Cars, trucks and more

No more aid for the US auto industry?
65 percent of registered US voters, according to a Quinnipiac University poll, do not believe the government has the responsibility to help US automakers.
In recent weeks several other polls have indicated the same.
Labels: bailout
hybridcarblog.com

How much will it take to save GM?
GM is preparing to submit its viability plan, but it won’t include the needed concessions from the UAW and bondholders, although those concessions are not absolutely required right now. Nonetheless, GM is already acknowledging that it will need more money.
Originally, GM had requested $18 billion when it first [...]

Survival dependent upon Washington?
The Obama administration is in talks with Detroit’s automakers about the need for more financial help for the struggling automakers, but no decisions will be made until after Chrysler and GM turn in their plans for future viability.
One can imagine, however, that if the EPA approves California’s waiver to regulate tailpipe emissions [...]

How long will Chrysler survive?
So, the Big 2 have been given their bailout, although they were given an amount that was far less than they suggested they needed. Likewise, the bailout was for an amount far less than what many independent economists have claimed would be needed.
Thus, is this just the beginning? Will the Obama [...]

Is this really going to save GM?
By 2014, automakers will be selling 90,000 plug-in hybrid vehicles per year in the US, thanks to tax credits, according to a new EIA report. And, by 2030 PHEVs will make up just 2 percent of total new vehicle sales in the US.
Conventional hybrid vehicles, on the other hand, [...]

Who does Congress represent?
According to a Washington Post poll, 55 percent of Americans still oppose a bailout for automakers, versus 42 percent that support a bailout. Those against the bailout believe that the US auto industry is nearing bankruptcy because of bad business practices, and that bankruptcy won’t disrupt the economy too adversely.
I guess you [...]

White House to the rescue
The Senate has rejected the automaker bailout 52 – 35. However, both the Treasury and the White House have indicated that TARP funds might now be used to save the Big 3 from bankruptcy.
Labels: bailout
hybridcarblog.com

Time to rethink transportation?
The Brookings Institution has released a fantastic study on the relationship of the car and America that adds an interesting element to the auto bailout.
“America is experiencing its longest and steepest drop in driving, signaling a permanent shift away from reliance on the car to other modes of transportation. In the coming [...]

Hard to get excited about hybrids like the Tahoe
Just checked out a video that GM is using to trump up support for the bailout of the US auto industry, something I already support, although tentatively. Yet, this video demonstrates the problem with the Big 3 and with GM. Too much tomorrow. The next big thing, [...]

Build more hybrids?
If there is one thing that has annoyed me with the US auto industry more than anything the last 5 years, it’s been the lack of hybrid cars, especially a Prius-fighter. Even GM’s Chevy Volt really isn’t a Prius-fighter. For many more years, there is going to be a need for both conventional [...]