GM set to buy Hybrid Battery supplier

[Ambalanche]

This will help with battery availability and GM thinks, recalls.

http://www.leftlanenews.com/gm-set-t...-supplier.html

[mgescuro]

It also allows GM to control the supply of a very important commodity moving forward, as hybrids proliferate throughout the industry.
It minimizes supply shocks to GM's supply chain.

It's a very good move.

[ronald mcretard]

Didn't GM sell Cobasys to Chevron shortly after the EV1 debacle?

In any case, good move by GM here. Maybe they will start to acquire other suppliers for electronics, electric motors, etc.

[61BelAir]

I wonder if the current production workers are Union?

[Greg Burr]

They bought those guys? They have had some quality control issues.

[Kennyboy]

Originally Posted by Greg Burr

They bought those guys? They have had some quality control issues.

Other battery suppliers cannot manufacture batteries fast enough to meet the demand.

[mikest00]

It keeps going and going and going............(sorry couldn't help it!)

[steverino]

Kirk Kerkorian should buy this supplier and then use this company to take over GM and get into the auto industry on the cheap

[jbernie]

Seems like a wise investment given the need for batteries and more so to avoid having a sudden spike in prices for materials you must have for products like the Volt.

[FenwickHockey65]

Good. This'll get batteries into production faster. Yay vertical integration!

EDIT: Waittt...did I just use knowledge from AP US History about vertical integration??! *gasp*

[tamatt27]

Axe Hummer to buy supplier for hybrid batteries....BRILLIANT!

[WishIhadatruck]

Originally Posted by ronald mcretard

Didn't GM sell Cobasys to Chevron shortly after the EV1 debacle?

In any case, good move by GM here. Maybe they will start to acquire other suppliers for electronics, electric motors, etc.

In this case it sounds like a good move to take control of the supplier. However it sounds like you are proposing that GM start creating another Delphi. Are you nuts? They obviously can't handle it. As a former GM/Delphi employee I really don't recommend it from what I saw on the inside or what I've seen from the outside. Just like competition is good for us consumers, supplier competition is good for the automakers. Excessive vertical integration is not a good idea if you ask me. It also makes downsizing that much bigger of a task, a task they might not be done with.

I guess this story explains why there were no hybrids available last fall. I never heard this before. Perhaps this is why they are still in short supply?

[97CamaroSS]

Now, if they could just keep the union parasites out of the battery production process, it may have a chance. Hopefully, they have learned what unions will do to AMERICAN companies. Dang. I can see it now, the UBW (United Battery Workers) union! They could kill GM, the Volt, and make a bunch of Japanese people richer again!

[GM Loyal]

I sincerely hope not.

[blkwrxsti]

Originally Posted by WishIhadatruck

In this case it sounds like a good move to take control of the supplier. However it sounds like you are proposing that GM start creating another Delphi. Are you nuts? They obviously can't handle it. As a former GM/Delphi employee I really don't recommend it from what I saw on the inside or what I've seen from the outside. Just like competition is good for us consumers, supplier competition is good for the automakers. Excessive vertical integration is not a good idea if you ask me. It also makes downsizing that much bigger of a task, a task they might not be done with.

I guess this story explains why there were no hybrids available last fall. I never heard this before. Perhaps this is why they are still in short supply?

I don't know - that Delphi mess all started when the accountants took over. Real engineers don't need a reason (like competition) to improve the product. Also - outsourcing and downsizing are what you do when your own process is broken.

Toyota / Aisin has had a monopoly for years and there has been plenty of incentive for Aisin to improve without the threat of outside competition. There's plenty of competitive intelligence in the auto industry that lets you set the exactly the same targets, with or without the threat of competition (if a few short-sighted accountants don't convince you it's not needed).

Also note that large automakers are better positioned to spend R&D money, form partnerships with universities and apply innovation from one area to a problem in another...