The State of the U.S. Auto Industry
http://thedianerehmshow.org/shows/2010-08-02/state-us-auto-industry
One year ago the U.S. auto industry appeared on the verge of collapse. Today it's showing signs of a comeback. Guest host Susan Page and guests explore the state of American carmakers one year after the government invested billions to keep GM and Chrysler afloat.
Guests
David Shepardson
Washington bureau chief, The Detroit News.
Micheline Maynard
Senior Editor of Changing Gears - a new public radio project. She is former Detroit bureau chief for The New York Times and author of "The End of Detroit" (Currency)
Warren Brown
automotive writer and "On Wheels" columnist for The Washington Post
Sophia Koropechyj
managing director for Moody's Economy.com. She covers labor markets, auto-related industries, and the Midwestern economy.
Comments
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A question for the guests. How much did the taxpayers pay per share for GM AND did they consult Oracle of Omaha first?
From my perspective ... it isn't that the American automakers weren't making cars that people wanted to buy ... the problem is that they weren't planning for the future. When gas prices spiked, who wanted to buy a vehicle that got low MPG? (nobody)!
I'm wondering what will happen when thousands of people begin plugging in their electric cars. How will this new demand for electric power be satisfied? How will it impact the electric bills of those of us who do not own electric cars?
Thank you.
Margaret in Fairfax, VA
Can the guest comment on the decision by Ford to recall and crush the EV fleets of the '90s?
Are there plans to reestablish these cars and other models?
GM had to do go to the brink of bankruptcy-They failed to change in too many years. The Michigan issue is much larger than auto industry.
The Michigan Economy has larger issues-The Michigan Turnaround Plan details a fiev step plan.
1. State spending
2. State budget and employee benifits
3. Business taxes
4. Lack of priority on State wide investments
5.Lack of regional colaboration-
We have GM Malibu and Honda Accord.
I'm sorry if I missed this question being addressed, but I'm wondering if there are any development plans for full size electric pick-ups.
We bailed out GM and look where they are making their investments. Are they investing in breakthrough technology? Are they striving to bring their engineering up to German or Japanese standards? No! Their first acquisition was AmeriCredit - a sub-prime auto financier. It makes me sick to my stomach that tax payer dollars went to perpetuate this dinosaur! Never again should the government get involved in bailouts of large, failed corporations.
I just bought a new car last Thursday, I looked at the all the big three offerings in mid size sedans and they really did not compare in price, quality and value compared to "Japanese" mid sized sedans. I bought a Nissan Altima, and although it is a foreign make, it was assembled in the United States (Canton, Ohio) and from what I can tell many of the parts were made in the US. I prefer to buy American and support American workers. but the American makes just did not stand up in value and quality, since the last time I bought a new car (ten years ago) they have caught up the approximate five year lag they had in design, technology and quality, but they are still not competitive on price.
Margy wants to know how we will power all the new electric vehicles. Ten 220 watt solar panels supply enough energy to drive a Chevy Volt 12,000 miles per year. Build your own personal "gas pump" with a solar system that pays for itself in 6 years even without tax rebates by eliminating gasoline bills.
http://www.eddiebyrne.com/superior-colorado/solar-power/extra-pv-panels-...
Then lets repeal the 2001 Bush WTO agreement that allows communist China to impose a 25% import tax on cars manufactured in the US. China is currently in violation of that WTO agreement by also imposing the 25% tariff on individual imported auto parts.
Now that the taxpayers have paid for GM (and whoever else it's been), we should have these companies as a national trust, to be owned and operated by the taxpayers and for our benefit. Since we've essentially bought these companies, they should be run for our benefit: try the experiment of keeping the manufacturing plants in the US, electric cars that a smart shopper would know was a smart buy. Why do we think we can bully Korea into importing a car not so many here want?
Looks like we're running a socialist system for the benefit CEO's of giant, self interested companies, ones I think Adam Smith would say need to die. But since our elected leaders have essentially bought them, they ought to be fun as a national trust.
I think that since we the taxpayers have paid for GM, we ought to be able to tell them to bring back the EV. We own GM now, and the big heads there need to step down and hand the reins to us as a National Trust.
I found the show very boring today and had to turn it off.