How Do The Germans Pay The Average Autoworker $67 An Hour And Remain Profitable?

they do it by having others pay their healthcare and pensions. They also do it by making cars in other countries that don't make $67 an hr.

Wow Bill very intelligent comment. I am actually impressed. You said it better than I probably would have.

"They don't pay their executives huge salaries."

Ferdinand Piech owns two Veyrons.

What makes you think that $67 an hour wouldn't make them profitable? They could probably pay them $100 an hour and still be profitable. Why is it when people are looking for a way to save money, it's always the little guys that gets questioned?

do German workers "work" the same number of hours each year?

in the US, many autoworkers depend on the vast amount of overtime to earn much higher wages than their "regular" pay. if this additional pay were to be factored into their standard rates, they may be earning nearly as much as their German counterparts.

I absolutely agree. To the workers, perhaps taking pride in what they do and what company they work for is far more important than what they can squeeze out of the company...

The Germans are more efficient at running their business and bill is right- they dont pay their execs as much as we do.

And their workers dont smoke pot/drink on breaks.....

They sell their overpriced cars to stupid americans.......

"They sell their overpriced cars to stupid americans......."

Lexus?

Okay, as per usual this article is lacking in the detail needed to make it relevant. I assume that our politicians use the same limited knowledge to reach their own stupid conclusions. Here is the truth.

1. The average cost for a U.S. auto manufacturer, per active worker, is $70 per hour. Where does this cost come from you ask? Three things:
A. The salary, which is the quoted $30 per hour (give or take)
B. Overtime (add about $10 for a running total of $40)
C. Benefits like health insurance, life insurance, etc. for workers (add about $15 for a running total of $55).
D. Benefits like health insurance, life insurance, etc. for retirees and their spouses (add $15 again for a grand total of $70).

2. The article mentions $67/hour for German workers. This is dead wrong. The actual value is closer to $40 per hour. The idiot adds in healthcare, which is ludicrous considering the Germans have universal health care.

3. German cars sell for a premium over U.S. cars.

4. CEO salary has absolutely nothing to do with it. Daimler CEO made over $11 million compared to $14.4M for GM, $21M for Ford, $45M for Nissan, and $89M for Porsche. I somehow doubt that $3.4M made the different between GM and Daimler. BMW is one of the few places where salary is tied to performance.

I don't know. Maybe one German worker can accomplish in one hour what it takes 3 UAW workers to do in the same time? Dunno. Just guessing.

The German state picks up the tab for healthcare and education. Their public pension system is probably more generous than social security, so I doubt the German automakers have to deal with as much of a burden as the big 3 do in that regard.

Germany has a coherent industrial policy aimed at protecting its own manufacturing industries. It also has all of Europe to export to.

German cars are relatively overpriced compared to what the competitions have to offer.

Rattner is a rat. His Quadrangle hedge fund is part of the problem. Hedge funds want to use 401k plans to fund their operations while tax payers are responsible for union retirement costs. All workers in general should be responsible for their own retirement/investments. Health care, education, unions,etc. are all part of the problem. But the so called Democrats/Wall Street protesters need to look at the "Rattners"

Having read the cited article in its entirety two things are abundantly clear:
1. Germans have a deep appreciation for sustaining and maintaining a viable middle class that earns a decent, livable wage and expect that their Government should serve them and their needs.

2. Businesses successfully thrive in Germany because the culture between companies and workers are based on a collaborative win-win attitude, in part because both the companies and unions have a vested stake in the success of the business.

Contrast that to what we have here in the U.S. and it is adversarial - us vs them. Big Corporations hire lobbyists and make political payoffs to influence our government policies and laws to favor their agenda.

A big win for business at the expense of a once thriving American Middle Class.

and finally , 67 dollars in Germany are a lot less than 67 dollars in USA....If not, compare gas price..then talk again.

Honestly, how many read the entire article? The comments on this article are so removed from the subject matter. Mostly, knee-jerk, reactionary comments, spouting the same worn out discredited drivel.

German workers also need to be paid more since the cost of living in Europe is much higher.

Therefore an American worker who is say paid $ 40 an hour can buy more in American than a German worker in Germany who is also paid $ 40 ($ for the sake of this argument) an hour. $ 40 in America gets you more than $ 40 in Europe, simply because there are more taxes in Europe and prices are generally higher. At the end, the American who earns $ 40 an hour and the German who gets $ 67 an hour essentially get paid the same once factors like taxes etc. are applied.