Beam me up Scotty

Ford's Plan to Undercut GM's Volt

You can make profit by fewer sales at higher margin or greater sales at low margin. Looks like the US companies have take the former route. They will become niche players, unfortunately, and that doesn't play well for a nation which continues to lose its manufacturing base; pretty soon the only thing we'll be manufacturing is canned soup.

As a taxpayer helping to finance these efforts, I don't really care except that, either way, they should pay back the taxpayer loans and ask for no more hand-outs(even if they ask for more, such funding should be withheld). For myself, I like lower priced items and will continue to buy used cars that aren't as efficient but that get me from A to B. I'm probably like a lot of other 'Joe Average' taxpaying US citizens.

Maybe some basic marketing research 101 and surveying of average citizens should be done by US carmakers. I'd be more interested in the Indian Tata (or equal) but don't think it's in the cards. We probably need a Nationalized Motor Inc. run by the govt to make this kind of vehicle but that would require some talent in the govt sector to make it happen and that, we all know, will never happen. A real Catch 22.....

Detroit's Big Three and the Democrats' Economic Illiteracy

Chapter 11 is best. The US auto makers can reorganize and possibly come back as viable market players, at least domestically. The bailouts are frauds. Banking, soon after Glass-Steagle was repealed, became and remains a 'junk' industry. While I have personally paid my share into social security (SS), I don't want to pay any of my tax bucks for auto makers who will use the money for general funds and thus will have me paying into SS AND another retirement fund which does not benefit me whatsoever. Let's use the Govt pension insurance agency until it runs dry and refund that as appropriate.