If you think bailing out the “Big Three” in Detroit makes sense, perhaps Fred Barnes‘ latest column will help change your mind.
The southern auto industry mocks Detroit. The transplants make money
and aren’t asking for help from Washington. The recession has curtailed
car sales temporarily, causing the transplants to slow production. But
they are expected to expand again once the economy recovers. Volkswagen
is currently building a plant outside of Chattanooga, which will
produce 150,000 cars a year. But VW, with ambitious plans to increase
its American sales, obtained an environmental permit that allows it to
make 512,000 autos at the site. Volkswagen, by the way, has moved its
main American office from Auburn Hills, Michigan, to Herndon, Virginia.
Barnes misses the boat by downplaying the negative consequences associated with “incentives” used to lure automakers, but he’s correct that the decline of the Detroit companies would not mean the end of the American auto industry.
