LeonT

Exactly. Look at how much influence they already have over our automakers with CAFE standards, safety standards, etc. They're already basically telling them what kind of car they can make. And now with Obama and his gang appointing Chrysler's new board, and a large ownership stake, they will have UNPRECEDENTED influence over every aspect of the industry.

This is not good.

truckbouy2

Interesting article here....
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/01/bu...rdelli.html?hp

LeonT

"Once out of bankruptcy, Chrysler will have a new board of nine members — the government will select six and Fiat will choose three.

That board will select a chief executive for Chrysler."

Like I said, Obama will be running Chrysler. I don't like it. I suppose they will appoint AlGore, Pelosi, Feinstein, Harry Reid, Michelle Obama, and maybe even Jimmy Carter to the board. Did I miss any of the Socialists who will now be running the third largest car company in the country?

It really torques me off that GM and Chrysler put themselves in a position to be taken over by a bunch of socialist government thugs. I'm glad my last truck purchase was a Ford. Can't wait to see the first Fiat "Obamamobile" roll off the "Obamamotive" assembly line. It will have a top speed of 35 mph, peak hp of 6, seat 2 people under 5'6" tall, haul up to 2 bags of "green" groceries, and get 69 mpg.

End of rant.

ljutic ss

Maybe they will be forced to build a peoples car like Adolf had the folkswagon(peoples wagon)

clemson725

I dont think america is ready for the small european cars so there's no immediate danger of transforming chrysler into an economobile company. Those little cans do fine in Paris where everything is that size and a Honda Accord is considered a tank, but when you get in the united states on the road with american made cars, you dont stand a chance. I think the truck unit has been one of chrysler's strong suits and I doubt that Fiat, Obama, or anybody else will destroy a profitable business just for the sake of making environmentalists happy.

nelrod

^^ Which turned out to be the best selling car of all time. Kind of ironic.
{The VW}

SOhappy

You forgot Ralph Nader.

SOhappy

But....it started out life as a Porsche.

More to the point, the U.S. Government has had it's hand in designing cars in the past- it's never been pretty. Remember these gems?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_J

http://www.electrifyingtimes.com/gmprecept.html

next...

patdaly

Don't forget the Bricklin........ Probably the best example of Government design.

'strokeThis_'07

I just dont agree with everybody saying the government is going to run the companies. They arent. They (we) are giving them billions of dollars to survive. Its not outrageous for the government to require some sort of plan for viability...much like my bank makes me have full coverage insurance. Their looking out for their investment. Same as the government requiring certain aspects be met before they (we) infuse more money. Sounds like a bad idea huh??

But if I decide to go run my truck over a cliff, or tear the body off and put a VW Beetle body on it with Rolls-Royce front and rear end, they could care less. As long as the payments are made, and its covered, they could care less about it. I can do anything to it I want, its my truck...

So, government can 'loan' money to the auto makers, with some stipulations about their business plans, and as long as the cars are made according to government regulations, they can build whatever they want. But if they make more bad choices, they may not get anymore loans next time theyre in trouble.

Government isnt interested in running auto companies. Theyd go under faster than the auto companies would by themselves.

Thats just my opinion. I just dont go along with everybody freaking out about the government...

dtrkstan

It seems we all know more than the good ol boys that make these decisions and I'm sure Obama made these decisions by himself,or perhaps its his socialistic commy car CZAR. What ever plans were made certainly weren't based on the facts that the Unions got 85-95% of their pay when they were layed off due to slowdowns or cutbacks .That saved the company lots of money. In the 80's chicago UAW workers were getting $25-45/ hour with full medical, dental, eyeglass.and could still apply for unemployment while they were off...Boy did I enjoy that, it was like a paid vacation. At least none of those problems caused the recent dilema. Forgive me for I RANT.

Red Goat

I guess time washes all wounds.
Chrysler borrowed and payed back before when Lee Iacoka got in the chair.
The war time effort built huge plants for ford to build aircraft Willow run comes to mind.
I think dodge was building engines and I forget what gm was building but the point is all 3 came out better after the war on the taxpayers dime.
Not sure what really changed in 65 years!
I like my diesel truck and havent seen any in Europe that I like and I aint ready for a Asia built moped!
Just my .02

SOhappy

The government is already running GM and to some extent Chrysler.

Cases in point:

1. The firing of Rick Wagoner, GM's CEO. Pres. Obama personally made the call- unprecedented.

2. RIP Pontiac and Hummer. The administration said there was no place for the "excitement" division or the large gas sucking pig division in a GM running on taxpayer money.

3. Goodbye Viper (see above).

4. Hello FIAT. The administration told Chrysler they could not get any more federal loans unless they closed the deal with FIAT.

..and the list goes on. That's why we're freaking out. Consumers should have the ultimate say on what the car companies produce. They vote with their wallets. That's called capitalism. The minute government gets to supplant the consumer then we have socialism or worse. Think Trabant, Lada.

olddodgetrucks

is,ent it funny that russia going away from state industries and we are going the other way,comrad oboma,

'strokeThis_'07

The Viper was killed before the government even got involved. They announced it was dead in 2011 late last year, but they hadnt even asked for a bailout yet IIRC.

I dont see it as the gov. running the companies. Like I said, there were certain things that needed to be achieved before money was givin out, much like a car loan. You have to make enough, your credit needs to be pretty good, full coverage, etc. (yes, you can get a loan with no job and bad credit, but for the most part that applies) Whats so bad with asking them to meet certain criteria before billions are invested in them?? Id rather have the gov. saying "ok, we'll give you this money, IF you meet these objectives" rather than the gov. just blindly dumping money into them...

Hummers been on the chopping block for over a year. They need to thin out; how many cars can you make on the same platform? The interior may be nicer on some, and the styling differs, but underneath, your $50k Cadillac is just like a $23k Chevy. Pontiac doesnt gain them anything, nor does Saturn, so save some coin and focus on the 3 brands. Makes pretty good sense to me...