Transcripts For CSPAN Washington Journal 20140122

The bailout was worth it for the country. As we take you through arguments on both sides, we want to hear from you and our phone lines are open. Democrats can call 202 5853880. Republicans, 202 5853881. Ndependents, 202 5853882 you can catch up with our social media pages on facebook and journal cr email at spanwj. We will take you live to the floor of the washington auto show. The auto bailout issue, something Vice President joe biden talked about last week when he was at a Detroit Auto Show. A quote from Vice President biden we bet on american ingenuity, we bet on you, and we won. His visit to the show follows the u. S. Treasury sale last month of its remaining stake in General Motors. The exit ended the socalled government motor zero that sllowed the u. S. Government 50 billion bailout and reorganization of that company. The vehicles on display reflect the sacrifices made during the industrys restructuring during the session. The story goes on to note what a difference five years makes. Biden said everything from the mood here at the auto show from 2009 to what you faced back then, literally the likely collapse of the Automobile Industry. Did not come without costs. Last month when the government sold its final share of gm, it recouped about 10 billion less than the 50 billion it provided to General Motors, but several studies coming out in the wake of that announcement by the Treasury Department about what would have happened had the government not gotten involved, the center for Automotive Research had a paper in early two. 6r that noted million jobs were saved in the u. S. Economy alone because of the auto bailout, and 284 billion in personal income was saved in 2009 and 2010. Some of the arguments on both sides also playing out this morning on our Facebook Page, and we will take your calls and tweets as well. Lisar Facebook Page, writes in this morning freemarket policies do not ever bailout companies or wall street. Nopany or wall Street Company or entity is ever too big to fail in a freemarket economy. Bailouts,gy behind subsidies, loans, picking winners and losers is a centrally planned economy a. K. A. Socialism or state is of course the auto bailout was worth it, saving billions of jobs am a and the cost of the economic devastation would have been much greater your cojust a few comments on our Facebook Page. We also have a pole, we are asking our viewers their thoughts. Itht now 378 people saying was not worth it, 350 people are saying yes, it was worth it. Callin on our phone lines them up like joe is doing from georgia on our line for republicans. Joe, good morning. We are talking about the auto bailout. Do you think it was worth ait . No, i dont. We have to let the market work. Have got problem, we to elect men and women to congress that will not, with 17 trillion we just cannot afford it. We cannot afford to bailout anybody, and Free Enterprise i have been a businessman 30 years. If i can make it, i ought to go broke. I should not come to you, the taxpayer, and say bail me out. Does that make sense . On our twitter page, i think it saved a lot of jobs. We lost money as a country and that may hurt. Gm should be made to pay it all back. Severalsubject, editorials coming out after that gm sale announcement was made by the Treasury Department. Dana milbank in the Washington Post. He says in his piece, almost five years later, the auto , andtry is healthy again large swaths of the midwest have been spared economic devastation, also relatively offer a relatively modest sum. The total cost to save gm and chrysler came to about 12 billion. It would seem the argument against the bailout has been subtle, yet opponents continued to argue their case if anybody will listen. Milbank talking about the subject. Susan is up next from cigna harbor, washington, on our line for independents. Caller having been a driving in shafter, i cannot get over the having been a driving instructor, i cannot get over the fact that the cars are so plastic. To me it was not worth it was if last fellow implied that i dont have the money, i dont go to the government and say pay my mortgage. To me, it is no different, the strategy they use to get the funds. It is like the taking of the market on the homes, it is like as long as we are not saying it is the great greatest depression, we will never get a hold of the economy. Appreciate you calling in. Here is a piece from carol roth tom cnbc, i a contributor cnbc, talking about the Market Forces she thinks would have happened in this situation had gm and chrysler gone bankrupt. She writes, the reality is that gm and chrysler had significant valuable brands and other intellectual properties, manufacturing equipment, a Loyal Customer base, skilled workforce, and more. There was substantial demand for their products. These were bankruptcies stemming from nondependent labor costs noncompetitive labor costs and liabilities, not once brought on by a lack of interest in the core businesses. The thing no financial or strategic buyer would ultimately have had an interest in these acquiring the assets of these companies is preposterous. Even if you could make the consumerble argument, demand for automobiles would still be in place. Other manufacturers like ford would have benefited and absorbed the demand, and a portion of the related workforce and ecosystem. Writing in a piece for cnbc on some of the arguments for the auto bailout. Ourre talking about it in first 45 minutes as we bring you live shots from the washington and show happening today this week in washington, d. C. , where more than seven hundred new makes and models from 42 manufacturers are on display at the Walter E Washington Convention center in d. C. Lewis is waiting in los angeles on our line for independents. Caller how are you doing . Talking to my friend about this he other day. Now you just have the triforce with america, canada, russia, all that. My main question is host we apologize for that. We go to texas. Cleo is on our line for democrats. Good morning. We are talking about the auto bailout. Was it worth it . Caller yes, sir. How are you . I am a military veteran. A disabled veteran. I served time in a war. I want to make a couple of comments. I think whatever the government is doing for this country, because we taxpayers, in the best interest of us americans, i think it is great. We can try to rebuild other countries, but i think we can rebuild our own country. Look at the water, the chemicals that just happened up here. We do infrastructure and put water into our country, we can have more jobs. People, two types of destructive and constructive. If we dont start to try to keep putting our foot forward and get these people out of the way, we are not going to get anywhere. Cleo, was the auto bailout a constructive use of government funding . Caller yes, sir, it was. It saved a lot of jobs and that is good. As long as you can keep the economy going and stop listening to these destructive people who they want to run for office and ,nce they get into Office Government is too big, lets destroy it. They want to destroy it not to help the country. Host michael is up next from new york, new york, on our line for independents. Caller good morning. Cspan is truly a national asset. Of accountingor at a graduate school, an mba program. Short give you a quick observation. The gentleman who calls in who says he believes in the free market system i agree with him 1000 . You the first observation of dealing with reality. A german car is 50 subsidized by the taxpayers in the country. That is why they are able to pay 65 an hour. Another observation is that this will give my age out george bush junior, the former student atwas my harvard in accounting. With the war was in iraq, he changed the. Nflation rule, excluding oil at 60 a include oil barrel, you have 12 inflation. If you do inflation minus oil to 2 . D, it drops down an observation on how to create 4 million jobs in the United States. We have a 17 trillion debt. It is very simple. Our dollar is overvalued by 20 . What you do is you allow the dollar to go into the free market and drop 20 . That will force japan to open at least 10 or 20 plants in the United States because their cars will be priced at the correct market price, and as far as Companies Like volkswagen, they would have to increase their plants in the United States because their cars would then be about 37 versus our cars being around 23,000. So you have a great program, and thank you so much. Michael from new york, offering his observations. We show you some shots from the auto show floor. Fiat, one of the manufacturers that is part of the auto show today. An article coming out of the New York Times and other papers around the country from yesterday. Fiat completes its acquisition of chrysler. A classic american car manufacturer has officially become 100 italian. Tuesday that it completed its deal to purchase the 41 it did not already own of chrysler, the once troubled american car company. The transaction completes the 4. 3 billion dollar deal announced earlier this month, making it the seventh largest automaker. You can see several of the papers around the country today on the completion of that merger. Some stories on the Automobile Industry today. The Washington Times has a section voted to the auto show. The headline there is future of driving and some firsts will be on display at the washington auto show. We will be talking about a few of those from the floor of the auto show. Another headline, from usa today. Barrier,rs slam into and the spark was the only one to pass. Later in the show, we will be bying we will be joined David Strickland, former administrator of the national highway Traffic Safety administration, who talks new technologies and auto safety. We have about a half hour left to talk about the auto bailout and whether you think it was worth it or not. Bill is waiting in texas on our line for republicans. Good morning. Caller good morning. They did not bailout the Auto Industry, they bailed out the unions. That is the result of all the problem. I think jim might agree with you on twitter. My guess is were the automakers not union, they would have declared a routine chapter 11 bankruptcy, so it was a uaw bailout. So you agree with jims comment . Caller you bet i do. Thank you. Madison, wisconsin. On our independent line. Good morning. Caller good morning. I love your program. I