Big Three CEOs Drive Hybrids To Washington (VIDEO)

CNBC's "Power Lunch" created a funny animation of the Big Three CEOs -- Alan Mulally of Ford, Rick Wagoner of GM and Robert Nardelli of Chrysler -- driving to Washington, D.C., where they're asking for federal funds.

The CEOs are driving hybrid cars after being reamed by the media for flying flashy corporate jets to plead their cases as struggling companies in need of government help.

The "Power Lunch" team are also offering joke suggestions of interesting sights for the CEOs to see along the way.

Watch the video and tell us in the comments section what you think about these CEOs driving nine hours to Washington. Here are some questions to ponder. We'll be closing comments Thursday at 1pm eastern. The most thoughtful answers will be posted in a new entry.

Is this a good use of CEOs' time during a financial crisis?

Do you think driving sends a good message to taxpayers that Detroit is willing to make big changes?

Do you think this is all a wasteful publicity stunt?

WATCH:

Comments

[itisover]

nissan, hyundai and many foreign cars all had problems. they came out by bringing new management and more importantly building better cars. if they did not come up with better
cars, they would have been history.

do you remember the days kia and hyundai was at the bottom of the reliability? now american cars are even worse than them.

these american auto makers ignored the development. they should have moved to hybrids
years ago. we should have had some alternative energy cars today. there is nothing in
horizon for the next decade.

i wouldn't give a penny to these companies. instead of begging for money, they should go back
to drawing board and design cars better than foreigners.

it will take a long time to gain reputation and trust they lost, but this is because they neglected
research and development for more than a decade.

[CaptainVideo]

The bottom line with respect to the automakers is that if they go down they will pull many other businesses down with them. As a result the recession will be worse and the unemployment will be higher than they would otherwise be. And brining the economy back to full employment will require an even bigger stimulus package than will otherwise be needed. Finally, if you own stock, either directly or indirectly through a pension or retiremant fund, if the automakers go down, the stock market is going to take another very deep hit, and so your losses will be a lot bigger than they are so far.

Ask not for who the bell tolls, it tolls for you.

[baghdadjoe]

What is the point of bailing out a company that makes products that don't sell? Detroit's behemoths are sitting unsold, occupying thousands of acres of otherwise perfectly good land from coast to coast. Americans don't want these cars and trucks, and Detroit is determined to keep making more of them.

Where does that go? Doesn't a bailout just make the final collapse even worse?

[CaptainVideo]

Right now the foreign cars are not selling either, as the sales data indicates This is because the economy is in a recession so that people who would buy cars if the economy was strong are not buying them. In addition many people who would buy cars cannot do so because they cannot get financing because the credit markets have frozen.

The american car companies would not be facing imminent bankruptcy if it were not for the fact that the economy is in a recession and the credit markets have frozen. Neither of those things are the car companies' fault. They are the govenment's fault.

If the car companies are provided help to keep them alive until the recession is over, the credit markets are working again and the car companies have had time to radically restructure_which is needed and must be a requirement of any bailout,-the economy will greatly benefit from this.

Chrysler was bailed out in the 1970s, returned to economic health and paid back all them money it got from the government. We therefore have historical evidence that well designed bailouts of American auto companies can work.

[roninarizona]

It is a waste unless they drive side streets, since Hybrids get poor gas milage at highway speeds.

[CaptainVideo]

Not so. While the fuel saving of the hybrids is greatest is stop and go urban driving, they get somewhat better mileage even in higway driving.

[CaptainVideo]

Every time you use the brake on a hybrid, even when on an interstate, this charges the battery and the electiric moter uses this stored power to help power the car.

[Snwbnny9]

I would hardly consider the 42 MPG I get in my Prius poor highway miles. And thats with the AC blowing full blast.

[baghdadjoe]

No "bailout" could have saved the Titanic. The damage to the ship was just too great.

Detroit automakers are no different. Sure, the $35 billion (a figure which seems to climb every day) could help keep the ship afloat for another month or two or three. But then what? Detroit's current product line is not selling. And those gas-guzzlers aren't going to start selling in the next six months to a year. Meanwhile, these auto companies will continue to take on water to the tune of $5 billion a month in the case of GM.

