Category: Auto politics
Posted by Manny Lopez (The Detroit News) on Thu, May 21, 2009 at 7:00 PMApparently they DO take us for fools
As I wrote today in my column, the Obama administration is in full denial mode about its influence in the management of Detroit's automakers.
First it was President Barack Obama insisting that he had nothing to do with it. Yeah, right. Then it was Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner this week, who pushed the message too.
Today it was Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood carrying the White House's "we have not told these companies what to do" message.
As my younger sister would say, "Puhleeze" give us all a break. While plenty of people will buy that line, more don't and being played for fools is offensive.
Comments
| Jump to bottom |
Apparently they DO take us for fools
Up North,
If gas were 2.00/gl and the economy were good, the 'cars nobody wants' would continue to fly out the showroom doors.
The big 3 are guilty of plenty, but producing cars the marketplace doesn't want isn't one of them. In fact the opposite could be said: One reason GM got in trouble is they tried to produce too many different types of cars. The Obama administration obviously agrees as they are forcing GM to drop brands.
Apparently they DO take us for fools
UP North,
There is one fact you seem to ignore.
The smaller, more fuel efficient cars do not have the profit margin that the larger vehicles have.
The larger vehicles are the ONLY way the Big three could make a profit.
Why??? Because the labor costs of the big three are more than the competitors - roughly $2,500 more.
How does this matter???
In a small car, if the competition makes $1,000 on each vehicle, that means the Big Three would LOSE $1,500 on each small car.
In a large vehicle the profits are much larger and make up for the higher labor costs.
The BIGGEST mistake Big 3 management made was giving in to the extortion tactics of the UAW.
The costs associated with those contracts made it IMPOSSIBLE for the American manufacturers to make the smaller cars profitable.
The high costs of the UAW made it impossible for the Big three to adapt to the demand for smaller vehicles.
WHen the Democrats refused to let us drill for oil (over 100 YEARS worth that we have RIGHT HERE in the U.S. http://energy.cr.usgs.gov/other/oil_shale/green_river.html) the price of gasoline forced buyers of those big vehicles to downsize.
THAT is what happened to the Auto Industry.
Apparently they DO take us for fools
Manny, in his wisdom said:
"Apparently they DO take us for fools"
Manny, in your case "they" are correct. You pander to those in southeast Michigan who have been betrayed by the Big Three (remember them) in their foolish planning. Let's build another muscle car. Let's make that pickup look meaner. Let's not worry about how much fuel it burns - the profits are rolling in. Many auto workers and their families are suffering because of this kind of thinking and you are still playing that broken record. Your trash talk does appeal to the anger in us all but makes little sense if we want a solution (if it is still possible).
Right now we are suffering from the influx of Japanese autos and the beginnings of Korean autos. We have not seen anything. China is gearing up. They have a plug-in hybrid that is near ready for release. The poor planning a greed of the auto industry has not served Michigan and our economy well and neither does your foolishness. As to the politics of the matter - Obama at least has some plan. The republicans were simply going to let the market forces have their way.
| Jump to top |
