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Heh, local dealer ad, obvs.
That would be the last place I’d buy a car. The auto bailout is about preserving jobs inside a huge recession.
Funny, it doesn’t seem to preserving many jobs as Government Motors is quietly moving some production to China.
I also think you need to check your history. See: British Leyland for what happened last time some government thought this was a good idea.
#2 it’s not working. Just bigger bonuses to the executives of those bailed out companies while they lay off more workers, and ship jobs over seas.
#3 Chrysler bailout not only saved the company, but the US government profited. Also, the auto bailout needs to be returned to taxpayers.
I’m not in the auto industry but have the compassion to understand the last thing we need is a whole industry of workers added to the unemployment lines. I don’t see any humor in it as you.
I bet Corpo is not very happy with this. I’m sure it will be taken down soon. All along Ford has “played” the bigger man by not touting what happened with GM and Chrysler because the never knew if they’d be in the same position for a “hand out”. I’m glad they haven’t needed it since I am a huge Ford fan myself. I give the board a couple extra days……
Unfortunate URL on that billboard. Thought it was a joke at first… “Dicked Wards”.
Reminds me of the writing instrument company Pen Island and their first attempt at a URL…
#5 we will never see any of that money again with the government having billions in defects. You’re better off letting failing companies go bankrupt, rather than putting them on life support.
And why can’t I get a FORD Focus RS (european spec) in the US?
5, Dallas, The last thing we need are the masses continually sucking off the teat of government. It’s nothing more than a ponzi scheme at the expense of tax payers by redistributing wealth.
9, Bill, Maybe the European spec’d Focus can’t pass U.S. safety standards?
#5 said “I’m not in the auto industry but have the compassion to understand the last thing we need is a whole industry of workers added to the unemployment lines.”
Must be nice to be compassionate with other peoples money.
Bob,
If the american auto industry failed causing hundreds of thousdans – millions(?) of people who rely on it, whether directly or indrectly, for jobs, would your company still have enough customers to be able to pay for your services?
Detroit in ruins due to well-intentioned compassionate liberal policies?: http://tinyurl.com/yc9xmcz
@bill
Because the focus does >40mpg
If everbody drove one we wouldn’t need foreign oil, so we wouldn’t need such a large army, so 1000s of soldiers would be unemployed
You have to think of the economy.
If you love America go and start your truck engine now and leave it running.
Ahh, Manhattan Kansas – the little apple. Lived there for 5 years. Go Wildcats!
It keeps more efficient auto companies who can fill the niche out of the market if the government favors only the established players. I don’t think they need a bailout when the CEO makes million dollar bonuses. Let new companies compete with the established players and not bail out GM and Chrysler.
MrMiGu said, “If the american auto industry failed causing hundreds of thousdans – millions(?) of people who rely on it, whether directly or indrectly, for jobs, would your company still have enough customers to be able to pay for your services?”
#11 Compassion aside, what is your argument to add 100’s of thousands in the auto industry added the unemployment payrolls?
Is this cheaper? Better? Please elaborate.
In normal circumstances, I’m not interested either in leveraging the federal government to rescue industries. We are not in normal circumstances however. Last time I looked, we are in the worst recession in modern times.
Good for Ford, its better then taking money from tax payers because you cannot run a business right! Fix it yourself and you will not repeat those mistakes soon. Anyone who thinks government should bail out these poorly run companies to save jobs does not realize how much tax money that costs us. Chrysler in its bankruptcy proceedings indicated it would not pay back any bailout money.
jescott says: Anyone who thinks government should bail out these poorly run companies to save jobs does not realize how much tax money that costs us.
And what would it cost us if 300,000 more workers lost their jobs? And then add the domino effect from that? We can debate it back and forth I suppose, but the man in charge decided that it would be a bad thing on his watch.
If GM closed, the US would lose the auto industry forever. Well, Ford might do well. Maybe that doesn’t affect you, but the middle of the country would be devastated. And I’m not exaggerating, devastation like we’ve not seen since the 30s.
Bull crap. Some better car company would come in and fill the niche that GM filled and fill it more efficiently.
