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The end-of-the year numbers released Monday provided more evidence of the on-going free fall for the big three automakers.
Ford down 32%, G.M. 31% and Chrysler 30%.
There are though, some good numbers when it comes to cars.
Starting with the 17.4 billion dollars in bailout funds from Washington.
That money could provide some consumer confidence and begin to “pump-up” interest and ultimately sales.
“People don’t want to buy a car from a company that might go thru bankruptcy, so that is a big tremendous help to us,” said Chrysler dealer Howard Sellz.
Ford didn’t take any federal help.
But Chrysler and G.M. did and to keep it the companies must prove to Washington that they can ultimately turn a profit.
They will also have to cut executive pay and perks and work out a deal to lower the wages of union workers to compete with foreign automakers with plants here in the U.S.
All of that by the end of March.
It’s a tough proposition, but one that the president-elect promised to help out with long before he got the job.
“I’m immediately meeting with heads of the big three auto makers as well with the United Auto Workers. And to sit down and craft a strategy that puts us on a path for an auto industry that can compete with anybody in the world,” said Obama in an interview on October 30th, 2008.
Of course that difficult road to recovery begins with consumers here at home.
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