OK, so I promised I wouldn’t continue to write about the cash for guzzlers plan… (sigh) So I’ll sum up new developments quickly: the program is having all kinds of trouble because it’s not equipped to handle such a large market. Basically the website and the help hotline have been jammed with traffic (no pun intended) and have not been helping dealers wanting to register for the program. As with anything, opinions on whether or not this program is working are varying. Some dealers see it working so well they believe that the money set aside to fund the program will run out by late August. And moving on.

Now for some potentially GREAT news for the auto shipping industry! Earlier this month, as part of their efforts to revitalize business, GM began to suggest opening up a partnership between themselves and eBay. Now it’s no news that regular people use eBay to sell their old or rebuilt cars to people all over the country (and a huge part of where an auto shipping business comes into play), but apparently; this isn’t that big of a leap for the auto manufacturing industry. Apparently dealers all over the country have been listing GM certified pre-owned vehicles on the website eBay Motors (eBay’s online auto marketplace). This would be a huge step in regards to new vehicles, something GM’s CEO Fritz Henderson characterized as “an exciting day.” Now who will wind up shipping these cars to the consumers? It is unclear at this point if the automaker will have set in place pre-existing contracts or if this will be left up to the consumer. All I know is this would be a very welcome breath of fresh air in this cruel economic time.

How about this! The day after my update on Thursday about the congressional initiative to support failing dealerships: the House of Representatives passed the bill. This means of course that it now needs to make it through the senate (which is always near impossible) and pass through the president’s approval. Might I reiterate that just because it made it through the house does not necessarily mean that it will be signed into law. As I discussed on Thursday, this bill faces a Senate that is not nearly as supportive as the House, and presidential opposition. Still, many changes can and probably will be made to the bill which means it could be a law before (oh let’s just say) the end of August.

I know we have heard plenty of complaining from both sides of the aisle that this congress is a bit too loose in the purse strings, and believe me: this bill only furthers their point. This dealership bill is part of 24 billion dollar spending bill, which could be a key indicator of why Obama opposes it. As this latest bit of trouble for GM during their bankruptcy court trudges on, I’ll keep you posted.

So dealerships are closing in multiple places. Living anywhere in the country, chances are you have seen a dealership close to you shut its doors. In some extreme cases, what do you do if there is now nowhere close by to buy a new vehicle? I’m speaking only hypothetically of course, but the hypothetical may be a reality in certain instances. What about people who live in very rural areas that definitely do not have car dealerships? It is possible that before, they could have driven to a small town nearby (within an hour of course) to purchase a vehicle. And is it also possible that now, that dealership is no longer. Now I’m not saying that I hope this actually happens, but I do intend to point out that having a reliable auto shipper may be the answer to these people’s problem. With Terminal-to-Terminal shipping, extra cost could be incurred for these people who don’t live anywhere near these terminals. This is something that makes Door-to-Door delivery such a valued thing, and finding the right transport means finding the shipper that will cater to your needs.  Leave that to M3 Auto Shipper! (haven’t plugged them in a while, plus I don’t feel like I’ve ever taken the time to explain what it is that they do).

GM and Chrysler are in talks with lawmakers to reach an agreement regarding the proposed closing of thousands of dealerships. This is obviously in an effort to avoid the proposed legislation that would put their plans on hot water. In case I didn’t go into this on Monday (which I don’t remember doing so) this legislation would take these close to 2,000 dealerships, and restore them to the status they had before GM or Chrysler filed for bankruptcy. Yesterday the Obama administration made it clear that they would be opposed to such legislation, even though the bill was sure to pass in the House.

The National Automobile Dealers Association has been showing up in full force to support this legislation. Their efforts seem to be working as their congressional support has been growing quickly all week. It is still unclear whether or not the measure will pass through the senate as it has only half of the votes needed to pass. We’ll see how this unfolds.

Curious about how the Cash for Guzzlers program (the one that I discussed on a couple of occasions) was panning out? According to a growing consensus, not well. The argument states that it is far to early in our economic recovery to count on a plan like this to work. The problem stated: people may own a gas guzzler that happens to be paid off, the incentive would not in any way be worth the accrued debt of buying a new car. Sounds like a pretty reasonable argument to me, but will this ever reverse the decision to implement this program? Only time will tell.

It’s Monday, July 13^th, and here is your automotive news for today.

It seems that GM’s bankruptcy isn’t going as smoothly as they may have initially wish it. During their bankruptcy hearings they announced their plans to close thousands of dealerships, ultimately saving the company billions of dollars (which makes even wonder if they considered other areas that they could cut back, perhaps we all need to read a little more deeply into this).

There has now been action on Capitol Hill. Some members of congress are fighting this possible incline in the unemployment rate and it’s a non-bipartisan issue. One congressman described this as strong-arming dealerships into signing a deal by giving them fear of their own closure. Charles Grassley, a Republican senator from Iowa, has already introduced legislation in the House Appropriations Committee that directly address this. Reportedly, out of the two bills in question, one has already passed committee, and is working it’s way up the legislature.

This legislation would restore terminated franchises to their status before GM and Chrysler file for Bankruptcy. Additionally, this would force any further hearings of the closing of these dealerships to be heard in State courts, rather than national bankruptcy courts which will probably make it much easier for the dealerships to have a fighting chance.

GM issued an opposing statement on July 6^th, 2009 through their National Dealer Council condemning the legislation. Which was quickly condemned by the Automotive Trade Association Executives Committee, who blast this letter claiming that this is just another example of GM’s heavy-handed tactics to get their way. However the spokesman for the company may not be lying when he says that if such legislation is passed, the company could be risking any progress they have made or would have made. I know the company doesn’t want to fire people, but this legislation would make it much harder to do so (maybe that’s a good thing) :/

Hello and thank you for visiting on this wonderful July, 9 2009. First big news of the day: GM is set to exit bankruptcy court. Apparently (and frankly, as expected) the company is now largely owned by the U.S. government. As this is a developing topic, I will have much better details next week so please check back. This is bound to get/remain ugly.

In other news, the Wall Street Journal recently released a report speculating the passage of a new Department of Transportation bill in congress. This was as of July 2^nd. This transportation bill, which was being introduced by House Democrats, is reportedly just in its beginning stages so there is bound to be plenty of development in this story. This bill would cost 450 billion dollar over the next 6 years (yes, yes, I know) if passed. What would this bill do you ask?

Included in the bill would be several initiatives to reduce oil consumption in the U.S.  This is reportedly in an effort to stimulate economic growth (and not for the purpose of conservation, that is way down the list of important things in this country at the moment it would appear).  Additionally, this bill would consolidate the number of Transportation Department programs used to disperse federal tax money to state programs (to under 6). This would be a positive thing as it would allow local agencies to give more specific attention to where the money is going exactly (which could wind up saving us tax money in the end). For some this is just another example of our big spending habits, which they believe will get us further and further into this mess we’ve created. To an extent, I agree.

That’s all for this week. Next week is sure to bring some excitement.