Chrysler

The Romney Ad, the Auto Bail Out and China

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The political everybody has an opinion not based in fact pundit world is ablaze over a new Romney ad claiming Chrysler is planning on building a plant in China and making Jeeps there. The ad references this Bloomberg article, from October 22nd, which reports Fiat, the majority shareholder in Chrysler, wants to move some production to China.

 

Bail Out Hypocrisy - Manufacturing Gets the Shaft, Financials Get to Craft

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The White House is in full hypocrisy mode. While Obama Treasury Secretary Geithner tries to do a massive power grab, invites financial sector CEOs to craft policy and cooperate in their multi-trillion dollar U.S. taxpayer money pig fest, the auto industry is shipped to bankruptcy court. Even worse, Chrysler is to be broken up into good cars and bad cars, yet Italy (Fiat) gets the good cars and the United States gets the bad.

Meanwhile Obama Press Secretary Robert Gibbs struggles as reporters immediately question the different standards:

GM, Chrysler - $21 Billion, 50,000 Lost Jobs

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This is bad folks. Bloomberg:

General Motors Corp. said it needs as much as $16.6 billion in new U.S. loans, more than doubling the aid to date, and must get some of the cash next month to survive. GM plans 47,000 more job cuts worldwide this year.

Chrysler LLC, propped up like GM with federal assistance, said it’s seeking $5 billion more from the government and will shed 3,000 more positions.

GM says 47,000 jobs will be lost world wide. GM is selling Hummer, shutting down Saturn, bankrupting Saab (which Sweden is going to salvage and return to it's nation), and shutting down 5 additional U.S. plants. It is completely not stated which countries and plants will lose which jobs. It looks bad that most of the losses will be against U.S. workers and other nations where they pay living wages.

It's a Friggin' Christmas Miracle: Bush Comes through for the Auto industry?

It's a Christmas "Miracle", George Bush came through. $13.4 billion for the auto industry. Or maybe, not so fast. This is a stay of execution, not a pardon.

The troubled U.S. auto industry will receive emergency loans of $13.4 billion from the federal government in return for an extensive restructuring of its outstanding debt and labor costs over the coming year, according to administration officials.....

Funds for the loans will come from the Troubled Asset Relief Program initially set up to aid the financial industry. An additional four billion will be available in February.

But the money will come with some extensive strings attached. Though the White House will not appoint a "car czar" to oversee the industry going forward, the companies will have to restructure their wage agreements so that they are competitive with foreign automakers by the end of next year. In addition, by March 31 of this year the companies will have to show they are financially viable and able to repay the government -- a requirement that may, for example, force them to renegotiate outstanding debt and other agreements.

Be afraid, be very afraid. Although this money is going to push the industry through till March, a whole new set of challenges await the President-elect come March. First, let's set lay down a few facts to start the discussion.

The Big Boys Are Threatening to do..... What Hitler Couldn't Do

Give Them The Money

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Give Them the Money!

Who am I talking about?  Why the United States Auto Manufacturers of course.

America, you've got it all backwards. The outrage should be directed at the financial bail out, not at the automobile manufacturers.

A poll says 61% of Americans oppose the bail out of the auto industry and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid says the Auto Bail Out bill is dead, they don't have the votes.

More interesting in the poll, people do not believe the collapse of the auto industry will affect them. Well, I have news for you, it will affect you, probably more than you can imagine.

Detroit Bailout

One topic no one mentions in the Detroit Bailout controversy is all the offshoring that has been, and still continues, in the auto industry.  GM just announced new plants in Brazil, Russia and India, coinciding with plant closings in America.
 
Guess where the bailout money will go?

 

Story


General Motors to invest $1 bn in Brazil plant

Wed, Nov 19 11:49 AM

Why Does the EPA Hate America?

I'm having a rare moment of optimism. Keeping up with news of the coming transformation of the American auto industry has been like trying to drink from a fire hose. The bottom line is this Detroit's got it's mojo back. But the EPA is placing the revival of the American auto industry in jeopardy in order to benefit a foreign competitor, Toyota.

Here's the problem.

The EPA hates American industry.

I swear to God. We finally get a winner in the American auto industry, and the EPA decides to take them out like a rogue quarterback.

The Chevy Volt is a revolutionary vehicle that has the ability to drastically cut US oil consumption. And it's part of new fleets from GM and Chrysler that recognize the new reality. The era of cheap gas is over, and the price we pay for oil is in both blood and dollars.

TATA earns $120 Million Contract with Chrysler

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Just last week, the news was filled with the announcements of huge layoffs among UAW members at Chrysler. The UAW planned to file complaints with the National Labor Relations Board because it seems Chrysler was shedding the American workers while maintaining the H-1B workers ( foreign workers here on guest worker visas).
It did not take TATA Consultancy Services (TCS) long to begin bragging of their latest deal - a contract with Chrysler worth $120,000,000.

TCS in $120 mn Chrysler deal
BS Reporter / Mumbai February 21, 2008
IT major Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) has signed a multi-year contract worth $120 million (around Rs 480 crore) with US automaker Chrysler.

TCS will deliver application maintenance and support services to Chrysler. The IT services initiative will encompass a portion of the functional areas within Chrysler such as sales and marketing and shared services.