Automotive Bailout vs. the morons in Washington

[topspeed]

GM and Chrysler just announced that they need $30 billion in loans/credit lines or will face bankruptcy by March. This amount includes the $17b already approved by Washington.

Here's the rub, it you didn't catch the witch hunt the jacka$$'s in DC put the Big 3 through, the one thing that became painfully obvious was that the politicos haven't the faintest clue as to how the automotive industry works. They don't realize most vehicles have a 4 year development period. They can't comprehend the amount of engineering and innovation involved in trying to design a car that is economical enough to reach their pipedream 35mpg CAFE standard in the face of ever more stringent safety standards and market demands for more gizmos (both of which add weight, which in turn makes a car less economical!). You can't just stop GM or Chrysler on a dime and turn the sucker around. These companies aren't Corvette's, they're Peterbuilts with triple axle trailers!

Pelosi, that clueless b!tch, has stated she hopes Obama's new autos task force will help the "transformation of our domestic automobile industry into a viable, technologically advanced, and globally competitive manufacturing force."

Uh, huh.

Ford's Fusion Hybrid, developed solely in house without government funding (unlike Toyota's Synergy Hybrid system), betters the Camry Hybrid by 8mpg(!) city, is actually fun to drive, and is built just as well, if not better than the Camry or Accord.

The European Ford Mondeo is a Car of the Year and the new Fiesta is recognized as the "A" class standard. Not the VW Polo. Not the Yaris. Not the Fit.

A C6 Corvette will go toe to toe with any sports car on the planet...at half the price and with better mpg. The ZR1 has repeatedly beaten Ferrari Scuderia's, Lambo LP560/4's, and Porsche GT2's in comparisons, regardless of price. Factor in the the 2X-5X premium for the Euro's and it's nolo contendere.

The Pontiac G8 offers BMW M5 performance for half the price. It is also likely much more reliable.

The Caddy CTS-V offers better performance than the M5 with a $20,000 discount to boot!.

However, if you are to believe Pelosi and the rest of her cronies, American's can't build a car worth a damn.

The Wall Street crooks that put us in this mess knew exactly what they were doing, and yet we hand over $750 billion (as an appetizer) with no questions asked. Auto manufacturers face the worst market in 40 years with overall sales down to an estimated 10.2 million units (compared to 17 million units in '05) and are being blamed for their own malaise. This has hit everyone: Toyota is posting it's first loss...EVER...of $2.1 billion after recording a $20 billion profit for the previous year.

GM is already cutting 45,000 jobs, 4 car lines, and closing 5 plants to survive. That represents and drop in the bucket compared to the ripple effect of what will happen should the largest automotive corporation (and 5th largest corporation, period) go bankrupt. Suppliers, engineering firms, R&D companies...every last one of them are history.

Look, I'm not defending GM or Chrysler's poor judgement. The Aztec and Aspen certainly merit a "WTH?" response. That said, we can't have the largest, most influential car market in the world and only have one (Ford) domestic manufacturer. That's absurd. We can't become England.

/rant