General Motors has once again approached the federal government with cap
in hand, asking for $50 billion in bailout funds. GM claims that if the
money is not provided, it will spell the end of the company and have a
considerable impact on the US economy. This request is on the heels of
a $25 billion bailout just awarded by congress to the “big three”
automakers (GM, Chrysler and Ford) in September 2008.
It is noteworthy that GM has not been able to organize their considerable
business and sell enough vehicles to remain afloat, as other automakers
the world over are compelled to do. Could it be the quality of GM’s
product is keeping buyers at bay and forcing them to purchase from Japanese
competitors?
There is evidence to bear out such a claim. “The proof of the efficacy
of real quality improvement shows up in many ways,” said Norman
F. Taylor, leading California Lemon Law attorney. “The one most
familiar here in this lemon law office is in the number of lemon cases
produced by each of the automobile manufacturers for equal periods of
time. In one measured period Toyota, who produces nearly as many vehicles
as GMC, had less than one third as many lemon law cases as GMC. The same
thing goes for Honda. The figures are startling.”
Taylor and his firm have been specializing in the
California Lemon Law for 22 years, and so have considerable expertise in the area. Having handled
some 8,000 cases on behalf of California consumers, they have certainly
seen the problems associated with automaker lemons and the travails buyers
must endure—many of them with General Motors.
It comes as no surprise, then, that GM, trading in faulty products, cannot
bail itself out of such a slump. It is hoped that GM’s request will
be refused by congress and that the staggering amount they are seeking
will be put to more efficient use.