The AMC Spirit-based ’82 Eagle SX/4 Junkyard Find that we admired last week was an interesting car, but it was pretty well picked over and started its junkyard career as a basket case. In the very same Denver junkyard, however, sits this much nicer and more complete ’79 Spirit DL. It was so nice, in fact, that I had to buy some parts from it!
Sales of the Gremlin-based AMC Spirit in the United States were pretty dismal, but perhaps that was just the result of the suits in Kenosha choosing the wrong ad agency. Let’s head south of the border to see how VAM, which built certain AMC models under license for the Mexican market, pitched the ’81 Rally AMX.
CprescottI'm sorry. There should be zero subsidies for whatever vehicle you want to buy. The automakers are lucky that even this stupid law exists.
CprescottJust what we needed - another one in that segment.
MaintenanceCostsThey're probably paid a bit more than they're worth, because relationships among boards are a bit incestuous, and the CEO always gets the benefit of the doubt among buddies. But there's no question they can add enough value to justify very high pay.The real problem is that they're not taxed enough. A mere high wage earner can have an effective federal tax rate of over 30% under some circumstances. These guys usually pay more like 10% to 15%, because they are able to structure their finances so that much income is deferred and much of the rest is capital gains. The rules around timing should be stricter, the capital gains rate higher, and they should pay the same effective tax rates as their second- and third-level reports.
CprescottNo. Whatever the company wants to pay for Executive help is up to them and their stockholders. Since they are the only ones who live this job 24/7/365, they should be well compensated. I've been a GM for decades and that is my responsibility for the same period; I cannot imagine trying to run an entire company with all of the potential snafus that arise.
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