Cars Americans Don’t Want?

There is this false premise going around, much like the “Global Warming” hoax, that GM, Ford, and Chrysler were making cars that Americans didn’t want. Mostly the innuendo revolves around large SUV type vehicles. Nothing could be further from truth or reality.

What Americans really want is a consistent and affordable price for gasoline. This can only happen with a comprehensive energy policy which is not in the cards with this administration. They are so beholden to environmental crazies that to do what must be done, increase domestic drilling, increase domestic nuclear, increase domestic coal, and yes, increase renewable like wind and solar power, we will never get what Americans truly want.

It is not the cars it is the price of fuel. Just look around this weekend and take notice of the people driving pickup trucks pulling campers, boats, and off road ATV’s and motorcycles, SUV’s towing, campers, , boats, and off road ATV’s, and large vehicles full of Americans living free and enjoying life. When gas is at $3 or less Americans CHOOSE to drive larger vehicles that fit their life style. When gas starts inching toward $4 and $5 a gallon Americans consider smaller cars as an alternative.

Americans want small cars for two main reasons; gas prices and as a commuting car. Some buy them to feel good but that is a minority. Americans choose their vehicles to fit the life they live, and they choose BIG. The fear is that with our tax dollars our president will steal our freedom to choose a car we want by building one he thinks we need.

Is that freedom? Is that America? It will be…

GM is Doomed…

In the deal about to be initiated 72% of GM will be government owned (that’s our money by the way). I like most Americans will never buy another GM car in our lives. The cars will be over priced, too small, and unable to compete without the force and heavy hand of the government. How do I know this? It is what government does best; ruins everything it touches; that’s a guarantee they will be able to keep…

Closing Car Dealerships?

I do not claim to be an expert in the car industry but I have to ask how closing the places you sell your cars is good for business? My understanding is that dealerships are franchises that agree to carry the cars of the manufacturer whose logo they put on their buildings.

Dealerships have to meet criteria set by the car company by proving their ability to finance the purchase of inventories large enough to fulfill the local market needs for the cars they carry. They must be exclusive buildings for each brand. They must carry original parts with certified mechanics. They must be able to sell cars ethically.

What the car company gets from the dealer in return is the integrity of their brand and they don’t have to make the large investment it would take to have so many locations to manage around the country. They get the expertise of local business people that are closely connected to the community. They get a motivated workforce that is determined to sell cars for survival. They get data from the dealers on how to improve their products. It sounds like the car companies get the better deal in this relationship. So what benefit does Chrysler or GM or Ford get out of closing dealerships? Savings on some marketing costs? Accounting staff reductions to keep track of dealers? Someone help me out here.

The costs are mostly incurred by the dealers. They are highly motivated to sell their cars and take all of the risks in maintaining a healthy business. In a tough economy dealers adjust their cost structure based on demand to maintain profitability. How is that working for the big 3 car companies?

Reducing dealers is something that is best left to the free market not government bureaucrats acting like they know anything about the car business. I think the car companies need to adjust their union contracts, find new management that has the guts to go through bankruptcy to become healthy again, and throw the government bums out!

If not we will soon be getting the cars no one REALLY wants to buy; the “smart” car! Puke…

The Obama Car…

Now that the president is making the decisions for our car companies I expect he will be designing and selling a new auto – “The Obama Car”. It will get 1000 miles to the gallon; it will seat 8 comfortably, will have the ability to tow a camping trailer up to 5500 lbs, and comes in an assortment of different colors.

The safety standard is beyond anything ever accomplished before; it will be made of titanium and as long as you use the mandatory seat belt package you will never have to worry about having an injury from an accident again. The tires will not have to be replaced for the life of the car. Oil changes are a thing of the past and with 1000 mpg you may never see a gas station again.

