Oh now automakers want to talk about Chevy Volt...

NO CHANGES =NO MONEY, FRESH IDEAS FRESH STARTS OR NO MONEY 00000000, I REMEMBER HOW SAD I WAS WHEN THEY ABANDONED THERE FIRST ELECTRIC CAR. IT LOOKED LIKE A WEDGE OF CHEESE.I THOUGHT THAT WAS GOING TO BE A NEW BEGINNING...

if it were my choice, i would give 25 billion to automobile conversion facilities ; where the current crop of combustion vehicles can be converted into electric producing vehicles.

This threat/promise is just stupid beyond stupid!

Do you realize what their operating expenses are per month right now?! I don't believe anymore that 25 Billion or even 10 Billion more could keep them running long enough to see the production of many of these cars.

And then turn around and try to sell these cars to make a profit? What MSRP would justify spending money on a fuel efficient car in this economy?

Who do they expect will believe this pathetic wimper of a threat?!! How weak!!!! Frickin' Lame!!! aagh!!

the bailout... ha!

Complete and total bullshit. The only money any of the Big 3 should receive is that which has a guarantee of producing alternative fuel or hybrid cars. Period. No Volt? No money.

Call Toyota and Honda, tell them we'd love to have them open new plants here. We have plenty of line workers, and maybe a few former CEO's that would mop some floors for minimum wage.

Yeah... listen to your consumers and emply some corporate social responsiblity for a change... invest in the volt and do away with your damn chevy ASSuvs. No bailout no problem.

I'd go farther than that -- the ONLY way they should see one red cent is if they totally overhaul their plants and produce either hybrids or electric cars. Period. Otherwise, sayonara baby.

Everyone should rent 'Who Killed The Electric Car?'!!!!

Loan them them the money on the stipulation that all executive are fired without parachutes, raise the quality standards, and allow the workers to vote in new executive with capped and percentage based salaries.

^^

Just a friendly reminder that cars are responsible for about 1% of the damage done to earths ozone layer.

Global warming was going to happen anyway. You can't stop a natural process by scapegoating the entire US auto industry because you don't like Hummer.

No one asked for your opinion on how cars look, because you're probably driving a moped.

You know nothing of the auto industry.

You are the equivalent to feces on the sidewalk of the DMV in comparison to how much you THINK you know.

Don't you people know who Al Gore is
...oh wait...

Since the big 3 create cars that use so much gas shouldnt the oil companies be bailing them out? The big 3 are scratching the oil companies backs, the oil companies should be returning the favor.

Yeah, exactly. what you are all experiencing as the "big 3" start falling is the evolution of the automobile industry. these companies created big, ugly, gas-guzzling cars for YEARS and now whats happening is not surprising. the other, less energy wasting companies, are taking charge.

That is the reason for their threats. they are childish and as children they use these tactics to keep themselves up. i think the congress made the right choice to deny them. I hope they dont fall, i just want them to change their ways

^^ahahahahaha....

Oh wow.

^^^TDDW: theyve made an electronic car in the past. they recalled them and never made them again.

fuck GM this is whats gonna happen, the big companies that have cars which use oil fall and the companies the use biofuels begin to get more demand.

new industry.

the earth changes, this is part of change, it was bound to happen.

You cant just sit there and say "make this electric car or you wont get the bailout"

These things take time and cost more money than GM has right now. All of you people still bitter about the loss of the EV1 should get the fuck over it and look past what you think is a company that only makes SUV's.

Because they don't.

Just because your ignorance and bitterness has made you stick up your nose at buying a Chevy Cobalt (37MPG) or actually looking at the facts (Most GM vehicles are above average in reliability, and all are above average in customer satisfaction) doesn't mean you need to put millions of people out of work. Your snobbery and preconceived bullshit shouldn't cost people their jobs, and this country a historic industry.

This crisis is not the fault of the product, its the fault of ignorance and stupid people in this country that put our economy in this position so they could afford their precious overrated Prius simply because it was fashionable.

