Meeting of the Minds: Big Three and Bush to talk on Tuesday
Bill Ford, Rick Wagoner and Tom LaSorda have been twiddling their thumbs since May waiting for the White House to confirm a date for the Detroit trio to meet with George Bush, the D.C. decider. Tentative times have come and gone, and as each one passed, the perception that the current administration cares little about the challenges facing domestic automakers continued to grow. In reality, those challenges that include health care costs and the price of imported raw materials like steel, just didn't make for good pre-election prattle. Not a day after the midterm elections have passed, the White House has announced that George Bush will meet with Ford, Wagoner and LaSorda next Tuesday. No additional details were given about what time the meeting would take place or if an agenda of talking points had been set.
Most of us on the Autoblog team are apolitical when it comes to cars, but since the Republicans have lost control over both houses of Congress, we can't help but wonder if Detroit should instead sit down for a chat with someone like N ancy Pelosi (D - CA), the presumptive Speaker of the House, or Harry Reid (D - NV), the soon-to-be leader of the Senate's majority.
BTW - if you'd like to talk politics in the comments, feel free. Keep it civil, though, or we'll be forced to turn the comments off.
[Source: The Detroit Free Press]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
RZ 8:15PM (11/09/2006)
Now i am a HARD CORE republican but Bush has gone too far. He uses taxpayers money for that ethanol scheme. And i have a feeling that after this meeting nothing will change about MPG and US increasing dependence on oil. But i bet more taxpayers money will be given away to the 2.5.
George WAKE UP. Remember ...We the People.
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iQuack 8:42PM (11/09/2006)
Bush should tell Wagoner, Ford, and LaSorda to build cars people want. What else can he say to them?
Maybe the auto guys think the government should tell Toyota and Honda to stop building cars that make domestic brands seem like crap. Actually, domestic cars are getting better and the Saturn Aura looks like a winner to me.
In any case, it's a sure thing that Bush will be more comfortable meeting with the 3 auto guys than with Nancy Pelosi:
http://xs108.xs.to/xs108/06440/PelosiWitch.jpg
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Brennan 9:08PM (11/09/2006)
Pelosi is a communist.
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doglet 7:04PM (11/10/2006)
with the threat of force gone, the only question is will the terrorists just take over europe and asia or the whole world
/sarcasm
the domestic automakers have no problems that cannot be overcome by making quality cars that people want
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get real 9:22PM (11/09/2006)
there's a grocery store, Lo-Bill, closing. Why? It could Not compete vs Wal-Mart Supercenter and Kroger.
They are akin to say a Food Lion, or Winn-Dixie, Piggly Wiggly, etc... smaller store.
No one is crying for them.
I feel the same for Big 2.5: If you CAN'T COMPETE, TOO BAD!
Difference is, Big 2.5 had a whole lot more money than poor old Lo-Bill, to fight against others!
BOO-HOO!
They have CRIED for 30+ years: Japanese have a unfair price advantage(I can't tell it, vs prices they charge, except for maybe Suzuki!).
GM-DAT is in S Korea: Build more cars there(and Equinox has a Chinese V6 in it).
Boo-Hoo.
I could care less who makes my vehicles. And, BTW, I, my friends, NO One I know can just wlak up to a GM plant, and say"I want an application", you gotta know a UAW member to get you an application, then take it back to HR, then vouch for you, in order to be considered for a job!
Honda? Well, my 3rd cousin....he got a job at Anna, in March(Ohio, that is). He did NOT need to have connections!
Who do you think I would care more about, the closed door hiring practices of big 2.5, or the open door policies of Hyundai,Honda, Toyota, etc..?
Let's talk reality here for once!
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Adam 9:29PM (11/09/2006)
Actually, Pelosi is not a Communist. She's actually a Democrat.
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HAL 9:37PM (11/09/2006)
US Auto makers will become even less competetive as they lean on Pelosi for government funding.Union bosses will push for social change to include benefits to vaguely defined domestic partners to broaden their influence, thereby adding to the cost of US made automobiles.Production of american made products (cars)will cease or be outsourced.
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HAL 9:39PM (11/09/2006)
Democrat USED to mean democrat.Now the democratic party is just a mismatched band of special interest groups.Pelosi is a socialist.
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Migo 9:40PM (11/09/2006)
Talking to Premier Bush might be a waste of time at this juncture.
I'd suggest they just all appear on the Colbert Report.
