Unfettered Letters

Overhaul of General Motors

It’s never been more apparent to me that the demise of the auto giant General Motors was caused by its executives’ failure to lead. All the while, the auto industry continued to bring to the public what they thought we needed in an automobile when it should have been the leader in providing an education and commitment to the future of ourselves and this planet.

It’s a wake-up call for all automobile manufacturers. They must be efficient and provide stewardship to the naïve public as to what transportation products should be. Quality without quantity, efficiency without gadgetry, and keeping our energy needs green and sustainable. It should come at an expense to both the executive and worker in compensation. No more rewarding poor stewardship.

There is plenty of demand for automobiles. The public just needs to be educated or coerced into making good decisions as to quality, fuel-efficiency and planet-saving choices. The new auto manufacturer needs to be the leader in teaching the public how to use transportation with these ideas in mind.

Kenneth K. Wier
Blue Springs

When did Obama become the controlling stockholder in General Motors and Chrysler? Obama loaned taxpayers’ money to both firms. This made the taxpayers their bankers. It did not authorize anyone to sell an American car company to a foreign entity.

Granted, GM has been badly managed, but it is up to the real stockholders to improve upper management, not a banker who just lends money.

  Obama is out of bounds with his actions. We have always respected the office of the presidency, but no more. The Bolsheviks have arrived!  

Gentry W. and Shirley R. Robinson
Pleasant Hill

Government overhaul of General Motors

Yes, people wanted change, so we have new elected officers, and we have new agendas, and we have new directions. But we also have new government takeovers and new government controls and new government spending. So now we are headed to socialism, and our freedoms are headed down the toilet.

I guess that people wanted this change so they don’t have to take control of their own lives. The government will be their mommy and daddy and supporter and provider. Now the government has taken over General Motors, and we can call it “Government Motors.” Now the government can dictate to us what we can drive, and soon it will be where we can go and what we can wear and finally what we can think.

So all you left-wing liberal tree huggers will have your way, and the government will control everything and we won’t have to worry what we need to do, for it will be told to us how our lives will be run.

We can live happily knowing the government has it all under control.

Mike Remick
Kansas City, Kan.

Here’s a news flash for this government we have now. I do not ever intend to buy a car from a government automobile company, even if they were to manufacture a car I would want to own, which is not likely.

Larry Martin
Raytown

Now that I, as a taxpayer, am an owner of General Motors, am I entitled to drive a program vehicle? I promise I’ll keep our Cadillac in mint condition!

Tom Kennedy
Kansas City

GM CEO’s resignation

Capitalism is now dead in the U.S.A. The final nail in its coffin was the decision by the Obama administration to ask for the resignation of Rick Wagoner, CEO of GM. Actions like this were usually reserved for places like Cuba, Venezuela and the old Soviet Union. Comrade Obama has certainly shown his true colors.

Having owned only American nameplates, I will now have to rethink my future auto purchases. Of the Big Three auto manufacturers, only Ford has managed to not sell its soul to the U.S. government. It will probably only be a matter of time until the Obama administration decides that Ford must also be brought under the umbrella of the “car czar.”

God help America when the government decides what cars should be made.

Gregg Barr
Lenexa

Greed caused GM’s downfall

The General Motors chief begging for a bailout says “We will cut costs!” Forty years of corporate greed policy hasn’t worked. They’ve been cutting the wrong costs, squeezing as much profit as they could by building “cheaper” cars.

Americans have the know-how to make the best cars. Using higher-quality parts, which cost more, and better design could yield higher-quality products than the Japanese produce.
American consumers, tired of built-in obsolescence, breakdowns, repairs and inferior products, voted with their pocketbooks. Yes, executive salaries and corporate profits increased, and the bottom line looked good on the surface. Building plants in Mexico with $5-per-hour pay allows lottery-winning-like executive pay, private jets and country club memberships at the expense of the huge number of American workers in automotive-related fields.

The current economic downturn is a perfect excuse to bust unions and eliminate benefits. Executive heads need to roll. Bad companies need to be allowed to fail, allowing smarter people to pick up the pieces and start building the highest-quality electric cars in the world. Maybe they could build GM windmills at the old Leeds plant.

