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55 Posts
Well, this bodes ill. https://thehill.com/policy/energy-e...-threatens-to-cut-gms-electric-car-incentives
Trump threatens to cut federal incentives for GM’s electric cars
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954 Posts
Lol.
The GM Lordstown plant that is closing is near where I grew up in NE Ohio, which was an economically-depressed wasteland back then in the 80's. Now you can't drive 10 miles there without seeing a billboard for an opiate addiction hotline number.
The plant used to employ thousands of workers, more recently cut down to one shift and between one and two thousand before the closing announcement. Trump campaigned there and said he was going to bring jobs back to all the factories there, or build new factories there that would employ them, and of course he won that county and also Ohio. The comments section of some of the local news articles are filled with people blaming Obama for the plant closing.
The GM Lordstown plant that is closing is near where I grew up in NE Ohio, which was an economically-depressed wasteland back then in the 80's. Now you can't drive 10 miles there without seeing a billboard for an opiate addiction hotline number.
The plant used to employ thousands of workers, more recently cut down to one shift and between one and two thousand before the closing announcement. Trump campaigned there and said he was going to bring jobs back to all the factories there, or build new factories there that would employ them, and of course he won that county and also Ohio. The comments section of some of the local news articles are filled with people blaming Obama for the plant closing.
All the Trumpets around here tell me my Bolt runs on coal. Clearly he is confused.
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746 Posts
Another take on the attack upon EV subsidies.
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/11/27/business/gm-auto-trump.html
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/11/27/business/gm-auto-trump.html
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103 Posts
It will take an act of congress to eliminate the current Plug-in Electric Federal tax credit as written in law. GM's credit is going away anyway since they are at/near 200,000 vehicles. I'm sure the White House will claim they did it.
https://www.irs.gov/businesses/plug-in-electric-vehicle-credit-irc-30-and-irc-30d
https://www.irs.gov/businesses/plug-in-electric-vehicle-credit-irc-30-and-irc-30d
I predict that the most that will happen is that Trump will sign some Executive Order that directly conflicts with existing law and then in short order that will be struck down by the courts, then Trump will attack the judges involved.
Wow. You say that with such conviction - almost as if you've already seen something like that happen before.
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609 Posts
I'm wondering if Mary Barra can put together a deal whereby she reopens some of those plants in exchange for favorable legislation. If GM is to be believed, they would like to see ZEV mandates and other EV-friendly measures. Trump would be able to claim victory even if he got totally played. It could turn out well.
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1,664 Posts
Not going to happen. GM has excess production capacity and car models that aren’t selling. The GM plant closings address both of these issues. GM is making prudent business decisions based upon market conditions.
GM has also announced that the Cruise (not Cruze) autonomous vehicle program is getting increased funding, including a nearly $3 billion investment from Honda. Mass production of the Cruise autonomous vehicle is scheduled to begin in 2019, and GM is hiring thousands of new workers for the Cruise division. These vehicles will be built at the same Orion Michigan plant that builds the Bolt, and they will use the Bolt EV platform.
For once, it appears that GM won’t be caught flat-footed as the auto industry undergoes its greatest transformation since Henry Ford developed the mass production assembly line. That’s a good thing.
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1,664 Posts
Maybe we can get Mexico to pay.
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"Maybe we can get Mexico to pay."
TimBolt that is hilarious!
TimBolt that is hilarious!
Ford *improved* the assembly line, he didn't invent it.
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Yes, other industries had versions of assembly lines, but Ford’s was the first developed for the automotive industry.
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234 Posts
What a genius. Let's bring American industry back and create jobs by pushing tariffs and punishing American industry. Magic wand if you ask me...
Correct. R.E.O. (Oldsmobile), had already come up with an assembly line process.
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678 Posts
Good point and clearly GM has some tough calls to make, but I also agree with Usain in that GM's push for EV-friendly policies does align itself with their increasing push into the Cruise program. If the recently announced closures are required to address an excess production of models that are not selling, making GM less competitive by further removing gov incentives I imagine would only add to their woes. My hope would be that GM can use the obvious reality of their current situation to attract appropriate gov incentives to help in the drive to keep the American auto worker working. While some of the layoffs are likely inevitable, possibly with the right support some of them could be avoided.
Slightly off topic but in-line with the tax credit, I noticed this on Tesla's website today. Not being a frequent visitor, I can't say whether this is new or not, but unless they are classifying the mid-range battery to be a variant of the standard range, the announcement seems odd considering todays date. Could this mean that the SR battery will be available for NA as LR deliveries begin in Europe?
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761 Posts
GM is preparing for the upcoming recession. Good judgement. GM doesn't give a **** about their employees. True statement. GM, like all manufacturers, would much rather have robots doing their work. This is antithetical to Ford's original philosophy - pay employees enough to afford their own car.
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1,423 Posts
The announcement did not say they were closing the plants, it said they had discontinued the vehicles built in those plants and "had no new vehicles planned for those assembly plants"
I believe most of them will be closed, but the door is not shut depending on the Union and the plant city / states to offer incentives to GM to stay open. Remember, they are not closed now, they are scheduled to close when they stop building vehicles.
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