Big 3 Bailout - If that is true, then how come .........
Just found something out yesterday - over the last few years the Big Three automakers (especially Ford) have been opening factories in other parts of the world. They want us to believe that they cannot be competitive building cars in the United States for people in the United States.
If that is true, then how come Toyota has been steadily OPENING new plants in the United States to make vehicles to sell here and abroad? Depending on which source you consult, Toyota now has 12 or 13 manufacturing plants in various parts of North America.
To my knowledge Toyota is hiring Americans to work at their American plants and they seem to be making money and NOT going to Washington with their hands out.
I don't know a lot of the details, but Honda has plant(s) in Ohio that make cars and the big Gold Wing motorcycles. No one from Honda is looking for a check from Washington.
Must be that no one told Honda and Toyota that kind of thinking will never work.
Don't they KNOW you can't make vehicles in the United States using American labor and make any money at it - what the hell is wrong with those idiots at Toyota and Honda, anyway??
My point is that it appears products can be profitably MANUFACTURED in the United States by Americans.
If that is true, then how come Toyota has been steadily OPENING new plants in the United States to make vehicles to sell here and abroad? Depending on which source you consult, Toyota now has 12 or 13 manufacturing plants in various parts of North America.
To my knowledge Toyota is hiring Americans to work at their American plants and they seem to be making money and NOT going to Washington with their hands out.
I don't know a lot of the details, but Honda has plant(s) in Ohio that make cars and the big Gold Wing motorcycles. No one from Honda is looking for a check from Washington.
Must be that no one told Honda and Toyota that kind of thinking will never work.
Don't they KNOW you can't make vehicles in the United States using American labor and make any money at it - what the hell is wrong with those idiots at Toyota and Honda, anyway??
My point is that it appears products can be profitably MANUFACTURED in the United States by Americans.
Comments
Are they merely innocent victims? Absolutely not.
Is the current financial crisis their fault?
Same answer.
Are they in the process of changing their ways?
Yes.
Can that happen overnight?
No.
Up until gas went sky high earlier this year, were they building the Hummers and F-150s and SUVs that people wanted to buy?
Yes they were and making healthy profits doing it.
I don't know why it is that everyone forgets that the F-150 was the top selling vehicle for 23 years in a row and expects the Big 3 to turn on a dime and be chock full of miniature, electric, hydrogen, solar powered econo-cars the minute gas goes above $3/gallon.
They are changing. It just takes time. Ford just recently shut down truck production at their "Michigan Truck" plant in Wayne, MI to bring over the European Fiesta and start building that here. It can't happen overnight though.
The financial crisis is not their fault, but it will cause them to fail. They are asking for LOANS not bailouts. Ford might not even need to tap into it. They just know that if one goes, they all go. They all share suppliers. If GM went under, most of the suppliers would follow pretty quickly. Chrysler and Ford would have no choice.
Look at all of our hard earned dollars got pissed away at AIG and the others. No hearings, no chastising, no plans, no repayment promises, no "why didn't you jet-pool?". They didn't even have to ask for the money let alone show up to defend themselves. They got handed BILLIONS to do with whatever they wanted, no questions asked.
I just can't understand why everyone is so negative on the auto companies and not the financial companies.
If nothing else, these loans make sense from the standpoint that if we don't help them now it will most assuredly cost us all much more in the long run if we turn our backs and let them flounder.
That's all I got to say about that.
-- Pete
I might suggest that the F-150 was the best selling vehicle for Ford because that is what they spent their money making and marketing. If the marketing dollars had been spent promoting more fuel effiecient vehicles, then I believe those would have been in demand.
If you think marketing doesn't play into things, then why do big companies spend millions to influence our thoughts. (Like how many people in movies smoke? It has taken a rise since advertising cigarettes was outlawed - so now they have almost every hero and villan in the movies smoke.) Shoot, GM was ready to spend 15 million dollars to get the rights to ONE song by the Doors to promote Cadillac SUVS. I run a small business that will not matter if it closes - but if I wasted money like the Big Boys and then wanted your tax dollars to bail my ass out, I think you would tell me where to get off.
I think the bank bailout was a terrible mistake and to turn around and do it again would just compound the fracture.
Regards,
Eric.