Chrysler Seeks $2 Billion in New U.S. Government Aid, Plans 3,000 Job Cuts

[Purveyor]

Source: Bloomberg

Feb. 17 (Bloomberg) -- General Motors Corp. and Chrysler LLC, already relying on government aid to survive, take their case to the U.S. Treasury today that they can undo past mistakes and justify more U.S. aid to return to profit.

GM, with a pledge for $13.4 billion in loans, may seek support beyond an $18 billion request made Dec. 2 because of worsening economic conditions, people familiar with the automaker’s plan said. Chrysler has said it needs at least $3 billion in addition to $4 billion it received last month.

“Have they made mistakes? You bet they have,” former President Bill Clinton said yesterday at an environmental- building conference in Burbank, California. “Has the union made mistakes? Of course. But also the world changed, and frankly the political system kept ratifying the status quo for them. And I’m not pointing fingers. I was a part, we all have been.”

A final plan due March 31 will determine whether government support for the U.S. industry continues or if President Barack Obama’s administration may need to force the companies into bankruptcy to complete the restructuring.

Read more: http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601103&sid=ayLjuqQwxJwI&refer=us

[LakeSamish706]

1. I'm at the point where I say let these companies go bankrupt.... Instead of pumping...

good tax payer dollar after bad into these poorly run companies, shell a whole bunch directly out to the employees and it would probably save a bunch of tax dollars doing it. I don't see Toyota and others holding out their hands for bailout money... Just my opinion...

[WriteDown]

2. Japan just gave Toyota several billion. nt.

[CatholicEdHead]

3. Cerebus, Chryslyer's owner has lots of $$$$

They just want a bailout to pad their pockets. They bought Chrysler from Daimler Benz to gut it and shut it down and make a pretty penny.

[madmom]

4. There was a foreign car company asking for US bail out money a while back, I forget which one.

[ChromeFoundry]

5. C'mon, that is not a solution

You cannot blame the demise of these companies totally on the company. Our trade policies have a lot to do with it, making it harder and harder for these companies to compete with third-world slave-labor countries. For this stimulus package to be anything more than a shot-glass of water to put out a bonfire, a lot has to change on a very wide spectrum.

[LakeSamish706]

7. Beyond what I said, I seriously don't see a good answer right now....

The tax payers cannot bail out every company that is in trouble, so where does it end?

[ChromeFoundry]

8. I think the question is more like...

Where does it START?

Renegotiate NAFTA and CAFTA. Change our policies to promote "Fair Trade" rather than "Free Trade". Hold companies accountable for every dime they receive in ANY form of bailout. That means, not allowing the tax dollars to fund the economies of other countries. Hold other nations that we trade with to the same working conditions and environmental standards as those that reside here on this soil.

If our companies have to play by those rules, so should the others. We had no problem forcing LTV Steel to clean up the pollutants they were dumping into the Cuyahoga River after it caught fire in the 70's... It was a cost associated with doing business! The same playing field should hold true for steel imported from Taiwan or China.

[LakeSamish706]

9. I agree with, but we also need to take a good hard look at companies that...

are doing business in the US (in other words) which are good Corporate citizens and which aren't. Penalize those that are not and give extra rewards for those that are.

[ChromeFoundry]

10. Oh, I agree with ya there...

110%!

The whole, in-sourcing, out-sourcing and fuck-the-American-sourcing, as well as the "anything to turn a quick profit," attitude- Is the causes for the problems we are facing.

[Romulox]

14. Funny. Do you feel the same way about the TRILLIONS we're giving away to Wall Street?

[jaybeat]

6. Require GM to sell their fuel-efficient models on the domestic market

Chevy/Holden Colorado (3.0 litre 4-cylinder Common Rail Intercooled Turbo Diesel engine)



Chevy/Holden Captiva (2.0L common rail turbo diesel engine)



Chevy/Holden Astra CDTi Diesel Wagon (1.9 litre DTH Turbodiesel DOCH Ecotec 4 cylinder engine)

Or get off their butts and produce their 59 mpg diesel hybrid:



Opel Astra Diesel Hybrid

[Ikonoklast]

11. Never happen.

Europe travels on diesel, and the US on gasoline. We export refined diesel to Europe, and they send gasoline here.

