What's your view on whether or not the U.S. government should bail out the Big 3 automakers?

Sunday 23rd November, 04:04 AM JST

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Speed at 01:16 AM JST - 24th November

In the mid-early `90s I left the US and came to work in Japan. The fuel efficient cars, especially the kei-ons, really impressed me and was glad to see so many advances and effort being made to create environmentally friendly cars. Of course, the high prices for gas was/is a big factor in all this. I really felt that this would've been a great direction for the US to go at the time.

I returned to the US in `99 and found everyone and their grannys driving giant Ford F350 pick-up trucks, Excursions and huge SUVs everywhere. And I mean everywhere! The average fuel economy had actually declined. How disappointing it was to see how dramatically the US had digressed from attempting to make smaller fuel efficient cars in the four year period that I was gone.

The US auto industry is reaping what they've sowed. I knew for certain 10 years ago that this day was coming and I don't feel one ounce of sympathy for the Big 3. The US consumers were/are collaborators in all this. They've always had a choice and they chose big. That's too bad.
RakishGadfly at 02:20 AM JST - 24th November

Yes, some sympathy for those regular Joes (cliched and incorrect as that may be) that will lose their jobs, but why should their jobs be more protected than any others, and why weren't they doing something wiser with their money and skills when times were good? Unions were good at getting them raises, but not mush more.
herefornow at 08:13 AM JST - 24th November

Absolutely, but in the form of a streamlined bankruptcy with guaranteed financing. The Japanese government basically bears many of the costs for their auto companies that U.S. companies are forced to bear. That is why U.S. companies start with a $2000 cost disadvantage. Also, the Japanese goverenment has for many years manipulated the value of the yen to give the Japanese companies are further advantage. Sure, the U.S. companies have made mistakes, but, they have not had a level playing field in years. Give them that, and see what happens.
RakishGadfly at 09:14 AM JST - 24th November

hereforknow;

Please explain how a car made by American workers (non-unionized) in the US by a Japanese company starts off with a $2,000 advantage over a similar car made by a US automaker.
xricksonx at 10:17 AM JST - 24th November

No.
vcoca at 01:07 PM JST - 24th November

No way! Believe me when I say that I do feel for the workers of the industry and the industries that support them . The repetition of the same car under a different brand though is wasteful and really just stupid. The fact that Lincoln and Ford put out the exact vehicles under different names has always been a mystery to me. GM needs to take a hard look at getting rid of Oldsmobile where they only seem to be supported by China's wealthy. The writing really has been on the wall for awhile, and this could have been averted.
gyouza at 04:00 PM JST - 24th November
It will be interesting to see how this plays out.
1. Labour costs at GM, Chrysler, and Ford are about 30USD higher than similar plants in Tennesse, etc where Toyota and Nissan build cars. The higher cost is negotiated and protected by the unions who now have a choice - lower salary to become competitive or no job. The former will hurt deeply because people would have boughts houses, etc based on their income.
2. If the goverment helps, it will have every other industry following on right behind asking for bailouts. If the taxpayer has to support the auto builders, why not the house builders (having a much harder time right now)?
Someone mentioned this already, but the public has played a big part in this. For years the US auto market has centered around big cc engines that pay little respect to the finite resources on this earth. These same US auto makers build excellent cars in Europe, and more or less dominate the market through their brands there. The big diffrence is that when the oil price peaked, people in the US could NOT shift the big trucks and SUV's in the US - they couldn't sell them and no-one could afford to fill them with petrol! In Europe, most people had fuel efficient cars already AND many people have access to public transport as well.