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HAL 9:42PM (11/09/2006)
Colbert is Left wing infotainment for the simpleminded
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Political Grind 9:45PM (11/09/2006)
I agree with iQuak, Bush needs to tell them to build cars people want. Style, Efficiency, and reliability... if you build it, they will buy. They also need better materials; I don't mind paying a little bit more and getting better quality.
I have a bunch saved up on my gm card, however, the only cars I would buy are the cts or vette (2 out of A LOT).
The entire ethanol debate is a mess; it's more expensive in america, yet "its better because it stop the need for oil". They would be better off building hybrid engines and engines that are more efficient with oil.
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RZ 10:29PM (11/09/2006)
#11 What you wrote is basicaly what everyone has been saying for years. Everyone gets it BUT these three fools.
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Richard Warren 10:41PM (11/09/2006)
And after Tuesday this means exactly what?
Make all the comments you want about the automakers, cars we want, etc: but do any of you guys remember when a politician was bought and stayed bought? If the automakers had thrown more money at Bush they would have gotten more, because this administration has been for sale since day one. Just ask Jack Abramson, Halliburton etc.
As president he should visit and talk with any major industry that would like to talk, even if he gives nothing. Sometimes it helps to just listen. Of course he's not real good at that.
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Gale 10:42PM (11/09/2006)
The Big 3 should be ashamed to admit that they essentially fell asleep at the switch in product development, caved in on labor negotiations, and mismanaged their costs year after year - so now they need help from Daddy! Waaaaaaaaaah.
Where they really castrate themselves in in asking to UNLEVEL the playing field to penalize transplant manufacturers that have employed tens of thousands of Americans since the early 80s.
Hopefully the Congress will tell them to grow a set and deal with it.
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K 10:53PM (11/09/2006)
The US automakers have nowhere to go on trade protection. For better or worse treaties have removed that from the table.
They also won't risk strikes. So reduction of UAW cost isn't going to happen.
Next they look at health care costs and taxes and earmarked pork. Surprise, the Democrats want national health care! Surprise, Michigan is a Democratic bastion and expects a big plate at the next pork chop gala. And Bush has shown time and time again that he has no real convictions on such matters.
Nothing will happen until the next Congress, but then something may well be extracted from DC.
Make better cars? They are doing that. Others are ahead and show no signs of dropping the ball. Detroit's chance to reach parity within a decade is very small.
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jim pills 11:06PM (11/09/2006)
i'm sure someone else has already made this point, but the "big" three only want prez bush to open his (i mean our) wallet and repeat after them, "help yourself." since they're incapable of making competitive cars, the teat in washington is all that stands between them and a large number of politically unacceptable layoffs ...
sigh ...
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Stoneman 11:22PM (11/09/2006)
ahem. My name is Borat....
Stoneman
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iQuack 11:25PM (11/09/2006)
"6. Actually, Pelosi is not a Communist. She's actually a Democrat."
----------------------------------------------
So, what's the difference these days?
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MikeW 12:24AM (11/10/2006)
I'd think bush has better things to do. If Nancy Pelosi will not impeach, the democrats better find someone who will. bush has violated his oath of office, time to go. and you to cheney.
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Andy 11:57PM (11/09/2006)
The Chrysler 300, Dodge Magnum, Cadillac STS, Ford Mustang, Pontiac Solstice, and Saturn Sky have all been popular cars that came from US auto manufacturers. What has made them sell? They have character. The problem since the mid-Seventies has been that Detroit has lost its touch with appeal. The 1970s are the decade of Pintos and Gremlins. When the 1980s came around, Detroit pursued soulless sedans to take on Japanese econo-boxes. When the Nineties came, Detroit left passenger car development by the wayside and focused on trucks. The market has shifted back to cars.
The Impala looks like a cheap knock-off of the Accord. The Five Hundred makes people fall asleep. (So do the Mercury and Lincoln cars.) Detroit's Big Three still have a fetish for big trucks. Focus on what people want. Listen to the principle of economics. There is something called supply & demand. When Ford produced nine hundred thousand F-150s and needs to shave off thousands of dollars from their prices in order to sell them, Ford is not following supply & demand. Stop shoving big pickups and SUVs into showrooms. Improve the quality of smaller trucks and keep cars as the primary production vehicle.
Ford should make the Focus into an exceptional small car, like the one in the UK. The same goes for the Ranger, one of the worst pieces of junk on the road. GM is making the right steps with some of its new trucks being surprisingly nice inside & out. GM still has to improve its Buick, Chevy, and Pontiac cars. Chrysler needs to build smaller. Aspens, Durangos, Rams, 300s, and Charger don't cut it in an era of high fuel costs and conservation.
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