Ford Jellymoulds Posted December 20, 2008 Author Share Posted December 20, 2008 (edited) . But you do bring up one good point. Top gear British-Leyland Challenge Pt.1 Top Gear British-Leyland Challenge Pt. 2 Top Gear British-Leyland Challenge Pt. 3 Top Gear British-Leyland Challenge Pt.4 Top Gear British-Leyland Challenge Pt. 5 Classic! British Leyland bailouts are a bit of history repeating itself today, sad to say your car industry are doing same things today in the US that led to the BL collapse back then. This is not the story of Ford and General Motors, but British Leyland, a car company that went through £11 billion of inflation-adjusted British taxpayer money, or $16.5 billion, in the '70s and '80s before going out of business. All that is left of the company now are memories of cars like the Triumph, and a painful lesson in the limited effectiveness of bailouts. A British Leyland lesson on Bailouts for Versa Tech link... Ford's awesome Old sckool designs CLASSIC Capri - Cortina - Escort managed to capture 32% market share of the British car market, sadly today Ford only own half that market without British Leyland to complete against they have lost a huge amount of market in the Mondeo market compared to the massive amount we market share Ford had in the BL days. Cortina used to sell in more the UK than what the Mondeo sells in the whole of Europe today even though their are double the cars on Britains roads today. Edited December 20, 2008 by Ford Jellymoulds Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ford Jellymoulds Posted December 20, 2008 Author Share Posted December 20, 2008 (edited) The business isn't expected to and certainly won't be turned around in 3 months. What is expected in those 3 months is for GM and Chrysler to have a viable plan moving forward to eventually become turned around. It's not like Bush gave them the money expecting them to magically turn a profit in one quarter. Don't they have to come up with a restructuring plan within the 3 months? DAILY MAIL REPORTED If the companies aren't 'financially viable' by March 31, then the loan will be called in and all the funds will be returned to the US Treasury. Just like Cerberus are solvent - Gordon Brown last night turned up the pressure on Indian car giant Tata to foot the bill for rescuing Jaguar Land Rover. Although trade unions and the CBI have backed calls for a bail-out, Lord Mandelson and the Prime Minister are uneasy about giving money to a company that has a healthy balance sheet. How do you think Chrysler will become "financially viable" within the next three months just interested on your take on it Nick. They have shut down all their 30 plants so they won't be producing anything to sell thats a good start, job banks will be closed, they are still stuck with the same car line-up thats not selling well, their sales have dropped -54.7% in Europe 3946 sales in November 2008 from 8,710 sales in 2007 British Leyland were never this bad when they went under after their 1970's-1980's bailouts. All l can see is a bloodbath non-profit making production lines shut down for good and a massive of loss jobs or big paycuts and changes to employment if they are to meet the "financially viable" restructuring terms and condition of a bailout the same things were asked of British Leyland when they went through bailouts they ignored the government and went bust. When Obama picks up the new lean mean profit making Chyrsler machine on March 31st 2009, l don't think there will be a lot of Chyrsler left to be honest Nick if they have even bothered to make any changes at all because thats what happed at BL they never could, they just drifted on with their same ole boring line-up of cars hoping the wind would change. Obama l think will have to pick-up a Chrysler in a absolutely shit state worse than it is now in March 31st, Obama will be forced into bailing them out again but l think he will insist on them build ecnoboxes like Fiat 500's & Mini's that are enjoying a massive boom in sales at the moment as part of his terms and conditions. Edited December 20, 2008 by Ford Jellymoulds Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
F250 Posted December 20, 2008 Share Posted December 20, 2008 Yes. Things are down. But you are not seeing bankruptcies at the same rates as the Great Depression, and I'm sorry, no matter what anyone says, unemployment isn't nearly as high as it was during the Great Depression. In certain locales? Sure. But nationwide? No. Are things tough? Sure. Are they as tough as they were for our grandparents in the 1920's and 1930's? Not even close. I don't have dozens of friends who are too poor to go out and grab a beer or are dying from common colds because they can't afford to miss a day of work to see a doctor. I don't see lines of people around the corner at the unemployment office. I haven't seen a rampant increase in homeless people when I'm walking downtown. The mall parking lot is still full every time I drive past it. I haven't changed my spending habits for squat over the past year or two. If anything, I've been spending more. If things were as dire as some are trying to say they are, don't you think I'd be noticing it a little more? You don't see those things because of the government programs that did not eist in 1929. In the stock market crash of '29 the government did nothing to slow or stop the situation, no 700Billion thrown in, no regulations on trading it just crashed. No soup lines today because people sit at home an get food stamps and welfare checks mailed to them, none of that existed in the 30's. No unemployment lines because people file on line now. It's getting there, you just don't SEE it like the '30's. And remember it took 3 years for the great depression to bottom out...this one is only just beginning. ...or I could be wrong and everything will be back to normal by summer of '09! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NickF1011 Posted December 22, 2008 Share Posted December 22, 2008 You don't see those things because of the government programs that did not eist in 1929.In the stock market crash of '29 the government did nothing to slow or stop the situation, no 700Billion thrown in, no regulations on trading it just crashed. No soup lines today because people sit at home an get food stamps and welfare checks mailed to them, none of that existed in the 30's. No unemployment lines because people file on line now. It's getting there, you just don't SEE it like the '30's. And remember it took 3 years for the great depression to bottom out...this one is only just beginning. ...or I could be wrong and everything will be back to normal by summer of '09! That's the whole point. The government isn't letting it get to where it was before, so there's very little chance it will end up being as bad. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NickF1011 Posted December 22, 2008 Share Posted December 22, 2008 I hope your not defending Bushie with your anti-Obama posts. His administration is a proven failure, lets see what Obama can do before we judge. I don't care for Hilary Cliton either honestly. Does using the phrase "just as disillusioned" sound like I'm defending Bush? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
grbeck Posted December 22, 2008 Share Posted December 22, 2008 (edited) In the stock market crash of '29 the government did nothing to slow or stop the situation, no 700Billion thrown in, no regulations on trading it just crashed. Not true. The Hoover administration launched an aggressive program of public works, and also formed the Reconstruction Finance Corporation to help ailing companies (sound familiar?). There were two main causes of the Great Depression. One, in response to the stock market crash, the Federal Reserve choked the money supply, concerned about inflation. The real problem was DEFLATION. The economy was strangled at a critical point. Second, President Hoover and the Republican Congress passed the Hawley Smoot Tariff to "protect" American industries from foreign competition. It backfired, as other countries retaliated with their protectionist measures, and thus crippled world trade. The effect on American industries was devastating. American automobiles at that time were highly popular in other countries. But at the same time that domestic auto makers were faced with declining domestic demand, they found themselves locked out of their overseas markets. As a result, American automobile production declined a staggering 75 percent between 1929 and 1932. Edited December 22, 2008 by grbeck Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NickF1011 Posted December 22, 2008 Share Posted December 22, 2008 Second, President Hoover and the Republican Congress passed the Hawley Smoot Tariff to "protect" American industries from foreign competition. "Did it work? Anyone? Anyone? No, it did not work, and America sank deeper into the Great Depression." Couldn't resist, sorry. :lol: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
grbeck Posted December 22, 2008 Share Posted December 22, 2008 "Did it work? Anyone? Anyone? No, it did not work, and America sank deeper into the Great Depression." Couldn't resist, sorry. :lol: Unfortunately, too many people appear to have forgotten that lesson. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
battyr Posted December 31, 2008 Share Posted December 31, 2008 I just read on the Cadillac web site that GMAC will now lend money to GM car buyers. I had no idea that things are that bad in the US. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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