I had been drafting a entry about the big 3, but then i woke up and saw today's cover article on the local news paper the Detroit Free Press.
The Article can be read here 6 Myths about the Detroit 3 and is a short but to the point dispelling of many of the myths non-car people have been lead to think about the Big 3 thanks to the MSM and Importer propaganda.
Below are a few of my reactions.
Now First up of course this is from one of the two major Detroit papers*, so they have a direct steak in the survival of the Detroit area's economy, but with that in mind they are also closer to the source than most news sources and in my years of reading the Detroit papers I've seen some fairly strong attacks from them on the actions of the Industry come from their pens.
Not for a little Summary action, the Detroit Big 3 still sell cars people want, in fact GM out sells Toyota and Ford out sells Honda. While in the 80's and early 90's they became known for poor quality they are now by most all independent checks on par in quality with the import brands, not to mention their MPG scores match up or exceed imports of the same weight class.
For all the bad rep the Big 3 have on large SUVs and pick ups their models have better MPG and hauling power than the import models which are just as big. On top of the MPG issue yet again GM and Ford Already produce many hybrids i was parking for church the other day and say a GM Malibu hybrid. i didn't even know they where out yet. There are many more coming down the pipeline if they can make it into the next build cycle. You wanted gas sipping hybrids well we're ready to sell them.
On the 25 billion already granted, that 25 already has strings attached, said strings wouldn't help the industry in this short run. So to best help the industry we need to tack on something extra, and quickly fast track the already promised loans.
In another Freep* article this morning also on the front page, Like 1979, next auto rescue won't be easy, goes into detail on how well the bail out of Chrysler would out for the Fed. That the Fed was paid off 7 years early and made a profit when Chrysler bought back it's stock warrants.
The Big 3 are at the cusp of the next generation of automotive tech as history has shown when the Fed helps them out they are not let down. Sure the Fed may impose additional requirements on the Big 3, they created a near shadow board for Chrysler in 79. Sure place restrictions on the Big 3 at this point we need the help lest we lose any more jobs. To repeat (paraphrase) what Sen. Levin said the other day on MTP 'Every Other Nation with an auto industry will not let it fall' 'we should provide our's the same fair chance.'
-Gabe
Disclaimers (*)
First It's not like i'm unbiased either i'm from a family that is where it is today thanks to UAW jobs at the Ford Rouge Plant, and many of my uncles and my father still work for the Big 3.
Second i know "Freep" has another meaning among the boards here but in Detroit it's what we call our local paper.