Olo Baggins of Bywater said, on January 25th, 2010 at 12:28 pm
“If GM closed, the US would lose the auto industry forever. Well, Ford might do well. Maybe that doesn’t affect you, but the middle of the country would be devastated. And I’m not exaggerating, devastation like we’ve not seen since the 30s.”
I find it humorous that the Profit margin in the USA on a USA car is >$10,000 per car.
I could find an EASY way to let/force USA consumers to buy AMERICAN..
Benjamin…I don’t think you respect the scope of GM. No startup is going to replace them in the next 20 years. Meanwhile, Japanese manufacturers will own the US market, buying off pols with the new campaign finance freedoms.
I agree GM was a behemoth, and they need to slice inefficiencies wildly. But letting them fail would be a huge disaster.
21, ECA, That depends on what car you’re talking about.
$10k per car is obviously an average since luxury cars would have an insanely higher profit margin.
I forgot where I heard / read of this, but back before things hit the fan, Ford used to sell their Escorts at a loss. Yes. At a loss.
This was done in order to offset the much more profitable trucks and SUVs sales that Americans were “forced” to buy due to government CAFE standards.
Consequently since Ford was selling those cars at a loss, they didn’t really care much about initial build quality or durability.
Those Americans who bought the compact American cars griped about how American cars sucked (even though no one really complained about American trucks / SUVs). And that reputation stuck and somehow applied to most American vehicles.
Unfair but partially deserved by the U.S. automakers for allowing that to happen.
22, Olo Baggins of Bywater, The loans only postponed the inevitable. GM still declared bankruptcy and went “under”. Bankruptcy forces the emerging shell of its former self to address inefficiencies aggressively as well as trim the fat.
The biggest problem for GM has been the Union. The government stepping in only allowed the union to have more leverage than it should have.
Getting rid of inefficiencies should allow for a company to relocate its business when things get out of hand. GM could not do that due to bad deals it made with the Union. On the flip side, a company like Boeing is moving a 787-line to a plant in South Carolina which is a right-to-work state (unlike Washington). Although jobs may be lost if and when they close their Washington plant, new ones will be created in South Carolina (arguably more).
#24, The loans only postponed the inevitable. GM still declared bankruptcy and went “under”.
And it wasn’t the end of the industry either.
People think Bankruptcy means they disappear. On really small companies, it does. In reality it just means the assets are sold to those who can use them more efficiently. On large companies like GM, an entire plant (material and labor) is an asset to bought and sold.
#23
you are correct.
But the $10,000 profit margin still fits.
After the auto industry takes $2000 profit
The middle man Profit $2000
reseller profit $2000
Sales person Profit $500-$1000
COupon/savings/deduction price at the time of sale…$2000-6000.. Its totally ridiculous..
Yes I watched the PBS special on the closing of the plants, and those folks claimed they were only making $15 per hour, and the cost of living in those areas, made them POOR.
Which leads to an OLD fact.
During the Gold rushes, small groups would settle near those areas and Sell to the miner at EXORBITANT prices. Insted of letting the minors travel 30-100 miles to get supplies.
These companies made MORE money then the miners.
The same happens today. The price of the goods WHOLESALE/manufacture isnt much diff from 1 area to the next..ONLY the resale/middlemen price is AFFECTED.
Corps got pissed at Walmart, only because they CUT the middleman and could sell at even HIGHER profit margins.
Did you notice that when the Gov was giving Cuts in the price of cars, there were NO OTHER sales going on? and NOW I see cuts at $6000.
If they were BOTH around you could have saved over $10,000 on most Vehicles.
lets do the math…
Total in gov. loans to gm, about 15bn
total employed (globally) by gm, about 230,000
first figure divided by second…
Hmmm… would you get bought out of a gm job for roughly 65 large?
#28, about 15bn
Actually, the total comes in at about $52B in assistance. Loans only accounted for $6.7B of that.
The Amerikan people will get back $6.7B of that.
Ford survives the recession, time to give their executives a nice bonus, move jobs overseas and bust some more unions.