Suppliers Still Looking For Bailout

Edward Niedermeyer
by Edward Niedermeyer

“There must be increased access to capital through the entire supply chain — from the largest tier one to the smallest family-owned firm,” Dave Andrea, vice president of industry analysis and economics at the Original Equipment Suppliers Association told the Senate Banking Committee [via The Freep]. “Without assistance this country will needlessly lose manufacturing capacity, technology development and jobs.” Which is about what suppliers have been telling congress since bailout mania struck. What the Freep fails to properly explain is that the supplier bailout passed earlier this year was an unmitigated disaster for suppliers and their relations with OEMs.

Meanwhile, PTFOA honcho Ron Bloom has said that there will be no further supplier bailouts. Unless, of course, there are. But supplier bankruptcies have been an industry fixture since before the bailout era, and with tier one suppliers like Delphi out of trouble (for the moment-ish) there’s little chance anyone will hear the latest pleas for help. And if we’ve learned anything from the last year of madness, it’s that bailouts aren’t for the little guy. Unless, of course, the little guy’s union helped elect the president.

Edward Niedermeyer
Edward Niedermeyer

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 4 comments
  • Rnc Rnc on Oct 09, 2009

    Didn't realize the UAW helped elect Bush? (something about $15 billion dollars)

  • Lw Lw on Oct 09, 2009

    Now what would it take for GM and Chrysler to regain pricing power after a decade of 0% and massive rebates so that suppliers can have positive margins again... Hmmm... How about the US treasury working on the assembly line and installing 1 cubic foot of $20 bills in every trunk?

  • Kurkosdr Kurkosdr on Oct 09, 2009

    Is it so hard to let those old dinosaurs go in liquidation and die? This will free up factories, resources and workers that some other successful company many buy and use. The capitalist system allows the companies to be irresponsible towards their dept obligations when in bankrupty for that very reason. So that some other company can start from clean sheet and be successful. I can't believe nobody in DC doesn't have the strength to stand-up and say "no more money to the UAW lazymen, no more bailouts to anyone, put up or die". Where is pride gone? Does the UAW has so much power eventually? Ford manages to live without a bailout, Honda and Toyota too. Isn't it unfair towards them that Generic Motors is now government's pet project.

  • Shaker Shaker on Oct 10, 2009

    OT: I love that illustration.

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