The Big 3 - Ford, Chrysler and General Motors - have suffered heavy criticism for making non-competitive products, corporate executives’ high salaries and using private jets to fly to Washington when their companies are bleeding cash.
But managers at two Temple dealerships said the U.S. automobile industry has been unfairly maligned.
Independent recognition for safety, reliability and gas mileage have been overlooked. And the credit crunch, which has dampened sales, is a significant factor why the American automobile industry is on the ropes.
Don Ringler has been selling General Motors products at his Temple dealership for almost three decades. He said GM is not asking for a bailout.
“I like the word loan. They didn’t ask them (Washington lawmakers) to give them anything. They didn’t say just hand us some money. They wanted a loan,” Ringler said.
Kenny McCarty, general manager at Johnson Brothers Ford in Temple, said Ford has the resources to ride out the current economic storm. But if GM collapsed it would send a ripple effect through the industry because some parts manufacturers couldn’t survive without that business. And those same companies do business with Ford.
“We hate to be involved in this asking for money, but it’s because of common interest … nobody can afford for any of them to go down,” McCarty said, regarding the Big 3.
“You take one of our suppliers out of the mix, and it certainly would hurt us, and I think that’s one of the reasons that Ford is standing by these guys (GM and Chrysler) and make sure the auto industry is taken care of just like the financial industries have been taken care of,” McCarty said.
Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm recently echoed those sentiments. She said the automobile industry supports one in 10 jobs in the United States.
Two dealers recently locked their doors here in Central Texas - Country Ford in Gatesville, last week, and Jerry Miller Lincoln Mercury Chrysler Jeep, which sold its Temple interests last August.
A spokesman for Rep. John Carter, whose 31st District includes Temple and Belton, said the automobile industry does not deserve federal aid.
“They really need to let the free market work on this, let the industry reorganize, and update itself and become competitive again,” Carter spokesman John Stone said Monday from Washington. “If we just dump good money after bad and let it continue what it’s doing, then two years, one year, or six months it’ll be going bust again.”
Both Ringler and McCarty see things differently. They believe the money would be a “stop-gap” to aid an important industry when it is about to turn a corner.
“That’s why they refer to this as a bridge loan,” Ringler said. “Let these things that these corporations have done continue. They want to dwell on how GM and Ford and Chrysler and how their market is off, every manufacturer’s market is off right now and all of them have been affected because of the mortgage and credit crunch.”
Regardless of what happens in Washington this week, both men say they have put their business on sound footing. Body repair and other service work are key to their business model. Low gas prices have brought folks who need large vehicles back to discover some models are more stingy on gas, sometimes up to 20 mpg. And on the compact side, the Ford Focus squeezes more than 30 miles out of a gallon.
“Whether they do or don’t get it, Ford Motor Company is still going to be there and we’re still going to be here,” McCarty said. “We hate to be involved in this asking for money, but it’s because of common interest and common suppliers, nobody can afford for any of them to go down.”
