get a little tired of hearing that Granholm should have heard from these companies before they went public with news of relocation. The reasons they give for moving have nothing to do with tax incentives, so why in the world would they call the governor? I agree with monsoon that this is a public relations move that VW hopes will improve their "cool" image that has suffered recently.

But after just returning from the D.C. area, I can see why companies are locating there. It certainly has a lot more "bang" to it then the Detroit Metro area. Downtown D.C. is fantastic, as well as downtowns in the surrounding Virginia suburbs seemed to growing much faster and seemed to have a lot more vibe than the Detroit area IMO.

[monsoon]

^Money follows money and most of it is federal. It's no mistake that 7 of the 20 most affluent counties in the nation surround the center of American governmental power. When there is a snow day in DC, the TV stations simply report which government pay grades don't need to come to work.

[beltwayboy08]

I was being sarcastic regarding 'Rise of the Creative Class' because her "Cool Cities" program was a complete failure and while Florida has an interesting and possibly plausible theory, but he failed completely when he tried to quantify it.

As for who 'takes the blame' it is jobs lost in Michigan. Given the manufacturing and auto industry issues, these are talented people who are going to have a problem finding another automotive job.

Based on what VW has said, the perception of Michigan and Detroit left a sour taste for VW.

Does VA have UAW? I know some place in the south entire plants are built because of Union Free labor. I wonder if this has anything to do with it.

[Michi]

First Comerica and now VW where according to the reports, her office didn't know about it until the press reported the story.

[Michi]

Last time she read the book, we got the Cool Cities Program which has not done all that much because she has lost focus and jumped back on the