Automakers

angelatc

angelatc

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Joined
May 15, 2007
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50,703
The big 3 are meeting tomorrow morning. GM says "something" has to happen in the next 100 days, or else...."something."

Gotta hit GWB up for a loan before he leaves office, it sounds like.
 
Screw the big three and the UAW. They did it to themselves. If they made better cars that would last more than 4 years and gave a damn about the people they sell them to maybe they would not be in this mess. They need to fail, and let someone else start over.

Just look what they did just this year. Ford was banking everything on that ugly POS Ford flex that no one likes. I know people that work here in Dearborn at Ford HQ, and they warned the higher ups that the flex would not sell and they did not listen.
Now the dealers told Ford to stop sending the POS to them because they cant move them.

Now GM is doing the same thing with that POS Volt that no one will want.
The big 3 will never learn.
 
jpwilhelm said:
Screw the big three and the UAW. They did it to themselves. If they made better cars that would last more than 4 years and gave a damn about the people they sell them to maybe they would not be in this mess. They need to fail, and let someone else start over.
Click to expand...

my dad has had his f150 for a decade. Never broken down. Biggest problem it has had is a light burned out in the dash. Been in a couple accidents, never even had to be repaired, only got a slight scratch on the bumper while owning a jeep.
maybe fords other cars suck, but damn that truck is solid.

i agree though, there should be no bailouts at all. the bailout of the financial sector was much worse than this one though.
 
The big 3 have always made great quality trucks. It's the cars that are ridiculous. Ford Flex? LOL..I see them on the road so someone must be buying them. I drive an FJ Cruiser. Love the thing.
 
The thing is that while the bailout for bankers saved the money of select elites, shunning the auto industry will affect the middle class in an array of careers. Bailouts are a horrendous idea, but this attitude towards the manufacturing industry left in our country just reinforces the fact that most of society does not get equal representation by the government.
 
The Big 3 obviously needs to get out of the business of making cars and go bake cookies or something. If you can't make it better, cheaper, faster, and profitable, then you need to get out of that business.
 
cien750hp said:
my dad has had his f150 for a decade. Never broken down.
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I do give it to their work trucks, that is one thing they do right. But everything else is crap. The best consumer Ford car made in a long time is the Fusion and that is built on a Volvo S40. Also their cars are ugly. They do not make cars the consumer wants. They do not step out of MI to see what everyone else in America is driving. They just will not listen to the consumers.


LiveFree79 said:
Ford Flex? LOL..I see them on the road so someone must be buying them. .
Click to expand...
They are almost giving them away to employees to lease, and they are not doing any deals on the other cars. I know this because my brother in law is a high up engineer at Ford, and he has been trying to get a car for his other sister.
It was warned to the decision makers at Ford that the Flex was not a good idea, and that a study showed that less than 10% of the people liked them. But they made it any way. I guaranty that most of those people you see with a Flex ether work or have a friend or family member that got them a deal. Or the dealer was giving such a good deal to get rid of it they could not pass it up.

Yes I know it will effect a lot of people if the big three go down, I know it is effecting me right now, I do the commercials for them. Everybody I know up here in MI is somehow tied to them. But I feel that it would be better if someone bought them out or just started them over after they fail, and with no UAW.

The big three has been failing for a long time now because of there own ignorance, this has nothing to do with the economy right now, It would be failing if the economy was still good everywhere else in America. Their should be no reward for bad management , and no gamble with tax payers money. They are not going to do anything new with the money, The Volt is a dud ( it is ugly, overpriced and only gets 40 miles on a charge, no one will buy it), and they have no other ideas. GM is still pushing the Hummer, they just spent major money on the new add campaign that I worked on, what does that tell you.
 
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I am a devoted Ford owner. The Fusion rides like crap. The Flex is really popular in these parts, and if I were rich I would buy one. I think they're pretty cool, but I am not a gadget kind of woman, and the refrigerated storage compartments make me roll my eyes.

I have a 93 Escort and a 94 E150. Can't complain about either one although the Escort has probably passed away. The transmission went out. But it has close to 200,000 miles on it, and nothing lasts forever.


Other countries subsidize their auto manufacturing. I'd like to see tariffs on imports and even foreign cars manufactured here to compensate.

A free market is a cute concept, but if everybody acts in their best interest as the logic goes....it is in the best interest of Japan and Germany to subsidize their auto industry until ours simply folds. It worked with steel.
 
in the past 25 years...

The big US Auto manufacturers recieved $100's of Billions in Subsidies, Tax Credits/Tax Breaks, kickbacks, etc...

The Big 3 were given Billions and 12 years to meet new CAFE standards 1992-2004 and where given money to meet the new standards. But what did the Big 3 do? They pocketed the money, bribed the 'STANDARDS" officials at the EPA to change the way they test to meet the news standards.

All they did was nothing and figure out more ways to make cheaply built junk vehicles and higher profit margins. They raped and refinanced the employees pension funds too.

GESUS who's more evil here? the Financial or Auto Inductries?