Unless the state and federal governments decide to change the way fuels are taxed, we will be primarily a gasoline-powered nation.

Change the taxing structure will never happen. The states are addicted to heavily taxing transport fuel (diesel), and are losing billions in revenue due to a drastic decrease in heavy truck traffic in a crashing freight market.

Look for regressive taxation of all fuels to come before state legislatures to recoup falling revenue.

But there is a real reason those vehicles won't be seen here. The number one single user of diesel fuel in this country is the DoD, and they will not let a market-induced supply and demand problem interrupt their access to diesel.

[SpartanDem]

12. It has nothing to do with fuel

it has to with CAFE's onerous "two fleet rule". As it stands now CAFE standards based on where the majority of the cars parts come from(domestic vs. import). If they were to shift to the import models then their domestic fleet economy would suffer.

[jaybeat]

13. They should BUILD them here!

Hell, they already do. Chevy Colorado, etc. Made in the USA. Same for its clone the Isuzu DMax. Tell 'em to use some of the damn bailout money to convert a fucking hummer factory to making 4 cylinder common-rail diesels and plug-in diesel hybrids. Or nationalize 'em and then do it. They OWN the technology. They HAVE the know-how. They just don't want to sell it here, 'cause they'd rather sell us V-8s that no one else in the world will BUY.

And as to fuel, bio-diesel would be the obvious way to go for supply-demand issues. And a quick re-jigger of the federal fuel taxes (favoring bio-fuels) would quickly override anything the states are doing.

Jack up fuel taxes generally (again, favoring bio-fuels) and you see a hell of a lot more demand for the fuel-efficient models anyway, just like we did when fuel prices were high. (But instead of lining Exxon-Mobil's pockets, we could subsidize bio-fuel R&D and rebate low-income folks for their increased costs.)

[Romulox]

15. You mean require Americans to BUY them, don't you?

This mythology that Americans have been "forced" into preferring large cars is too much to swallow.

[jaybeat]

16. Forced? Bribed is more like it--with our own money!

Really... have you considered the effects on what Americans "prefer" from:

* Taxpayer subsidized fossil fuels (easily the cheapest in the developed world)
* Taxpayer subsidized highways
* Taxpayer subsidized sprawl and the auto-dependent lifestyle and culture it creates
* Taxpayer subsidized BIGNESS (big SUVs and trucks are exempt from pollution regs and if you slap the name of your business on them--even if your business only uses it to drive your fat ass around--the taxpayer takes something like $5,000 off the price!)
* Taxpayer subsidized BIGNESS II--CAFE standards that until last year were FLAT for like the last 20 years, and which contain HUGE loopholes into which automakers have driven fleets of large SUVs to replace cars--remember them? After the oil reality checks of the '70s, Americans DID prefer smaller cars and trucks--size and weight went down; fuel efficiency went up. That only changed after gas got cheap, Ronny Reagan decided to pal around with terrorists (ones who had oil, anyway), and CAFE standards sunk like a stone.

Bribe me with my own money to make stupid choices and then tell me it's all MY fault for preferring things that are bad for me.

Is that the American Way or what???

[jaybeat]

17. Oh, and I don't see anyone forcing people to buy the Prius

Or the new VW diesels (waiting lists and $2,000 *over* MSRP). Or the electric Ranger and RAV4--aka Who Killed the Electric Car?--that sell for 10 times their original price 12 years later!

And funny how a little thing like more normal gas prices can make Suburbans, Escalades, Excursions and Hummers sit on the lot.

Puh-leez.

:eyes: