Nothing needs to be said... Ford, Chrysler and GM's contributions after 9/11 An interesting commentary...You might find this of interest: 'CNN Headline News did a short news listing regarding Ford and GM's contributions to the relief and recovery efforts in New York and Washington. The findings are as follows..... 1. Ford- $10 million to American Red Cross matching employee contributions of the same number plus 10 Excursions to NY Fire Dept. The company also offered ER response ! team se rvices and office space to displaced government employees. 2. GM- $10 million to American Red Cross matching employee contributions of the sam e number and a fleet of vans, suv's, and trucks. 3. Daimler Chrysler- $10 million to support of the children and victims of the Sept. 11 attack. 4. Harley Davidson motorcycles- $1 million and 30 new motorcycles to the New York Police Dept. 5. Volkswagen-Employ ees and management created a Sept 11 Foundation, funded initial with $2 million, for the assistance of the children and victims of the WTC. 6. Hyundai- $300,000 to the American Red Cross. 7. Audi-Nothing. 8. BMW-Nothing. 9. Daewoo- Nothing. 10. Fiat-Nothing. 11. Honda- Nothing despite boasting of second best sales month ever in August 2001 12. Isuzu- Nothing. 13. Mitsubishi-Nothing. 14. Nissan-Nothing. 15. Porsche-Nothing. Press release with condolences via the Porsche website. 16. Subaru- Nothing. 17. Suzuki- Nothing. 18. Toyota-Nothing despite claims of high sales in July and August 2001. Condolences posted on the website Whenever the time may be for you to purchase or lease a new vehicle, keep this information in mind. You might want to give more consideration to a car manufactured by an American-owned and / or American based company. Apart from Hyundai and Volkswagen, the foreign car companies contributed nothing at all to the citizens of the United States ... It's OK for these companies to take money out of this country, but it is apparently not acceptable to return some in a time of crisis. I believe we should not forget things like this. Say thank you in a way that gets their attention..
Other factors not often referenced are that that southern states gave huge tax and impact fee incentives for many foreign car makers to site plants in the south. These incentives by the states with public money give foreign automakers a boost relative to the Big three US makers. By undewriting the defense costs for Korea, Germany and Japan with US troops and bases these foreign automakers are again given a relative advantage. Otherwise these governments must demand a higher tax base from their home auto industries. As for auto executives flying corporate jets to meet with Congress, it is hard to me to find any fault with this. Security can be an issue and a legitimate concern for CEOs of major corporations. Plus a CEO's salary adjusted for a 40 hour work week is about 10K an hour. At that rate you had better not waste time hanging around an airport. It makes more sense to fly private. Sure, there is blame enough to go around but it is not all black or white like some say.
You know it's a good thing you posted this.:gp: Alot of times when people don't see it in black and white they just don't know. My mother had a misfortune and her brand new Mercury Montego got totalled. And she wants to go car shopping right after Thanksgiving and i'll be bringing her to the above American Based car companies. I always said they should show that horrifing video of the planes going in so people keep it on their minds. We can't forget what happened, and now can reward the companies that helped us out in the most horrendous attack in history!!:beers2:
Good post, Dave. It'd be nice if the media focused more on what the American automakes have done for this country. Sure, they overspend, but we're talking about businesses that are almost 100 years old. They put the American public on the road. In style. Compare that to the asian market.
Unfortunately, that story is false. That was an e-mail that circulated a couple months after the 9/11 attacks, created by someone that didn't do enough research. We (as a nation) were very pro-American after the 9/11 attacks, and we finger pointed at anything non-American, including Toyota, Honda, etc. But I do seriously doubt that Toyota, Honda, or Nissan donated anywhere near what the Big 3 did. That being said, I've never owned anything but GM vehicles. :TU: My father worked for GM for 37 years (retired as an exec in 1989), and our family owes everything to what GM did for my dad. In fact, my father would never even let a non-GM vehicle park in our driveway...for 37 years!!! The only exception was back in 1975, when a close friend of ours was allowed to park his 1971 Super Bee 440 Six Pack in our driveway. The car was just too cool to let sit in the street. :Brow:
Snopes.com looked into the question and reported on it. I have included the web address. http://www.snopes.com/rumors/cars.asp
we have one report of gm,chrysler and ford donating 10 million each and another report of the big 3 at 1 million each .Just goes to show you we all believe what is placed in the media.Me personally ;I will always buy from the big free and try to keep americans working.But a guy working on the assembly line making $75.oo dollars an hour is obsurb.not intended to affend anybody;but we give the banks 700 million dollars ;but the banks are shutting down peoples credit line and people are losing their jobs and homes everyday.the money never seems to trickle down to the people who really need it.just my 2 cents.chris
The numbers are a tad different everyplace you read about this report, although every report shows Chrysler giving 10 million alone and GM and Ford giving at least a million each and a ton of free vehicles, I `ve been working for Chrysler Corp for 13 years now, i work in the "skilled trades" which means we make more than the assembly line workers, I can tell you i haven`t hit $50k so far this year. $75 an hour, i wish.. I guess alot of us believe eveything we see/hear in the media, but alot of times that`s our only option for info.
