Reply #68: GM could be crippled by Delphi strike

[UpInArms]

http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/chi-060330gmdelphi-story,1,6626220.story?coll=chi-business-hed

General Motors Corp. depends so heavily on Delphi Corp. to supply parts for its vehicles that it cannot afford to face a Delphi strike for more than two weeks without the risk of shutting down all of GM's production, analysts say.

If union workers strike Delphi, some critical parts could run out in a matter of days, halting production at some GM plants. All of GM could grind to a halt in a week or two, said Catherine Madden of industry forecaster Global Insight.

"I don't think there's any other supplier capable of just taking over that business without impacting GM's production," Madden said. "You can't just turn that much business over to someone else."

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Unlike tires or batteries, which can fit dozens of vehicles, components like fuel injectors are designed for certain engines and can't just be plugged into others, Mike Hall, an analyst at CSM Worldwide, said.

Purchasing an injector from a new supplier could take several months to tool up to build it, order raw materials, prove it works and start production, Hall said, and Delphi supplies dozens of parts like that to GM.

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