Detroit: Begging For Help

Let them go down. These companies insisted on continuing to sell those gas-guzzling dinosaurs while the rest of the modern world was investing in clean energy and fuel-efficient vehicles. Now they can pay the price. No bailout. You make stupid decisions, you reap the consequences. The market will correct itself eventually, it's simply a matter of survival of the fittest. The smart survive, the dumb die out.

We need to let these companies go if they do not open their eyes to the 21st century.... it is called Clean Energy and fuel efficiency,,, we do not need huge SUV's, gas gusseling muscle cars,,, those days are freaking over people,, once you realize this our auto markets will change for the better... if GM or Ford do not realize we need hybrids and better fuel efficiency they need to go under and new companies will replace them. I mean does Japan and China need to lead in all of this forever... has America become complacent with being a follower instead of a leader like it once was? I guess so!

Isn't this precisely what Chap 11 is for? If they are a viable business Chapt 11 will let them reorganize and retool. If they're not a viable business then what is the Government lending them money for?

nonothing, you are right in this respect. The "Big 3" decided to cater to a few and now offer no selection of vehicles that I desire. My husband and I are young professionals (DINKS to be exact) with the need (our current leases are up) and the means to get a new car off the lot, but the "Big 3" have nothing I am interested in looking at. The sedans all look the same, GM has 3 different versions of the same truck, 3 different versions of the same cross-over SUV, and the cars that get the good gas mileage are all plasitc-y with no good fit and finish, and safety is only an option. Personally, I'm going Volkswagon Jetta. Nice, sporty syling, great fit and finish, great gas mileage, great price, and safety is included. I want to stand out of the crowds of Hondas and Toyotas.

The "Big 3" missed out on catering to my generation and everyone else picked up the slack. I'm from Michigan and my father was an emissions engineer for GM, so I feel for all those who have lost or will lose their jobs, but a large part of me feels that they get what they deserve. For those that say, just buy American, I wish I could, but I want to like my car and be excited to drive it. I grew up a "car guy" and go to the Detroit Auto Show every year hoping that the US Automakers would introduce SOMETHING that would make me excited, but alas, that has yet to happen.

There is no one thing that created the current downfall of the US Automakers. The continuation of bad upper management, too much Union control (it seems that Toyota, Mitsubishi, Mercedes, and BMW are doing OK building cars in the Sates without Unions), and a extremely disappointing selection of vehicles all add to the problems. I don't know if a bailout will help or hurt the situation, I am an engineer not a financial analyst, but it seems to me that a total breakdown of the current business paradigms, from top to bottom, is in order.

There are four books you should read:
1: Future Shock from Alvin Tofflin
2. The Reckoning from David Halberstam
3. The Machine That Changed The World from Womack,Jones and Roos
4. Comeback from Ingrassia and White

... from a dumb designer in Germany

Isn't this precisely the type of business situation that Chapter 11 is for? If they are a viable business Chapt. 11 will let them reorganize and retool. If they're not a viable business they why should the government put money into them?

Bail out Detroit auto makers? WHY? The Federal Government has already saddled the American taxpayers with enormous debt.

The former Big Three (GM, Ford and Chrysler) have marched to the excessives of low mpg, huge vehicle size and weight and marginal quality for too long. They have been marketed head to head with quality models from foreign manufacturers for over 30 years WITHOUT acknowledging that there is a better way than the American way to design, make and market cars. Each of the former Big Three can point to a few models that are similar in quality, performance and mpg to many foreign manufacturer models - the paucity of genuine progress is something that should not be rewarded with government support and our much over-spent tax dollars. More funding of our national debt from China, Russia and Saudi Arabia... which would be necessary if billions more of taxpayer money were given to the auto maker... NO THANK YOU.

There is nothing healthy about a bailout mentality that says "give me" on one side and says "sure, here's money" on the other.

Disgusting. Do NOT bail them out!

