Reading the following story about the British automaker Rover (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20050722/...itain_mg_rover) made me wonder if the American auto industry is heading down the same path? When my children are my age (30+ years from now) I wonder if they will even have the choice of an American made car? I really hope so but how do we compete with a dollar a day labor cost and no healthcare or pension cost?

A country that does not produce it's own goods is destined to be ruled by those that do.

 

Probably

there are what two or three generations of car buyers who wouldn't touch an american automobile (meaning the big 2.5) even if they were the best cars (best quality, best value, ect) on the market. IMO domestic manufacturers are in for a rough ride, add to that labor and US business woes (environmental included) and I think they are gonna end up like the steel industry -DOA

Then again I hope I'm really wrong, because there really isnt a foreign vehicle manufacturer out there that produces something I genuinely like.

Then again we can hope for then next best thing, your favorite foreign vehicle manufacturer steps in and buys your favorite ailing US manufacturer (in which case the blithering idiots who won't touch an american car will get all pissed off and rant endlessly how the procurement of a domestic has lowered the quality of thier hallowed marque)

 

You figured this all out by yourself huh? I am impressed. Never heard this take on the industry before. You should get with buickman and work on his 500 step plan to save gm and the world from Lex Luther and the legion of doom.

 

nope just a pessimist

 

If the US auto industry ends up in the crapper, we will end up in a recession that rivals, if not exceeds, the Great Depression from the early 20th century.

There's no way the US government ever lets that happen again.

 

woot! government welfare at its finest. I'm just so peachy about the 30 or percent they take out now, I can't wait to see the tax hike it would take to bail out an sick industry if or when it happens.

 

How old are you? 12?

 

If you think 30 is bad try living in europe where they take more and make less.

 

Gee.... I suppose highways are maintained; troops and war material are paid for; air traffic management is provided; Medicare and Social Security so you don't have to support your parents; paying for police, courts, & locking up criminals; schools our kids go to; maintaining water and food quality & safety; and so forth are paid for by the magic money fairy?

You want to whine about the government providing a backed loan to the auto industry? What's it going to cost us? Zip!

Assuming the industry crashes anyway, what? a few billion?

Compared to what Iraq is costing per month or how much the tax cut for the upper 1% cost us, providing a loan to prevent GM from imploding (if it ever came to that) would be the best economic investment in modern history!

If I'm not mistaken, 1 in 6 jobs in the US is directly or indirectly related to the US based auto industry.

When the government bailed out Chrysler, it didn't effect tax rates. It was a loan that Chrysler paid back...... many years early!


For the record, I would reccomend a 5-8 year moritorium on new car regulations over a government backed loan.

 

I don't think the government actually loaned Chrysler any money. I believe they just guaranteed the loans. Kind of like a co-signer.

 

Exactly.

Although Chrysler's money came from private sources, if Chrysler had caved in, the government would have been obliged to pay off whatever debt was left. Of course, the government would have owned Chrysler & their assets in that case, but it still would have cost the government zip when the dust settled.

Even back in the so-called "liberal" 70s, no one simply gave away money to bail out a company. I think the position of compete or die without government help regarding the auto industry is good strong medicine, and needs to be said. GM management is 100% responsible for the problems GM has today, regardless where individuals are now. Not the UAW, the CAW, the Japanese or Korean automakers, Health Care costs, government regulations, or who's in the White House (building your company on easy profits without sufficient investment where needed elsewhere isn't a way to guarantee staying competitive).

But when the chips are down, and everyone is looking at the collaspe of a company the size of GM (or even Ford for that matter!), rhetoric is gonna suddenly die, and you can expect that somethings going to be done.

 

Losing it will start a massive depression. Loss of all the American MFG jobs has mostly been replaced by gainign of service jobs. The sheer amount of jobs lost would not be made up for in the service sector. Just the IT force alone would flood the US market. Dont kid yourself, overnight or over 10 years, the US economy will pay the price.

 

If you read Lee Iacocca;s book, Chrysler had assests to back up the full loan amount in case they could not pay it. It is nothing like the govt. bailouts of today where if they default, the govt (us) loses. I'm pretty sure the money DID come from the govt so they would get a minimal interest rate. Anyway you work it, it was a government loan.

 

The Auto Industry is important, but that is only one segment of "American Industry".

Also, the Auto Industry is evolving right now. Gasoline will eventually be replaced by something and I think we are in the beginning stages of R&D on their replacements.

Also, I think gone worldwide auto sales are going to drop. Vehicles are much more effecient these days and can last easily 200k miles before they become maintenance traps. People are starting to realize this and the ones that are "middle class" are going to keep their vehicles alot longer which will drop sales.

 

Nope, the computer industry does not hold a candle.