Throughout the Detroit automakers’ bailout saga, the United Auto Workers’ leadership has claimed that the union has made enough major concessions to date, and that demands for it to make more, from company and government officials, are attempts “to make workers shoulder the lion’s share of the costs of any restructuring plan.”

If the UAW leadership is so concerned about the union’s rank-and-file bearing the costs of the Detroit automakers’ restructuring, there’s one item on which it could easily save millions for…

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During the negotiations for the multi-billion dollar bailout being announced today, an option again apparently came up that might have gone a long way toward strengthening General Motors and Chrysler’s viability that wouldn’t have cost taxpayers a dime — a merger between the two of them.

But also once again, the idea was quickly shot down. The companies didn’t give a reason, but more than likely it was the hurdles of antitrust rules. The Detroit News recently quoted an antitrust expert saying…

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In early 2007, the economy was humming along and General Motors was considered to be in the process of a turnaround. To help stabilize itself, the company was considering buying its smaller, money-losing rival Chrysler.

But it faced a stumbling block in the form of antitrust law. According to analysts looking at a potential merger, the government would consider a combined GM and Chrysler too big and powerful with the ability to drive competition out of the market. The Wall Street…

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There are hundreds of regulations that Congress and agencies have imposed on the auto industry, driving up their costs unnecessarily. As an illustration, these are the new rules from the DOT identified by Wayne Crews in the 2008 edition of Ten Thousand Commandments:

– Reform of the automobile fuel economy standards program.
– Light-truck Corporate Average Fuel Economy standards (2012 model years and beyond).
– Upgrade of head restraints in vehicles.
– Rear center lap and shoulder belt requirement.
– Monitoring systems for improved tire…

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Apple's 1984 "Big Brother" ad

An article over at Ad Age brings up an angle on the whole auto industry bailout probably not considered much before.  The fact that a yet-to-be-appointed “car czar” will have control over a multibillion dollar advertising budget for the big three.  Under the guise of “oversight,” this would effectively “Create World’s Most Powerful Marketing Exec[utive].”  

The draft rescue plan for Detroit sent to the White House by Congress yesterday calls for the appointment of a “car czar”…

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In a famous quotation from his 1986 address to the annual White House Conference on Small Business, President Ronald Reagan quipped that “government’s view of the economy could be summed up in a few short phrases: If it moves, tax it. If it keeps moving, regulate it. And if it stops moving, subsidize it.”

The Detroit bailout bill that passed the U.S. House of Representatives last night — agreed to by the White House and Democratic leaders but at this point apparently…

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Eli, in answer to the blog post you phrased as a question, the argument from the individual you heard, echoed by other Big 3 execs, is not a valid point in support of a bailout.

Their claim that consumers won’t buy from an automaker in bankruptcy is a specious argument. Yes, some won’t, but many consumers also are not going to buy cars from companies perceived to be so weak that they have to beg for a bailout from the government. A…

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In the debate about bailing out the Big 3 automakers, it is said that we just can’t allow a bankruptcy. Despite the fact that Chapter 11 bankruptcies have taken place for retailers such as Circuit City and many airlines such as U.S. Airways, autos are said to be different because of the duration of time that people hold on to their cars for.

Horrific senarios are painted of consumers not being able to get parts for their automobiles if manufacturers…

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