AOL Money & Finance

Auto industry to U.S.: We need $35 billion, not this morning's $18 billion

This morning the auto industry was asking for $18 billion more (after the $7 billion it got without submitting its plan for survival). But now the auto industry is not happy with $18 billion -- it wants $35 billion. If the amount it asks for doubles every three months it won't be long before it's asking for $100 billion. The question is how much is too much to just rubber stamp?

General Motors Corp. (NYSE: GM) originally asked for $18 billion but now it wants $30 billion. And Chrysler asked for $5 billion more than its original request. It's all about cutting back on people and productive capacity while trying to get to the point where declining supply meets declining demand. To that end, GM will cut 47,000 people and close five more plants. Chrysler will cut 3,000 jobs, not re-start production of the Aspen and Durango, two sport utility vehicles, and will discontinue the PT Cruiser.

If all the thousands of people losing their jobs and millions losing their homes to foreclosure were not also potential customers of these companies, then GM and Chrysler might have a chance of cutting back supply to the point where it meets demand. Unfortunately, demand has a head start and it will keep winning this race. And at some point, the U.S. will need to say enough is enough. I guess we're not there yet.

Peter Cohan is president of Peter S. Cohan & Associates. He also teaches management at Babson College. His eighth book is You Can't Order Change: Lessons from Jim McNerney's Turnaround at Boeing. He has no financial interest in the securities mentioned.

Get the latest on cars and trucks
from GM and all brands at AOL Autos.

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

Symbol Lookup
IndexesChangePrice
DJIA+30.6910,464.40
NASDAQ+6.872,176.05
S&P 500+4.981,110.63

Last updated: November 26, 2009: 04:50 PM

BloggingStocks Exclusives

Hot Stocks

Learn More About GM Cars

General Motors Brands:
Find Your Next Car

AOL Autos New Cars and Used Cars

DailyFinance Headlines

Latest from BloggingBuyouts

TheFlyOnTheWall.com Headlines

BioHealth Investor Headlines

WalletPop Headlines

My Portfolios

Track your stocks here!

Find out why more people track their portfolios on AOL Money & Finance then anywhere else.

BloggingStocks Partners

More from AOL Money & Finance

WalletPop Headlines