MY LTTE on the bailout for the Big 3

[jaksavage]

Why bail out the big three?

We have been the objects of decades of advertising, legislation and even wars all unified in the mission of making us and keeping us a car and truck centered society. GM Chrysler and Ford have shaped our buying habits to suit their balance sheets.

The early 70s had introduced the tailpipe emission standards which forced the Big 3 to reduce the compression and install catalytic convertors. The result were uninspiring performance and band aid style clean technology. The mid 70s also saw the first oil price spike, which drove more customers into the arms of Asian and European manufacturers, who’s offering where higher quality, zippier and thriftier than any of the domestic products.
The late 70’s brought offerings from the big three such as the Chevette, Pinto, Capri and Omni/Horizon, inferior to their competion, the Civic, Rabbit, Corolla and the 510, in nearly every category.
By the 1980’s American cars were shrinking and Imports were growing in size as consumers drove the market, dragging the Big 3 with them. A stable fuel price and an industry friendly President allowed the Big 3 to sell mid sized cars with some of the innovation from the imports. California added its influence by demanding electric cars in the future and higher economy standards then the federal regulation. This stimulated GM to develop and fleet test an all electric vehicle. Unfortunately this program was halted and all the program cars shredded, after Californias stricter standards dropped the electric car requirement.
In the decade of the 90s having slowed the erosion of their market share, by mimicking the Asian technology, the Big 3 decided to focus on selling sports and power to a middle upper class who had found the outdoors and decided to vacation in it. This marriage of love for nature utilizing all matter of mechanized consumptive apparatus was, ironically, terrible for the earth and great for the domestic automakers.
Raging into the new Millennium we feared technological collapse, and poured millions into being prepared, to defend their lifestyle! fizzle
But a real tragedy in the form of terrorists attacking NYC, led our president to face the nation with a message of, “keep shopping”, and we complied.
This interest in being outdoorsy or outdoors capable then became a national obsession. Our nation caught a fever of extravagance, believing that the four wheel drive, leather seating for 7, DVD entertainment systems, GPS navigation and blistering acceleration where necessary elements of our daily commute. Safety and prestige were found in scale, mass and bling.$25,000 dollar tax credits were available for vehicles over 6000 lbs, to anyone with a simple business charter. Financing offers down to 0% APR and leases for people with an income but little savings. We became a Tough,Rock,Ram nation because the BIG 3 made it that way with advertising and lobbying. The campaign was so effective that Toyota and Nissan built full size road wagons, the Tundra and the Titan.

So sure were they all that oil would always be cheap and available…
It is akin to the Tobacco industry denial of cancer risk…
GM, Chrysler and Ford are all suffering from self inflicted wounds.

Why bail out the Big 3?

They failed to adapt to external forces.
They actively deny environmental hazards.
They actively woo us against our best interests.
They fail to lead us in a sustainable direction.
They obstruct clean tailpipe standards.
They have a flawed business model.

Let them be reorganized, restructured and down sized as well as properly regulated.

[codjh9]

1. Another one on here I don't have a definition of: LTTE

[jaksavage]

2. Letter to the editor nt

[abumbyanyothername]

3. letter to the editor. nt

[Kolesar]

4. The wiring on my 1981 Datsun was inferior to the wiring on my 1981 Ford

The Datsun also rusted horribly.

[abumbyanyothername]

6. 1981 Datsuns . . . my first new car

1981 was the year I was supposed to go to law school but didn't quite get there. Error rectified in 1982.

To console myself, I bought my first new vehicle -- a 1981 Datsun 210 wagon. I liked the car but it was far from free of problems. First, my wife (soon to be ex-wife) parks it on a hill during winter one night while I was still on shift at the firehouse, an ice storm ensues and a neighbor crashes into it in the morning. Then, I notice I am getting like 70 miles to the gallon, but have hardly enough power to get up Iowa's rolling hills. Plugged fuel filter replaced. Then, at around 50K miles, the clutch goes out on my girlfriend while I am in Chicago, interviewing for a job that worked out horribly.

Finally, my (ex)wife is awarded the car in the divorce settlement.

[codjh9]

5. Thanks for the LTTE definition, and yes, absolutely, I think the Big 3 - and the public, by buying

all those big guzzlers - brought this on themselves. And as you point out, and someone else did in a related post, sure, Toyota and Nissan now make big-ass 5.7-liter trucks too, but I think it's all because of what the Big 3 did. And Chrysler is probably the worst. Not even a token hybrid, nothing but pandering to their base - sound familiar? :^) - with POWER, HEMIs, dumb-ass macho-y ads, etc etc etc etc. GM is a close second, and Ford is a better-but-not-by-much 3rd (I only say that because I think the Escape Hybrid is the best American hybrid, and cars like the Fusion and Escort are ... possibly? ... better than GM's small cars, although their reliability has improved as well).

[jaksavage]

7. Modern cars are great!

We build excellent vehicles domestically today.
The problem is the car companies aren't satisfied with slow growth.