Auto industry faces tough decisions

To the editor:

The media have been full of hum for days about the auto industry's request for a bailout. It sounds more like a clutch slipping or gears grinding. Here are a few thoughts the auto industry should address before asking for a handout.

1. The auto industry has just come off several years of record sales. Do automakers ever consider putting back some cash for a rainy day?

2. Have automakers considered producing more automobiles that the average wage earner can afford and pay for in four or five years?

3. With all the special incentives, automakers oversold the market. People bought new cars to satisfy a craving, not to replace worn-out models.

4. We've had three energy crises in my lifetime, and I'm not that old. This one grew for several years, and we surely will have another. Did automakers ever consider that energy costs were competing for auto dollars and determine to make more energy-efficient vehicles?

5. An advertisement mentions "over 50 different GM models." Have automakers considered it is almost impossible for any business to be successful with such redundancy?

6. Automakers are asking for a loan. As a consumer and business owner, I have never asked for a loan without a plan and cash-flow projections. What is their plan?

My suggestion would be that the auto industry develop a plan to address these issues and then ask for a loan.

DAVID L. SEABAUGH, Jackson