Quote:
Originally Posted by WWMIndy
In the medium term, they will be able to lower wages while still commanding higher output per worker, directly lowering the capital inputs necessary create the end product... (this means lower price)
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The current consumer climate, and variable costs (which everyone faces all the time anyway) is problematic for MB (and everybody else) in respect to economies of scale. Expenses rise of course, as revenue rises. So, save 50 cents on the knobs by using the ones from the C Class.
But there's the very costly risk of a lower quality workforce if you decide that labor is the way to insure against cost per unit.
I read last month a Der Spiegel article about the new breed of 'unloyal' Euro auto employees in these times of wage and benefit decreases and unknown job security. It's an issue that might be more volatile than the manufacturers realize due to the previous climate of job security and benefits that were normally assumed by Euro employees before the downturn.
Remember this?:
http://www.leftlanenews.com/mercedes...-sabotage.html