Posted on 08/15/2011 2:19:28 PM PDT by Sub-Driver
Obama to automakers: ‘You can’t just make money on SUVs and trucks’ By Andrew Restuccia - 08/15/11 02:37 PM ET
The country’s automakers should ditch their focus on SUVs and trucks in favor of smaller, more fuel-efficient vehicles, President Obama said Monday.
“You can’t just make money on SUVs and trucks,” Obama said during a town hall forum in Cannon Falls, Minn. “There is a place for SUVs and trucks, but as gas prices keep on going up, you have got to understand the market. People are going to try to save money.”
Obama has positioned the revival and reshaping of the auto industry as a major part of his administration’s push to improve the economy and create jobs.
“When I came into office they were talking about the liquidation of GM and Chrysler, and a lot of folks said you can’t help them, and it’s a waste of the government’s money to try and help them,” Obama said Monday. “But what I said was, we can’t afford to lose up to a million jobs in this country, particularly in the Midwest.”
Obama was speaking at the start of a three-day bus tour of the Midwest. He will visit Decorah, Iowa, later in the day.
The president said his administration “turned around” the U.S. auto industry and is calling on automakers to change the way they do business.
“They are gaining market share for the first time in years, but what we said was, ‘If we are going to help you, then you have also got to change your ways,’ ” he said.
The White House unveiled first-ever fuel efficiency rules for heavy-duty trucks last week. The standards come after the administration ratcheted up fuel economy standards for cars and light-duty trucks.
The administration negotiated the standards in a series of high-stakes closed-door meetings with industry. In the end, the White House won the endorsement of major automakers and truck companies.
Obama has touted the new standards as “the single most important step we’ve ever taken as a nation to reduce our dependence on foreign oil.”
Later Monday, Obama touted the administration’s efforts to boost electric vehicles and advanced battery technology.
“That is the kind of approach that we have to take: Using the private sector, understanding that ultimately the private sector is going to be creating jobs, but also understanding that government can be an effective partner in that process, and nowhere is that more true than in rural America.”
Exactly...government thinking.
Barry Zero:
STOP YOUR SOCIAL ENGINEERING EXPERIMENTS AND SOCIAL JUSTICE CRAP.
STOP.
WE THE PEOPLE HAVE HAD QUITE ENOUGH OF YOU.
AND IN THE PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION OF 2012, WE ARE COMING TO COLLECT YOUR (POLITICAL) HEAD.
PLEASE BE ADVISED.
When the demand for SUV’s and Trucks drops ... they will make less, when the demand for crackerjack box battery cars skyrockets they will make more.
It’s that simple.
exactly!
that is EXACTLY what is next! if they can force you to buy insurance, they can force you to buy cracker jack battery certain death machines.
How could a businessman possibly know more than Obama about running a business?
After all - he got a good grade on his assignment to read the Communist Manifesto.
Why doesn’t he tell CNN/CBS/NBC/ABC/New York Times/LA Times that they just don’t make money telling one side of the story all the time?
The only car of his that we know of (source of money is open for speculation, as is most things about the guy) was a Chrysler 300. Probably with the Hemi V8.
My SUV gets better mileage.
““There is a place for SUVs and trucks, but as gas prices keep on going up, you have got to understand the market.”
Bammie confuses the market as evidenced by customer choice and what he wants them to want.
Call the Waaambulance, cause Bammy is gonna need it.
This guy is a lost ball in high weeds.
... but what we said was, ‘If we are going to help you, then you have also got to change your ways,’ ” he said.
“That is the kind of approach that we have to take: Using the private sector, understanding that ultimately the private sector is going to be creating jobs, but also understanding that government can be an effective partner in that process, and nowhere is that more true than in rural America.”
I believe this type of attitude would be referred to as good ol’ fascism, you know, when the private sector putatively owns the means of production, but the government actually orders the private sector what to do.
I’m sorry, but did he just say “ you’ve got to understand the market?” Wait, what?
Obama can take his hybrids and electric kiddycars and shove them up his ass!
we’re in the same boat as that family guy who tried to have reasonable conversation with O - the guy with 10 kids? and O told him to get a hybrid van?
LOL!
As much as the gas is killing us - it is still cheaper for us to hold onto our SUV.
We cannot afford a hybrid van - nor would it have enough seats for everyone.
And the last thing I want to happen when my vehicle is full of kids on a cold winter day while traveling through hills in the north is to have a battery run out of juice.
The man is an idiot, pure and simple. Europe has $8/gallon gas and no one is making any particular effort to cut travel. The cost of fuel as a percentage of total costs for most people is not that great. Anybody who has a calculator can see that the gains in economy are almost never a reason to buy a car. And the childish, “The guvment helped you so you owe us...” blecch!
The irony of it all is that I see an awful lot of minorities driving SUV’s.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.