Your bail-out dollars at work…
When it was deciding where to build its new compact car, General Motors Corp. made a point of saying it would push politics aside and use strictly commercial criteria.
So Tennessee’s three top officials were astonished last month, in a meeting with GM, when they were told the first two criteria were “community impact” and “carbon footprint” — or how the choice would affect unemployment rates and carbon-dioxide emissions.
“Those didn’t strike us as business criteria at all,” said Tennessee Sen. Lamar Alexander, who was joined in the meeting by fellow Republican Sen. Bob Corker and the state’s Democratic governor, Phil Bredesen. Those factors, Mr. Alexander said, “seemed odd for a company struggling to get back on its feet.”
On June 26, after a monthlong competition, GM tapped an existing factory in Orion, Mich., pushing aside competing plants in Spring Hill, Tenn., and Janesville, Wis.
All the sites had merits, but the Michigan plant had additional attractions. It is embedded in a struggling state that is a Democratic stronghold. The Orion site, 35 miles from GM’s Detroit headquarters, is also close to tens of thousands of current and former United Auto Workers union employees, whose pressure previously helped persuade GM to scrap plans to build the car overseas.
Meanwhile Ford Motor Co. of Canada Ltd., which did not pursue any public aid, climbed to the top of the monthly market in June for the first time since 1949.”
Joe Citizen said: The F-Series Ford pickup outsold Chev and GMC pickups combined time and again!
Check the sales figures (Google is your friend) and you will find that at least in Canada, the reverse of what you said is the truth – Chev/GMC combined sales have been more than Ford’s on the pickups for a LONG time.
Maybe GM management is saying, privately, “to hell with it. The feds have been trying to drive us under since the ’70s, so we might as well go down the tubes on their dime.”
Crotchrocket….. you are right. Forders fail to add Chev and GMC together.
As for GM, IF and a big if, the gov forces GM to build North American Prius’ type cars I’m done with GM. But with GM unloading all their liabilities by selling all the good stuff to new GM, they cannot but make money if allowed to operate as a business in a competitive free market. GM product is good product. If I won the lottery I would have Chevy, Buick and Cadillac product in my driveway. Corvette, Camaro, Impala, Malibu, Silverado, Enclave, CTS-V, Escalade, all world class, I don’t care what anyone says.
The bail out sucks, bondholders got raped. The gov is either delaying the inevitable or are truly trying to save the companies. I hope successful is the word – over time it will be worth it if the gov divests.
As for Ford, they are into a $30B line of credit negotiated over a year ago pretty deep from what I have read so I hope they can keep out of Obama Finance and the bullshit that comes with it.
The real unfortunate thing is who looks after the “old” GM with the old factories and discarded names when it goes under, the taxpayer again?
“The handwriting is on the wall. It’s only a matter of time until the UAW/CAW calls a bitter and pointless strike against Ford”
Which is exactly why I sold my Ford stock.
Despite the fact I believe they have good products (I drive a Fusion) and the potential for a great future, having the gov’t as their major competitor means that all (stockmarket) bets are off.
Having CAW/UAW strike against them is just too likely a bet – put them out of business and the ‘domestic’ market belongs de facto to Gov’t Motors.
Another scenario might be having Gov’t Motors doing all kinds of research and development in advance of new gov’t mandates and then having them sprung on Ford in too short a timeline for them to effectively compete.
Once the gov’t gets involved in the marketplace there is no way one can invest with any confidence and we’re now seeing millions of investors sitting on the sidelines – which is a huge drag on the economy in and of itself.
Crotchrocketcowboy:
Got to Youtube, enter Ford vs Chevy vs Toyota vs Dodge. Enlightening video!!
In global sales, VW is the king!! As for Canada, we account for a very small portion of any company’s gross revenue, however I do believe that GM WAS number one in pickups for a few years.
After we pay fines for breathing out Co2, or a life tax. The manificent State will chip us all
for gas eruptions.
If the Cult of enviroment encourages by State fiat the ownership of car company’s. The Plebs will soon, just be allowed by the entitled. To drive lawnmowers with plastic bubbles.
To them you are the enemmy.
JMO
It’s called fascism people. Look it up. All we are missing is a charismatic leader whose fanatical followers use his personal symbols rather than traditional national symbols… err wait a minute.
PhilK: “You are ignoring the idea that North American manufacturing is a viable industry and we cannot compete with the sweatshops of East Asia.”
I am used to people contradicting themselves over the course of an argument, but I rarely see someone do it in a single sentence. Which is it, Phil? Is the NA industry viable, or can’t it compete with East Asia? And if your answer is “It’s viable behind trade barriers”, all I can say is “Mr. Smoot, meet Phil Hawley”.
Ford, Canada, is attempting to obtain the same labour agreement Gm, & Chry. signed (under Go’vt.) duress. CAW isnt interested as agreement they have goes to 2011. U.S. UAW costs now are much lower for Ford than in Can. Used to be CAW wanted pattern agreement- not so now.
Ford workers just voted in and signed changes to their contract with the company. http://www.usatoday.com/money/autos/2009-03-09-ford-uaw_N.htm I doubt you would get the rank-and-file to vote for a strike now, and I believe that would be necessary for a work stoppage, no matter what the union/Obama might want. They have a two-tier contract that pays way less to newer workers. New hires will get paid less than people making Japanese cars down South.
Moving production from Tennessee to Michigan just sounds nuts to me. Any outfit that would do that will soon go broke.
I am just sick of this crap. I was very close to buying a new Denali. Not gonna happen now. I never liked the Fords because they are too high, and IMHO, that design was the cause for the rollovers, not the tires. I guess I will look at the Nissan Titans.
tim, you may want to do a bit of research on that Titan before you buy.
I’m proud of Ford but I think they are staring into the abyss. We see the market reaction to the tyrant thug Obama’s takeover of GM and Chrysler and we think all is well.
It’s not. The Obama government will set all sorts of rules that will benefit “their” company to Ford’s detriment. So far it is obvious that people are flocking to Ford and rejecting Government Motors which will ensure horrific losses for GM. Will those losses be covered by taxpayers once more? Yup, the taxdollars will be shoveled into the big Democrat/union slush fund. It’s the criminal Chicago way.
I am looking forward to the next round of contract negotiations with the UAW. Will the UAW target Ford, ask for ridiculous wages and benefits, and then strike against Ford when they refuse to pay up OR will they negotiate with themselves, grant themselves massive (taxpayer backed) entitlements, and force Ford to accept the deal? Either way spells doom for Ford.
Can anyone see a different way that these negotiations can play out?
Yeah, they don’t make the model I thought anyway. I guess I will look at the Sequoia, which is probably what I was thinking of in the first place.
Hey Joe Citizen, what part of “free country, none of your fracking business” was it that you didn’t understand?
You’re supporting fascism, doofus.