Obama: I think we do need American cars. We started the auto industry; we revolutionised the auto industry again and again.
It was built on the middle class; it was the core of our manufacturing base for decades. The notion that we cannot compete in an industry that we created is unacceptable.
Not only that but you have got an entire mid-west: Ohio, Michigan, big chunks of Indiana, parts of my home state of Illinois, the entire fabric of those states’ economies are built around the auto industries.
So we cannot just say we are going to wash our hands off the auto industry. I know we can compete, we have got great workers there, the auto industry is going to have to restructure.
I have been saying for a long time that you have got to be competitive and the government can help. But the government is not going to help if you continue with a strategy that is entirely relying on building the gas guzzlers; those are the cars of the future.
We will provide you with the resources you need to retool. We will help you with some of your legacy cost in terms of healthcare and pension cost for your workers.
But in exchange, that money has to be reinvested in creating the high efficiency cars of the future.
I know that is something that we can do and my hope is that if I am elected then I am immediately meeting with the heads of the big three automakers as well as the United Auto Workers and then sit down and craft a strategy that puts us on the path for an auto industry that can compete with anybody in the world.
http://news.moneycontrol.com/india/news/economy/barack-obama-to-help-re-jig-auto-industry-if-elected/19/15/364467President-elect Barack Obama told reporters on Friday, during his first press conference since winning the presidential race, that he was very concerned about the financial outlook for the auto industry as well. Obama said that he had "made it a high priority for my transition team to work on additional policy options to help the auto industry adjust, weather the financial crisis and succeed in producing fuel-efficient cars here in the United States. I have asked my team to explore what we can do under current law and whether additional legislation will be needed for this purpose."
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2008/11/08/politics/politico/thecrypt/main4585951.shtml Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama pledged today to meet with the leaders of Detroit’s automakers and the UAW to help chart a course for the industry.
In an interview with Brian Williams of NBC, Obama said that help for the industry would have to be tied to building more efficient vehicles.
“And my hope is, is that if I'm elected that I'm immediately meeting with heads of the Big Three automakers as well with … the United Auto Workers,” Obama said. “And to sit down and craft a strategy that puts us on, on a path for an auto industry that can compete with anybody in the world.”
Obama has said he backs doubling a $25-billion loan program approved by Congress last month to retool plants, which automakers and parts suppliers are increasingly looking to for help in surviving a massive cash crunch.
http://www.freep.com/article/20081030/BUSINESS01/81030091President-elect Barack Obama accused auto executives of a persistent "head-in-the sand approach" to long-festering problems. In an appearance on NBC's "Meet the Press," Obama said Congress was doing "the exact right thing" in drafting legislation that "holds the auto industry's feet to the fire" at the same time it tries to prevent its demise.
"The last thing I want to see happen is for the auto industry to disappear, but I'm also concerned that we don't put $10 billion or $20 billion or $30 billion or whatever billion dollars into an industry, and then, six months to a year later, they come back hat in hand and say, `Give me more,'" Obama said.
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5gbjFY-o07QeryRxtFR3oC1w_v1PwD94U5NAO0“The auto industry is the backbone of American manufacturing,” he said. “It is a huge employer across many states. Millions of people directly or indirectly are reliant on that industry. And so I don't think it's an option to simply allow it to collapse.”
“What we have to do is to provide them with assistance, but that assistance is conditioned on them making significant adjustments,” he said. “They're going to have to restructure, and all their stakeholders are going to have to restructure, labor, management, shareholders, creditors.”
“Everybody is going to recognize that they have -- they do not have a sustainable business model right now. And if they expect taxpayers to help in that adjustment process, then they can't keep on putting off the kinds of changes that they, frankly, should have made 20 or 30 years ago.”
He emphasized the importance of keeping “the automakers' feet to the fire in making the changes that are necessary” –- ”Demand accountability, demand serious changes, but do so in a way that it allows them to keep the factory doors open.”
http://blogs.abcnews.com/politicalpunch/2008/12/obama-warns-eco.htmlAt a news conference on his latest cabinet appointment, Mr. Obama said the new plans were an indication that the Detroit companies were responsive to earlier concerns raised by lawmakers.
“I’m glad that they recognize the expectations of Congress, certainly my expectations, that we should maintain a viable auto industry,” Mr. Obama said. “But that we should also make sure that any government assistance that’s provided is designed for and is based on realistic assessments of what the auto market is going to be and a realistic plan for how we’re going to make these companies viable over the long term.”
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/04/business/04auto.html?bl=&ei=5087&en=c26f4b2fc5be93c5&ex=1228626000&pagewanted=printPresident-elect Barack Obama is considering naming a point person to lead efforts to help the distressed auto industry return to health, an Obama aide said on Thursday.
An Obama transition official said the president-elect was looking into "identifying someone in charge of the auto issue who would have the authority to bring about reforms that would lead to an economically viable auto industry."
Obama said at a news conference last week that he considered federal help for the industry a high priority for his transition and called the auto companies "the backbone of American manufacturing and a critical part of our attempt to reduce our dependence on foreign oil."
He urged the Bush administration to accelerate disbursement of $25 billion in advanced technology loans approved by Congress in September.
Obama, a Democrat who had solid labor-union support during his presidential campaign, also pressed Republican President George W. Bush in a private meeting on Monday to back a federal bailout for the auto industry.
http://www.reuters.com/article/politicsNews/idUSTRE4A66VT20081113