Thursday, May 17, 2012

Automotive Industry Rebirth

Yes, Obama "rescued" General Motors and they are generating "record profits," but let's not get too excited yet. The taxpayers still own the majority of their stock, and it is still worth far less than what we paid for it. The record profits are in unadjusted dollars, and once adjusted for the revised prices for automobiles would look one whole hell of a lot less impressive. Finally, as with most profits reported today, much of that improved profit has been achieved by cost cutting.

I also recall when Chrysler Corporation was "rescued" and Lee Ioccoa repaid the loans ahead of schedule. That didn't prevent the company from failing again and being sold to a private equity firm, under which it failed yet again and was bailed out by Obama along with GM.

So I'm waiting to see how long this auto industry "rebirth" will last.

1 comment:

  1. bruce9:39 AM

    Chrysler's 'rescuing' by the loan guarantees in 1979-80 and the 2009 bankruptcy was 30 years apart. You may not be around long enough for the next debacle. Of course, all these issues are ongoing, so et the blogging continue!

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