The Wall St. Journal headline this morning read... "Democrats Plot Detroit Rescue".
The article goes on to say that President Elect Obama has ordered his transition team to find ways to aid the car industry before his inauguration.
The aid is almost a foregone conclusion because Obama owes organized labor and the United Auto workers big time, for heavily investing in his campaign.
It goes on to say that the companies getting the aid would have to agree to strict rules aimed at building green and fuel efficient vehicles.
But it doesn't say ANYTHING about how to fix the problem, which is selling a LOT more cars and trucks.
You can give them all the money in the world but if NOBODY is buying, what good is it?
You just delay the inevitable.
Which brings me to the crux of the issue...
They NEED huge sales increases YESTERDAY.
But how do you get people in the worst financial shape in modern times, to empty what's left in their wallets and buy products that are considered average at best, by the populous?
A lot of the newer GM and Ford products are better than average but the reputation and vibe on the street, is they're building McCain's while the Japanese and Germans are building Obama's.
That's a tough sell in 2008 and beyond.
And would YOU have the warm and fuzzies buying a product from a company that has a mediocre reputation at best that maybe packed up and gone next year?
From what I can see, there is no strategy for that in the Dem's and Obama's plan.
So here comes 001 with the one billionth (might be trillionth if you count bloggers blab) opinion on how to solve the problem.
But I'm the only one who is right. ;)
The only way to fix this fast, is to get people buying the inventory on the ground in dealers RIGHT NOW.
So instead of giving all these billions to the car companies, give the billions to the people to buy up the cars.
I'm half Sicilian so let's call my plan the "Make Them An Offer They Can't Refuse"
We get James Gandolfini (Tony Soprano) do do the ads for free (A way he can share his wealth) and the theme is Mafia rescues Detroit.
Bet the agencies could do some really fun stuff with the theme (They bid it to the agencies to do for free and whoever has the best campaign gets the future ad revenue when the Big 3 recover) and YouTubes servers might blow from all the traffic they would get.
And here's the offer I would recommend...To steal a slogan from VW, I think it's what the people want!
1. Buy ANY existing American car on a dealer lot and deduct the FULL vehicle MSRP right off the top, on your taxes in 2008. The more expensive the car or truck, the bigger the deduction.
2. If you buy a Hybrid, Alternative Fuel, Diesel car or truck that gets EPA 27MPG City or higher the deduction doubles.
3. If you own a business the deduction DOUBLES. Buy a $30k Ford Escape Hybrid and own a business, get a $120k tax deduction on your 2008 taxes.
4. EVERY VEHICLE in stock gets 0% financing up to 72 months.
5. Every vehicle has GUARANTEED warranty coverage, even if the company who makes it goes out of business in the warranty period (Insured by 3rd party warranty company).
Offer is valid until 4/15/2009 and you can still deduct on 2008 taxes as long as car was purchased before 4/15/2009 but you can't get deduction in both years. You can only take in 08 or 09, one or the other.
I know I would take action and buy with an incentive like this. Would You?
And I think a lot of folks would take advantage of this because Obama shows up at the end of the Sopranos-like commercial and tells everyone he needs their help.
The inventory depletes quickly and the Big 3 gets the cash infusion in their coffers they need, to buy them precious time.
If this idea sounds crazy to you remember, desperate times require desperate measures.
The plan may be crazy but dollars to donuts my plan is better than theirs.
Mine would actually work.
Listening Barney?
Make sure you let us know what you think and how you would tweak or change the plan, to make it better.
Maybe we'll all solve the problem and become national heroes!
Lunch at the White House on the big guy! WooHoo!!!!