The Big Three are doing really good overseas?

[kentuck]

They have all moved jobs and plants to other parts of the world. Why can they not sell their foreign holdings before we bail them out in this country? Something stinks when these companies are making money hand over fist in Europe but are not doing so well in America? How do we know they would not take the bail-out money and invest it in their operations overseas?? Is this something we should be concerned about?

[orleans]

1. Is this something we should be concerned about? yes. n/t

[Liberal Gramma]

2. That should be one of the conditions: the money be spent in theUSA

re-tooling and redesigning cars of the future that we can SELL overseas, not MAKE overseas.

[Mugweed]

3. That was also reported about banks that needed $700 billion

I remember reading an article that said many of the affected banks were doing very well in other sectors. It made me wonder why they just couldn't shift funds from the profitable sectors instead of asking for welfare. That's why I still think this is all a scam to loot the treasury one last time.

[madrchsod]

4. Australia gave their gm division money.

they refused to see their auto industry fail. jeep has been selling well in europe. the big three has been selling better around the world than here in the usa...but now all auto manufactures are cutting 10-20% of production and labor.

everyone in the world is waiting for jan 20 2009

[GreenPartyVoter]

5. Well, for one thing, they're making better cars overseas.

[Westegg]

6. I've heard that expanding overseas markets, like China, are...

...a reason the Big Three aren't even MORE fucked up than they currently are. Seems to me that much of their problem is how they bungled the U.S. auto market via arrogance-- i.e., assuming they were in control of it when of course they weren't. Hence, they went full-speed ahead with gas-guzzlers, and made other crucial errors based on lack of foresight regarding the economy, price of oil, stock market-- in short, the same arrogance, lack of historical perspective and planning for the future that led Wall Streeters to act like Ponzi-schemers for the last few years.

Should we be concerned? Yes. Should THEY stop investing in foreign operations as a precondition for getting their bailouts? They'd probably argue that the bailouts wouldn't help them if they had to do that. And they might be right. Mind you, I'm against them getting bailouts at all. I'm just talking bottom-line here, based on my limited knowledge of how the Big Three are currently making money.