Marc Miller
Kansas City

Happy with American cars

I want to say a couple of things to the car companies. First, GM, sorry. If you can’t make it, then it’s time to stop taking taxpayer money to continue on life support. I feel the same way about AIG. I want my money back.

We’ve had everything from Ford 150s to Dodge Colts to Ford Escapes and Rangers. My husband and I are driving the last two now. The Ranger has been as reliable a truck as we could’ve asked for. With very little maintenance, this 1997 American-made vehicle has taken my husband more than 250,000 miles and hauled countless sacks of brush, furniture, bricks, camping and fishing gear.

My Escape took me back and forth to Jefferson City for two years and has taken me to Denver, Dallas, Iowa and Nebraska — to the tune of nearly 200,000 miles.

These cars were good for us, good for the company that sold them and good for the workers who made them — all right here in Kansas City.

I’m not saying “buy only American.” I’m saying “buy a good car.” Many of those good cars are made right here.

Vicki Walker
Kansas City

Today’s cars last longer

Sales of new vehicles dropped from 17.3 million in 2000 to 13.2 million last year. Most think this is primarily due to the sad state of the economy. No doubt this is a big factor.

But remember new cars back in the ’60s? It was conventional wisdom that when the odometer rolled past 60,000 miles, you started shopping for another. Rolling past 100,000 was an event you invited the community to see.

Then, led by Japan, quality improvement measures were instituted that led to better and better cars with longer mileage lives. This is a good thing. You spread your capital expense over two or three times the miles driven.

It is also good energy policy, for it takes quite a chunk of energy to create a new car out of those scraps of steel and plastic and aluminum and such.

The auto industry has suffered from its own success. Let us not return to the planned obsolescence of the past. New policy should continue to focus on miles per vehicle as well as miles per gallon.

Ron Platt
Overland Park

Buy American

Wake up America: Whatever happened to “Be American, buy American?” Think about this when you are driving around in your foreign brand automobile. Where do you think the profits go?

I am proud to drive my Chevy Tahoe, which is a great vehicle, and will continue to avoid buying products from foreign-owned companies. Be patriotic and buy “Made in the USA.”

Ed Linton
Independence

Auto show coverage

There were dozens of significant vehicle introductions at this year’s Detroit auto show, as well as the newsworthy honor bestowed on the locally built Ford F-150. The F-150 was chosen by a panel of 50 automotive journalists as the 2009 North American Truck of the Year. The criteria for winning included innovation, design, safety, handling, driver satisfaction and value.

After returning from the show and getting caught up on my reading of The Star, I expected at least a mention of some of the more innovative vehicles introduced. On 1/13 The Star had a mention of the Prius (Business, “Upgraded Prius introduced”), as if that were the only auto news of the day. On 1/14 another article featuring the Prius appeared in the Business section.

For the record, there were new model introductions by: Lincoln, Cadillac, Ford, Chrysler, Buick, Lexus, Chevrolet, Honda, Hyundai, Mercedes, Kia, Bentley, Mini, Subaru, Jaguar, Maserati, Fisker, Audi, Volvo, BYD and Jaguar. We get two articles about the Prius.

Tom Fournier
Kansas City

Be American, buy American

Wake up America: Whatever happened to “Be American, buy American?” Think about this when you are driving around in your foreign brand automobile. Where do you think the profits go?

I am proud to be driving my Chevy Tahoe, which is a great vehicle, and I will continue to avoid buying products from foreign-owned companies. Be patriotic and buy “Made in the USA.”

Ed Linton
Independence

Praise for the Big Three

I am tired of people bashing America’s Big Three.

I rode to California and back in 1925 in a dependable Model T Ford.

I recently gave my grandson my 1991 Ford F-150, all original (except battery), and it is a very well-built pickup.

I also own a 2006 Lincoln Zephyr that gets 29 mpg and drives like a sports car while being conservative on cost and gas.

Please give the Big Three another chance. They really have some great products.

Harold Hake
Gladstone