The Betsy

Chrysler: Looking for a Miracle to Survive

All of this is true.


On Apr 16 12:26 PM twilsondodge wrote:

> For those of you that blame Chrysler you need to learn a little about
> history. Chrysler was a very profitable company when they were purchased
> by Daimler and Daimler sucked them dry and tried to run them like
> they did Mercedes and they destroyed them. The purchase by Daimler
> was the worste thing that ever happened to Chrysler. Well maybe not
> the worste The Dog's that guard the gates of Hell have'nt done much
> better. The perfect storm that has consumed the American auto manufacturer
> is also taking a toll on Toyota and Honda as well so those of you
> that are downing the big three open your eyes Toyota and Honda are
> just as in just as bad of shape as the big three. Fortunately for
> them they are in a better position to weather this storm. If the
> government forces the big three to build smaller fuel efficient hybrids
> that 1 in 10000 people will buy it will do nothing to improve there
> positions. If fuel efficient Hybrids were the answer then Honda and
> Toyota would be up instead of thier business being down 40 % just
> like Chryslers was last month

GM Gets Some Good News, Chrysler - Not So Much

Like father like son. You already told us this story. That's OK. I like hearing it. However it will come about, we will become our parents' "greatest generation" again. We will do whatever it takes. "No pain, no gain." -- Is this really true? I just sure hope it doesn't hurt too much. We've all gotten so soft, fat and comfortable. There's still time to give up foreign goods for Lent.


On Mar 22 10:11 AM The Mad Hedge Fund Trader wrote:

> Too bad they are 30 years too late. I’ll tell you what GM’s problem
> is. My dad was a religious lifetime GM customer, buying a new Oldsmobile
> every five years. Once he even flew to Detroit for a factory tour
> and drove his new prize home. Thirty years ago I told him he was
> doing GM no favors by buying their cars, and the only way to force
> them to improve a deteriorating product was to buy better made German
> and Japanese vehicles. This was right after the State of California
> had forced auto makers to install seatbelts on new cars. Airbags
> and ABS brake systems were still years away. His response, “I didn’t
> fight the Japs for four years so I could buy their cars.” (He was
> a Marine). GM’s problem is that my Dad passed away seven years ago.
> Of the original 17 million WWII veterans, 1,500 a day are dying,
> and there are only 1.5 million left. All of them loved Detroit because
> it built great Jeeps, Sherman tanks, and half tracks. Their kids
> prefer German, Japanese, Italian, Korean, and soon, Chinese, and
> Indian vehicles. It is no coincidence that GM’s problems really accelerated
> with the passing of the “greatest generation.”
>

Auto Manufacturing: What Does 'Buy American' Even Mean?

Just thoughts.
1. Do any of these problems have to do with "global warming?" I'd love to know if while we go into a global depression, our environmental pollution improves. If not, there is something important to learn about emissions and politics.

2. Oil men shut down Detroit.

3. Is all of this just a dramatic money-making segue to the next technologies? Do they already exist? Just unloading the old obsolete stuff to make money on it? There are enough cars on this planet to last us til the next new and improved. Just make them affordable for all of the future economically impoverished. Or will the lower class be riding the bus?

Who Might Benefit From Detroit's Failings

Are people so hard headed and myopic that they would rather be "right" and punish the US automakers -- now -- for their errors? Would they really rather see the economic implosion that will follow the collapse of the American auto companies? Think you're standing on high enough ground that it won't effect you??

It is ironic and sickening that our corrupt Washington politicians get to stand in judgement of the Big Three. How quickly they transform themselves into this charade of choirboys, correcting and scolding Detroit's CEOs from behind their slimey political pulpit. It was never financially profitable, prestigious, in vogue or self-advancing for politicians to pay attention to American automotive engineering -- especially when it is housed in old, Black blue-collar towns. Is Washington hoping we have forgotten their own lavish overspending as well as their moral and ethical crimes? What's that ironic twist about the US auto factories building tanks for the Germans during WWII? I would think the Bush family would be greatful . . . .

I'd love to hear a Dennis Kozlowski (Tyco grand larceny) recession reaction interview now. It might throw some light on this hypocracy.

Give the US auto makers financial aid NOW. It will buy the world's stock markets some time to try to escape the same collapse. We are all sitting on the same time bomb.