I'd just like to add "total unreliability" to your post. They've come a long way, baby.
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http://www.detroityes.com/mb/images/misc/quote_icon.png Originally Posted by .crash. http://www.detroityes.com/mb/images/...post-right.png
Uh, no. Looks like the big 3 are still overcharging their customers and then giving that money to their workers. That bailout came from the American taxpayers, THEY should be getting the bonus! Actually, I'd rather they just lowered the prices of their new cars!
There's a sucker born every few seconds it seems...
That's false.
While the media was so focused on GM and Chrysler filing for bankruptcy, Ford snuck through the backdoor and received a $6 billion dollar loan under a separate government program.
http://www.chevyhardcore.com/news/ed...-yes-they-did/
Would you have preferred the alternative?
That is, not only would 1/2 billion dollars NOT be getting interjected into Michigan's economy this year, but millions of good-paying jobs would have been lost, billions of more dollars [[that would make the bailout funds look like chump change in comparison), would have had to be set aside to support these people via. government assistance, and society in the State of Michigan would have literally collapsed on its ass practically overnight?
A lot of the employees of suppliers with little factories in Oakland and Macomb lost their jobs when their companies went out of business when the bankruptcy cancelled all of their receivables. Drive along the mile roads up there and look at the closed little factories.
With that type of response, I also have to assume that you either work for Ford or benefit in some fashion from cheerleading for them.
http://www.forbes.com/sites/joannmul.../#4ff987331de5
But wait a minute. OK, Ford didn’t file bankruptcy or get bailed out by Uncle Sam, but didn’t it receive $5.9 billion in low-cost government loans in 2009 to overhaul its factories and bring out more fuel-efficient technology? What would have happened to Ford if Congress hadn’t authorized taxpayer money to fund that $25 billion Energy Department program during a moment of crisis for the industry?
Price was only a part of the equation. Reliability and service were HUGE factors for the import popularity. Domestic cars had become crap up to that point. Besides, if price was such a issue, why didn't our government impose the same tariffs on Japanese imports their government imposed on ours? There are multiple players to blame here.
They attempted to put the same tariffs on imports and the Japanese government cried foul, enlisted the rest of the world against the Big Bad Wolf and stopped all importation of US makes. It wasn't for long but enough that the domestics needed those restrictions lifted....
Our politicians also demanded foreign manufacturers build their products here, using American workers. I also remember back in the 80's, when co-workers announced they had gotten 125K miles out of one of those little Honda Accord things, without much more then routine maintenance. @ that time, it was unbelievable! I also remember being told, after reoccurring issues with my "American" product, "that if I didn't like it, go buy someone else's car", which was sound advice that I took. You have to look @ the whole picture @ that time, and not just one part of it. I do agree with you we need to take a harder line with imported products. Seeing that NAFTA and the proposed Asian Trade Agreement have changed forever the way things are being built, not only here in the States, but globally, I don't think you're going to see tariff restricting imports anytime soon.