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Some good discussion on NPR this AM about that. Unlike the airlines, the auto industry sees bankruptcy as the kiss of death for sales, reasoning people won't buy a car from a company that may fail. Should we the taxpayers bail out every business that's poorly run? Probably not, but Lee Iaccoca said a long time ago when Chrysler was getting a government loan (not called a bailout back then) that without manufacturing we'll end up as a county where we take in each other's laundry to stay afloat. Pretty much what dbatch1715 is saying - great minds think alike.
Without a certain amount of industry. we will become a banana republic or worse.
Last I checked, millions of cars are made with U.S. jobs in Kentucky, North Carolina, Alabama, Ohio, Tennessee and other places by extremely healthy companies such as Honda, Toyota, BMW, Mercedes-Benz, Nissan, etc.
Do you really think the U.S. will have no certain amount of industry if General Motors goes bankrupt?
Do you not see that the U.S. public buys about 15 million cars per year, and that Honda, Toyota, etc., will have to snap up the plants auctioned off by the GM bankruptcy judge, and hire workers, so they can rush in and build the millions of high-quality vehicles needed to satisfy the demand of U.S. consumers?
The companies that supply GM with parts are the same that supply Toyota, Honda, Ford, and ect with parts. If GM goes under those companies will lose a ton of revenue causing many of them to go under
Why? U.S. consumers will still require about 15 million new cars per year, give or take a bit depending on whether it is a good year or a bad year.
Once GM goes under, the Ohio, NC, TN, AL, KY, etc. plants of Honda, Toyota, Nissan, BMW, M-B, VW, etc., will have to purchase billions of dollars from those same part manufacturers in order to satisfy demand.
There is no job loss! No part supplier has any reason to go under, so long as their product is competitive. And U.S. industrial workers are among the best in the world.
U.S. consumers may "require" 15M cars a year, but at the moment they can't afford to buy them. I'm all in favor of positive thinking, but it needs to be based on reality. The reality is consumers aren't buying cars, GM is about 3 months away from collapse without a bailout, Chrysler will probably not survive and if folks can't by GM cars how can they afford to buy any other automaker's product? The ripple effect from this is going to be grim - GM shuts its truck plant here in Dayton on 23 December. The Duramax engine plant has already slowed production (and laid off workers) in anticipation of the shutdown, and local suppliers to both these plants are SOL.
Time to sit down and watch "Gung-Ho" and wonder why none of the Big 3 automakers got the message then. What the little town of Hadleyville could have taught them years ago. GM needs to make a public announcement that it is going to direct all resources toward Green, EV and Hybrid technologies and it will start selling stock again. It doesn't help that foreign banks have given GM stock a future value rating of $0.00!!
U.S. consumers may "require" 15M cars a year, but at the moment they can't afford to buy them. I'm all in favor of positive thinking, but it needs to be based on reality. The reality is consumers aren't buying cars, GM is about 3 months away from collapse without a bailout, Chrysler will probably not survive and if folks can't by GM cars how can they afford to buy any other automaker's product? The ripple effect from this is going to be grim - GM shuts its truck plant here in Dayton on 23 December. The Duramax engine plant has already slowed production (and laid off workers) in anticipation of the shutdown, and local suppliers to both these plants are SOL.
But if consumers can't afford to buy cars, what exactly will the bailout do for GM, Chrysler, and Ford? Wouldn't it be better to take the billions of dollars that will go to GM, Chrysler, and Ford and instead offer those dollars to the American consumer directly in the form of rebates for buying GM, Ford, and Chrysler cars? $25 billion or more can help buy an awful lot of cars.
My point is the billions those car companies are seeking will go primarily into their operational costs to keep them afloat and will do little, if anything, to get consumers to buy their cars. Seems to me the money would be better spent directly on the consumers to entice them to buy the cars to keep the companies afloat. And American taxpayers will have something tangible to show for their tax dollars.
Time to sit down and watch "Gung-Ho" and wonder why none of the Big 3 automakers got the message then. What the little town of Hadleyville could have taught them years ago. GM needs to make a public announcement that it is going to direct all resources toward Green, EV and Hybrid technologies and it will start selling stock again. It doesn't help that foreign banks have given GM stock a future value rating of $0.00!!
This remind me... I never did hear from GM. Ford contacted me about buying stock, GM didnt...
As of october 2008, US consumers had snapped 11,601,104 vehicles... that's well over one million passengers and light trucks per month. Obviously, the U.S. auto plants in KY, OH, NC, AL and elsewhere were doing pretty well.
American Honda (manufactures in Ohio), for instance had sales that were only -3.2% than previous year. Subaru of America (manufactures in Indiana), had sales that were 2.1% above year-to-date 2007.
If GM, Ford and Chrysler had sales that were 20%, 18%, and 25% below the previous year... should the US taxpayer give them away money to reward poor performance?
Is it fair for the U.S. auto workers in Ohio to pay taxes to prop up corporate greed in Detroit?
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