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Rasmussen survey finds shoppers wouldn't buy cars from bankrupt auto makers
Phoenix Business Journal ^ | 13 Dec 2008 | Mike Sunnucks

Posted on 12/13/2008 10:08:33 AM PST by BGHater

Just over half of U.S. consumers say they won't buy a car from an auto maker that is in bankruptcy.

A new poll by Rasmussen Reports of consumer found that 51 percent said they would not buy a car from a manufacturer who is in Chapter 11 bankruptcy reorganization.

Thirty-one percent in surveyed said they would be "OK" buying a car from a bankrupt car maker. Another 18 percent weren't sure.

American auto manufacturers are in dire straits with Auburn Hills, Mich.-based Chrysler LLC and Detroit, Mich.-based General Motors Corp. (NYSE: GM) nearing bankruptcy without federal loans and help. Republicans in the U.S. Senate shot down a $14 billion federal bailout plan seeking more pay concessions from the United Auto Workers union.

Some critics of the bailout want the two troubled companies to file for bankruptcy protection so they can reorganize and restructure. Others worry that if they file for bankruptcy, consumers will have little interest in buying their cars and trucks, which would spiral them further down.

Ford Motor Co. (NYSE: F) also is in financial trouble and facing a decrease in sales, but the Dearborn, Mich., car maker is not in the same bankruptcy peril as GM and Chrysler.


TOPICS: Business/Economy; US: Michigan
KEYWORDS: 2008polls; automakers; bankrupt; bankruptcy; cars; economy; poll
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To: John123

agree - I’ll never buy from Detroit again if they take the money.

They should have surveyed how many people will never buy from a nationalized car company.

Or survey how many people will buy from a company that everyone knows is bankrupt but just won’t do it.


21 posted on 12/13/2008 10:34:17 AM PST by rigelkentaurus
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To: KevinDavis

BUY AMERICAN

Get a Toyota, Nissan, Honda, Hyundai. I don’t think they make Kias in the US, do they?


22 posted on 12/13/2008 10:34:32 AM PST by PAR35
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To: BGHater

I won’t buy cars from Union car makers period. The automakers should break the unions and we as a nation should make federal unions illegal. It is crazy that civil service unions should exist at all. They are some of the most secure, most cushy positions available in the country and I’ll assure you they will get their annual pay increases no matter what happens with the rest of the country. This past election finished the deal for me. Where I can eliminate their goods and services from my life I will. They support everything I don’t and there is no reason we should support them. What we need to do is start a campaign to change the face of unions and drive a wedge between union leadership and rank and file.

I think conservatives should protest unions for a bit to send them a message. It will hurt much worse in this economic downturn and if there is any one group of people that deserve the pain it is union members. They and those they have supported have did as much or more to destroy the US economy as any of the CEOs in the financial world. I say share the pain. There are plenty of good used cars to buy without supporting Detriot a city that should be left to die given the low class socialist population.


23 posted on 12/13/2008 10:35:09 AM PST by Maelstorm (This country was not founded with the battle cry "Give me liberty or give me a government check!")
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To: BGHater

Boycott any company that has received a taxpayer bailout.

Maybe then our representatives will listen to us. Even if they don’t, we’ll get our revenge.

(This is why Ford is being smart not to ask for a bailout even if they need it badly. They’re thinking long range)


24 posted on 12/13/2008 10:37:22 AM PST by Lorianne
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To: John123
I can assure you this... if the auto bailout gets approved... I will, never, ever buy an American car again. I don't think I'm the only one who feels this way.

Same here. I don't buy socialist products.

25 posted on 12/13/2008 10:37:25 AM PST by gitmo (I am the latte-sipping, NYT-reading, Volvo-driving, no-gun-owning, effete, PC, arrogant liberal. -BO)
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To: PAR35; All

True...


26 posted on 12/13/2008 10:38:43 AM PST by KevinDavis (Thomas Jefferson: A little rebellion now and then is a good thing)
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To: Random Access

Ok, so there aren’t any dealers. There are people who repair the old girls, still:

http://www.myersstudebaker.com/
http://www.studebakersonly.com/

Larks are cool, but I prefer Avantis (c;


27 posted on 12/13/2008 10:40:03 AM PST by Darnright (A penny saved is a government oversight)
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To: MIchaelTArchangel
Congress insisted banks loan money to people who were not credit-worthy. We had the mortgage meltdown. Now we have Congress insisting we loan money to GM and Chrysler who are not credit-worthy because they are too big to fail.

Definition of insanity.

28 posted on 12/13/2008 10:40:15 AM PST by gitmo (I am the latte-sipping, NYT-reading, Volvo-driving, no-gun-owning, effete, PC, arrogant liberal. -BO)
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To: BGHater
If the price is right they'll buy cars from anyone. For pete's sake, they buy USED CARS.

