Who is on the Presidential Task Force on the Auto Industry... and what do they drive?
Between the flow of bailout bucks and the economic turmoil threatening to topple the Detroit 3, you'd figure the investigative efforts of the Detroit News would be better spent digging through the viability plans of Chrysler and General Motors, delving into the minutia that could make or break the domestic automobile industry. Apparently not.
Although the Detroit News has given us a few stories about the people behind the Obama administration's Presidential Task Force on the Auto Industry, this piece focuses almost entirely on each member's (and their aides') chosen chariots rather than detailing how their experiences will help the industry. So it may or may not come as a surprise that the panel's personal rides are primarily comprised of foreign marques, ranging from an Acura TSX to a MINI Cooper S. While some of the public records show that a few members of the committee have driven domestics in the past (including a 1996 Taurus GL and a Jeep Grand Cherokee), the bulk have made the switch to foreign brands. In total, only three members of ten-member panel drive vehicles built by the Detroit 3, while another three don't own a vehicle at all.
While its clear that product is one of the many issues ailing the domestics (particularly Chrysler), we'd be far more interested in how the Task Force plans to address the issues of over-capacity, the UAW, corporate in-fighting and possibly even branding – or lack thereof. We'll leave the name-naming to the Detroit News, and suggest that both GM and Chrysler take a fleet of their best products to D.C. to give the Obama team an in-depth look at what's currently coming out of Detroit.
[Source: Detroit News]
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 5)
Stumpy 3:46PM (2/23/2009)
I want a TSX Six-Speed. Mmmmm Mmmmm Good...
Reply
Jonathan 3:51PM (2/23/2009)
Right there with you stumpy. The best job Acura has ever done emulating the German's success formula is making the TSX a fairly good alternative to the A4. Even the new TSX isn't horrible to look at, especially next to other new Acuras....
anthony 4:23PM (2/23/2009)
I love my '06 TSX 6 Speed. To think I was thinking of trading it in. That stick is slick.
Stumpy 4:29PM (2/23/2009)
anthony, if I had the money, I would so want to buy it from you. Not many 6-Speeds out there for sale.
Torrent 3:50PM (2/23/2009)
You want to help America?
Buy a damn American car!
Reply
HotRodzNKustoms 3:51PM (2/23/2009)
I 100% agree.
BigMcLargeHuge 4:10PM (2/23/2009)
Want help Soviet Union? Buy Soviet car!
MachinaDC5 4:15PM (2/23/2009)
The business of America is business. How about I buy the best car on the market, and if American companies want to make that car they can? I think that'd help America a lot more than bailout-buying a domestic car purely because it has a domestic badge on it.
jv2k 4:16PM (2/23/2009)
You don't buy the cars in soviet russia.
evident 6:30PM (2/23/2009)
let me know when the best ones they offer aren't made in mexico or canada.
see you in my accord!
notYou 5:50PM (2/23/2009)
Buy them with [cough] stimulus package dollars!
chconline 5:03PM (2/23/2009)
In Soviet Russia, cars buy YOU!
Mobius_1 5:08PM (2/23/2009)
You want to help America more?
Buy two American cars!
(How did Soviet get into this conversation? :P)
Jake B 5:26PM (2/23/2009)
You think you could have a conversation without the SOVIETS!!?!??!?
Jon Hervé 6:30PM (2/23/2009)
You want to help America more?
Buy an American car company!
Seriously, if everybody bought cars just because they're domestic, the quality and reliability of american cars would be worse than a Lada, or even as worse as a 2001 Pontiac Montana.
The quality of the Big 3's has greatly improved in the last 5 years because foreign competitors were kicking their ass.
If it wasn't for the Camry, Accord and Sonata's competition, you wouldn't have good american mid-size sedans like the Malibu, Fusion and Sebring. Well... forget the Sebring.
The good news is that the task force has great taste in cars:
Lexus LS 460
Audi S4 convertible
Mercedes-Benz R350
Acura TSX
Acura MDX
Volvo S60
Toyota Prius
Lexus RX 350
Volvo C30
Subaru Legacy Outback
Mini Cooper S
The list the Detroit news would have like to see:
Pontiac Grand Am
Dodge Sebring
Plymouth Breeze
Ford Focus
Pontiac Aztek
Ford Pinto
Buick Terraza
Chevrolet Uplander
Saturn Ion
Cadillac Cimarron
There should have been at least one Mustang in the list...
The success of this presidential task force should be judged by how many of them will buy an American car in the next 8 years, not because of public image, but because they found great cars at Ford, GM and in what's left of Chrysler.
Good luck.
A-style 12:35AM (2/24/2009)
Shocking another stupid comment from you today.
Thanks for telling me what I should buy. Go thing I live in America where we have the right to choose something better.
Harrison 2:01AM (2/24/2009)
YEAH! That's why I say we should all go out and buy a Toyota Camry!
Or Ford Fusion Hybrid. That's one DHIB (domestic hybrid I'd buy.)
Len_A 6:13AM (2/24/2009)
Exactly!!
HotRodzNKustoms 3:50PM (2/23/2009)
If these are the @ss clowns GM and Chrysler are answering to, it is now and only now that GM and Chrysler are doomed.
Reply
big J 8:37PM (2/23/2009)
I have to disagree, they were doomed the day they stopped making decent cars people would like to buy without the need to guilt trip them.