Auto Company CEOs Honk At Stalled Congress
If These Guys Drove Like They Manage, Their Licenses Would Be Suspended; Offer to Work For $1 Should Still Trigger ‘Excessive Compensation’ Charges
Here are a few facts to stick in your glove compartment:
— Ford lost money in each of the last nine years and is working on something like 13 years of declining market share.
— In 2006, when the economy was still doing well, the average loss on every car Ford sold was $1925. And they’re in the best financial shape of the Big Three.
— The default rate on loans made on American cars are almost twice those for European and Japanese cars.
— The average gas mileage for the Top 10 most fuel efficient American cars is 34.0 Highway/27.5 City. For the Japanese Top 10 the numbers are 40.6 and 36.3, respectively.
So, excuse me if I’m not impressed by the car execs driving from Detroit to Washington in brand new American cars.
They should’ve used a Toyota and saved money by leasing it.
Disingenuously, the executives are blaming their current woes on “market conditions” and “the financial crisis.” Um … maybe, if you want to say that the market conditions of the last 25 years — during which most other companies registered record profits — were a problem for you.
In his prepared statement (about the only thing Ford appears to have been prepared for in the last 10 years), Ford CEO Alan Mulally said his company “isn’t in as desperate straits as rivals GM and Chrysler, [but] could still use a federal guarantee of some $9 billion ‘as a critical backstop.’”
I don’t know about you but my 401-K could use a couple million “as a critical backstop” right about now.
Guess I’d better fuel up the old Honda for a trip to D.C.
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Auto execs admit they made mistakes but are largely happy with their performance…
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Photo credit: EveryStockPhoto.com
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