For sale: My faith in the US Automotive industry

[RapidTransit]

I can't believe GM is considering buying Chrysler. This is like an abusive alcoholic marrying a bipolar junkie. In the end its the kids that get hurt (i.e. employees, supplier, dealers, etc). tho, I bet the wedding reception will be one hell of a party with lots of golden parachutes.

[spedly]

x2.

I'll throw in my faith in the country as a whole. Theres no more strong US. Everyones worried about getting their feelings hurt. All I know is I'm stocking up on ammo for when S*** hits the fan.

I typed out a longer resonce but it sounded to political so I had to cut it down.

[AIR_RAM]

BUMP... help push some of the TRASH down the page.

SPEED SAFE, AIR RAM

[RamBo]

I hate to say it, but we did it to ourselves. The market sucks all over for sure, but the U.S.-headquartered auto industry really screwed the pooch with respect to reading the market and staying nimble. Now they want the taxpayer to make it good... now that GM has said its so far gone its all it can do to try and survive through the year in hopes of a bailout before it goes dead broke.

And even if we dobail them out, it may not work. They may be too far gone already. Scary times.

[BigJ]

IMHO it goes a little deeper than that. I'm not anti union; I'm not educated enough to have an opinion. But there's no denying the numbers. Give this a read: http://www.dodgeglobe.com/opinions/x466651896/Breakdown-of-the-auto-industry

Edit: Thats a pretty political rant, but its based on numbers that were (I believe) released today regarding the cost per vehicle of domestics vs foreign. Can't for the life of me find those actual numbers, but from what I remember hearing this morning, we're talking $1400 in heathcare costs per vehicle to cover retired auto workers. $1400 per vehicle in costs for those not working any longer! Thats mindblowing when you think about it. Those numbers also talked about having 80ish different parts to do the same thing (rearview mirror bracket in this example if I remember right) across the product line, vs Toyota's two designs, and other such. Crazy stuff.

[formerice]

GM's not buying anything. Hopefully things will turn around and people will start buying cars again. Sad thing, Chrysler will always be the underdog. I love their designs, but I like old Studebakers too. The 09 Ram is better than anything out there, Challenger, Charger and 300C are outstanding cars. The minivans are very good and reasonably priced. Sadly Americans believe the Consumer Reports claptrap that all Mopars are junk. I drove Toyotas since 1974, I was sure all American cars were crap, till I drove my 05 Magnum RT in Jan 05. Then I drove my pos Toyota Tacoma to the Dodge dealer and have been a happy camper eversince!