Friends:

This was passed to me by a friend who worked in the auto industry.
Food for thought next time any industry needs help!

Subject: Aid to foreign automakers


December 15, 2008


Foreign Auto Plants Have Received $3.6 Billion In Subsidies, Mostly from Southern States.


Responding to many queries, Good Jobs First released its summary of state and local subsidies given to foreign-owned auto assembly plants, totaling $3.6 billion.


"As elected officials debate aid for the Big 3, taxpayers have the right to know the full extent of government involvement in America's auto industry," said Greg LeRoy, GJF's executive director.


"And while proposed federal aid to the Big 3 would take the form of a loan, the vast majority of subsidies to foreign auto plants were taxpayer gifts such as property and sales tax exemptions, income tax credits, infrastructure aid, land discounts, and training grants," he said.

Honda, Marysville , OH , 1980, $27 million*
Nissan, Smyrna , TN , 1980, $233 million**
Toyota , Georgetown , KY , 1985, $147 million
Honda, Anna , OH , 1985, $27 million*
Subaru, Lafayette , IN , 1986, $94 million
Honda, East Liberty , OH , 1987, $27 million*
BMW, Spartanburg , SC , 1992, $150 million
Mercedes-Benz, Vance , AL , 1993, $258 million
Toyota , Princeton , IN , 1995, $30 million
Nissan, Decherd , TN , 1995, $200 million**
Toyota , Buffalo , WV , 1996, more than $15 million
Honda, Lincoln , AL , 1999, $248 million
Nissan, Canton , MS , 2000, $295 million
Toyota , Huntsville , AL , 2001, $30 million
Hyundai, Montgomery , AL , 2002, $252 million
Toyota , San Antonio , TX , 2003, $133 million
Kia, West Point , GA , 2006, $400 million
Honda, Greensburg , IN , 2006, $141 million
Toyota , Blue Springs , MS , 2007, $300 million
Volkswagen, Chattanooga , TN , 2008, $577 million

Total: more than $3.58 billion

* total direct subsidies to all Honda facilities in Ohio
** includes $200 million for expansions of Smyrna and Decherd plants
*** List does not include joint ventures
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If we can GIVE money to foreign companies, what's wrong with LOANING money to American companies? - Frank

 

toyota motors lost money for the first time in 7 decades... 70years they have been makeing $, now nothing. and they are one of the largest international car manufacturers, struggeling to get by...

just have to say the foreign owned auto makers are not as stupid/stubborn as our big 3 are. the foreign makers have seen this comeing and have cut, NOT eliminated, U.S. production. some plants and subsidiaries in my area have cut back from 6days to just 4. and the suzuki apolstrey division near me has cut back, but has not eliminated any of its employees. but just last week GM closed 2 of its big plants. one in Janesville, IL and another in OH i think.... and GM is looking for another hand out come march....

idk what the answer is, if someone does lease let the government know!!!

 

Good post Jumbofrank. The scary part is that the people that are voting on the fate of millions of autoworker jobs do not disclose their motives at all. We see congressmen on the nightly news grandstanding and posturing about how they are going to be tough with the auto companies, and that they are going to let the american automakers fail. But they fail to tell us on the news that these same congressmen have already given away huge amounts of money to foreign automakers.

Case in point: The senator for Alabama that gave Mercedes Benz the equivalent of $180,000.00 in incentives per job created in his state, now says the american automakers should be allowed to fail.

 

Good post but misleading.

True, many foreign automakers have received various "incentives". These are given to entice that particular manufacturer to build their plant in these areas - thus making for higher employment and tax income. However, this is done all the time and is not limited to foreign auto makers - in fact, it's not limited to automakers at all. You can have a plant making baked beans and it will get the same type incentives to locate. You see this more in the South since the more temperate climate combined with lower average salaries makes it more economical for manufacturers.

BTW, GM got a ton of the same type incentives when they built theSaturn plant in Tennessee in the 80's.

Jaybee

 

It always struck me as odd that "forien" auto makers seem to be building plants in the US, while "domestic" auto makers seem to be moving operations to Mexico...

 

I was opposed to the financial "bail out" of the financial sector as well as the auto industry.

Incentives are however an entirely different thing. Not far from me a very large distribution center is being built with over twenty-five acres under roof. State and local government provided "incentives" to build here and in the long run the money will be recovered in the form of wages, taxes and such as it has been from several other projects including a paper products facility and aluminum foundry. This is nothing new.

 

I've seen many companies get incentives from the government right on down to the town level. I know it's not limited to the car makers. When it comes down to it, I'd rather have a vehicle made in the US by US workers than a supposed US vehicle made in Mexico or Canada. Just my .02 worth.

 

I read recently that a Toyota Tundra is more "American" with more "domestic content" than most of the big three. The American manufacturers have outsourced their work for more years than I can count. I remember when my best friend bought a new Thunderbird in 1978 it was made in Canada.

 

<div class="FTQUOTE"><begin quote>Originally posted by: MooseHenden

I've seen many companies get incentives from the government right on down to the town level. I know it's not limited to the car makers. When it comes down to it, I'd rather have a vehicle made in the US by US workers than a supposed US vehicle made in Mexico or Canada. Just my .02 worth.</end quote></div>

I hear ya. I think that is one road we never should have gone down. We sent way too many jobs, etc. overseas. We've had it good, buying things for much less than what we should have spent. I'm as guilty as everyone. You can't avoid it. Maybe what we should have done was refuse to allow this all to happen and keep the work inside the US. This would have had to happen many years ago. Some of us saw this coming, but there was little or nothing we could do. It is truly a sad state of affairs. I don't think we have even seen the worst of it yet. One thing is for sure, we will adapt and overcome and we will learn from these mistakes. I think our future is going to be much different, and our childrens world will be much different than ours. While I don't think the loan to the Big 3 is enough to fix it, I supported it wholeheartedly simply save the millions of americans who will lose their jobs. Atleast, now, they will have some time to prepare. Afterall, it is not necessarily their fault, it is the greedy CEO's of this nation that have been robbing us blind! Just my 2 cents or more!

 

I know in Ontario we subsides the big 3 even in the good times but Bail outs are a different story,much more money involved. Your 18 billion bail out is just to get them to March they will need 70-100 billion buy the time its all done.

Southern States Subsidies for foreign automakers will never come close to that.

There 3 retirees to ever 1 person working for the Big three with benefits that are above average to any Toyota worker currently working. Thats where the 70/hr for domestic vs $45/hr foreign comes from.

UAW won some some plush negotiation in the pass that will cause the Big 3 to never be comparative in todays market even when the good time return.