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The idiots at the helm of the big three auto makers flew into town on their company jets. If we the taxpayers end up lending GM, Ford and Chrysler any money, a requirement should be that the current management is out the door. They are the ones who made the decisions that put them in the position they are in.
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Arrogance may not be a strong enough word for a couple of the CEO’s. The CEO of Ford was asked if he would forego his 7.5 million salary and bonus package, and his reply was “I think I’m good right where I’m at”, meaning he wanted the bailout but would not give up his money. That is so far beyond arrogance that I can’t come up with an adequate word to describe it.
I have no sympathy for the Big 3. They dug their own graves by refusing to adapt to the times, by becoming too bogged down with the UAW, and by simply not innovating.
They are plain and simply not producing competitive goods. And whats just as harmful to them is that now they have a steep negative stigma against their products.
Inability to adapt=death sentance. They were given a chance in the early 80’s and they totally blew it.
If our country is really a free market society, then the automakers should fail and restructure under bankruptcy…and the same goes for the banks, etc.
What people seem to not realize is that we are now in a GLOBAL economy, where our products must compete against others from around the world. And if the products from the US fall short compared to others from other parts of the world, then the US companies need to step it up or go out of business.
In short, “Country of Origin” carries very little weight.
Quote:If our country is really a free market society, then the automakers should fail and restructure under bankruptcy…and the same goes for the banks, etc.What people seem to not realize is that we are now in a GLOBAL economy, where our products must compete against others from around the world. And if the products from the US fall short compared to others from other parts of the world, then the US companies need to step it up or go out of business.
In short, “Country of Origin” carries very little weight.
Well said. I fear that this is only the beginning. So many companies are run by greedy CEO’s who make millions while the working class get little pay, long hours, and little for their efforts. The choice in the past was unions but that became as corrupt as the CEO’s and did little to help the workers while taking even more from their pockets.
I have said for years that this country was headed for a revolution because CEO’s pay was increasing at an alarming rate while the masses were struggling at 2 and 3 % pay increases. Also the housing and auto prices were going up at rates beyond what people were making. It looks like I have been right. The housing market has collapsed bringing the banks with it. The auto market is collapsing. Now many of the companies run by the same type of irresponsible greed as the big 3 will start to collapse as well. It is an economic revolution.
You cannot continue to give all of the money to 10% of the populace while expecting the other 90% to continue to pay for everything. Sooner or later it all falls down.
Viva La Revolution.Well Ford has responded. The CEO offered to work for $1/year, sell the corporate jets, and cancel all bonuses and merit raises to salaried employees. To me that is a great move but it also tells me that he has made way too much already if he can afford to work for $1. GM offered to drive to the next congressional meeting.
It is funny that the one company that said it can probably survive next year without help, and has the lowest CEO salary, is the one company that is willing to make the first move to help.
The other high-dollar CEO’s in this country better start to take notice because this is only the beginning. This economic crisis will hit them too.
The 3 companies are pathetic. Now they are coming begging for a handout. Why didn’t they make the changes necessary before it got to this point? The upper management doesn’t have to worry, they have plenty of money. As usual the little guy gets the short end of the stick. Sounds like Ford is positioned to ride it out if the other automakers survive. Too bad the industry is so inter-dependent. No industry should be that intertwined.
Yeah I got into a discussion about this subject on another forum with a real ultra-republican extreme winger. He was all defensive on the CEO’s deserving the big paychecks because they work so hard.
I cornered him with this argument…A CEO is responsible for the future of a company, ie the job of a CEO is to plan 5 years out and put the company in a position to be profitable. He agreed.
If these CEO’s are worth the mega-millions they make, then they should have seen this coming and prepared for it , because after all that is the job of a CEO and these guys are so good that they are worth millions. So since this is happening than obviously there was no preparation, which means the CEO was not doing the job that he was getting paid millions for, which means he is not worth the pay.
I won the argument.
As well you should have won that argument. I BTW am a right wing conservative and was appalled at the arrogance of the CEOs flying in their private jets. Now they say they will go to Washington in hybrid cars. I think that is too little too late. First, let’s quit installing these Execs from non auto related businesses. What do food and cosmetics execs know about the auto industry? The execs should at least have some love for cars. I mean people like Jim Wangers, Lee Iacocca, those kind of guys.
