Battered by weak sales, declining market share and miserable credit ratings, Detroit's Big Three automakers are now turning to the US government for help.
General Motors Corp., Ford Motor Co. and Chrysler LLC will be launching a campaign in the coming days to secure at least 25 billion dollars in federal loans to help get past the current economic malaise.
"This isn't a bail out," said Greg Martin, Washington spokesman for GM, the largest US automaker which has been awash in speculation for months that it is running short of cash.
"These are direct loans that we have to pay back," added Ford spokesman Mike Moran.
Detroit's goal is to have new legislation in place for the aid package by the time Congress adjourns in late September or early October.
The combination of an economic slowdown, the credit crunch and presidential politics, have enhanced the prospects of such a plan.
The possibility of one or more of the Big Three seeking bankruptcy protection -- which could have an enormous economic impact -- has created a sense of urgency.
Emphasis added by me.
Let all three drop dead!
Who says they have a Divine Right to exist forever?
Why should they be sheltered from their decades of rotten decisions? Why should they be given our money after fighting tooth and nail to derail, defang, declaw, and outright kill the CAFE requirements for better gas mileage?
They wanted to sell bloated products with rotten gas mileage. They said the hell with the national interest to line their own pockets. And now that it has all collapsed on them like the rotted structure they've self-created, all these macho bastards now run crying to Mommy Government for help?
No. Drop dead. Do it today!
Let the Japanese come in and win the market. Give India's Tata Motors a shot too. Let the streets be filled with the Smart Car and its variants. They listen to customers. They sit and think about what they produce. What thought went into producing the garbage Detroit has turned out for decades? What went through their heads when they unleashed that abomination, the Hummer, on us? Nothing but their own greed. Now let that greed destroy them!
Hey, one of the largest American companies, IBM, was itself sinking over a decade ago. They got their shit together and now prosper. And they didn't go with hat in hand to the Government to save themselves.
Previously here:
Chronicles Of Depression 2.0: #182
Chronicles Of Depression 2.0: #169
The Deserved Fall Of General Motors
Goodbye, Middle Class. And Good Luck!
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