Many people have woken up, but it is probably too late for the giant US automaker to survive. All is not lost though, either through bankrupcy or a takeover, many of the workers will be re-employed (albeit at lower salary). It will be a hard time for many, and thats were the new administration needs to focus, how to generate new jobs out of the mess the bosses have left behind.
Loki520 at 07:37 PM JST - 24th November

The UAW caused it... let the union bail them out.
bdiego at 05:23 AM JST - 25th November

The big 3 literally pay 12,000 people to do nothing. They come in to job banks and do crossword puzzles. This is what the UAW demanded, and they got it. The average worker gets paid $140,000+ including benefits and they make mediocre cars with abysmal mpg. They've lived these excesses for decades and now they promise to change. As long as the big 3 are hijacked by the corrupt UAW no deal. Taxpayers do not want to subsidize the mob.
Altria at 09:51 AM JST - 25th November

The Dukes of Moral Hazard ride again!
teaabe at 01:45 PM JST - 25th November

oh no, watch Japan bashing go through the roof again. they'll start sledge-hammering Toyotas and Hondas to pieces like they did in the 80's and early 90's. throw in some isolated murders of Japanese look-alike ethnic Asians, too.

there's nothing but contempt here for the trio. take the GM Volt for example. since Germany and Japan are so resource strapped, it's only natural that they excel at fuel economy. plus, they pay for their gas in U.S. dollars, not Yen or Marks.

contrast GM's brash and crass me-above-you bad-ass attitude with Toyota's patient, humble, consistent approach to economy cars. all of a sudden GM is bragging about being number one on fuel economy with the Volt. mr. number one.
pointofview at 02:15 PM JST - 25th November

If its a matter of saving 10s of thousands of jobs then I support it...However, wages and salaries should be recalculated. No more excessive spending and execs being treated like they are heroes. I can lay off people too if I was the CEO of a company but that doesnt really solve any problems or make me a hero because I saved some money this way. Cuts should occur across the board so the savings can avoid job losses and company closures. An intelligent CEO should be able to cut costs through other means besides layoffs. AND Cut the unions out. They are also killing the airline industry...Too many unreasonable demands. If the government was competent and could monitor large corporate operations... a union wouldnt be needed. It`s time for the people in this world to speak up and not get shafted by all the corruption that goes on these days by people in senior positions.
Weasel at 03:43 PM JST - 25th November

Yeah, as if any real government actually listens to the will of their constituents. The US Government doesn't seem to have too many qualms about financially supporting poorly managed banks, so why not support another poorly managed organization out with that the ungodly amount of debt their willing jump into head-first.
Loki520 at 05:26 PM JST - 25th November

POV... no complaints about the job bank and the workers who have been there for MONTHS, and in some cases YEARS, collecting paychecks?

Point being... it is NOT only the senior positions doing the shafting. There are a fair share of lazy-ass american's willing to remain on the dole. They "complain" about not working, but as long as they get paid, they don't do anything. Those that ARE working, aren't complaining about the 70 some $$$ per hour wage, when toyota, etc.. pay 45.

No.... the greed goes both ways. The union caused this, the workers took advantage of the union's strength, and management exploited all of this turn out a crap product and maximum profit.

Let 'em fail. Those jobs can become part of the gajillion jobs the messiah has promised to create.
Farmboy at 01:19 PM JST - 29th November

My view is irrelevant, I'm afraid. The US government will bail out the Big 3. The only question is whether the money will come from the amount set aside for another purpose, or whether it will have a different source.

I could support a temporary loan that would be repaid, provided there were strict controls over how the money was used, but in the case of GM, they have not listened to the lessons of the past about producing cars that get good mileage, and had very few options available when the oil prices rose.

In the middle of a recession, even though oil prices have retreated somewhat, that is exactly the kind of car consumers want, so GM's inventory is not easily saleable, in my opinion, unless they cut prices by a huge amount.

Ford, and possibly Chysler, is in a bit better shape, I think, and their ills are more easily addressed. Still, the government will bail out all three makers because they are looking at the effect of that many people, all the retirees living on a pension, and the people from all their suppliers, going on unemployment, and it doesn't look good. In addition, there would be a ripple effect on everyone's retirement plan of having all those companies and their supply companies going out of business.

It's going to happen, even after the government reads these comments on Japan Today.