Volt Birth Watch 53: GM Wants More Tax Breaks
Not only does GM want the U.S. taxpayer and the Chinese government to subsidize development and sale of the Volt, now they're reaching into Michigan taxpayers' pockets to subsidize the production. GM insists they want to produce their electric-gas wundercar in Detroit to show how much they support the city and state– but only if the city and state support them by giving them tax breaks. The Detroit News reports GM met with the Detroit City Council yesterday to discuss their plans for the Volt. But no one will say just what kind of extortion "tax incentives" they demanded are seeking. With the magical year 2010 just a short time away, it seems to me they need to stop their fund-raising activities and get on with aligning their webbed-footed waterfowl. That is, if they really do plan on getting the Volt to the market in 2010. Otherwise, they can just keep on playing "poor poor pitiful me" and blame production delays on the government.
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Hey it worked for Ontario right? The government gave them what was it $225 million to stay and look how well that turned out, o... wait a sec...
They are just playing by the rules of the game. Every OEM, US, Europe or Asian, extracts tax breaks and other concessions in exchange for locating their plants. All of them. Standard business practice these days.
All GM needs to do is build a new factory in one of the Michigan tax-break enterprise zones, and they can automatically get tax relief. Surely for such an advanced and unconventional car as the proposed Volt, a new plant is not outside the realm of possibility? I don't think there are any restrictions on these zones, either. Bring the jobs in, get the tax relief. I had a list at one point. I think Jackson Michigan has a zone. That's close to Ann Arbor, GM's big transmission plant in Ypsilanti (which could tool up for electric drivetrain parts?) and would be close enough to bring in some of the laid off workers. So, why is GM any different than Hyundai getting money out of Alabama, or Kia getting money out of Georgia, or Mercedes, or BMW, or Toyota or Honda or Nissan getting money out of the states they built plants in? It seems to be the way the game is played. Not that I personally LIKE corporate welfare with our tax dollars....