The news that Chrysler Group LLC turned a $116 million profit in the last quarter, delighting employees along with many observers.
But it also exposes a flaw in Rick Snyder's plan to exempt most businesses from taxes.
Chrysler is an LLC and under Snyder's plan will not pay taxes on that profit.
All along, Rick Snyder has been telling people that the 95,000 businesses that won't pay taxes are "small businesses," implying they were Mom and Pop operations with a few employees. Chrysler hardly fits that image.
Snyder's boosters in the media have bought into that song and dance. The Detroit Free Press recently declared that it didn't matter because Chrysler didn't have any profits. Two weeks after that was written, Chrysler is projecting profits this year of $500 million. Time for a re-write, maybe?
Meanwhile, $500 million in tax-free profits for Chrysler is hardly a level playing field for the state's automakers since Ford and General Motors will both pay taxes on their profits.
The issue is not just Chrysler's unfair advantage over Ford and General Motors. If Chrysler is an LLC, what other large businesses are also LLCs, with millions in soon-to-be-untaxed profits, if Snyder has his way?
Showing posts with label Chrysler. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Chrysler. Show all posts
Thursday, May 5, 2011
Monday, February 14, 2011
Bonuses Not Just Good for Auto Workers
The recent news that workers for Chrysler and General Motors will receive bonuses is good news for everybody.
Who knows exactly what the hourly workers will do with their bonuses. Since GM workers aren't getting raises, some might feel compelled to just sock the extra money away. But I'll bet at least a few of them spend a few dollars celebrating -- a nice dinner out, new clothes for the kids, or whatever. And of course they'll pay more state income taxes than they would have otherwise, helping the state's bottom line.
A lot of the money will find its way into the coffers of conservative business owners who are mad that the companies are still in business and that the workers still have jobs. So will they have the courage of their convictions and tell the autoworkers to keep their money and take their business elsewhere?
Who knows exactly what the hourly workers will do with their bonuses. Since GM workers aren't getting raises, some might feel compelled to just sock the extra money away. But I'll bet at least a few of them spend a few dollars celebrating -- a nice dinner out, new clothes for the kids, or whatever. And of course they'll pay more state income taxes than they would have otherwise, helping the state's bottom line.
A lot of the money will find its way into the coffers of conservative business owners who are mad that the companies are still in business and that the workers still have jobs. So will they have the courage of their convictions and tell the autoworkers to keep their money and take their business elsewhere?
Monday, February 7, 2011
Michigan Looking Good in Super Bowl Ads
Michigan companies took advantage of the Super Bowl to put themselves on a big stage, and none more so than Chrysler.
Chrysler's spot featuring Eminem and the new Chrysler 200 Sedan was spectacular. The visuals built to a nice climax, the "Imported from Detroit" tag. And what a contrast to that wimpy, generic ad for BMW, bragging about making cars in Spartanburg, South Carolina. Nice that a foreign country has hired some locals to put their cars together. Chrysler's message was we design them here from the ground up. And we have for a long time.
Chevrolet's ads also were impressive. The pickup ad was clever, the ones for the Chevrolet Cruze, especially the one featuring the Facebook status update app, marks the car as appealing to young people. The ads definitely show that General Motors finally has moved away from its stodgy advertising of the past.
Ford's ad on the Focus race is one I'm not sure about. I didn't learn a lot about the product, but if it succeeds in drawing people to the website to follow the race, it could pay big dividends down the road.
Overall, I was a little overwhelmed at all the ads for movies about being invaded by aliens that seem to be on the verge of being released. I got tired of all the Fox promos for the network's shows. The Doritos commercials were a little creepy. Bud Light's commercial featuring the dogs at the party was cute.
And the game, yeah, that was really good, too.
Chrysler's spot featuring Eminem and the new Chrysler 200 Sedan was spectacular. The visuals built to a nice climax, the "Imported from Detroit" tag. And what a contrast to that wimpy, generic ad for BMW, bragging about making cars in Spartanburg, South Carolina. Nice that a foreign country has hired some locals to put their cars together. Chrysler's message was we design them here from the ground up. And we have for a long time.
Chevrolet's ads also were impressive. The pickup ad was clever, the ones for the Chevrolet Cruze, especially the one featuring the Facebook status update app, marks the car as appealing to young people. The ads definitely show that General Motors finally has moved away from its stodgy advertising of the past.
Ford's ad on the Focus race is one I'm not sure about. I didn't learn a lot about the product, but if it succeeds in drawing people to the website to follow the race, it could pay big dividends down the road.
Overall, I was a little overwhelmed at all the ads for movies about being invaded by aliens that seem to be on the verge of being released. I got tired of all the Fox promos for the network's shows. The Doritos commercials were a little creepy. Bud Light's commercial featuring the dogs at the party was cute.
And the game, yeah, that was really good, too.
Saturday, October 11, 2008
Too Horrible to Think About--But for the Wrong Reasons
The news that General Motors and Chrysler are considering a merger should send cold chills down the spines of everyone in America.
It's yet another sign of our shrinking ability to make anything, to buy anything, to compete in the world, and to produce what we need to defend ourselves.
The Detroit Free Press describes the merger possibility, in a story in editions for Saturday (Oct. 11, 2008) as a "landmark moment" in Detroit auto industry history because it would "reshape" the global auto industry.
The Freep's business mouthpiece, Tom Walsh, offers his own take on the matter, describing it as "too hard to think about."
Why?
"All the plants to close, all the tortuous discussions with the UAW, all of the possible litigation with dealers. It's too horrible to contemplate," Walsh wrote.
Good grief, man. Thousands of people are likely to lose their jobs, their homes, their futures. And all you can do is whine about having to cover the "tortuous discussions with the UAW"?
Can't you explain why the negotiations might be "torturous"? Can't you even acknowledge the pain that job losses could cause the working families represented by the UAW?
In any of the coverage by the Free Press, was there even a working person asked for his or her opinion of the matter?
Oh, there was a nice piece on a Ford executive retiring.
That'll have to do.
It's yet another sign of our shrinking ability to make anything, to buy anything, to compete in the world, and to produce what we need to defend ourselves.
The Detroit Free Press describes the merger possibility, in a story in editions for Saturday (Oct. 11, 2008) as a "landmark moment" in Detroit auto industry history because it would "reshape" the global auto industry.
The Freep's business mouthpiece, Tom Walsh, offers his own take on the matter, describing it as "too hard to think about."
Why?
"All the plants to close, all the tortuous discussions with the UAW, all of the possible litigation with dealers. It's too horrible to contemplate," Walsh wrote.
Good grief, man. Thousands of people are likely to lose their jobs, their homes, their futures. And all you can do is whine about having to cover the "tortuous discussions with the UAW"?
Can't you explain why the negotiations might be "torturous"? Can't you even acknowledge the pain that job losses could cause the working families represented by the UAW?
In any of the coverage by the Free Press, was there even a working person asked for his or her opinion of the matter?
Oh, there was a nice piece on a Ford executive retiring.
That'll have to do.
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