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Ahem, where would those privately owned dealerships be had the entire company gone bankrupt? It seems that you are complaining about something that would have been inevitable in any case.
GM consolidated brands and shuttered Pontiac, Hummer and other brands. Obviously, if you were a Pontiac dealer or Hummer dealer, you had to close
The CHEVY dealer up the street from my last house was forced to close, for absolutely no reason. It was a profitable dealership, as were many others that were forced out of business. The funny thing about those closings is that the dealers whose owners supported Obama during his 2008 campaign were magically spared, while those who supported McCain were deemed unworthy of continuing operations.
Ahem, where would those privately owned dealerships be had the entire company gone bankrupt? It seems that you are complaining about something that would have been inevitable in any case.
GM consolidated brands and shuttered Pontiac, Hummer and other brands. Obviously, if you were a Pontiac dealer or Hummer dealer, you had to close -- but that would have happened anyway had the conservatives got their way and allowed the entire GM company to close.
Well, obviously GM is now selling cars that people want to buy and making good profits.
Had the bailout not occurred, their demise would have triggered 3 million layoffs within a year, plunging the economy further into recession (that's a bad thing if you are patriotic; that's a good thing if you are a Republican partisan and only care about making President Obama look bad.)
Exactly.
The only dealership in my town that closed was the Saturn dealership and that is now being turned into a Dodge dealership that expects to hire quite a few people.
Right now, all of the major car dealers in town are hiring and selling cars like crazy. If Mr. Romney had had his way, they would all probably be shuttered now.
I've got two or three dealerships calling me regularly wanting to know if I want to trade in my 2008 Chrysler PT Cruiser as it still has less than 40,000 miles on it.
Thinking seriously of trading up to a Town & Country.
Sorry, OP, I wouldn't buy a Chevy even though I love the look of the Camaro (much prefer the Challenger, impractical as it is) and Chevy offers nothing else that I would seriously consider.
My son has that covered though - he's on his third Avalanche for no reason other than the dealer gives him a better deal each time he gets a new one.
Lost me in your logic. By that logic, if I support the Salvation Army I can't buy a suit in Brooks Brothers but have to buy one at the Salvation Army store.
I support the Girl Scouts but that doesn't morally stop me from buying Oreos.
Oh, I pay lots of taxes and don't complain.
When YOU support the use of OUR tax dollars for something which YOU support (like obama "saving" GM) you should support that endeavor.
The left is honoring Obama for " saving the auto industry".
If you are a lefty, shouldn't you be owning a Chevy?
No, not unless they want to. Why is it the people on the right always apply this standard to others and not to themselves?? Are opposers of the Health Care law going to pay the higher rates that they would be paying if not for the law? Are they going to refuse coverage for their children or for things that otherwise would not have been coveraged? Do wage earners who oppose unions take only the lower rate pay and the lower benefits that they'd be getting if not for the union?
Actually, by your own statement, GM and Chrysler should have been allowed to fail. If they cannot offer a vehicle that suits the needs of people buying cars, then why should they be propped up?
They shouldn't be propped up.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Darkatt
Your OWN statement says, if they cannot produce a car people want, then let them fail.
Yes, that's the Economics version of Darwin's Natural Selection. Survival of the Fittest, Only the Strong Survive, etc etc etc.
GM would not have failed. Other car companies would have purchased them. Chrysler, well, that's a different story in a different era in a different world. Chrysler took crap, shaped it like a car and painted it. No foreign investors would have been interested.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Darkatt
Why should our tax money be used to prop up a business that that cannot produce what consumers will purchase?
You're right we shouldn't. That would be like the government bailing out the 8-Track Tape and Cassette Tape industries.
Economically...
Mircea
Quote:
Originally Posted by gizmo980
No, I'll buy one when/if they drop prices to somewhat competitive (compared to economic non-electric cars) levels - and when they start adding more charging stations where I need them.
What if the prices don't drop? I would expect the price to drop some, but if you're waiting for them to drop to the price levels of standard combustion engine vehicles, I don't see that happening.
Quote:
Originally Posted by gizmo980
I live in a second-story apartment and work in a rural town, so how exactly would I charge the darned thing?
Actually, had the bailout not occurred, GM would have found investors or other ways to have made it out of the mess they were in. Kinda like Chrysler did YEARS ago. Our money was not necessary, all it did was make things easier for them. It did NOT however address the issue of the Union wages being out of line, medical benefits being out of line, and the huge amounts of money they are paying to their officers/management.
The idea of capitalism, is one that allows companies to survive or fail, on their own merits, without government intervention.
Again, if they aren't building a car that YOU would buy, why would it be important to bail them out. Let the people who WILL buy their cars do so.
Yeah, we can bow to capitalist ideology no matter how much pain it causes people or we can do what makes sense.
GM tried to find private investors and couldn't. That's well documented.
On June 5, 2009, GM announced that the Saturn brand would be sold to the Penske Automotive Group.[56] GM was to continue to build the Aura, Outlook and Vue for Penske for two years, however, as of September 30, 2009, the deal had fallen through. Penske had asked GM to extend the time it was to build Saturns until it could reach a deal with the Renault Group for vehicle replacements in 2012, but since that deal fell through Penske cancelled the planned sale. GM has said that the Saturn brand will be phased out by the end of the 2009 model year, and the brand was declared defunct on 31 October 2010.
Sale of Saab
On June 16, 2009, it was announced that the Swedish firm Koenigsegg Automotive AB and a group of Norwegian investors planned to acquire the Saab brand from General Motors. GM would have continued to supply architecture and powertrain technology for an unspecified amount of time.[57] On November 24, 2009 it was announced that the sale of Saab to the Koenigsegg Group had collapsed.[58]
"We're obviously very disappointed with the decision to pull out of the Saab purchase," said GM CEO Fritz Henderson in a statement. "Given the sudden change in direction, we will take the next several days to assess the situation and will advise on the next steps next week."[59]
On February 23, 2010 GM sold Saab to Spyker Cars, later renamed Swedish Automobile.
As it is, the bailout worked; GM made lots of money; it mitigated government expenses; and put people to work. All I read here is right-wing sour grapes that Obama didn't take a fall for this.
I'm not into the false left-right nonsense but I do own a very nice GM made 1975 Oldsmobile Ninety Eight. The big three used to make great vehicles. All vehicles made today are terrible tiny egg shaped econobox garbage.
I'm not into the false left-right nonsense but I do own a very nice GM made 1975 Oldsmobile Ninety Eight. The big three used to make great vehicles. All vehicles made today are terrible tiny egg shaped econobox garbage.
What specifically has the "left" said that's false?
The left is honoring Obama for " saving the auto industry".
If you are a lefty, shouldn't you be owning a Chevy?
Seriously???
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) you should support that endeavor.
