GM responds to Turner Comments

December 5th, 2008 Posted in Atlanta Press Club

Auto industry executives are engaged in another round of Congressional hearings appealing for a bailout. While many Atlanta Press Club members are covering the hearings and other aspects of the fragile economy, others have their own opinions of what is happening to our nation’s finances.

A few weeks ago during an Atlanta Press Club Newsmakers lunch, media mogul Ted Turner ridiculed the industry’s bailout proposal. Though there was some applause from the audience over his comments, several employees of General Motors Corp., an APC sponsor, were present and took exception. Moderator Tom Johnson invited anyone in the room from GM, which has donated $15,000, to the APC this year, to respond to Turner’s remarks. So GM representatives sent along these statistics from a recent Center for Automotive Research (CAR) report on how the economy would be impacted if the “Detroit Three” (i.e. General Motors Corp., Chrysler LLC and Ford Motor Co.) reduced by 50 percent its overall employment and production:

  • The potential loss of 2.5 million jobs in 2009, with 240,000 coming from automakers; 800,000 from suppliers; 1.4 million others due to the “ripple effect”
  • A reduction in personal income by more than $125 billion in the first year, with a total loss of $275 billion over the course of three years
  • A loss to state and federal governments of $50 billion in 2009, or about $108 billion over three years.

Locally, the closing of GM’s Bill Heard dealership meant the loss of 2,700 jobs in the Atlanta area, according to GM representatives.

For more information on GM’s request for federal assistance, click here.

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