Answer: BOTH

NO MORE BAILOUTS, but Nancy Pelosi will figure out how her financial supporters can profit from a BAILOUT and push it through. Rubberstamped by all inside the DC Beltway.

Rahm Emanuel pocketed $50 MILLION in profits off insider Wall street DEALS via his government positions... !
 
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I wish we could just rid this country of these miserable excuses of innovation. They lack ability to do anything more than make gigantic cars that suck gas. Nearly everything they manufacture are square, dull, and lacking any charisma. Nevermind the fact that they STILL don't stand up to the Japanese cars in quality and the gap is just becoming larger. If only there weren't so many damn jobs involved, I'd damn them all away. Unfortunately, that can't work. I suggest they merge and do whatever they need to stay afloat, but if they don't...well...it is their fault just as well as the fault of the majority of the workers who have been pushing and accepting irresponsibility in financing and governmental intervention (which is ALWAYS irresponsible). Ugh...the big three just make me sick to my stomach.

They could always move out of the U.S. and maybe then they can survive again by importing the cars. lol. That won't help us, but it'll help them in the meantime.
 
SimpleName said:
I wish we could just rid this country of these miserable excuses of innovation. They lack ability to do anything more than make gigantic cars that suck gas. Nearly everything they manufacture are square, dull, and lacking any charisma. Nevermind the fact that they STILL don't stand up to the Japanese cars in quality and the gap is just becoming larger. If only there weren't so many damn jobs involved, I'd damn them all away. Unfortunately, that can't work. I suggest they merge and do whatever they need to stay afloat, but if they don't...well...it is their fault just as well as the fault of the majority of the workers who have been pushing and accepting irresponsibility in financing and governmental intervention (which is ALWAYS irresponsible). Ugh...the big three just make me sick to my stomach.

They could always move out of the U.S. and maybe then they can survive again by importing the cars. lol. That won't help us, but it'll help them in the meantime.
Click to expand...

You kind of stated my main problem with bailing them out. The automakers need to drastically adapt, and handouts delay/stop that from happening. Bailouts keep the same idiots in charge who drove them to the brink, not what they really need.

Ford is a little different in this regard, bringing in an outsider looks to have been a stroke of genius. I don't know that he's moving fast enough, but he is doing a lot of smart things there. If they can survive 12-18 mos till their euro small effecient cars are built here they have a good shot.

Chrysler is worth less than 0 - you wouldn't want it given to you unless you had tens of billions to blow on trying to revamp it over the next 5 - 10 years.

GM is close behind, their debt far, far outweighs their assets, and they are burning over 1billion a month just to keep the lights on. Watch for the cash burn to be closer to 2bil after tomorrows earnings report. They need to go bankrupt, get a LOT of fresh blood in there, and start with a fresh piece of paper, much better union agreements, half the dealer network and half the brands.

for anyone who finds the automotive industry as interesting as i do, check out http://www.thetruthaboutcars.com/

very raw insightful commentary, with a higher than average IQ for a car blog.
 
I would love to see the Big 3 go bankrupt. Just go look at a consumer report magazine and you will see how Toyota and Honda have absolutely given these guys a whipping. Plus if they went bankrupt, all the people in the United States who "buy American" would end up with higher quality and cheaper foreign makes. It really is a win for the consumer. The bad thing though, is that we will lose a lot of jobs. But if I made a crappy product, I wouldn't expect to have a high paying job for very long.
 
jclay2 said:
I would love to see the Big 3 go bankrupt. Just go look at a consumer report magazine and you will see how Toyota and Honda have absolutely given these guys a whipping. Plus if they went bankrupt, all the people in the United States who "buy American" would end up with higher quality and cheaper foreign makes. It really is a win for the consumer. The bad thing though, is that we will lose a lot of jobs. But if I made a crappy product, I wouldn't expect to have a high paying job for very long.
Click to expand...

I'd like to see them go the re-structuring and come out lean, mean examples of american ingenuity and hard work. That would be the kind of company I'd buy a car from. Looks like they'll just get billions of our tax dollars and keep on limping down their current path though.
 
we should all probably call our elected officials about this to voice our opposition...
 
SimpleName said:
I wish we could just rid this country of these miserable excuses of innovation. They lack ability to do anything more than make gigantic cars that suck gas.
Click to expand...

I my gigantic cars, and from the looks of our roads, so do lots of other people.
 
jclay2 said:
I would love to see the Big 3 go bankrupt. Just go look at a consumer report magazine and you will see how Toyota and Honda have absolutely given these guys a whipping. Plus if they went bankrupt, all the people in the United States who "buy American" would end up with higher quality and cheaper foreign makes. It really is a win for the consumer. The bad thing though, is that we will lose a lot of jobs. But if I made a crappy product, I wouldn't expect to have a high paying job for very long.
Click to expand...

You guys act like the Japanese automakers aren't subsidizing their auto industry though! The bastards killed our steel industry doing almost the same damned thing, and now you're all cheering them on to doing the same thing to the auto manufacturers.

Make no mistake, when the cars sto being manufactured here, the engineering careers will go with them.

This is where fair trade fails - driving your opposition out of business by any means possible is always the best strategy.
 
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