You can't bail out a sinking ship. And it's foolish to try.

[CaptainVideo]

"Detroit's current product line is not selling. "

At the present time the cars of the foreign automakers are not selling either because the economy is in a recession and many people who do want to buy a car cannot get the financing because the credit markets have frozen.

The German government is also providing the German car companies with assistance.

[baghdadjoe]

That would be wrong. Even now there are waiting lists to get the fuel efficient cars of the future, like the Prius. Practical cars that people want to buy are still selling.

[pat8942]

All the big three has to do is add the word bank to their name (Ford Bank,GM Savings Bank) and they can get all the money they want, no questions asked and no business plan required.

[marijam]

They will be running mostly on gasoline since the electric kicks in when you're in town and stopping then starting, rather than maintaining a constant rate of speed. I commute 86 miles every day each way, I'd like to have a Ford truck, European clean diesel model, that I hear gets 40+ miles per gallon. If we built plants that turned all of our trash into diesel, it would take care of two problems, what to do with our trash and how to get alternative fuels. We could even get rid of existing trash dumps by "mining" them for the plants. Every major metropolitan area should have a plant such as this. Of course, it would have to have good scrubbers, otherwise the stench would be unbearable. There is at least one plant like this in America currently, in Indiana, I think.

[BushSunkOurShip]

I would do the same thing and more to be given billions $$ of tax payers money..

[cornagainstsorcery]

I remember an episode of TV Nation where Michael Moore challenged CEOs to use their own products. The only one who did was the CEO, at the time, of Ford, who came down from the office and changed Michael Moore's oil. I remember thinking, well, maybe some of 'em are respectable sometimes. Though clearly PR, it is respectable. I drove to DC once. It was a lovely drive. Camped a night in South West Pennsylvania. Beautiful.

[CaptainVideo]

"Is this a good use of CEOs' time during a financial crisis? "

Yes, because at this time perceptions are absolutely crucial to the survival of the auto companies.

The technical details of the recovery plan for the auto companies can be worked out by subordinates.

[Littledog]

I would much rather support working people and retirees who worked hard all their lives in the auto industry than the fox-hunting, spa-retreating guys from AIG and the banks, who haven't done one thing for real people with all the money (OUR MONEY) they have been given. At least auto workers don't go Fox hunting in England when we give them money. I WANT our industry to survive!

[brittface]

Why can't they carpool?

[CaptainVideo]

They need to show off their respective gasoline electric hybrids.

[cyrano1]

I think they should have been instructed to take trains, buses, and light rail; since if Michael Moore's inspired solution prevails, they'll soon be in the business of retooling themselves to build and expand upon those same systems. No time like the present to get acquainted with their new product lines!

[CharlieHoward]

Sorry to vent about this, but the "Big 3" and and UAW are both responsible for this mess. The manufacturers brain-washed the American public into believing they had to buy big, powerful cars to prove they were real, American, men (even the women), then delivered unreliable junk for decades. The UAW demanded, and got, ridiculously extravagent benefits, abusing their bargaining power, discrediting the Labor movement, and ultimately making it impossible for their employers to either fulfill the benefit commitments or make a profit. Obama talked about giving "us" the same health-care benefits Congress receives. I'd rather have had the UAW's benefits.

Now that they no longer can push their crap through dealers, both groups are using Bush-Rove scare tactics to steal taxpayer money. I think the time has come to call their bluff and see whether cutting them off plunges us into a Depression.

From a rational point of view, I realize that the failure of these companies would be terrible for the entire country; but after so many years of being exploited, I'm just not in a mood to be rational anymore.

[BushSunkOurShip]

You see who is really going to suffer, the workers will have to give up some of the wages and benefits..
Bush , Cheney , his administration and the "democrats" should be thrown out of office and never be allowed to run again..
This is a complete and arrogant breakdown in the structure and laws of our country..
But as The attorney general stated......All crimes are not crimes to be prosecuted..
So it looks as if you are the elite or corporations or friends of this administration you are above the laws..

