It all boils down to the cost of labor. Raw materials' cost, R&D etc., are not the most expensive ingredients for making an airplane. Labor is #1.

Is the labor force at the HB plant in Mexico unionized? I would bet they are not.

Oh, BTW, am I prejudiced? Yes. Unions killed manufacturing in the USA.

(I know, I'm maybe stepping over the line toward politics but today I've got a burr under my saddle and feel like venting a bit.)

Let it out, Max.

I came here in 1981. Maybe it's all my fault? But if you think the quality of cars decreased after 1980, you've driven cars very different from the ones I've driven. The Japanese hammered the US and European car-makers by consistently producing better quality cars in the 70s and early 80s. Not necessarily better designed or engineered, but they were better built. As a result of that competition, US cars have improved immeasurably. And what care you if you buy a Honda, a BMW or a Mercedes? Any one of them might have been made in the US. The profits are a very small part of the price you pay, and the shareholders could be US, Japanese, German, or Chilean. (I doubt this wil be true of the Chinese company buying Cirrus though.)

I come from the UK. Rolls Royce, the company that powered Spitfires, is owned by a German company, but it's shareholders are all over. Jaguar was sold to an American company, and is now owned by a company from a different ex-colony . The Indian company seems to be doing a better than either British Leyland or Ford.

We shouldn't worry about old technologies changing hands. Worry more that we are not producing enough Qualcomms in the US - as the British should worry they are not producing enough ARM Holdings. It's sad that many will never have heard of those companies, which should be icons.

Ashley

I agree.

But we are innovating here. Facebook is a great example. Robotics and other cost cutting measures are innovated here. There's a lot going on in the U.S. you just have to be in those industries to see it.

The worst cars ever produced in this country were built around 1980, no question. I think the primary reason was tightening emissions standards combined with no appropriate technologies to meet them. Bosch made all the key breakthroughs, but by 1987 things were starting to work pretty well again in US cars. Mind you I'm talking design/function here, not assembly quality.

The corollary to the US model actually winning and becoming the world standard is the globalization of the economy. A well run profitable enterprise will ideally recognize few borders.

My main worry vis a vie the Chinese situation is the often short sightedness of the CEO class.

The Chinese demand a stiff long-term price to play their game; you have to take the lid off of your technology and reveal all of the secrets that you may have spent decades developing.

The immediate pay off is obvious and huge. If you look no further than the next 20 quarters it looks like a good deal and the bottom line increases will be well reflected in the executive(s) compensation packages.

There will be a day of reckoning but that will be the next team's problem.

Hmmm. Maybe. But 99% of my flying enjoyment comes from "going somewhere". I don't go for turns in the pattern.

If they can deliver good planes for a fraction of the cost now, they will save GA. That's really the bottom line.

Not following

I'm not following this either. Why would you need to take your lid off your technology to do business with China?

Not following

My whole life I've despised Chinese food. I'm just not familiar with that saying. But, with all the rice and salt in that stuff, why would it leave you hungry?

I'm not following this either. Why would you need to take your lid off your technology to do business with China?

I'm a manufacturer in the U.S. If you remove labor from the equation and automate, the Chinese got nothin' on you.

But it does make sense that if you want the Chinese to manufacture your product that they would need to know how to build it. Right?

Your supposition is correct but that is not what I said.

If you want to be able to build your product for China you have to let them look under the hood.

Is there a dietician in the house?