How would a Ford/GM/Chrysler Failure Affect you in New Hampshire? (2009, loans)

[rmcewan]

How would you - as a resident or potential resident of NH - be affected if one or more of the big-3 US Auto firms went under? What dependency do you think NH has on Detroit? Should the taxpayer bail them out?

[GregW]

Given the current conditions I might be able to afford a Chevy pick up truck at the going out of business sale.

[nicolem]

No bailout whatsoever. If they cannot make it-then they sink. Are we supposed to bail everyone out because they "threaten" the US public with talk of mass layoffs and destruction? In a total fantasy-if they dissolved the union and were not forced to pay outrageous salaries and benefits due to the strong-arming unions- I would almost be for the bailout. I still would probably be against it but I would love to see the greedy UAW get what was coming to them. They are responsible for a HUGE part of this problem.

These American auto companies have been in trouble for years because of union and management and do not deserve a bailout. They are the reason for their problems and NO ONE ELSE is to blame. Toyota is building more factories here, makes a superior product and are not run by unions. We just purchased another Toyota about two weeks ago. It was made in the USA( all of our Toyotas have been). We purchased a 2009 Corolla with the 0% financing deal. The car we traded in-a 2001 Corolla had well over 150,000 miles on it and the only "major" work-if you can even call it that-was new brakes(around 85,000) and tires. It still ran great and got great gas mileage. The new one gets even better gas mileage-which is great because my husband commutes.

[BF66389]

Two things killing these companies:
1) The pensions/health plans covering their retired workers (just like SS & Medicare)
2) Building products no-one wants (or at least they don't know they want)

GM for example has some of the worst marketing I've ever seen. Did YOU know that the Corvette gets 26mpg on the highway AND has 436hp AND will out-handle a car twice its cost AND will really protect you in the event of an accident? Neither does most of the US. No, instead GM focuses on some stupid detail "look at those sexy tail-lights" rather than selling how genius the ENTIRE package is.

Also- what was with the bazillion different GM platforms that were front-wheel-drive with the 3.8L engine up until maybe a year or two ago...sigh.

I feel very bad for the factory employees of these companies, they are getting screwed here...but I am getting sick of bailing out corporations with tax dollars; it only encourages more bad decisions.

If I didn't have to worry about responsibility we could go spend our 6-month emergency fund...but WE'RE RESPONSIBLE...so we don't. It's not that hard for corporate America and other homeowners to do the same math. It's one thing if the system failed (ie- a mass selloff marked by panic, not by actual financial/economic principles)...but that's not the issue with most of these.

[BF66389]

I feel the need to add to most post above:

There ARE companies that should receive help.

Several companies DID make responsible decisions however because of mass-selloffs in their entire sector their investors (unwisely) sold off as well despite their "ok" financials. These companies do deserve a bailout- if only on the order of low interest loans. They did the right thing and once the selloff storm passes- their stock will be just fine as investors come back to their analytical vs. emotional senses. For the sake of our markets- we SHOULD help those who did the right thing and will be able to repay the help received once things pass by.

[BF66389]

Furthermore (sorry)...

If the Jeep brand dies...I'm going to cry. Yes- cry. I love my Jeep, I love my Dad's newer Jeep, and I love my Mom's newest Jeep; they need to make some changes- but the Jeep "3 model" lineup is still just fine (though they have gotten, sort-of, away from it with a few new ones- but they are easily removed).

[OCCASparky]

Originally Posted by rmcewan

How would you - as a resident or potential resident of NH - be affected if one or more of the big-3 US Auto firms went under? What dependency do you think NH has on Detroit? Should the taxpayer bail them out?

Bourneval would be out of business. Can't say I'd cry many tears over that.

[NH2NCMom]

Originally Posted by OCCASparky

Bourneval would be out of business. Can't say I'd cry many tears over that.

Amen - that is one business that should have been shut down years and years ago - I mean one of the few businesses actually BLACK FLAGGED on Pease when it was still an active AF base.

[mrdude]

I guess if they did go out of business and the government didn't take over, the employees would have to find jobs at one of the Toyota, Hyundai, Mercedes-Benz, Subaru, etc. factories that are here in America.

BTW, my vote is against the government bailing them out. We're already in a massive debt, so buying out more companies is essentially just transferring the ownership to the foreign lenders giving our government its money.

[motoracer51]

If we didn't have a say in the negotiation of their fat union contracts, why should we get involved now?

Let them fail, and let it be a example of the utter failure of the Unions and how it contributed to the collapse of American automobile companies.

We've done fine without Packard, Dolorean, Studebaker, Pierce-Arrow, and Peerless.

ETA: More than likely, we'll see them claim bankruptcy, and hopefully they can kick the unions to the curb.

I just read today that the US Post Office is about $6bil in debt. What do they have in common? Unions.