Wadhamite

Should You Buy an American Car?

After this economic crisis, I can't afford ANY new car, American or otherwise. I guess I'll keep my old Ford putting several more years.

GM Bankruptcy: Who Stands to Gain

Southeast Asia will gain. America will lose. Who really doubts that?
Washington has no money tree. All those billions of ill-spent dollars will need to be repaid. There will be no return on that repayment. It's just as bad as fighting wars, except fewer dead people. But people need cars to drive . . . and Asia will produce them with one-third of the world's population waiting for the opportunity to build and sell them. America's day is over, and Asia's day is brightening. In the long run, justice runs its course. (And, though I wish financially-responsible Ford Motor well, they remain the best of a very bad lot.)

GM's Pending Bankruptcy: How Buying a Car Is Going to Change

Society is starting to change, and it will not all be bad. The U.S. has built an entire infrastructure based on gasoline consumption -- suburbs, bridges, expressways, parking lots -- and now most major players won't be there playing. When the public learns that fast and flashy is not really important, that human values matter more, that stopping and smelling the roses along the way is easier from a bicycle or a pair of shoes, and that the environment is desperate for change . . . well, the time for Chrysler and G.M. to depart has come. It won't be the end. It might be a new beginning!

Obama's New Mileage Standards: Let's Wait and See How the Final Rules Shake Out

I don't like the government meddling into mileage standards and emissions levels. I believe that when the Orient produces such vehicles at competitive prices, the public will buy them and the made-in-America mantra will fizzle. It's not a question of IF but WHEN.

'Government' Motors or Ford: Which Automaker Will Remain Viable?

I've been driving Fords for all the right reasons for years. I don't intend to change. I do wish, however, that Ford would compete head-to-head with the likes of Smart Fortwo and Geo Metro -- which increasingly will become the cars of the future due to environmental and financial necessities.

Buyer Beware: 30 Biggest Bankruptcy Risks

Humbling news, but appreciated and more accurate than we want to admit.

Fed Considers GM Buy-In: Digging a Deeper Hole

The Constitution does not allow for government ownership of horses, buggy companies, bicycle factories, or automobile manufacturers. Copying socialist Europe is no way to go. I doubt "Renault is doing very fine now"; it's certain Lada isn't, nor Dacia or Trabant.

Should either or both Chrysler and General Motors go down to bankruptcy, the proper thing to do is let Ford and the other domesticated imports pick up market share and do what they obviously have done better to this point.

Chrysler and Fiat's Latest Tiff: Not Unexpected, Not Good

"The Left Handed Pollock" must not be aware that Schwinn bicycles and parts are built in China now -- not Chicago. It's hard to build a decent "American" bicycle, but Bike Friday in Oregon is trying. Schwinn, unfortunately, lost the game a number of years ago. Yes, they were great in the 1960s. Not now.

Ford a Likely Survivor of the Auto Industry Crisis

I agree that Ford is strongest of the Detroit Three at the moment. I do wonder if that means strong enough to survive. I am a cautious optimist, seeing how Ford withstood two world wars and the Great Depression; but moving forward will be tough and Ford will need to make strategic and risky decisions at times. I'm hopeful they wil avoid government money and will prove that American capitalism ultimately will work.

Detroit: Please Bring Back the Stripped Car

Nobody is mentioning Kia. A real bargain today. And, when China gets its act together and offers an econobox for under $10,000 -- watch out. My first two cars, back in the 1960s, were VW Beetles with two lights on the dash (make that three when the high beam indicator is included) instead of the LED Christmas trees that modern cars have. Manual transmission; crank windows; no A/C; no fog lights; no air bags (the first one did'nt even have seat belts); no computers; AM radio. I could afford to drive back then.

Toyota vs. Ford: A Modern Manufacturing Parable

I enjoyed the story, though I wonder why the race was in the U.S. and Missouri of all places.

General Motors Bailout: Consider Other Alternatives

Is anyone seriously asking where the federal government is getting these $50 billion automotive bailout monies? The government has no money tree, or bank account, or current budget surplus. The money is being newly created, pure fiat, no backing . . . just inflationary and postponing the problem for another generation or two. How would present-day Americans feel if they were still paying out Studebaker or Rambler?

I'm waiting for the next new car jingle . . . "You've already made the down payment; now come get the rest of your car." Unfortunately, it may be no joke.

Early Stimulus Wears Off

Does anyone have a firm number on AIG policyowners and how much loss there is per policy? Perhaps some perspective would help us react to such gut-wrenching figures.

Obviously, there has been some unrealistic pricing. Again, free enterprise should be able to solve this problem -- not government.

Why the Detroit Bailout Should Include Bankruptcy

I don't believe the demise of GM or any other automaker would drive prospective buyers away from the product due to warranty concerns. Many of us who have owned vehicles more than 10 years old have already crossed the bridge of no corporate parts support; there is almost always a good third-party network (and lots of junkyards) to fill the gap.

Bankruptcy is not necessarily a dead end. We still have K-mart stores, for example. And we still have Chrysler after their miseries. Never mind Schwinn bicycles.

The government has no money trees. When corporate America goofs, corporate America follows free enterprise.

'Big Three' Badly in Need

Sales are down -- but remember, these are subsidized sales with generous cash-backs or low-interest financings. There's not much profit in them. However, for a number of years the econo, simple car has been virtually unavailable (a la Geo Metro or even the original VW Beetle); and in a severe recession, that's the kind of vehicle consumers can afford. Even an econo box like a Smart Fortwo has multiple computers, air bags, and styling options that simply make it more expensive. I fear the day when China produces what Americans really want, at an affordable price, and clean out the market. Does anyone really doubt that it will happen?