These companies have known about the coming age of fuel efficiency for years by their European markets!!!
They just pretended it didn't exist!! And now since their gluttony is finally starting to catch up with them, they want more help??? They're already getting it for retooling!!! That's enough!!!
The American people (MANY OF WHOM ARE WITHOUT A JOB AT ALL) should not be asked to pay for these employees health insurance......give us a break.......TAKE IT FROM THE HEAD HONCHO'S SALARIES AND BONUSES!! You are all disgustingly full of it.........GREED THAT'S ALL YOU KNOW!!!!

The 2 things that have contributed to this mess are 1; Corporate greed, and 2; Unions. The argument over corporate greed is mute. Nobody can claim to be ignorant about that. The union, however, has been overinflating the worker compensation so much and for so long, that the manufacturers are forced to use substandard parts in order to make a vehicle competively priced. The reason so many foriegn vehicles are arguably better than american made is that they can afford to use quality parts while they pay their workers a liveable wage. The comment about the recalled Toyotas failes to mention that the recalled units were made in America. By UAW workers. The union would rather see 1/2million workers get paid like kings for doing a menial job instead of seeing 2 million workers getting paid what they are worth. I do agree that the unions did have a place in life back when there was no federal oversight, but in this day and age, there are laws providing minimum pay scales and benefits. Today's federally mandated compensation would be enough if everyone wasn't so greedy. Bottom line; Until every person on this planet (and I emphasize EVERY person) is willing to accept the bare minimum, we will allways have these problems.

Bailing out GM or any other automobile manufacturer with entrenched concepts and ties to oil companies is insane. New products have been designed that will render all gasoline powered engines obsolete. These new vehicles, although conceived by US citizens, will be developed secretly in other countries and once a critical mass have been built, will explode onto the marketplace.. Why? The US based oil companies complicit with the US government can't buy them out or threaten these startups as they have done to many other startups with the potential of putting them out of business..

Bailing out GM or any other automobile manufacturer with entrenched concepts and ties to oil companies is insane. New products have been designed that will render all gasoline powered engines obsolete. These new vehicles, although conceived by US citizens, will be developed secretly in other countries and once a critical mass have been built, will explode onto the marketplace.. Why? The US based oil companies complicit with the US government can't buy them out or threaten these startups as they have done to many other startups with the potential of putting them out of business..

The Chevy Cobalt XFE has a higher EPA-rated MPG than the Toyota Corolla. The MPG of the Ford Focus is roughly equal. Ditto for the new Malibu vs. the Camry / Accord. The efficient domestics are there, as are the inefficient imports (Sequoia / Armada / Touareg, etc), so exactly what is perception and what is reality? Scrapping the EV1? GM wasn't the only manufacturer to scrap an EV in the early 90's -- Honda and NIssan scrapped their own...

GM's mistake was not scrapping the EV1 in and of itself, the mistake was not harnessing the innovations of the EV1 until crude hit $100+ a barrel.

GM has made their fair share of mistakes, that's no point of contention, but being the relative of a GM retiree who put 30 years of his life into the company, only to now see his pension hanging in the balance, and then read the opinions of those out there who actually WANT to see GM fail? People really want this?

Any business that becomes so large, so heavily inter-twined within the economic well-being of the country, should be broken up into smaller businesses.

The net effect would be fewer monopolies, increased competition, more jobs, and an economic seawall against the devastateingly negative impact when one the now smaller businesses go under.

No more government bailouts would be required, no more dealing with businesses wherein upper "management" does such a poor job of preparing for the future or failing to respond to changes in consumer buying habits. The free market would again "eat its own" as it is designed to do.

Government bailouts are socialism, they reward ineptitude, and foster a mentality that there are no repercussions ofr those responsible.

Re-tool Detroit? It's a whole lot easier to build new than re-design. How about we take their bailout and fund brand new companies? One dedicated from the beginning to producing the highly efficient vehicles needed to move us further away from dependence on foreign oil? Certainly, there exists a skilled labor force waiting for those jobs. In fact, you could allow the current upper management teams at Ford, GM, and Chrysler to submit their resumes. I'm certain a position within the new company could be found that expertly met their qualifications...