Next on How to Do It, we’ll show you how to reconcile the Russians and the Chinese, and how to rid the world of all known diseases. but first, here’s Jackie to show you how to play the flute.
“Well, you just blow in one end, and run your fingers up and down the outside”
Thanks Jackie, that’s great!
On my way into work today I heard some congresscritter on the radio proposing propping them up not with loans or investments but by stimulating car purchases with tax breaks? Anybody have thoughts about how that would work? Could it be combined with a “feebate” program which coupled the magnitude of the cut with the efficiency of the vehicle to eventually be segued into a fee imposed upon less efficent vehicle purchases as well (at that point being theoretically budget neutral)?
This was my point: trade in your SUV for a new GM/FORD/Chrysler fuel efficient vehicle. The trade-ins get scrapped, and the glut of new cars is gone. GM/FORD/Chrysler have cash-problem solved.
untill the NEXT recession.
Does anyone here know what the deal would look like? I mean would we (the people) get some kind of equity out of this or is this a handout? Because if it’s a handout I’d say NO. If we got some kind of equity out of it then I could understand.
Not by a long shot.
Nissan Says Second-Half Profit Will Fall to `Zero’
October Auto Sales: Nissan sales plunge
Toyota Cuts Profit Forecast 56%
Toyota’s quarterly profit drops 69 percent
Domestic automakers aren’t the only ones feeling the pain, or the only ones asking for help. - Honda is begging for help from their government to intercede on the yen value.
It’s a low interest bridge loan to keep operating while they restructure. Likely with some very aggressive requirements from the government.
They’ll stop if they don’t have jobs. Or access to credit for that matter.
The reason for the crisis is the loss of access to credit for buyers, suppliers dealers and the automakers themselves.
And German Opel (GM owned) is about to go under, and have asked for 1 billion Euros from the German state. Swedish Volvo (Ford) and Saab (GM) are close to bankruptcy also. Volvo just announced it’s going to lay off about 25% of the workforce. French automakers Renault & Citroen are also hurting – although nowhere near the US automakers. German Mercedes is also scaling back. And I bet Fiat is just close to bankruptcy again. But they always are, so that’s back to normal.
The companies making it through the crisis should be able to profit nicely from fewer competitors once the market picks up again.
Has anyone seen the full-page newspaper ads that GM’s put out? (At least, it was in one of my local major city paper… twice!) It’s basically a lot of dire warnings (American car output reduced to nothing!) and begging for people to let Congress bail them out. It’s got an accompanying website (whose URL I’ve forgotten).
Do they really think this’ll sway enough constituents to make a difference? I can’t imagine it will, but they must be either confident or desperate to have spent their RAPIDLY DIMINISHING funds to buy the ads and make the website…
Business Week article says the Japanese Government paid 100 percent of the cost of development of the battery and hybrid development for the Prius. So they do help their industries out .
We have sent our manufacturing bases abroad,mostly India and China. During WW2 ,the auto industries changed over to making tanks,planes and weapons. If we mothball our factories do we make ourselves vulnerable ?
While going to Congress to beg for money, all CEOs of the big 3 automakers fly on their privates jet.
That costs about $20,000 each for the flight.
It’s a drop in the bucket, but when asking the public to shell out 25 billion, I think it would be nice to show a little humility.
Fod alone has layed of 51,000 workers, yet they have 8 private jets. They says they’ve cut expenses to the bone, but the CEO of Ford lives in Seattle and commutes in his private jet every week to work in Detroit.
Do these guys just not get it?
Step 1: Give out new, expensive cars for old, unsellable cars
Step 2: ???
Step 3: Profit!
Seriously, and do forgive my ignorance, but I don’t see where the first sentences result in the last one. What are the auto companies going to do with a bunch of used, non-hybrid SUVs?
The alternatives aren’t a bailout or collapse. A chapter 11 bankruptcy would allow GM to restructure to become profitable again. That might mean dumping some dealerships, renegotiating labor agreements, etc., but it would be better than closing down shop. I think there should also be a change in management at GM, since from reading the Times articles their CEO has totally lost touch with reality.
So why you mention Child Labours when you know it does not exist in the Auto industries, except to try to make disgusting implications about all people except North Americans?
Of course wage are lower in emerging markets, living is cheaper too, and there is not the same efficiencies. You are just seeking protectionist Mercatilism arguments, and smearing poorer countries with some bad practices. Pollution, the big producers done by multinationals are known to be standard setting in emerging markets.
More hearings today. Congress seems quite sceptical about the wisdom of bailing them out.
“Maybe you can tell us what you’re actually going to do to sell cars people want,” [Gary Ackerman, D-NY] said. “Somebody heard that we’re giving out free money in Washington. They’re showing up from all over the place. But you don’t want to put your last tourniquet on a dead guy.”
Because we compete with companies that do. NAFTA was supposed to level the playing field. I guess you can argue that it has since our wages are dropping to meet the rest of the world. The lack of pollution control is a known. It is not a smear.
I worked on a GM line a few years ago that moved to Mexico. They built a new plant. Starting from ground zero building a plant will give you the cheapest chance to include pollution controls. They ignored them totally. They had no intention of wasting money on that. They are not trying to be good citizens and look toward the future. They are trying to make money as fast and furiously as possible. They will go from country to country shopping for the cheapest deal.They will poison if it makes money.
Put 'em in the chipper and recycle the bits. It’s not like it was a free car to the consumer; they get a generous rebate from the government, but they still have to put up some cash. The car makers get needed cash from sales they would not otherwise have made. The old cars are not part of the equation; just grind 'em and recycle the remains.
It’s not just the Big Three that will be impacted. All the people that work at all the fabricating plants that make all the little components of cars will be out of work too, then all the service industries these unemployed used to patronise. No one will be unaffected.
Well, I’ve come up with two options:
Do you have a figure in mind that will preclude them from coming back every six months and asking for more?
How about option 3?