So the French government has decided to give Renault and Peugeot-Citroen a 7.5 billion euro bailout, with an interest rate of 6% (well below market values), so as to protect the company from layoffs. Which is good. Laying people off is bad. But the second part is to give them incentive to produce low-emission vehicles, which sounds like a great idea on paper, right? But it gets better. The auto makers are promising to not close any factories in the country for the duration of the loan, which could be years, and they’re committed to getting out of this temporary – but crippling – economic crisis.

France finally got it right. They’re giving them a loan – what a concept! This isn’t a bailout, it’s not a subsidy, but a full-on loan, complete with interest and everything. And the auto makers are dedicated to creating better, more fuel efficient, cleaner vehicles, which is something else that American companies just won’t do. Now, we’ve spoken about the complete farce the auto industry in America is, but we haven’t really compared it to some of the other major (and minor, in this case) auto makers. Let’s take Toyota. Toyota recently posted a multi-billion dollar loss last year, but they aren’t compromising the products they are putting out in order to sell more vehicles; rather, they’re taking more progressive steps, offering incentives to their consumers and making vehicles that leave a much smaller carbon footprint.

This is what American auto makers need to do. Revamp the business model, make cars that we want to buy, and stop being greedy corporate thugs. How hard can that be?