Discuss Douglas Olin's Nov. 12 Op-Ed article
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From the Los Angeles Times
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I don't think you get it out there. even though this is called a bailout, the bottom line is, it is a loan from the govt. Granted there have been mistakes made in the past. The futures of not only us here in MI but you there in LA and everywhere else around the country depend on this industry. If we lose 3 million jobs in the country. That is 3 million less people to go to the movies, or to buy a computer, or to buy goods from China, Tawain Etc.(that are shiiped into your ports) This will affect jobs in all industries from the bottom to the top. And if you think the mortgage crises is bad now, just wait.
greg - MI based @ 7:11 AM PST, Nov 13, 2008
If there is a bailout, then all auto exec. with 500k+ salary must go w/o compensation. Let retired Toyota executive run them for 5 years. They don't want golden parachutes so you save money there. Then dissolve auto unions, since they're relics of 19th century. If companies are resurrected, the give them Congressional Medal of Honor and allow them to choose where they want to live, here or Japan.
Yo @ 6:57 AM PST, Nov 13, 2008
GM top management still has their head in the sand and I hope the Feds shake them up. 93 percent of the vehicles I saw in Washington DC this past summer were imports. A lot of the imports I saw were $70,000 Lexus's, BMW's and Mercedes. GM managemant needs a big shake up from the Feds.
Carl J. @ 6:14 AM PST, Nov 13, 2008
The U.S. auto industry has changed a lot since the Clinton Administration. In GM's case, we have globalized our product programs, and we have streamlined enough to cut our U.S. workforce by 47% since 2000. We have also created new products like the Chevy Malibu, which not only has the best initial quality of any midsize car (J.D. Power) but class-leading fuel economy. GM was well along in exactly the kind of restructuring the critics are demanding when it was slammed by the credit crisis. A bridge loan to allow GM to complete this work is an excellent investment in the future of American industry.
Tom Wilkinson at GM @ 5:59 AM PST, Nov 13, 2008
A Hyundai i30 1.6 CRDi turbo diesel conservatively driven over the 3,000km journey from Darwin to Adelaide did that on 73.5 miles per USG late last year. Not there yet, but getting close ;) http://www.hyundai.com.au/Hyundai-i30-CRDi-tops-Greenfleet-class-of-Panasonic-World-Solar-Challenge/default.aspx
CeesB @ 4:34 AM PST, Nov 13, 2008
My 1984 Toyota light PU with 170,000 miles on the engine gets 27.5 real highway miles per gallon. Its silly to even think that Detroit is capable of building vehicles that are efficient. You'd have to fire all of the top management, board, and major shareholders. Maybe then, but its hard to know, the engineers and workers might be capable of creating and producing the highly efficient vehicles we need.
Steve E. @ 11:41 PM PST, Nov 12, 2008
Yep - always been a level playing field for the U.S. automakers. The Euro and Asian governments NEVER subsized their domesting manufacturers. And no one wanted those SUVs in the first place.Yep..geniuses like Olin are why you can't find an auto plant here in California. No worries - he and the governator can not only legistlate 100 mpg cars, but a chicken in every pot, and a unicorn on every street corner.
Enjoy offshoring @ 11:04 PM PST, Nov 12, 2008
The problem with GM is that they've always and only tried to make profits, and didn't care that they make lousy cars that people are buying less and less. Now they're not even making profits. Other carmakers are making profits and better cars too - it can be done. Take the high road, GM!!
Caseguy65 @ 10:57 PM PST, Nov 12, 2008
Detroit has a long history of making cars that maximize the profits per unit vehicle without concern for the common good of the nation, The Country would be better served if the auto industry were nationalized, and then the industry could make a "People Car" for sinple point to point transportation. For example, GM talks that they will produce their "Volt" in 2010. They would be already obsolated, as fuel cells are now feasble. I bet that they will hold off on fuel cells until they are being produced in Japan or even China.
Jim Chekel @ 10:39 PM PST, Nov 12, 2008
You are all incredibly dense if you think politicians can re-engineer a sustainable business model for any industry, let alone one so complex and interdependent as the auto industry is. Capitalism works just fine when its allowed to work. Almost all manufacturers build cars here, and the market is static, so detroit suffers because others are "eating their lunch", and building more desireable cars. How about instead we sell GM to Toyota? They never would buy it, because it is systemically doomed. Bailouts NEVER work to solve a problem, only delay the inevitable.
JS @ 10:13 PM PST, Nov 12, 2008
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