Jim, your observations are dead-on correct. Please allow me to add some additional observations about this situation; CAFE standards forced down the big three's throats. Involuntary recalls for many, many very minor and insignificant problems, for vehicles built up to 30 years prior. Unwieldy and bloated union contracts facilitated by federal labor laws. Outrageous damage & punitive claims awards given to drunks, dumbasses, and idiots for the last 25 years. EPA rules written and enforced by anti-capitalist zealots. I could go on for days, but why bother o No: Before I stop though, think about this; During WWII, whose assembly lines were commandeered by the federal government to save their own asses? If you guessed GM, FORD, & CHRYSLER, give yourself a pat on the back, and remember this is also a NATIONAL DEFENSE ISSUE. If you guessed Toyota, Honda, Nissan, Daewoo, Bmw, Mitsubishi, ect, ect, ect, YOU ARE AN IDIOT OF THE LOWEST ORDER, AND AS SUCH, YOU SHOULD RUN INTO THE NEAREST STREET AND BEGIN TO PLAY. :blast: :blast: :blast: :blast: :blast: :blast: :blast: :blast: :blast: :blast: :blast: :blast: :blast: :blast:
If I can help with a pin # under the friends and family plan PM me :TU: Just helped a friend save some money 2 weeks ago. Think Ford first
If you guessed Toyota, Honda, Nissan, Daewoo, Bmw, Mitsubishi, ect, ect, ect, YOU ARE AN IDIOT OF THE LOWEST ORDER, AND AS SUCH, YOU SHOULD RUN INTO THE NEAREST STREET AND BEGIN TO PLAY. :blast: :blast: :blast: :blast: :blast: :blast: :blast: :blast: :blast: :blast: :blast: :blast: :blast: :blast:[/QUOTE] Steve, Or run for political office! you'll undoubtedly win, especially in Michigan.
"Steve, Or run for political office! you'll undoubtedly win, especially in Michigan." Anyone or anything could win in Michigan if you're in the "elite" party or play their game. Winning football games in Michigan seems to be a problem....though..... Then again, there's Minnesota.......o No: o No:
No only is it absurd it's not true. Another un-truth is that everyone is sleeping, reading or time clocking each other out. Does it happen....sure.......but it happens in nearly every business. Folks have to ask themselves.....if everyone is doing it how does product go out the door?
It seems so many times the last few years,customers come in and ask,What kind of car,or truck do you recommend? And usually they come back with some ugly looking foriegn piece of crap.I would like to ask them if they have any idea what they are doing to thier own country,but i cant.It is always with great pleasure when they start repairing these jewels,as most are not cheap to work.It still nausiates me ,though.
I would like to just say that Toyota, Nissan and Honda are publically traded companies. If you want some of the profit from those companies buy shares. I would bet a huge lump of cash that you own them in your 401K. Also the states that give incentives to build factories there would do it for the Detroit 3 if they were looking to build a new factory. They will dish out incentives to anyone that will create employment. The only difference is the foreign automakers do have the history with the unions and legacy costs that the Detroit 3 have. Devils advocate question. Why am I less of a citizen if I purchase a Honda made in the US? I am supporting the people at the factory, local dealers and local mechanics. I am also supporting the Doctors, Dentists and local grocery stores that the people who work for Honda visit Isn't that supporting Americans?
That's kinda the point of Dave's thread here. The impact in the US is farther reaching with GM Ford and Chrysler.
What would happen if everyone stopped buying the foreign brands built here? A large number of people would loose their jobs also. This arguement needs to be changed to Buy cars made in the US or with the highest amount of US content. Do you realize that 3 of the top ten US content vehicles are made by foreign car makers? Why shouldn't you be proud to own one of those? http://www.cars.com/go/advice/Story.jsp?section=top&story=amMade0808&subject=ami
Matt, I think the problem here is that the Japanese automakers are now entrenched, thanks to 25 years of government incentives, tax breaks, sleezy politicians, lobbyists, you know, the same old story. Obviously, you can't shut down Honda or Toyota America now, anymore than we can shut down Ford. It would be devastaing to our economy. The politicians sold out our country long ago, all for the sake of a "good economy" during the 1990's. Now we're paying the price. 20 years ago, I (and millions of others) knew that allowing foreign automakers to build on American soil would eventually collapse our domestic auto industry, but we were called "alarmists", we were called "isolationalists", we were called "anti-American". And because we didn't want Japanese auto makers building cars in America, and we didn't want NAFTA, the Liberals even went so far as to us "racists", as if our concern for the American economy meant we disliked Japanese or Mexican people uzzled: . But guess what, we were right. Now in 2008, we're now talking about something that was unthinkable 20 years ago. General Motors, Ford, and Chrysler are going to fold. The way the media has been in love with any vehicle that's NON-American for the past 20 years, and the way they have been slamming U.S. brands, they turned an entire generation of buyers off on American cars. It would be nice if those same media outlets now begin talking about the high quality of the U.S. cars today, but it won't happen. In the media, it's "hip" to be anti-American, even more so in Hollywood.
