Wagoner to Obama: More Funding Please

[Andonis]

General Motors CEO made it pretty clear what the domestic automakers need from the U.S. government: more funding for alternative fuel research.

Wagoner made the plea at an economic summit held at Carnegie Mellon University, with Illinois Senator Barack Obama in attendance.

Wagoner stressed that in addition to the government funding of alternative fuel research, more attention needs to be paid to making green technologies affordable for the average consumer, according to The Detroit News. “We need to keep in mind … application of these new technologies is pretty expensive,” Wagoner said. “We need to provide some support to make sure these new technologies are affordable to consumers.” GM is already pushing for a $7,000 tax credit for anyone that purchases the company’s upcoming 2010 Chevrolet Volt.

Obama responded by asking: “How do we shape our energy future in a way that allows GM to remain competitive, keeps some of the best workers in the world on their jobs and generates profits for the company and shareholders?”

Wagoner’s response was to focus more on battery and hydrogen technologies, which promise to dominate the automotive landscape over the next 20 or so years. Wagoner also hinted at the domestic automakers’ increasingly red balance sheets, saying that further government funding was necessary.

http://www.leftlanenews.com/gms-wago...y-funding.html

[Ming]

"Subsidize the $4*,000 Volt so it comes closer to the $21,500 MSRP of the Prius. Please?"

Jim Press: Japan Inc Paid For Prius;
Lutz: Volt To Sell At $48k
By Edward Niedermeyer
April 1, 2008
David Kiley of Business Week (via MSNBC) dives into the CAFE issue, and in the process rounded up a wild-and-woolly collection of quotables from some of the biz' top bosses. The biggest news comes from Chrysler's Jim Press, who claims that that when he was at Toyota "the Japanese government paid for 100% of the development of the battery and hybrid system that went into the Toyota Prius." Although the revelation reeks of Japan Inc. business/government collusion, let's remember that our own government funneled over a billion to U.S. automakers at around the same time through the Partnership For A New Generation of Vehicles. The fact that the American people got little more than three concept cars is hardly the fault of the Japanese government or Toyota. Still, Press' revelation does shed some light on Toyota's current dominance of the hybrid market. Meanwhile, Bob Lutz continues to symbolize America's inability to meet the new demand for efficiency. In the same piece, Lutz unveiled the next generation of "Maximum Sticker Shock" for the forthcoming Chevy Volt: a cool $48k. Get some perspective on that number here.

http://www.thetruthaboutcars.com/pre...o-sell-at-48k/

The Partnership for a New Generation of Vehicles was a cooperative research program between the U.S. government and major auto corporations, aimed at establishing U.S. leadership in the development of extremely fuel-efficient (up to 80 mpg) vehicles while retaining the features that make them marketable and affordable. The partnership, formed in 1993, involved 8 federal agencies [1], the national laboratories, universities, and the United States Council for Automotive Research (USCAR), which comprises DaimlerChrysler, Ford Motor Company and General Motors Corporation. On track to achieving its objectives, the program was cancelled in 2001 at the request of the automakers.

GM, Ford, and Chrysler all created working concept vehicles of 5 passenger famly cars that achieved at least 72 mpg [4]. GM created the 80 mpg Precept, Ford created the 72 mpg Prodigy, and Chrysler created the 72 mpg ESX-3.

During a closed-door session with several journalists at the Cacharel restaurant, Lutz declared that:

–Hybrid cars like those made by Toyota “make no economic sense,” because their price will never come down, and diesel autos like those touted by Chrysler are also uneconomic. The only place in Europe that diesel-driven cars are big, he said, is where diesel fuel is half the cost of regular gasoline; in most places there, the costs are comparable and diesel has little market penetration.

http://frontburner.dmagazine.com/200...d-cars-as-art/

[sigma]

I doubt the Volt is going to come in at 48k. I've seen Bob Lutz (once again) shoot off his mouth with a 40k estimate, but I doubt it will be quite that high. Wagoner has a point; Japan heavily subsidizes their industries, as does Europe (even though they deny it), and the Chinese are quite naked about their protectionism. It's time this country did the same, or we won't have any industry with products left to export courtesy of this fiction known as free trade.

