Canada, It's Your Turn!!

I was cruising CBC.CA a little while ago, and now it's our Northern neighbors turn to hear the begging of GM and Chrysler!:cry http://www.cbc.ca/money/story/2009/02/20/carbailouts.html I guess American billions aren't enough!!

 

Yup, guess it's never enough!!

The big 3 are branch plants anyway, so why would they ask for/want bailouts here? rolleyes Let the "parents" take care of it. :-D

I wouldn't be surprised if they're asking for bailouts wherever they are located in the world.

 

How come the motor industry feels it has the right to go cap in hand to the powers that be and request $39 billion? We had much the same scenario when Nissan UK approached our lame government and asked for much of the same, only days after the same lame government had bailed the banks out to the tune of c. £17 billion. I didn't read anywhere that the builders or the window manufacturers had asked for aid, they are just left to dig their way out of a deepening ditch. It's so hard to believe that the recession is cutting so deep. A cut of 50,000 jobs at these two companies alone, and pension plans in turmoil. I am working only 3 days next week, who knows, I could be out of a job before the end of the year. I know what it's like to be on the dole and I feel for the people who have lost their jobs recently through no fault of their own. What a tragic waste of skills and experience.
Not that any management positions will be jeopardised, of course.

Sorry about the ranting, it's a passion of mine.

 

Our turn to do what Stubby? Prop up a company that can't sell its goods? What's the bloody point? Keep producing crap that nobody wants? How the heck are they going to repay the taxpayer with interest on these loans? Plus it's not as if this is the first time this has happened either. This time, the overpowerful union will either give in or it's shut the door time.

 

GM are asking the Belgian government for help also and threatening to close the plant in Antwerp if it is not forthcoming.
Ford have a huge plant in Genk that is in the south of the country and are cutting the workforce dramatically but i do notice they are not cutting the management teams,a bit ironic wouldn't you say.

 

That covers everything from Fiat to Ferrari (oops they are the same)

 

Personally i am a Toyota fan, I had Jaguar when i lived in UK but the taxes here are based on engine output BHP so i had a couple of Toyota's and last year i bought a Lexus (oops they are the same).
Luxury on a smaller scale.
http://smileys.on-my-web.com/repository/Transports/ferrari-046.gif

 

Augie, Halo I couldn't agree with you more. It's come to a point now where we ALL are just 'kicking a dead horse.' Why should the Big 3 even attempt to get themselves out of this mess when they have damn near all the countries in the world giving them the money to stay afloat? Where's the incentive? IMHO, the time is long overdue for them to either sink or swim. Get rid of the unions and file for Chapter 11 and, if need be, start from scratch. They apparently don't want to help themselves, so let 'em sink!

Personally, I haven't bought an American car for years and have no plans to in the forseeable future. I have a Mercedes and we just got rid of our '04 Chrysler Pacifica and bought my wife an 'E'-Class Mercedes. Until American quality and safety become a #1 priority for American cars, I'll stick with Mercedes!

 

When we were young we purchased from Ford and GM by letting our hearts rule and not our heads. Yeah, they looked good but their quality was lousy. The last 2 have been Toyotas and we are really impressed by their quality AND service. The Echo at 10 years *young* is still going strong!! *knock wood*

The manufacturing jobs in the Western world have been disappearing slowly over the years and mostly service jobs remain. Since that started to happen, my thought was that the western world could turn into 3rd world countries if the manufacturing side would disappear. Service jobs just don't pay as well. Multinationals just look for increased profits and don't give a hoot about where they're locating as long as profits increase. If profits turn lower as predicted it's seen as a loss even though a profit was made. Money doesn't have any borders.

When are these CEO's taking responsibilities for their own Co's downfall by their short sightedness due to their short term goals for maximizing profits and not looking at long term strategy?

Why then should we pay for their failure? I feel sorry for all the people who are dependent on the car industry.

 

I love how the article says 'executives pay was SLASHED (by 10%). WTF! I only get $9million instead of $10million.

I won't really go into politics/economics as this is not the forum for it. Remember the old saying 'Don't mess with Mother Nature.'? 'Don't mess with the market!'

Come on Canada and you other countries, bend over! :kissmy