I think we need to simply stop paying CEO’s mega-bucks with golden parachutes. We need to make CEO pay directly related to company performance and not guaranteed. CEO pay should also be relative to employee pay.
I really like the idea of compensation based on performance. If Ford does well financially, then I don’t have a problem with the CEO and top execs doing well also.
The only way to effectively move froward fro0m this point is to remove all the management in place now. Put people in place who are not short-sighted and can actually look into the future.
GTO Man wrote:
Quote:The only way to effectively move froward fro0m this point is to remove all the management in place now. Put people in place who are not short-sighted and can actually look into the future.I agree, and I am not against alternative energy and more efficient vehicles either, but it seems the liberal left do not want to budge unless the automakers start immediately with alternative vehicles. R&D needs to go into these, and in the mean time we are going to have stuff that runs on gasoline. The invention and use of E85 was a big step in the right direction, but it isn’t much cheaper to manufature that fuel.
Driving to Washington in a hybrid vehicle isn’t going to get you anywhere either, espeically since the corrupt media slammed the automakers for flying in there private jets. How about we slam some of these politicians who fly to DC in there private jets that burn fuel?
moparkid25 wrote:
Quote:GTO Man wrote:Quote:The only way to effectively move froward fro0m this point is to remove all the management in place now. Put people in place who are not short-sighted and can actually look into the future.I agree, and I am not against alternative energy and more efficient vehicles either, but it seems the liberal left do not want to budge unless the automakers start immediately with alternative vehicles. R&D needs to go into these, and in the mean time we are going to have stuff that runs on gasoline. The invention and use of E85 was a big step in the right direction, but it isn’t much cheaper to manufature that fuel.
Driving to Washington in a hybrid vehicle isn’t going to get you anywhere either, espeically since the corrupt media slammed the automakers for flying in there private jets. How about we slam some of these politicians who fly to DC in there private jets that burn fuel?
I should clarify this post as being somewhat biased being employd in the automotive industry. All 3 companies have really painted themselves in a corner and should have done something a long time ago instead of building on the SUV craze and making money had over fist. Now many people stand to lose jobs and will have to do something else for an income or go back to college and get a degree in something where you can’t get a job.
Is Bob Lutz a moron? Or is he just that greedy and think we are all that stupid?
After the CEO of Ford offered to work for $1 and offered to cancel all bonuses for salaried employees. Ford has now said that they think they can restructure enough and survive without any government assistance. After congress has put the pay of CEO’s in question.
Bob Lutz goes on the air saying that his $1.5 million salary is not that much and should not be in question. His reasoning? Other people make more in other businesses. Are you kidding me? Who the fudge needs $1.5M/year anyway? I honestly hope that foolish statement makes the congress say no to the bailout. I honestly hope it comes back to bite him in the rear end so he can have to find a job making normalpeople pay. Hey Bob, that type of greed is what got GM in trouble dumbass.
It looks like they are going to appoint a Car Czar. I hope they get someone who knows the car business and cares about cars, and not some left over from the EPA. I wrote my Senator regarding this and advise those on this board to do the same.
Well more proof that the house of representatives is not the voice of the people, the house passed the bailout even though public opinion does not support it. The latest public opinion poll says 43% support and 47% do not. Yet the house passed it pretty easily. Way to listen to the people guys.
The senate could vote as early as Friday. The rumor is the bill could get defeated.
Look if Bob Lutz’ comment alone doesn’t tell you that the automakers aren’t willing to change to survive then what does? They want to continue on as business as usual, just like they have for years even though they knew they needed to change to keep up. Let the automakers survive or fail on their own. It is capitalism. Did any of the big three want to help Studebaker or American Motors or Nash or any of a number of smaller US automakers that fell before? No. So why do they get a handout now?
On a side note, it is funny how it has been preached and preached that we are in a global economy yet this is all about “our” automakers competing with “foreign” automakers. Where is the global view in that? It is also funny how “our” automakers have production lines outside the US while “foreign” automakers have plants in many US states.
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