[Jainzy]

So what is your question, ultimately? Are you concerned about the political implications of the day trip these 3 billionaires are makIing by car, or are you (subconsciously?) encouraging readers' comments on how television presents the news?
In CNBC's Disneyfied presentation of this pressing national issue (IF YOU HAVE LOST TRACK, FORGIVEABLY, the issue is OUR NATIONAL ECONOMY in its potentially lethal intertwining with the greedy and nearsighted Detroit 3) only 18 seconds of that 47-second clip pictured the CEOs driving (or were they chaufeured?) on a - my God - a NINE HOUR JOURNEY ALL THE WAY TO WASHINGTON ! What a waste of their valuable time! Especially when they normally can AVOID AIRPORT SECURITY CHECKS AGAINST TERRORISM FORCED UPON EVERYONE ELSE by hopping on their private jets!
On the other hand: THEIR TIME IS MEANINGLESS - REPLACE THEM! They got us into this mess, and should be shipped off to the nearest desert island (with all due respect, and with the requisite amenties befitting their new station in life, of course, not ot mention total reimbursment of past, present and future bonuses to Detroit's new owners, the taxpayers. (Fair is fair.)
But I digress. WHY IS ALL OF TELEVISION SO TOTALLY INANE? DO WE REALLY HAVE TO LISTEN TO A 47 SECOND PRESENTATION ON THIS CRUCIAL ISSUE TO OUR NATIONAL ECONOMY AND TO THE FUTURE OF OUR POLLUTING VERSUS GREEN CARS THAT DEVOTES OVER TWO THIRDS OF ITS TIME TO "ENTERTAINING" NONSENSE? HAMBURGERS ??? GIVE US A BREAK!!!

[sandals]

for people to say the big 3 doesn't make a good product, well did you know that GM's Cadillac was rated #1 in 2007.
did you know this year that Toyota had a lot of there vehicles on the bottom of that list this
year?

[baghdadjoe]

Rated #1 for what - excessive gas consumption?

Remember: Consumer Reports, J.D. Powers, and other "ratings outfits" are in the tank for Detroit. If you believe their "reviews", I've got some swampland in Louisiana to sell you - real cheap.

[DrewRicketts]

Why The Bailout Money Should Pay For Reparations: http://newsone.blackplanet.com/nation/opinion-why-the-bailout-money-should-pay-for-reparations/

No more money for automakers and banks until we start addressing the other historical debts owed.

[CaptainVideo]

Most American "Blacks" are actually part white and many are decended from slave owners. So perhaps their white part should pay reparations to their black part.

The people who really deserve reparations are the Indians, whose land was stolen from them.

[motoGpifupleez]

You do realize it's talk of reparations that fire up the "base" down here in the south. Witness the re-election of Saxby "them other folks have already voted" Chambliss. I actually heard people saying-aloud and in public-that Barack Obama was going to "turn this country over to them ni....." Oh how far there is to still go.

[authorship]

Toyota's numbers make sense - and cents - and have for decades! They've set the template, which the US auto delusionals & willing public have ignored!

Yes, - obviously a PR stunt! These manipulative bubble bastards tap dance again to an old tune, & it's not 'Happy Days are Here Again!'! As with the Bushes, they continue completely out of step with reality & use fear tactics instead of change! (See Chrysler Exec)

The issue idelivery road map, for a complete US auto industry overhaul, not delivery of their sorry asses to a destination!

NO, to their continued bag of tricks of the trade, which they've played on the willing U.S. public for decades! Now's time for the public to contact state representatives & voice outrage & insight into this charade

THEY have put themselves, their employees & all subordinate outlets into this unemployment mode, but only they will survive in their McMansions and surrounding gluttony.

I gave up my Toyota car 5+ years ago, as a senior who walks & rides the bus. I've not looked back! Where there is a will, there is a way!

The auto industry gurus have not meditated on the issue beyond their myopia. It's obvious they've no will to change, consequently they've no highway to survivorship! A bail out is a drip, drip to the inevitable jolt of a ship that deserves to be sunk!

Funds should be put behind a revolutionary NEW auto industry based on alternative fuels. Delete the disaster! NO