It is also well equipped with an animal sensor as to alert you to any animal within 50 yds of the vehicle. Never again will there be a dead deer or squirrel on the road and no more windshield replacements due to a deer on your hood. As a matter of fact the glass is indestructible and will never need replacement. The driver’s cabin is also cell repellant so never again do we need to worry about distracted drivers talking on their cell phones or mosquitoes. This along with the latest in GPS - the government will always know where you are and what you are doing in your new Obama Car.

The GPS includes a listening and monitoring device that enables government officials to determine if you are a danger to the others on the road (automatically dispatches a “government detention and apprehension volunteer” if any of the following radio hosts are detected on the Obama radio; Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity, Glen Beck, Mark Levin, Laura Ingraham, Hugh Hewitt, Bill O’Reilly, or a list of others that are located under the driver side visor of your new Obama Car) who will escort you to the nearest government detention facility. It will also dispense a traffic ticket immediately into the Obama Car's designated ticket holder that replaces the traditional glove box every time you go over the speed limit, fail to come to a complete stop, fail to signal a lane change, drink coffee, eat fast food, and forget to feed the meter at your favorite city boutique. It comes with an optional fast food avoidance device which locks the windows so you can’t roll down the window at your favorite fast food eatery. It is included automatically for all Americans that participate in the new “Voluntary Obama Government Healthcare Insurance Program” to be rolled out next fall at the motor vehicles near you. More details when Obama takes over the Healthcare and Insurance Industries.

When your kids turn 16 they will be given one of these Obama cars as a “gift”. The government will have auto pay from their pay check or if they don’t have a job, the payment can be automatically deducted from either parent, guardian, one of their two moms or two dads or any other government recognized family arrangement (details about this program can be found on the mandatory childcare and public education Czar's website www.indoctrinatingforthefuture.edu.org.gov), and direct deposited into your government investment account. All Americans will be required to set up a direct deposit into their government investment account in order to purchase the Obama Car.

So you see the government in the car business may not be such a bad idea after all. Think of how easy and safe you can be. What does this car cost you ask? Just your freedom; a small price to pay for all of this safety and convenience! I am sure everyone will want one once they start rolling off the assembly line…

We will still need cars!

I am tired of listening to the doom and gloom of the car companies. The latest is we will go into a depression if GM fails. A little news for GM; no we won’t, we will still buy cars. The company may not be called GM, but someone will buy the former assets, hire workers for a market wage, and start producing the cars we need.

The airline industry has been doing this dance for the past 30 years. They file chapter 11, reorganize, consolidate, merge, whatever, and come out of bankruptsy more efficient. It will actually work better in the car industry because there are less regulatory hurdles to jump over. That is unless they get our money as a bailout.

I have to ask; who have we become? We look like a bunch of whining beggars, typical of a third world country. This is embarrassing. This is not the American ingenuity I grew up being proud of. Who are these people running our car companies?

Our future looks dim with this group of people running our big companies and government. Where are the leaders!!!!

Unions are the Government in disguise…

The car industry in America is failing because they are treating their employees like government employees. They are being crushed by contracts that can no longer be sustained, and remain competitive.

All you have to do is look at the pay scale for auto workers and questions arise. The average wage is more than $70 an hour. The real problem is that for every one active worker, GM has 5 retirees they are paying very lucrative benefits to as well. Granted these workers earned them but it is not the tax payer’s responsibility to rescue a failed ponsie scheme. We already have one failed ponsie scheme to support; Social Security. We need them to file chapter 11 and restructure the union contracts.

Union bosses’ average pay for the top 50 officers is $186,000. More than 1000 officers and staff make more than $100,000. I don’t begrudge them their pay; I just don’t want to pay it. If their company can’t afford it, then they can stop paying. Let the two parties work it out. Failure is the only option for these two groups to come to the table.

Let’s all agree - starting today that we need less government in our lives and industry, not more. Let’s get back to good old American ingenuity and stop asking a completely incompetent bunch of politicians to save any industry. They can’t fix anything. Just look at Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, EPA, DOE, FCC, etc. They are just a few of the examples of government incompetency…