This survey has a fatal flaw ~ it simply doesn't go far enough ~ like to find out what a potential buyer thinks bankruptcy is about.

There are plenty of folks around to cut you a deal on a long term warranty provided you pay for it. If GM discounts their come on price enough, then I can pay the diffrence to another party ~ who will, of course, have AIG insurance (bwahahahahah) (Gee, I' sure bwahahahahhaing a lot these days).

Frankly we should just sell GM to the US Postal Service.

Several reasons. One is that USPS has authority under the law to act as a "bank" so it could acquire GMAC and spin it off into a postal bank.

Secondly they own the largest single "fleet" in the world. Although most folks think of it as consisting mostly of long-life delivery vehicles, there are about 60,000 rural letter carriers who need light vehicles (sedans, pickups, smaller SUVs), and they can always use a new tire or two.

USPS also has about 200,000 vehicles for mounted carrier routes, and GM does produce a full line of light trucks and vans that can be used in that service, plus they produce 2.5, 3.0 and 5.0 mid-weight trucks for use in MVS service (moving mail around inside cities from MPCs to stations and branches).

GM has a line of truck-tractors. Although USPS ordinarily writes contracts with longhaul carriers who then provide their own tractors, that's not written in stone. As the contracts expire (usually annually) USPS can provide those companies with its own tractors to drive.

Now, about that $68 billion corporate debt, GM has a lot of stuff to sell. USPS has its own realty structure and has a large number of properly trained and experienced personnel nationwide that they can most likely SELL OFF the good stuff quite quickly ~ probably to other auto assembly and manufacturing companies.

We can call this proposal "Going Postal on GM ~ What's in it for you ~ What's in it for me"

29 posted on 12/13/2008 10:45:34 AM PST by muawiyah
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To: Random Access

You can usually get them patched up down at the Shell or Sunoco~


30 posted on 12/13/2008 10:47:07 AM PST by muawiyah
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To: refermech

Because it would give the taxpayer a break and that isn’t something governments do.


31 posted on 12/13/2008 10:47:40 AM PST by B4Ranch ( Veterans: "There is no expiration date on our oath, to protect America from all enemies, ...")
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To: BGHater

They’re not buying them anyway. That’s the problem einstein.


32 posted on 12/13/2008 10:47:56 AM PST by Don Corleone (Leave the gun..take the cannoli)
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To: Random Access

There is help available. Plus, JC Whitney is a source of supplies. Now if you want “warranty work” you’re out of luck http://www.studebakerdriversclub.com/classifiedads.asp


33 posted on 12/13/2008 10:49:57 AM PST by muawiyah
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To: John123

I wonder if the survey asked, if you would buy a car if the govt bailed them out. Suspect that wasn’t on the survey.


34 posted on 12/13/2008 10:57:11 AM PST by PeterPrinciple ( Seeking the truth here folks.)
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To: SERKIT
A very good case can be made for Bailing Out Studebaker (particularly if we can believe GM needs bailed out).

I'd like a new Avanti built in South Bend with parts from Indiana (all available from Naptown South from all those Japanese and Korean parts manufacturers who've moved in).

Should be doable.

I remember the first Avanti to be shown in Indianapolis. Bunch of us went down there to see it. When you opened the hood there was nothing but engine in there. You couldn't see the pavement. And it looked good besides.

Here I am saying this and I went through the windshield of a 1951 Studebaker once (and lived). You were only about 2 inches from the glass in those things.

35 posted on 12/13/2008 10:57:29 AM PST by muawiyah
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To: reaganaut1

To counter your holie than thou attitude we are replacing the Lexus with a new Cadilac!


36 posted on 12/13/2008 11:01:44 AM PST by dalereed
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To: BGHater

The only way I’d consider a GM car after a bail-out would be if it was designed by master designer Nancy Pelosi. It would have to have a 3 hp Briggs and Stratton engine with a pull rope. I don’t trust an electric starter.


37 posted on 12/13/2008 11:06:09 AM PST by NoControllingLegalAuthority ((Barack Obama...stuck on stupid and idle as the world races by him like a bullet train...)
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To: refermech

I won’t buy a car from any of them that partake in this “bailout”.


38 posted on 12/13/2008 11:09:15 AM PST by PoliticalDookie
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To: PoliticalDookie

No problem, give your money to the japs or germans. It’s your right as an American.


39 posted on 12/13/2008 11:12:26 AM PST by refermech
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To: BGHater

If they got rid of the UAW I would but why support the DNC by buying a car. I flew in Bankrupt airlines so why should a carmaker be a big deal?

Pray for W and Our Troops


40 posted on 12/13/2008 11:16:25 AM PST by bray (All thats left of my 401K is a little Change and no Hope.)
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