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Automotive News & Views Do You Favor A Government Loan To The Detroit 3?
3964 messages, Last post on Dec 30, 2009 at 2:57 PM
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Replying to: driver100 (Dec 15, 2008 8:48 am) I was thinking more of deducting it from your gross income. Either all in one year if you pay cash or the total of your payments and down payment for the duration of the loan. Just like businesses do with their vehicle purchases. It would be an allowed personal expense like your home mortgage interest. It would effectively cut your taxes for that amount by about 25%. It would also get people interested in spending on automobiles instead of hoarding cash.
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Replying to: tlong (Dec 15, 2008 1:06 pm) Last I heard sales are off about 50% from the 30% cut back last month for this very reason. Even if you could get the money to buy, why would you buy a car from a company that won't be around to honor the warranty. I always suspected the GM 100,000 mile/ 5 year warranty was an act of desperation - either we'll sell more cars and keep our heads above the water or we'll sink and we won't have to honor the warranty anyway. It was worth a try, but those cars weren't really made to last 100,000 mi/5 years so they'll get drowned in repairs in 5 years anyway. 
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Replying to: gagrice (Dec 15, 2008 1:34 pm) Gottya...yes, I think it is a great idea and well worth a try. Anything that moves metal is worth a try, especially if it doesn't come directly from taxes. |
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Replying to: tlong (Dec 15, 2008 1:06 pm) It would be interesting if GM and C go the bankruptcy route, maybe the government would back up their warranties? However, if that occured, Ford may find a reversal of fortunes because the Ford family doesn't want their control lost through a bankruptcy and even though some of those "other bankruptcy" savings may be passed on to Ford, they probably wouldn't get as many overall cost reductions as a formally restructured GM or C. Of course, there is no assurance GM or C would survive a bankruptcy long term either I guess. |
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Labor cost per hour, wages and benefits for hourly workers. Ford: $70.51 ($141,020 per year) GM: $73.26 ($146,520 per year) Chrysler: $75.86 ($151,720 per year) Toyota, Honda, Nissan (in U.S.): $48.00 ($96,000 per year) According to AAUP and IES, the average annual compensation for a college professor in 2006 was $92,973 (average salary nationally of $73,207 + 27% benefits). Bottom Line: The average UAW worker with a high school degree earns 57.6% more compensation than the average university professor with a Ph.D., and 52.6% more than the average worker at Toyota, Honda or Nissan. Many industry analysts say the Detroit Three, must be on par with Toyota and Honda to survive. This year's contract, they say, must be "transformational" in reducing pension and health care costs. What would "transformational" mean? One way to think about "transformational" would mean that UAW workers, most with a high school diploma, would have to accept compensation equal to that of the average university professor with a PhD. Then there's the "Job Bank" When a D3 (Detroit 3 carmaker) lays an employee off, that employee continues to receive all benefits - medical, retirement, etc., etc., PLUS an hourly wage of $31/hour. Here's a typical story.... Ken Pool is making good money. On weekdays, he shows up at 7 a.m. at Ford Motor Co.'s Michigan Truck Plant in Wayne, signs in, and then starts working -- on a crossword puzzle. Pool hates the monotony, but the pay is good: more than $31 an hour, plus benefits. "We just go in and play crossword puzzles, watch videos that someone brings in or read the newspaper," he says. "Otherwise, I just sit." Pool is one of more than 12,000 American autoworkers who, instead of installing windshields or bending sheet metal, spend their days counting the hours in a jobs bank set up by Detroit automakers as demanded by the United Auto Workers Union - UAW - as part of an extraordinary job security agreement. Now the D3 wants Joe Taxpayer to pick up this tab in a $25 Billion bailout package - soon to be increased to $45 Billion if Nancy Pelosi and Hillary Clinton have their way. The "Big 3" want this money - not to build better autos. No. They want it to pay the tab for Medical and Retirement benefits for RETIRED auto workers. Not ONE PENNY would be used to make them more competitive, or to improve the quality of their cars. We ALL have problems paying for our Medical Insurance - but the Democrat leaders in Congress now want us to pay the Medical Insurance premiums of folks who have RETIRED from Ford, GM and Chrysler. Not a good deal for us. How about Chapter 11 - and getting rid of these ridiculous union contracts? |
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Replying to: gagrice (Dec 15, 2008 2:29 pm) Interesting: Toyota North America doesn't want the D3 to go under because they don't want to lose their parts suppliers...many are the same. |
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Replying to: lemko (Dec 15, 2008 8:28 am) Man we are on opposite ends of the spectrum. I remember when I saw that vintage Impala introduced at the auto show, my friends and I all made fun of what an ugly car that was. Then my wife got an 01 Impala as a company car and I had to stare at that hideous thing for 2 years. Another GM car with a horrid interior. I also have fond memories of GMs infamous ISS and engine cradle issues. GM must have used the same intermediate steering shaft in almost all of their vehicles. My Suburban also has the ISS clunk. Very annoying. I was able to get it fixed in the Suburban, but my wife's Impala being a company car and under a fleet maintenance program, meant that a relube was all they would do. Very annoying sensation when turning the wheel and getting a binding clunk. Another car I'd pass over even if it was free.
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Replying to: euphonium (Dec 13, 2008 9:56 pm) And I thought only workers in 3rd world government run factories did that
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