Ford CEO willing to work for 1 buck a year to get govt help gm and chrysler said no way.
They are also getting rid of the corp jets.
Sounds like they are at least trying.
What does everybody think.

 

Sounds good to me. I assume its temporary, which again I have no problem with. Its the thought that counts.

It doesn't mean much for my side of the border though, because all the left wing parties are plotting to overthrow the conservative government, so who knows whats going to happen in canada....billions are being promised for the auto sector, but I have my doubts that it will happen anytime soon now that there is a power struggle in the country.

 

Isn't the canadian and US auto industry tied together.

 

Sort of, but our side is owned and run by canadian managment, so although anything detroit does will have a huge impact up here (good or bad), its still in the canadian governemt and regulators that are directly responsible for the industry here. Its a mess.

 

Just heard on the news GM and Chrysler CEO's said they will go for the buck a year now also.
I would be interisted in knowing what their bonus packages are though.

 

LOL, thats funny, they must have answered "no" before seeing what ford was saying. Now bob lutz will be driving himself to work? What, not chopper or helicopter charter? I am a little partial to ford, but frankly I don't think any of the automakers deserve a bailout. But I'm still mad that they conspired (mainly GM) to successfully hold back the electric car. The chevy volt is a joke.

 

Also just on the news ford said they will cancell management bonuses.
And they just need money in reserves may not have to use it.

 

I thought Ford of Canada was a wholly owned subsidiary of Ford U.S., just like Ford Europe. No?

 

It is, but they pay canadian taxes, get canadian subsidies to build new plants and their workers are members of the canadian autoworker's union. So in the end if they are to beg for money, it will be to ottawa, not washington.

In reality, theres nothing the canadian government can do until they find out what the american plan is. If the plants in the states get a better deal than plants in canada than factories will simply be shut down and the work moved south of the border.

In effect, there is no true canadian auto industry in the sense that americans have, since all of the plants are owned by companies outside of canada.

 

With all the profits the oil companies have been making, they should give the auto makers the loans, not the taxpayer. Without the gas guzzlers Ford, GM, and Dodge make there would not have been the huge profits for the oil companies.

 

I'm not sure holding back electric cars is a conpiracy it also ties into what they can produce and market to the american public.
We are the most finicky people in the world Many of us drive a four door superduty 4x4 powerstroke because we need one to pull our camper one week a year when a ford fiesta
would work the other 51 weeks.
Ford has a new diesel fiesta at 65 mpg but it will not be sold in the US because of their market studys.
Chrysler sued smart car for renaming them and bringing over because there was not enough of a market here to be produced and sold here.
Seems like in the Us if you are not going to park a large 4x4 in your driveway it will be a toyota honda vw nissan etc. That way we can gripe about no jobs in america.

 

I use my F350 sparingly since fuel prices initially shot up, but the 51-week car in my driveway is an '08 Focus. It's every bit as good as any Honda I've ever driven.

 

The reason I say they killed the electric car is because GM already had hundreds of EV1s in the hands of happy customers in california and all of them wanted to keep them. GM said no, and refused to sell the cars or renew the lease on them. Protests were held and GM was offered about $50k per car but they still refused. Instead they loaded them on trucks and shipped them out to a remote location to be crushed but photos leaked out. The advanced battery that was to be used in the car was then sold to chevron, who sued toyota and forced them to stop making their electric Rav4 (the patent expires in 2015). About a year later the H2 hummer was out.

Its all on public record, so I tend to take a bit of a hard line on the issue. Sorry if I'm starting to sound like an activist. There is MUCH more to the story, but I'd be here all day if I said the rest.

 

The oil companies are directly responsible for the electric car market not getting going like it should. The technology is there.

They are the only companies with the money and the power to control something that would have the potential to make millions and hurt them bad.

 

I dont pretend to know what their reasoning was with the EV1 But I can see where they could have determined it was not going to be enough sales to warrant having to set up their dealers to service and warranty them for the limited market share they were going to get. I am sure that if they thought it was going to be profitable they would have kept them.
Another thing to think about is california said they were in trouble and going to have to change the way that electric cars paid taxes no gas no road tax.
I wouldn't put it past the govt for throwing a kink in the plans.