[2ndDivisionVet]

I knew he'd find a way to blame President Bush for Detroit's problems.

[sionnsar]

Allow me to be the first to say it: Obama’s Fault!

[max americana]

>> it is American capitalism and society at a crossroads.

Well, it’s the anti-American Guardian’ with it’s stupidity working again.

[LiberConservative]

My great-grandfather walked away from candles when he realized he would be better off with light bulbs.

[Secret Agent Man]

Baloney.

[Azzurri]

Now, America's big three car companies - General Motors, Ford and Chrysler - are fighting for their lives.

Does this guy know that the Car of the Year in Europe is from GM? The runner-up? A Ford. GM & Ford do extremely well overseas because they are not burdened by the retirees' health care and pensions as they are in the USA. I'd love to see them get the same level playing field in the USA, which can only happen thru the demise of the UAW.

[Cowboy Bob]

The car was the symbol of the prewar 20th century.

I always thought it was a symbol of post-war 20th century. (primarily the '50s and '60s)

[Azzurri]

It was telling that as Detroit's CEOs were suffering humiliation in Washington, Germany's BMW was unveiling a battery-powered Mini E two years before GM's Volt hits the streets - and with treble the range. If anything, the German love affair with the car trumps America's and its car companies try to resist regulation no less aggressively. But European political systems are less open to being completely bent by corporate lobbying and regulation is seen as more legitimate.

Boy, the guy who wrote this article is completely clueless. Looks like he thought up a topic called "American-bashing" and then just threw in the auto industry as a means to make his point (which fell flat). For his information:

BMW eyes German rescue scheme
By Daniel Schäfer in Berlin

Published: November 4 2008

BMW became the first European carmaker publicly to consider tapping Germany’s government- backed banking rescue scheme on Tuesday and said it might also seek US assistance.

[CE2949BB]

How about American motorcycles (besides HD) and scooters?

Japanese and European companies actually produce 'em.

I can't think of a single motorcycle (besides HD) or scooter that's made by an American company.

I can get a new Ninja 250 for (apx) $2,750 - $3,500. Where's the American competition?

[truthguy]

I think most of the commentators here have caught on to what this article is all about. Just like we have a sick chattering class here in the US, they have the same in the UK. The UK types are even worse than those in the US. This article is typical of the type of garbage that comes out of the UK press.

The UK is an emasculated country. They have lost their empire. They have lost their industrial capacity. They are losing their once great Navy. They have lost their traditions and now they are losing their country to Islam. Oh did I mention they have lost their religion. Islam is stepping in the fill the vacuum.

Heck they don't even produce good rock and roll any longer. They had a run of great bands from the mid-sixities to the mid-eighties.

About the only thing left for them to do is bash the US. Misery loves company as they say. Well the problems we have in US are minor to what's going on in UK. The British Tabloids (now Internet) are all sex scandal sheets. There press makes ours look good. The worst is the BBC but Guardian ,The Sun,and a number of others are nearly as bad.

[familyop]

"...they presented last-ditch restructuring plans to Congress, promising a massive increase in fuel-efficient cars and a cessation of corporate excess as the quid pro quo for more than $30bn of soft loans and stand-by credits."

The merchants told me that all American manufacturing is only "buggy whip" production anyway. If they fall, the NEA and rest of the unions preferred and preserved by the corporates will fall, too. So will many anti-family government offices for lack of revenues. So will the anti-American merchants.

Let 'em fall! We'll see who survives best--libertine "fiscal conservatives" or moral conservatives.

[Cacique]

I see a future under socialism where they will de-invent everything in sight. We will ride bicycles, electricity will be outlawed and we will live by hunting and gathering. Mass starvation will be state policy to get rid of “excessive carbon footprints” and we will abandon cities since they can no longer be sustained. See! Pol Pot was way ahead of his time. Welcome to Zimbabwe, the model.

[flowerplough]

Actually, Jeeves, the car’s future lies in Asia.

[Cronos]

Detroit has resisted every regulatory measure aimed at making more energy-efficient cars for decades, but it was particularly successful during the Bush administration. It avoided introducing the fuel-efficient cars the big three manufacture in more tightly regulated Europe, opting for high-margin gas guzzlers for the US domestic market. Now it is paying a fearful price

he's right on that count

[denydenydeny]

Many different crises coincide here. There is a crisis of lack of demand created by the credit crunch, with November sales down 40 per cent. There is a crisis of production.

There is the crisis of knee-jerk jealousy of America and everything it stands for among European elites, but that one is ongoing.

[RoadTest]

“The car’s future lies in Europe (Hurl-o-matic)”

In Europe recently, we choked on diesel exhaust outdoors and cigarette smoke indoors. They seem to be candidates for lung disease over there.

European cars are small, that’s all. So are some of their city streets.

[gogeo]

He’s got an agenda. Like many with an agenda, his beliefs shape his facts, rather than the other way around.