Obama says GM, Chrysler ‘not there yet’
March 30, 2009 by Matt Brogan
US President Barack Obama said in a television interview last night that both GM and Chrysler had not yet done enough to become “lean, mean and competitive”.
Mr Obama is expected to announce additional aid for the two struggling car manufacturers today as both run perilously low in cash reserves.
President Obama did not specify what steps he would announce. He did however say the carmakers had more work to do to reduce costs in the face of slumping demand.
“We’re trying to let them know that we want to have a successful auto industry, US auto industry. We think we can have a successful US auto industry. But it’s got to be one that’s realistically designed to weather this storm and to emerge … much more lean, mean and competitive than it currently is,” Mr Obama said. “That’s going to mean a set of sacrifices from all parties involved – management, labor, shareholders, creditors, suppliers, dealers. Everybody’s going to have to come to the table and say it’s important for us to take serious restructuring steps now in order to preserve a brighter future down the road.”
President Obama added: “They’re not there yet.”
Print it: 
Obama should have said to the media. “Due to the current economic crisis we have decided to turn off the light at the end of the tunnel”
GM and Chrysler in the current form are liabilities. I don’t think the cost of letting them collapse will out weigh the cost of keeping them afloat. If Ford has been able to do it on their own then they deserve the market that GM and Chrysler would leave behind.
Ouch! :-)
I vote for the salesman.
Hyundai/ Kia are building new plants in the US while chrysler and gm (now lowercase) are about to sell their antiquated ones off.
Why os he still thinking about it ? Its tough times that require tough decisions……just say goodbye to gm and chrysler and get on with other things…the American public realise and dont care if GM go under and Obama has said bailing out companies like gm is un-popular. Who reckons Holden are shitting themselves now?
Holden and Ford Aust like their US parent companies have failed to notice that the market has been changing for sometime now, the Mitsu 380 has gone who is next?
Could it be Holden? Is the Lion turning into a kitten?
Lets not bag Holden for the miserable decisions that it’s idiotic parent made. Lets hope Holden survives and is given access to Opels tech and some cutting edge tech. They should go back to making good fun reliable cars that they used to.
Just let em die and let the world enjoy European and Japanese perfection.
My architect friend told me when they design car spaces the sizes now,
do not accommodate Ford and Holden lengths.
LOL they do not accommodate Ford & Holden lengths ayy? what a load of bs, forgetting about the Fiesta/Focus/Mondeo all brilliant cars that have won plenty of awards world wide. Now your going to say but wait there european! yes but owned by a US company.
So was Aston Martin, Jaguar, Land Rover & FYI Land Rover used to be owned by Mercedes, they where producing shit cars then until Ford bought them and gee what a shock they actually produced quality cars… Same with Aston & Jaguar.
Japanese perfection? ROFL HAHAHAA, yes all Jap cars are perfect. What a load of BS, Toyota\’s have no better build quality then a Hyundai not to mention they are the most booring cars on the road, white goods for the road.
And just one last thing, if these architects do not accommodate Ford/Holden lengths(by that i presume you mean Falcon/Commys), that would mean BMW 7 Series, Luxury European 4WD\’s, Toyota 4WD\’s etc will not fit in there either, there some majorly stupid Architects.
And tell them for there sake to go get a job at McDonalds instead.
Shak
“They (Holden) should go back to making good fun reliable cars that they used to.”
Errrr, sorry, but when have Holden ever made good fun reliable cars….?
With the trouble GM and Chrysler are in, it only serves to highlight the superb job Ford have done in recent years to lift themselves out of the quagmire that is the US economy, with some award winning models like the new Fiesta, brilliant new Focus, and the Mondeo. And every Australian should be proud of the achievments of Ford Australia with the Falcon, the best car ever produced in this country by the proverbial country mile, and all done with a whole lot less money spent than GM with the Commodore.
Elitist, get your hand off it. Things like carpark spaces have to comply with standards and building codes.
That’s the problem with this world! Almost every country’s government is obsessed with making cars. America, Australia, China, India, etc. even Malaysia!
Singapore does NOT make cars, they make pills and computer chips….and yes, Singapore is a rich country.
Elitist, thats bs, as Bret said it has to comply, but I do agree that car park sizes (and everything else to save space) have shrunk in newer establishments compared to older buildings. but all in all a commie or a falcon will still fit.
Bret – “Things like carpark spaces have to comply with standards and building codes.”
All you need is to put “small cars only” sign on the smaller bay and Bob’s your uncle. I’ve seen these pop up more often now. Make the bays smaller, fit extra couple in there as a result, and make bit more money off it.