[1931Chevy]

please, lord help me save GM from bankruptcy or me been fired


whats did you say, oh yes the Toyota Sucks

[markform]

Corporate welfare for millionaires.

Same Chicken Little story back in the 80's. President Reagan smiled and said...no. President McCain will man up and do the same.

[2648562]

The partnership, formed in 1993, involved 8 federal agencies [1], the national laboratories, universities, and the United States Council for Automotive Research (USCAR), which comprises DaimlerChrysler, Ford Motor Company and General Motors Corporation. On track to achieving its objectives, the program was cancelled in 2001 at the request of the automakers.
----------------

You know, if there weren't hundreds of thousands of families depending on GM, Ford, and whatever the other one's called now, I think this country would be better off without them.

[1931Chevy]

The automakers walked away because some critics (Nader)started pushing that the goverment didnt gave more funds because this was the time of the big profits from the SUV and that the automakers should pay for the development of new technologies

[63GrandSport001]

when gm has the money to make a smart move instead they make the greedy moves that got them where they are today

[logansowner]

I'm against corporate welfare for any company, HOWEVER, if Japan is going to do it for Toyota, the US should do it for GM. If Japan didn't bend over backwards for Toyota, they wouldn't be anywhere near where they are now. They would likely have the same great vehicles and marketing, but they would be making much smaller profits if the Yen wasn't artificially lowered.


Bring it on. But they gotta smarten the hell up with the price of the Volt. Toyota is going to have a plug in Prius at a MUCH lower price, 48 grand is ****ing retarded. Ridiculous.

[jimmyisland]

What the heck can Obama do when he is not a President yet? GM stop foolishly waste your money. This guy can be just another liar and lobbying for fund to help him for the election.

[ericmvest]

Originally Posted by markform

Corporate welfare for millionaires.

Same Chicken Little story back in the 80's. President Reagan smiled and said...no. President McCain will man up and do the same.

It was OK for the Federal Government to subsidize Toyota, a foreign car company, with the $3,150 tax credit for the Prius, but it’s not OK to subsidize America's largest car company, General Motors, with a $7,000 tax credit for the Volt?? The Volt deserves a much larger subsidy than the Prius because it is built by an American company and its technology is much more promising to reduce our oil consumption.

I don't think the Japanese subsidize the Big Three's products in Japan. They do just the opposite, throwing many informal and formal trade barriers at the Big Three's products to keep them out of their market.

[goblue]

Originally Posted by logansowner

I'm against corporate welfare for any company, HOWEVER, if Japan is going to do it for Toyota, the US should do it for GM. If Japan didn't bend over backwards for Toyota, they wouldn't be anywhere near where they are now. They would likely have the same great vehicles and marketing, but they would be making much smaller profits if the Yen wasn't artificially lowered.


Bring it on. But they gotta smarten the hell up with the price of the Volt. Toyota is going to have a plug in Prius at a MUCH lower price, 48 grand is ****ing retarded. Ridiculous.

I have to agree with this, I believe in fair trade, not free trade.

[milton112c]

Whoever the hell wins the election better subsidizing the Big Three or else we are looking at a major economic crash if Ford and GM fell. It is important to help them esp when the ricers get a lot of help from the Japanese gov't. If they can artifically lower the yen, we should fight back.

[Butz]

I got a liberal idea, even though I'm a conservative, anyone who buys an import is taxed and the tax money goes to subsidize domestic cars like the Volt.


I'm gonna get flamed for this

[windvale]

Originally Posted by Butz

I got a liberal idea, even though I'm a conservative, anyone who buys an import is taxed and the tax money goes to subsidize domestic cars like the Volt.


I'm gonna get flamed for this

I'm a conservative also...But why would you penalize the loyal Americans in Georgetown, Kentucky that build the Camry...and the American consumers ?