Yes, but what about all those people who work for them.. they will be jobless, and dependent on the charity of others, lose their homes, be more of a drain on the govt etc etc. The cats at the top of the companies need to stop pocketing the bonuses, reduce their pay.. after all, they are meant to be leading the company to profictability and are being rewarded for not providing the right kind of leaderhip, being irresponsible and produceing gas guzzling cars, and making the little people,in the companies suffer the most.

Same goes for the financial industry I say!

That said, I think I'll be using all my savings to buy sheep, cattle and farmland, so at least we can eat when we end up in the next great depression!

It is not a bailout, it is a loan.

It seems odd lending them $25bn, when you can buy GM for $1bn.

If it goes through they will be back next year for more.

I think the parts issue is a bit of a red herring really - I could still get any part for my 1968 Triumph TR250 or my 1972 MGB GT, including body panels etc.

Most of the parts are made by other companies who supply to the manufacturer who is more of an assembly company. If garages need parts someone will continue to supply them.

If there's warranty work, the company, let's say Ford, pays the dealer to carry it out. If the company aint there...

Chapter 11 is the only option really, no good will come from throwing money at the Big Three.

In the WSJ recently they had a comparison - GM vs. Honda. IIRC GM has 10 brands, vs. Honda's 2, GM has 7500 garages vs. Honda's 1500, yet Honda beats GM hands down. Same with Toyota.

It is laughable how these "Global Corporations" are so focused on the US.

Ford and GM could become competitive almost overnight by bringing in the smaller more fuel efficient models that sell so well in Europe.
GM made a start by bringing in the European built Astra but of course buggered it up by hiding it away with a Saturn badge on it. Ford are apparently thinking about bringing in the Fiesta, but it is still almost a year away.

There are fields full of Excursions, Expeditions, Tahoes and Suburbans rotting in fields because these dummies are too short sighted to realise that people wont buy them when gas is $4 a gallon.... now gas is $2 a gallon they still wont buy them because we all know that this will not last.

Wake up and make the big stuff factory order only.... build the smaller stuff for dealer stock. Then if you really want a giant SUV you have to wait 6 weeks for it... not be suckered in by a dealer offering you a big discount on 4 tons of junk.

10 years ago, I worked for a Land Rover dealer in the UK. We never ordered gas powered Discoverys or Range Rovers for stock. This is because we knew we would have them forever... factory order only and folk were happy to wait. Not really rocket science.

In conclusion..... bail them out but with really strict guidelines about how the money should be used and for heavens sake, somebody bring in a small diesel. The government should do their bit by bringing diesel prices in line with gas. That would push more people to diesel cars and help the long suffering truckers who are being royally screwed by big oil every day.

Steve

Bush/Paulsen logic: help the banks out by "buying" shares in banks (read: hand over billions in exchange for pieces of paper that will be worthless if the bank goes tits up). When there are many jobs on the line, and people about to become homeless? No, no, the banks need to be bailed out, but the auto companies and individual homeowners have made Mistakes for which they much pay.

If the banks aren't bailed out, credit will continue to be unobtainable for many businesses and individuals, and one heck of a lot more people will be unemployed than work for the automakers. I hate the fact that financial institutions that have been so reckless are getting bailed out, but the reality is that banks really are "different" than even large employers in the impact they have on the overall economy.

As to homeowners, those living in foreclosed houses very rarely become homeless. They rent. Just like the multitude of people who either have chosen not to buy in the bubble or who got "priced out" by it.

Chapter 11 reorganization is the best chance for their being there long-term.

For the record, G1antaxe, I'm favor of a loan to the auto industry. I'll hold my nose and support it, because I'm a pragmatist and realize what the consequences would be if 100,000s of people are laid off, and are unable to contribute to the economy. All the suppliers will go to the wall etc.

I had a Ford Fiesta here in the US 28 years ago.

Not just BL. I remember when the UK Government bailed out Chrysler. That was money down the drain too. I read that the German Government are reluctantly considering a GM bailout; I really don't understand that one. True, many thousands of Germans would lose there jobs if Opel (GM) failed ... but, wouldn't that help VW, Skoda, and other European based and European owned car companies, with which GM now directly competes? Surely, in a situation where there are too many companies competing for a finite and shrinking number of sales, isn't it good for the industry in general if a couple of companies fail?

Have the German Government give VW the cash to buy GM/Ford/Chrysler; no one could argue, and I'd laugh my arse off.

as the big three decimated Flint MI, Detroit MI, and Toledo OH to move to factories in Mexico and Canada, and shipped half of their supply chain to China.

I would be interested to know when they're going before the governments of Canada, China and Mexico for their part of the bailout/loan/whatever

The government of Ontario is pushing Canada to match any US bailout of GM.