Should the Big 3 Sell Cars for “Nothing” to Resolve Cash Needs?

By Matt Van Hoven on November 20, 2008 2:20 PM

Today, the Wall Street Journal‘s John Stoll reported from Detroit. In the video above, he explains that after two days of inquiry in Washington D.C., big 3 execs have returned home with little hope of getting any closer to the bailout they need. Hmm, maybe flying down there in private jets was a bad way to start things off.

Anyway, Stoll notes that GM in particular is running out of places to cut spending. Production is down, and other expenditures both abroad and stateside are all zipped up. However, the automakers have one thing left to get rid of; their vehicles.

Typically, a fire sale is a really bad sign, right? But if cash is what the companies need, maybe selling their cars for 20 percent less than their value should be considered.

Here’s why. If the bailout comes through, each manufacturer will have a debt in the billions to pay off. And we don’t know about you, but even the idea of bailing these guys out makes us squirm. So, maybe before asking Americans to pay off their debt (for awhile), they should offer awesome discounts on their product. We, for one, would be less pissed off about the situation if we had a sweet new Camaro sitting outside (especially if it came at the bargain price of $13k, for example).

Just a thought, but we wanted to throw it out to you. Use this handy poll to give us your take. Comments, as always, are welcome!

Should the Big 3 Sell Their Cars For Less?
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