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AUTOS' INDUSTRY CRISIS * USA - An America without manufacturing becomes a starkly divided society
But things now have gone sadly amiss; and we're all to blame because of our incessant push for more without sacrifice...
Washington,DC,USA -The Detroit News/The Washington Post, by Warren Brown -November 15, 2008: -- I'm often chided for my passionate support of the domestic automobile industry. But I don't mind the ribbing... My passion is a product of my faith in America, my belief in its ability to compete and excel, to innovate, to lead... There is something else -- gratitude ... and the desire to save an industry that put so many of my people on the road to prosperity... But things now have gone sadly amiss; and we're all to blame because of our incessant push for more without sacrifice... The unions demanded more pay and benefits but seldom petitioned for better product quality. Auto executives and their shareholders asked for more profits and productivity but often shied away from expensive innovations to avoid upsetting the moneychangers on Wall Street... Consumers demanded safer, bigger, faster, higher-quality vehicles at lower prices. They evidenced concern for fuel economy only when they were forced to pay more for gasoline. Politicians kept a finger in the air, trying to determine which way the electoral winds were blowing, asking for more fuel economy when that seemed the popular thing to do but always promising their constituents continued access to the cheapest motor fuel in the developed world... Foreign car companies globally went on the hunt for low-cost employees, often finding them in the Southern United States with the assistance of politicians and economic development officials offering tax breaks and union-free environments. One form of irrational exuberance led to another... Things were bound to come crashing down. And now that the collapse has occurred in the form of economic recession, there is little sympathy for the domestic car companies, which are losing sales, market share, money and jobs. Federal rescue triage, it seems, dictates saving banks and mortgage firms first... In a credit-driven economy, it is difficult to question the wisdom of the banks-first approach. But without a concomitant policy to assist and strengthen our nation's core manufacturing enterprises, it runs the risk of being short-sighted... An America that manufactures nothing, or an America that owns nothing it manufactures, is an America with a frightfully vulnerable middle class -- an America that threatens to become a society starkly divided between haves and have-nots, a throwback to the Deep South of my segregated youth...
* Obama: Auto industry collapse would be 'disaster'
Washington,DC,USA -Associated Press/The Detroit News -15 Nov 2008: -- President-elect Barack Obama wants to see shifts in how some of the nation's biggest economic problems are being handled, from helping the troubled auto industry to aiding homeowners fighting foreclosure, he said in an interview... While he's said there's only one administration in power right now, he said in an interview with CBS "60 Minutes" airing Sunday there are some changes he would like to see... "For the auto industry to completely collapse would be a disaster in this kind of environment," Obama said. "So it's my belief that we need to provide assistance to the auto industry. But I think that it can't be a blank check"... Obama said he hopes that the White House and Congress will develop an assistance plan with input from all players in the industry -- from management to labor and lenders -- to develop "a sustainable U.S. auto industry." That hasn't happened yet, he said...
* Pelosi: Aid bill will require Big 3 to restructure, meet fuel-efficiency goals
Washington,DC,USA -The Detroit News, by David Shepardson -November 15, 2008: -- House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said Saturday that Democrats would move to add new conditions to an aid package of up to $25 billion for struggling domestic automakers, requiring them to further restructure in order to receive government assistance... Pelosi's statement said automakers must further restructure. Some in Congress have called on automakers to renegotiate union contracts and the $60 billion United Auto Workers-run trust fund that the companies must fund beginning in 2010 to pay for retiree health care... The auto industry's survival plan must meet several conditions, Pelosi said:
• Restructure the automobile companies to ensure their long-term economic viability;
• Meet standards for fuel efficiency that ensure the competitiveness of U.S. autos, including new fuel-efficiency standards; and,
• Deploy advanced vehicle technologies required to compete in the domestic and global market."
The Senate is to take up the auto bailout bill on Monday, with test votes set for Wednesday...
Auto sales are on pace to fall to their lowest levels in more than 15 years in 2008 and many predict 2009 could be nearly as bad... GM could need anywhere from $15 billion to $25 billion in government aid to survive, various Wall Street analysts have suggested. Automakers want to be able to tap the retooling funds next year, rather than being required to return to Congress for more money... The CEOs of GM, Ford and Chrysler, along with UAW President Ron Gettelfinger, are expected to testify before both houses of Congress next week in an urgent appeal for immediate aid...
Labels: autos' industry crisis
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