DOE Loans In The Works For GM, Chrysler

Edward Niedermeyer
by Edward Niedermeyer
doe loans in the works for gm chrysler

Officials working with the Department of Energy tell the Detroit News that GM and Chrysler face no major obstacles in their quest for huge retooling loans from the DOE’s Advanced Technology Vehicle Manufacturing Loan program. GM is seeking $14.4b and Chrysler has asked for $8.55b in low-cost government loans. Says Matt Rogers, a senior adviser to the Energy Department

Project finance details need to be worked through, but those things are working out just fine as we work directly with the companies. It’s really a process of making sure that each of the projects that they have are in fact competitive.

Er, competitive compared to what?

As former Tesla Marketing boss (and frequent ATVML critic) Darryl Siry puts it:So the guys from the DOE and Booz Allen Hamilton or AT Kearny are trying to judge whether the series hybrid Chevy Volt will be competitive? It certainly will be disadvantaged if you don’t fund it. Why? BECAUSE YOU FUNDED THEIR COMPETITION. Now that you have screwed up the natural forces of the marketplace, the DOE must provide equivalent support for the Volt program and let them compete on a level playing field with Nissan, Ford and even Tesla and Fisker.And he’s right: All four firms he mentions have received money from the ATVML program, despite qualifying for unproven products. Besides, viability of the Volt program was never the main problem with GM’s bid for DOE loans. The big hangup was a financial viability clause, that GM now undoubtedly passes, having received tens of billions of dollars in direct taxpayer support. If you’re going to help GM over the financial hurdle, why pretend that the Volt’s viability is an issue? Especially when the presidential task force on autos already ripped into the Volt’s chances pre-bailout, only to come to swing back in favor of Chevy’s hail mary.We’ve known that GM needs this money since last summer, and we’ve contacted the DOE several times trying to follow up on the status of GM and Chrysler’s loan applications. Why this whole process has been so shrouded in mystery is hard to understand, and this secrecy is more than a little troubling considering the impact these decisions have on the industry. But then, that bridge was crossed when the bailout happened… why the DOE is wasting time pretending that it might not give GM and Chrysler the cherry on top of their bailout is tough to fathom.
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  • Geozinger Geozinger on May 15, 2010

    Does anybody else find the picture for this post a little disturbing? I'm glad to see it isn't what I thought it was at first glance... No wonder why that Lesko guy is so freakin' happy all of the time...

  • Chonralda Chonralda on May 16, 2010

    The end of that ad was just a bit too trippy for me...

  • 28-Cars-Later I'm actually surprised at this and not sure what to make of it. In recent memory Senator Biden has completely ignored an ecological disaster in Ohio, and then ignored a tragic fire in Hawaii until his handlers were goaded in sending him and his visit turned into it's own disaster, but we skipped nap time for this sh!t show? Seriously? We really are through the looking glass now, "votes" no longer matter (Hillary almost won being the worst presidential candidate since 1984 before he claimed the crown) and outside of Corvette nostalgia Joe doesn't care let alone know what day it happens to be. Could they really be afraid of Trump, who AFAIK has planned no appearance or run his mouth on this issue? Just doesn't make sense, granted this is Clown World so maybe its my fault for trying to find sense in a senseless act.
  • Tassos If you only changed your series to the CORRECT "Possibly Collectible, NOT Daily Driver, NOT Used car of the day", it would sound much more accurate AND TRUTHFUL.Now who would collect THIS heap of trash for whatever misguided reason, nostalgia for a much worse automotive era or whatever, is another question.
  • ToolGuy Price dropped $500 overnight. (Wait 10 more days and you might get it for free?)
  • Slavuta Must be all planned. Increase price of cars, urbanize, 15 minutes cities. Be poor, eat bugs
  • Sid SB Not seen a Core without the performance pack yet. Prefer the more understated look of the Core vs the Circuit, but both are great fun to drive.
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