GM, Redux:
So here’s my ideas, half-baked:
- Make the deal comprehensive, and mostly a take it or leave it scenario. This sucker has been a political football for decades, and this ends here right now.
- All three companies essentially go into a central, nationalized receivership corporation.
- The equity in these businesses is pretty much gone, in any event. Say goodbye to what’s left.
- The receivership corporation essentially will rehire management staff at their discretion. Golden parachutes and stock options and excessive compensation just vanished. Cap salaries at $250k. We’ll talk about bonuses when you make things people want to buy.
- Immediately make interest from car loans deductible on taxes, and lean heavily on the nations banks to start making car loans again. Offer a sizable tax rebate ($4000-5000) scaled towards more fuel-efficient cars made by the ‘corporation’ and its spinoffs. You want a Hummer or a Corvette? You’re on your own.
- Eliminate car financing by the manufacturers.
- The UAW and the auto makers were in the process of setting up trusts to handle retiree health costs - in 2010. Have the government take over the gap of that trust and set it up to be self-maintaining. This would eliminate the vast legacy costs for health care from the auto makers’ books now.
- Eliminate and standardize. You don’t need all of the crap brands and submakes out there. Bust out the better parts and make them their own company. And eliminate the old dealer/line deals that mandate that you have to keep the obsolete car lines.
- Focus all R&D towards two things - serious materials / fuel efficient cars, and away from oil-based fueling systems towards electric cars / serious hybrids.
The hardest angle on this is about the union workers and where to set up the jobs that will remain, and that’s tough. Here’s a union perspective on some of this.