Not our man Warren Brown, obviously; although the Washington Post’s automotive critic (and I mean that in the nicest possible way) recently tore Ford a new you-know-what for replacing the Escape’s rear discs with drums. No, I speak here of Steven Pearlstein, who’s ready to put the meat on the bones of DetN Auto Editor Manny Lopez’ contention that’s there’s a bi-coastal conspiracy of nattering nabobs of negativism ready to let Detroit die (by its own hand, but who’s counting?). “You can just imagine [ED: hear] the pitch from the populists of the Michigan congressional delegation: If the government is willing to invest $250 billion to bail out pinstriped bankers, then the least it could do is throw an extra $10 billion to rescue the domestic auto industry and the millions of workers and retirees who depend on it. There’s only one difference: The government will make money on its bank investment, while the GM-Chrysler deal is a lemon.” Regular TTAC readers will know Pearlstein’s rationale without having to read it. But if Hayden Christensen can make jumping look cool, well, why not?
“The real flaw in the government-financed merger proposal is that it spares the companies from bankruptcy reorganization, the very process they need to get their costs and structure in line with market realities. Only a bankruptcy court can reduce the burden of pension and health benefits to 600,000 retirees that are slated to cost the companies $90 billion over the next decade. Only a bankruptcy court can override the state laws that make it difficult and expensive for Chrysler and GM to pare back a combined network of 10,000 dealerships, about 10 times more than Toyota has in the United States… If the Treasury were to commit government funds without getting this kind of long-overdue restructuring, it would simply be throwing good money after bad.”
You mean spirited Republicans are all the same. So what if the taxpayer takes it in the poop shoot for billions of dollars wasted on failed companies with virtually no chance of surviving. I’ve got a pension to depend on, and I want people who chose to not buy my companies products to pay for it. So what if I made significantly above any prevailing wage for my skills for 30 years.
It’s only fair.
Question: does the Escape with drums stop as well as the Escape with discs? If the answer is yes, then who cares? Drums are cheaper, last longer and aren’t as subject to debris damage or warping.
Other than looking kind of stupid when paired with alloy wheels, rear drum brakes on a non-performance vehicle are really a non-issue.
With those bailouts we are slowly but surly moving into direction of social non-democracy. I really not looking forward toward driving Volgas & Ladas build in Detroit at astonishing cost to consumers and taxpayers.
WaPo editorial 10/27/08 “Welfare for Detroit“:
What if we lend Detroit $25 billion and still nobody buys its cars?
Second, this bailout taxes the less well-off to protect the relatively privileged. The average individual General Motors production worker, whose job would be saved by the bailout, makes $56,650 per year, according to the Center for Automotive Research, and that doesn’t count better-paid, white-collar types. Meanwhile, half of all households– which typically include more than one earner — make less than $50,000 per year. Where’s the justice in that?
Congress approved $7,500 tax credits for purchasers of GM’s much-touted plug-in hybrid Chevy Volt, built to run 40 miles on a single electric charge. That would knock the net cost of the four-seat Volt, due out in late 2010, down to $32,500 — not much less than a basic Cadillac CTS costs now. Even then, it could take a decade of Volt driving to recoup the difference in purchase prices between it and the far cheaper Toyota Prius. Assuming a few well-heeled drivers take that deal, why should poorer people be taxed to enable them?
I’d like to know about the drum brakes too. It seems to me (looking at the physics) that the two potential problems with a disk/drum setup are that the disks act differently then the drums when you apply brake pad pressure and that the drums don’t cool as well. ABS, EBD, and other electronics should take care of the first issue during panic stops. Nobody is buying a stationwagon jacked up off the ground for track use or heaving hauling, so sufficiently large drums in back should work out OK in the overheating department; after all, it’s a front-heavy vehicle and the drums are only on the back.
“With those bailouts we are slowly but surly moving into direction of social non-democracy. I really not looking forward toward driving Volgas & Ladas build in Detroit at astonishing cost to consumers and taxpayers.”
Then how do you explain the vibrant German automotive industry, including the German based European operations of Ford and GM? Somehow Germany provides universal health-care AND a vibrant auto industry; from the lowly VW Polo up through the BMW M-series, as well as arguable the world’s finest sports cars. Damn social democrats!
John Horner:
There is a lot that a government can do for its automakers and other industries, like providing strong education, infrastructure, national health insurance and investment in basic research and development (a major private industry failing). But bailing out automakers is a mistake.
Life is not black-and-white, it is very grey. Nationalist countries with strong social policies, like Germany and Japan, build the best cars. On the other hand the worst German cars are built by the company that is partially state owned.
I’m a Washington Post subscriber, so I read Warren Brown’s work on occasion. I do it for the same reason that people watch Sara Palin interviews. I recall that during the O.J. Simpson murder trial, Mr. Brown tested a Ford Bronco. He put a sign in the back window that said “O.J. Bronco” and drove the Bronco down the freeway at 30 mph to see what would happen. Of course, exactly what you would expect to happen happened. I doubt the sign had anything to do with it.
@ John Horner:
You beat me to the punch.
Another issue for the staunch defenders of “free market capitalism” to mull and perhaps address is the news that Wall Street execs and managers will not be foregoing bonuses. They are literally compensating themselves with taxpayer money for destroying the economic foundations of the entire globe. And Robert, don’t count on ROI, these guys do sleight of hand almost subconsciously.
John Horner have you lived in Germany? Yes they do have universal health care, but there are definite social levels and majority of Germans (middle class if you wish) owns much less then middle class in US. There are different statistical notions based on salaries and conversion rates, but there are few families in Germany that own 2 cars (unlike every family in my suburb) and much less percentage of families own their own houses. Their cars are smaller and more fuel efficient and they cost much, much more. Majority of their expensive cars are sold in US. And they are taxed mercilessly.
Before we start wishing for something lets make sure that it is really what we want. We may get it!
People on the Coasts want to see Detroit fail. I mean, it’s that simple. Of course, it is easy for these eltist writers and talking heads to blather on and on behind the protection of the net. I’d love to see this nub talk this way to a bunch of burly dudes on the line at Ford Rouge to their faces.
Not gonna happen.