Automakers in high gear

By Richard K. Barry 

Do you believe this? USA Today is reporting that "automakers are pushing factories and workers to the limit to try to meet burgeoning demand for new vehicles":

Some plants are adding third work shifts. Others are piling on worker overtime and six-day weeks. Ford Motor and Chrysler Group are cutting out or reducing the annual two-week July shutdown at several plants this summer to add thousands of vehicles to their output.

"We have many plants working at maximum capacity now," says Ford spokeswoman Marcey Evans. "We're building as many [cars] as we can."

President Obama's bailout of the auto industry seems to be a good thing for jobs. And what did Romney want to do again? Oh yeah, "Let Detroit Go Bankrupt."

And the job situation?

• Chrysler Group. The Detroit plant making the Jeep Grand Cherokee is working overtime five days a week and many Saturdays. "That's extra money in their pocket, but (there's) a toll it's taking on the workers," says spokeswoman Jodi Tinson. Chrysler is adding 1,100 jobs on a third shift to ease the problem. It also just added 1,800 workers in Belvidere, Ill., to make the new Dodge Dart. 
• Volkswagen. Adding 800 workers will allow VW's Chattanooga, Tenn., plant to run 20 hours a day, six days a week making Passat sedan. 
• Hyundai. A new third shift of 877 is being added at its Montgomery, Ala., plant. 
• Toyota. More than 1,000 jobs are being added at five U.S. plants. Most plants already are using overtime and Saturdays. "In most of our plants, we're maxed out," says Toyota spokesman Mike Goss. 

Mitt Romney, the job creator? I don't think so.

(Cross-posted at Lippmann's Ghost.)