Auto Bailout -- Sell More Cars More Inexpensively

Submitted by Kevin Cronin on Tue, 12/09/2008 - 15:37.

Perhaps it’s heresy here in NE Ohio, but I'm wondering how the auto industry bail out will succeed. Ultimately, the car companies need to sell more cars, but no one is forecasting American consumers are going to be in a better position to buy a year or more from now. If so, why aren't the big three going to be just as vulnerable next year as they are now, with the US squandering what few resources we have in the interim? Will they need to be back, asking for more money a year from now? I understand full well the concern that the financial sector bailout has no guarantee of success, with the money going out with few or no commitments (or worse, in the case of the money directed away from National City, at least until after it was sold to PNC). Right now, there's a free for all, with every type of spending being recast as a stimulus, from road/bridge repair, to housing and education. If we are going to have a free for all, the auto bailout may offer the economy less stimulation than some of the others that are worthy of consideration and the "big three" shouldn’t be rewarded just because they are second in line with their hands out asking for money. Let's compare the stimulus, both in the short and long-term, from investing in the car industry, the airlines, K-12 education, or science and engineering labs at school, or student housing or afterschool programs. It's a better process than simply rewarding those first in line or those capable of hiring more well-connected lobbyists.

( categories: )

sell better cars more inexpensively ...

I really resent the ads I have seen for the auto bail out, maybe they are just ads for the American automakers in general, but they are saying take pity on us and buy our cars, support us for no reason other than sympathy. Maybe you have seen them, they feature a sad looking autoworker. What about producing a good product at a good price? We have everything we need in America to make great automobiles --we just need to do it. A bail out won't help unless we improve product and production.