US Automaker Bailout
18 November 2008So, let me get this straight….
The “Big 3″ automakers — GM, Ford, and Chrysler — are having problems. And they want the US Government to bail them out.
Perhaps the root of the problem is that the Big 3 have been making cars that no one wants for a variety of reasons — poor reliability, poor gas mileage, poor safety ratings, uglier than sin. So we should bail them out so that they can continue to make the same crappy, gas-guzzling, breaking down, road-hog, eyesores as they did before? I imagine that they’ll continue to export jobs to Mexico and Canada, too.
They’ll probably bring the Hummer back. Good move.
The US Government has already approved a $25,000,000,000.00 (stop counting zeroes, that’s $25 BILLION) package to help them retool to make more fuel-efficient cars, which they evidently haven’t used, haven’t gotten, or haven’t used wisely.
I try to buy American, but when I find out that a lot of “foreign” cars like Hondas and Toyotas are actually more American made than a lot of “American” cars, I don’t see the point. I understand that the engine and power-train for my Honda Element were made in Japan, but the car was built here by American workers and has a 60% “made in America” content. Honda Accord: 60%; Toyota Corolla: 50%; Honda Pilot: 70%; Honda Civic: 70%.
Besides, my Honda runs and runs. My mechanic hates it, which I consider a good sign. (It’s not that he hates working on it or anything like that — I don’t bring it in to him enough because I don’t need to.) I recently traded-in my 1998 Honda CR-V with 168,000 miles on it because I felt like it, not because I needed to; I know it’ll run another 100,000 miles easy and hope that someone enjoys the great car they bought.
Best initial quality? Best Subcompact: Honda Fit. Best Compact: Honda Civic. Best Compact Sport: Mazda MX-5. Sensing a trend? Take what you want from this, but I was recently looking at a list of cars made by UAW workers. Only one of them is on the “most reliable” list. Hmm.
So what reason do we have for bailing out the US car manufacturers again?
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