The Guru College
The American Auto Industry
Is anyone else surprised that the day after the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act is passed, GM shows up in the news, hat in hand, asking for $30 billion USD? Is that timing not lost on anyone? Further, they “could run out of money by March without new funds” – I have a news flash – March is two weeks away. Oh noes! Panic! And to further scare the US populace into action, they announce that they don’t have enough cash to keep Saturn or Saab afloat.
My thought is that they are betting that after the lawmakers have given away $800 billion, they aren’t going to flinch over another $30 or $40 billion. And three months from now, another undisclosed chunk of change, because “the downturn is more pronounced than expected”. Sure – give them the money – but fire all of the management, and tell the United Auto Workers that “sorry, GM’s too big to fail – and that means that you need to get lost as well.”