New GM Poll: Most Americans Support an Auto Industry Bailout
Poll results released by General Motors today clearly indicate that the majority of Americans think the government should provide bailout loans to the auto industry and that without those loans the “Big 3″ (GM, Ford, and Chrysler) will go bankrupt.
In a random survey of 804 American adults conducted by Peter D. Hart Research Associates and commissioned by General Motors (PDF), there is broad support for bailing out the the American auto industry — and even broader support of President-elect Obama’s plans to make sure “the American automobile industry continues to be able to operate.”
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Some key findings:
- 55% of people surveyed said that the government should intervene and help the Auto Industry with loans. Only 30% said the government shouldn’t intervene, and 15% were unsure.
- Interestingly enough, when the question was “Do you agree with Obama’s plans to provide economic assistance to the auto industry?”, the number agreeing rose to 64%.
- 60% of Americans believe that without help, the auto industry will go bankrupt.
- 55% of Americans think that providing bailout money to the auto industry is “just as important” as providing it to the banks.
- Most people agree that the manufacturing base provided by the US auto industry is key to the US’s national security.
The survey also finds that the majority of Americans think that if the Big 3 were to go bankrupt, the US economy would likely fall into a depression.
Well, this is an amazingly sore topic with many of our readers, but I’m wondering what your reactions to this are? Are you one of the silent minority that feels we should just take our lumps and pony up to rescue the industry? If we do, do you think we should attach conditions on to that money? Should we force the auto industry to start making more plug-in, clean diesel or CNG vehicles?
Or do you think we should let them go bankrupt so that a new era of auto manufacturers can take over? Come on folks, if you’re an American it’s your money. So you’re vested in this decision whether you want to be or not.
Source: GMfactsandfiction.com
Image Credit: Photo Mojo’s Flickr Photostream under a Creative Commons License
I conducted surveys for 25 yrs before retiring, and did some work for the auto industry. In all honesty, this survey is a little too late. The results don’t matter. There will be no bailout while Bush is President and GM will not last until Obama takes over. They will have to file Chapter 11 and will not be able to get the financing they need to come out…they will not survive. Ford, Chrysler, the suppliers and the dealers will all go down as well. Investment banking has collapsed and now the US auto industry has started to collapse. Who is next? There are some cities, counties and states that are in trouble…
“Honestly, why there isn’t an American brand that is synonymous with fuel efficiency is beyond me. It seems like a company like Saturn could brand themselves like this, but something tells me that Saturn is owned by the big three.”
Actually, GM tried this in the ’90s with Geo. Even the name and the company symbol were chosen to foster the image of “Mother Earth”. The Geo Metro XFI (’90-’94) still holds the non-hybrid fuel efficiency record at 53-city/58-highway mpg. The Suzuki Swift, upon which the Metro was based, didn’t have the XFI option available.
In the same time frame Saturn was also a fuel efficient brand (remember when Saturn first started the only models in the line-up were the S-series cars that got 38-40 mpg depending on tranmission choice). No one cared back then. All they wanted was SUVs, trucks and SUV-trucks.
How to salvage Detroit’s Big Three,
It does not surprise me that the majority of the US population is in favor of bailing out the Big 3 automakers but that does not mean it is wise to do so. (http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20081114/AUTO01/811140430)
This industry has been sub par to the Japanese and German car makers for at least 25 years. They are unlikely to do better in the near future even with a massive bailout, new products and new government oversight. Although the proposed bailout amount of $ 25 Billion is much snaller than the $ 700 Billion allocated for TARP, to bail out the financial industry, it is in addition tom the $ 25 Billion of low interest loans already approved in October and , the most is “invested” and at risk, the more likely it is that additional amounts will be put at risk in the future.
There is the odd chance they will succeed, but overall chances are that they will fail in a few years and the jobs will be lost anyhow, while the new jobs which could have been created with this same money did never get a chance.
It is throwing good money after bad.
It would be better to get Honda, Toyota, Tesla (and interested others) around the table to discuss how they can best utilize the existing plant and equipment to build Honda, Toyota and Tesla cars in Detroit after retooling the production lines and retraining the workers, both to the standards of the companies who take these parts over.
In particular with respect to hybrids and plug-in hybrids Toyota is the leader in knowledge and production experience. The main reason they are not producing plug-in vehicles yet is the price (too high to be cost efficient for most average mileage users, especially at currently falling gas prices).
Even if GM gets its Volt launched in 2010, I will for reasons of historical quality buy a plug-in hybrid from Toyota or Honda who surely will market one as well around that time. And with me more the majority of Americans will.
So, even if Detroit’s 3 are successful in producing something which, on the face of it, US car buyers would like, they still won’t buy it, until Detroit’s 3 have proven over a period of years that they can also outperform Toyota and Honda in quality.
This now becomes increasingly unlikely.
FEDs, get around the table with GM, Ford, Chrysler, Honda and Toyota, spin off the foreign and military operations and financially induce Honda and Toyota to salvage and reuse whatever is left from Detroit’s car industry and try to rebuild it that way.
Vincent Dert
http://mortgagecrisisandpolitics.blogspot.com/
…and Yes, Saturn is owned by GM.
I was trying to think of an American company that was making cars today and coming out with new models. The Geo metro seems a part of history. If GM is making new ones, they are keeping it a secret (one reason to let them fall).
The last time I saw a Saturn commercial they were bragging about the inclusion of big SUVs in their line up. Way to muddy a brand and sink it to the bottom with GM and the other two.
Not bail out for big three. they been stupid and failed to double fuel economy. They should realized in 2005 that poor mpg cars are not going to sell. They also should invented a new kind of internal combustion engine. They should try combine cycles engine. but no they play it safe only promoting poplar technologies.
“This industry has been sub par to the Japanese and German car makers for at least 25 years.”
See this is part of the public perception that will probably be forever in error. Yes, Toyota, Honda and Subaru have better reliability, but the other Japanese car companies are about the same as American cars in reliability. The German cars have been below (or in the case of Mercedes, about the same as) the American cars in reliability for many years now. German cars may be sexy and sophisticated, but they suck when it comes to maintaining them and with the exception of the VW TDIs, they get relatively terrible fuel economy.
Chapter 11. Reorganize and sell stuff that we need at a good price. UAW has bankrupt them. I didn’t know they paid that much. I would have applied for a job.
Much of the problem is a result of the Congress regulations that have nothing to do with efficient production. for way too many years the congress has supported the unions by allowing one union to negotiate with all manufacturers and selectively strike one while moving union dues to support the strikers of the struck company.
This is how we ended up with outrageous health care contracts for the auto workers that was a major contributor in the increase of the cost of medical care. Everyone who was not a UAW-CIO auto worker lost out. It is unfortunate that the only way to correct the problems may well be bankruptcy wherein a judge can void much of the union contract and make these auto companies competitive with the non-Detroit auto companies building cars here in the USA.
The unions can save the companies, but the government should not.
I don’t really know what should be done, or not done.
But I wonder what is the correlation between “People who want to bail out the American automotive industry,” and “People who won’t or don’t actually buy cars from the Big Three?”
Anyone want to take that survey?