What the hell are you talking about? The big 3 need lots of cash every month just to stay afloat. The credit crisis has dried up sales and they are paying the prices. Toyota and the rest are experiencing serious revenue problems but they are making profits in other markets and have billions of cash in reserve to burn up during this downturn. The Big 3 do not have that luxury. This has nothiing to do with vehicle quality or “making vehicles that people want”. Anyone who repeats that statement should have their head examined. GM is the largest automaker in the US and until 2008 the largest in the world. Only in American can you say a company that sells 9M vehicles a year doesnt make vehicles people want to buy. I heard this moronic line uttered by some idiot Alabama Senator on NBC this morning. Naturally he didnt mention that GM still sells more vehicles than anyone else in the world’s largest auto market. He made an inaccurate, baseless statement and no one questioned it. These silly arguments are repeated so often by GM haters that people actually start to think it makes sense.

The crisis of the last three months is related to the credit markets, not bad management, low quality, poor mileage or any of the other stupid reasons being floated by the far left and right these days. Its amazing that the fringes of both parties share equal disdain for the Big 3 and are rooting for them to go under. Allowing a few million people to lose their jobs over a credit crisis caused by people in a totally separate industry is insane. BTW, European automakers are seeking aid from the EU and are asking for more than the Big 3,

BTW, the first $25B isnt a bailout but a low interest loan program with very strict conditions. That money can only be used to retool plants for vehicles that exceed CAFE targets by 25% or something similar. That money is NOT for operations or general product development. IN addition, the Bush Admin hasnt given any specific timetable for approval and some have suggested it might take a year or two for the money to be available. That is not bailout money. Stop using all these catch phrases with attaching any specifics to the proposals. Bush has made it clear he could care less about the auto industry (at least the UAW part) and their lack of action is no surprise.

“What about all the metoos’. If the auto industry is bailed out where does it end? Put the emphasis to levelling the playing field.”

There are few other industries that employ as many or have as much of an impact on the economy. Walmart is doing just fine and will not be asking for any bailouts.

If the Big 3 do go under I sincerely hope the transplant plants fall within the next 5 years once the suppliers go bankrupt. Dont people think its interesting that the Japanese automakers havent come out publically against the bailout? My guess is they know it will spell major trouble for their US suppliers and would end up costing them money or production.

Note to Ford haters: the 2010 hybrid Fusion successfully managed to pace the field at Homestead without blowing a fuse… and It looked good doing it.

So with $25 billion, you could purchase (nationalize) 2 of the big 3 outright based on their current market capitalization, and still have money left over to restructure the company as needed.

The trouble they are having now is not the result of the economic down turn, it’s the result of market demand. You don’t just automatically wake up one morning on the brink of failure, you have to work to get there. Check out some other articles here on Leftlane News:

(From Leftlanenews.com 11/11/2008, 1:12 PM Audi to extend Christmas break despite encouraging sales) “Through the first 10 months of the year, Audi’s sales are up 3.3 percent to 844,700 units, according to Reuters. Moreover, Audi posted a sales gain of 7.2 percent in October – the same month that General Motors’ sales fell more than 45 percent.”

The cheapest new Audi you can get is the A3 (MSRP $28,400 – 2009 model year). There are multiple GM and Ford vehicles that you can purchase for less than that amount.

Here is a basic lesson in Economics for the Big 3 … please read it carefully:
If you do not make a quality product, people won’t buy it.

smarest thing coming out of the whitehouse in 8 years.
they ALREADY got 25bill earlier this year, use that!

BL was the 8th largest carmaker in 1975, when the Ryder Report and nationalization occurred. And BL survived under full government control totally intact until Jag was floated off in ‘84, Unipart and Leyland Truck and Bus were in ‘87, and the rest was sold to BAe in ‘88, which sold it on to BMW in ‘94. Ford bought Jag in ‘89. BMW the sold Land Rover to Ford in ‘99, and kept Mini, while MG Rover was floated off in ‘99 and continued independently until it went totally under in ‘05. But MG Rover was a tiny company when it went bust. Everything else from BL is still running today. And Longbridge is open again thanks to the Chinese.

Plus, when BL was nationalized, it, from 1975-88, took 2B pounds from the British government over 14 years.

So no, the sort of thing we’re looking at with GM now never did happen in Britain. The government stepping in kept those jobs in place. And many of them are still there.

GM, until WalMart passed it early this decade, was the largest company in the world. And it’s still the largest auto manufacturer in the world…easily dwarfing BL in its heyday, employing far more people, with far more interdependency from suppliers. It’s asking for $25B all at once, and not to be nationalized, but to scrounge the funds so it can continue operating independently..

A discussion about whether or not the American automotivie industry is responsible for the dire situation it finds itself in is totally separate from what needs to be done at this point to avoid catastrophe for us all.

The nation simply cannot allow the auto industry to fail. The consequences would be too huge to bear.

Guess 60 million of you got duped.