Carmaker of Munchkinland

Solution looking for a problem

Wow, if Fiat and Chrysler had gotten together a few years ago and were selling these last summer well, who knows? If Chrysler (a brand of Fiat) retools and gets these things on the road in a few years from now well, who knows? That's the rub, who knows?

Chrysler, the smallest third, made all the money they could with what they had selling SUVs when that was still socially acceptable. Ford and GM did too and still try as do the eco-benevolent Japanese like Toyota (Sequoia, Tundra, Land Cruiser) and Honda (Ridgeline, Pilot). Gas prices shot up, the ass fell out of the banking industry and here we are. The four million less people buying cars this year from last either cannot get financing or just aren't interested. If they were, however, would they rush to buy very small fuel-efficient cars?

Please recall the depth of last summer's "gas crisis" and car buying zeitgeist. Selling off your SUV in favor of a new fuel-efficient car wasn't the smart play. The savings in fuel didn't offset the whack you took on the SUV trade-in value. If you were going to buy a new car anyway it was probably a good idea, but there wasn't an organic demand for small cars. Gas prices are now half what they were, what is the chance people want small cars? Obama can, is trying and probably will incentivize the shit out of fuel-efficient vehicles which can only help our friends at Firysler... someday. Until then, the 12 billion taxpayer dollars committed to Chrysler is a down payment on the next few years of its corporate welfare.

43 Punts, 44 to Receive

 

oropeza on Flickr

OK, Bush grudgingly gave GM and Chrysler, imminent merger partners, enough money to operate *hopefully* until Obama has taken the reigns. We knew this would happen last weekend so why did it take all week? Normal slobs can only guess. Therefore, I will.

I reckon it took two or three days just to convince Bush, or whoever does his thinking, that bankruptcy is just a bad idea if the intent is really to keep the Big 3 and the roughly three million interconnected auto jobs going. The rest of the week must have been spent trying to line up enough deals among muckraking Republican congressmen to shut the fuck up about it for a month or two. Bridge to Nowhere money will flow to Alabama and Tennessee in particular next year. What a bunch of pricks. Look around, the Europeans are going through the same shit to save their car companies.

Since when does Congress have the answers? These sacks were on the clock when all of the bad shit went down in the first place but three CEOs and one union in Detroit ruined their entire industry? If the Big 3 had already been making cheap carbon fiber cars that ran on fresh air nobody could still get a fucking loan for one! These Capitol Clowns will screw this pooch for a very long time.

Bye, GM Stock

The People's Car?

Finally, it's a good day to be Ford Motor Company. If they can manage to stay off of the government tit until the new car market rebounds they will suddenly be the premiere American car company. Chrysler will have become a distant memory and thanks to the help of the US Congress GM will be paralyzed in bureaucratic inefficiency that makes the ancient Byzantine Empire look tighter than UPS.

What does the government know about any business let alone the car business? Surely the steady hand of Congress will straighten out the domestic auto industry. They've done wonders in the past with Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, Amtrak, the Postal service, etc. Speaking of the USPS, owner of the largest fleet of vehicles in the free world, what is their carbon foot print? What have they done to advance hybrid technology, electric vehicles, the hydrogen economy, or whatever it is they blame the Big Three for failing to do?

Congress would do well to save the American car industry with no-strings-attached loans when there isn't a bank in the world that will lend to them. Save the three million jobs that would be lost when GM, Ford and Chrysler declare bankruptcy and drag their supplier network with them then get the hell out of the way. Appointing a 'Car Czar' to look over their shoulders and muck up the process isn't going to help anyone. New cars are difficult enough to design and build in the light of existing regulation without more government interference. It's too late for GM and Chrysler but Ford has a fighting chance for freedom if they can stay away from that first Bailout Dollar.