Reply #167: Concessions are good:

[backscatter712]

Start with more domestic sourcing of parts - no more parts out of China.

Also some R&D efforts for greener cars - better fuel economy, hybrids, full electric cars. This would be a great long-term plan actually. The car makers haven't been willing to invest in the R&D to make cars better and more efficient, preferring to make cars more powerful and making lots of cosmetic changes to make the cars appear shiny. Powerful cars sell well - everyone likes fast cars, but they use more gas, are bad for the environment, and need to be discouraged (though not eliminated completely - I admit that I like fast cars...) The point is that driving the auto makers to do some R&D will result in better cars, which will be more competitive with imported cars, and ultimately sell better, helping the auto-makers come out of their slump. We just have to push them to think further ahead than the next quarterly earnings report.

Getting some .gov help to bail out the industry should come with a mandate for green cars. As in almost all their cars should be green.