One of the arguments heard even today from the Big 3 automobile companies is that the spectre of - or even the hint of possible - bankruptcy will keep Americans from buying their cars. Rick Wagoner, the CEO of GM, told the U.S. Senate that 80% of Americans would refuse to buy a car from a company that had filed for bankruptcy. A new USA Today/Gallup Poll indicates that this line of argument is simply wrong; flat out wrong.
This poll asked the question: Would the auto companies filing bankruptcy make you less or more willing to buy an American car? Three out of every four respondents, 75%, said it would not affect their decision. A higher number, 82%, said they would consider buying a Detroit-branded car in the future. And 57% of Americans still believe - although we don't - that all three major American auto companies will survive.
So, just because a highly-paid auto executive or a highly-paid spokesperson says something is true doesn't make it so. For some reason, the auto executives continue to discount the option of bankruptcy even if it might be the very medicine their ailing companies need. As was so well-stated by Aaron Bragman, an IHS Global Insight analyst, "It is one of the big contentions the auto industry has made, that people will not buy from a bankrupt company. They have fought bankruptcy tooth and nail."
We're not saying that bankruptcy would or would not fix things, simply that the debate needs to be centered around honest arguments based on factual research, like this latest poll.
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