Obama Snubs Foreign OEMs At D.C. Auto Show
Foreign OEMs put on a dog and pony show at the Washington D.C. auto show in anticipation of President Obama’s visit, but were ultimately snubbed when the President decided to check out some American iron instead.
Bloomberg reports that Honda, Toyota and other foreign car makers flew in executives from across the country and brought in their most fuel-efficient cars at the request of the White House. While Obama checked out a display of American cars, including a Dodge Dart, a Ford Mustang Shelby GT500, a Chevrolet Silverado, a Jeep Grand Cherokee, a Chevrolet Corvette ZR-1, a Ford C-Max Energi and a Chevrolet Malibu, execs from the foreign OEMs waited in a “bullpen” for a chance to talk to Obama, and answer his questions about their products.
But they never got face time with the Commander-In-Chief. While a Honda FCX and a Kia Optima Hybrid were on hand (brought in specially for the visit), Obama only paid attention to the American brands – and some of their less-than-efficient products. While Obama was ostensibly checking out the newest wares of the automakers that got bailout money, many of the foreign OEMs have invested a lot of money in American manufacturing (as much as $43 billion, according to a trade group known as The Association of Global Automakers) – an economic sector in dire need of rejuvenation, and one that surely adds more value than a Facebook IPO.
More by Derek Kreindler
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"Obama snubs..." What an elitist, checking out a hot Ford Mustang. Boy, you guys are getting really good at this.
Sounds like someone junior at the white house screwed up if they asked for oems to bring in cars. Having pictures smiling in front of fuel cell cars after cutting hydrogen funding is not good, and really, why bother seeing the also-ran Optima hybrid. There's nothing special about that one.
If the Administration invited/requested the presence of the foreign OEMs only to snub then then it was a dick move. The rest of the comments here? Five minutes of my life, gone. Never to return.
I'm sure that had he spent some time with the foreign manufacturers, the headlines would have been "Obama the elitist pals around with foreign cars". You can't please everyone - and certainly not those that have decided that Obama is wrong no matter what he does.