First let me point out that this article wasn't quoting GM, but rather industry pundits. Maybe they think this, maybe no.

I remember when the Volkswagen first came here. It was ugly, but cheap to buy/operate and lasted forever with min. maintenance. Only after Germany & Japan started taking their business did Detroit start making better cars. Before then, 100,000 miles was OLD. That was a lot of years ago and they're STILL in the same position. That can only be management. Gas has been going up for years and still they focused on gas guzzlers.

If they have a lot of these on the lots now they should ship them to the near east. Those folks have money. And gas. To sell here now, they'll have to give them away.

To consider cancelling the development of a vehicle that would stand a chance of making it here is ludricous. Are these folks from Mars?

I don't want to see the industry fold, lots of employment there. And this is the club they're threatening us with. But to my lights it does no good to help someone that won't help themselves. What if we took this money and used it to finance the creation of new car co's? How much worse could it be?

I think Wash was approached simply because the banks got away with it. It's not up to the taxpayers to make sure companies remain in business. If they don't know how to make their companies profitable then out of business is where they need to be. Ours is not a socialist society.

As a friend used to tell me, it's time to crap or get off the pot.

I don't know about you people but the H2 was not enough for me...

Give me the GM TANK!

If another car doesn't get produced, the better our world will be in my opinion. If people would just hop on there bikes we wouldn't be as obese, wouldn't be in a war, wouldn't have to give massive amounts of money to corrupt corporations, wouldn't put so much shit in the atmosphere...

sounds like their blowing smoke

Why don't they shut down the Chevy SUVs. If they're worried about losing money, why not start a recycling program instead, and re-use all of the materials that they used to build the millions of cars gathering dust on lots around the country?

In all honesty, I think we should let them fold...

The people who are working for the automakers will have to find a new job and this is a rough market to be stuck in. But it's much better than the alternative of giving free money to automakers and then watching them lay these people off anyway to produce their vehicles cheaper in Mexico or someplace like that...

They have been giving us the middle finger for years now... it's time we return the favor!

Or maybe they should be indicted for crimes against humanity. They're some of the major pollutors on the planet.

Just imagine where GM would be now if they had continued with the EV1 instead of crushing it and pushing the Hummer instead. And from what I have read, GM says they won't be able to make money off the Volt. GM put themselves in this situation. They have no one to blame but themselves.

Sigh, this is were the companies are trying to get the best of both economic worlds. So long as profits are good everyone wants a purely capitalistic economy; however, when profits dry up because of poor planning everyone wants a socialist like bail out so they don't incur the wrath of their bad decisions.

I'm almost inclined to let these companies die off, but the problem is all of the innocent (more or less...) workers who are tied into these companies.

Oh well, I do believe that the Volt is a stupid scare tactic by GM/Cheverolet to get a piece of the pie. Had they any intention of pursuing this, they could have seriously done so years ago.

they should go bankrupt for not making fuel efficient cars sooner and be taxed for the extra carbon their cars are contributing. They don't need rescue, they need a new business plan.

"If you don't do what I want you to, I want be your friend anymore." What a bunch of spoiled entitled juvenile jerks.
If the CEOs of the big three were worth 1/10th of there inflated salaries they would have been designing, marketing and selling these and other e-cars 30 yers ago.
I feel for the people that have to rely on these thiefs for a living. At the same time, why would big wigs expect the people that they have been fleecing for over one hundred years to come to their rescue?

If CEO's are not doing their jobs fire 'em. If they are doing their jobs and it is not working... close down the company. Isn't that what we would expect from ourselves?

Um, I think it's time to smack these auto makers around. America needs to get real on this friggin bail out stuff. It's just tax money paying for corporate gambling idiots. This is the biggest robbery of American people that has ever happened!!!

We are in big trouble....

The same GM that CRUSHED the EV1? Oh, nah, no thanks. Pricks.