would just like to say that i think is this bailouts businesses should find a way and look for their financial problems or errors before they start asking the government for all kinds of money. There are way too many people that are not eating, are on unemployment, cannot find jobs. They keep increasing the entitlement programs but they spend billions and billions of dollars to help companies with people,ceos and other higher up people of those organizations getting all kinds of money. Sue in wisconsin this morning. The american prospect had a recent piece from 2012 talking ,bout the auto bailout arguments on both sides. Were progressive, use all that obama selected the best of the unattractive options when it came to the auto bailout. While he did not particularly want the government running Car Companies, the other alternative was letting them go out of business when the economy was reeling from the worst downturn since the great depression. Who work foreople hundreds of suppliers, stereo manufacturers, steel and rubber producers. Estimates of potential job losses topped 1 million so he did what had to be done. It goes onto say, if you were conservative, it was all part of obamas government power grab. He took the opportunity to take over the Auto Industry, serving his thirst for centralized control. Next in st. Clair shores, michigan, on our line for independents. Caller good morning and thank you for taking my call. The reason i am calling is that and week on channel 2 news the detroit news, they stated to the fact that gm is making four new plants in china. Also i would like to say one other thing. Washe time when chrysler doing bad and lee iacocca was in thege, he went in front of senate and congress and everything and got a bailout, and lee iacocca paid them back borrowed. Than he had my grandfather used to work for chrysler for 38 years, and the way it used to be many years ago was that if you worked for the big three, you would buy one of their cars. Stayed ine way people their jobs and everything. I dont see why the American People who work for the big three cannot do the same thing like my grandfather did many years ago. Diane, thanks for calling in. To your comments about overseas companies, that is something we will be talking to with David Shepardson coming up about 7 45, 7 50 this morning. He will be taking calls from viewers as well, so i hope you stick around and listen to that. Theave time to talk about auto bailout, but i want to point out some other headlines in the country for you. This from the new yorker, posted last night. Student calls russian spy story absurd snowden calls russian spy story absurd. Host one story on the front page of the Washington Post , some doubts on the plan announced on the nsa plan on friday. Ending the governments role in gathering american phone records , deeply concerned that they may have no way to a compass the task soon, according to individuals familiar with the discussion. Individual, and official with knowledge of the cussion host that according to a story on the front page of todays Washington Post. Datinghington auto show, back to 1921, when a group of 20 Washington Area car dealers and distributors plans the first show to sell the public on the virtue of what was then known as the horseless carriage. It has been staged to run washington, d. C. , for 18 years at the National Guard d. C. Armory, started at the Washington Convention center here in d. C. In 1983. We are talking about whether it is worth it. To byron, miami, florida, on our line for democrats. That morning. Yes, i want to say it is not worth it because we would be riding bikes. Tired ofhave been making bikes instead of cars. Thank you. Host byron in florida. Kevin is in it which would in edgewood, maryland. Good morning. Calling about the bailout, too. I have been unemployed for seven met all thei have standards to collect unemployment, and they are deciding on a bailout to Auto Companies instead of helping out americans that have worked for many years. It is ridiculous. , somelet me ask you reports when the government sold its shares of gm that the Treasury Department lost 10 billion overall on that. Do you think gm should pay that money back . Caller yes, it should. I used to work at the port of baltimore here, and i used to deal with cars. We have moved the cars around. There is nothing to explain about it. Says jd reading on twitter he was not too big on the bailout but it was worth it because it saves many communities. The fact that it saves many communities, do you think on that aspect that he has a point . Caller maybe, possibly. In fromvin calling edgewood, maryland. We are talking with our viewers about the auto bailout. Frank is waiting in albany, california, on our line for democrats. Ask for getting up with us. Caller frankly, i am a little bit frustrated because i do not even see this as a close call. As far as the cost for the country, it is 12 billion for the bailout. Not doing it would have increased the deficit multiple times over that. We would have cratered tax revenues, and safety net programs would have cost a lot of money. This is just kind of meanspirited ignorance, unfortunately, which drives a lot of decisionmaking in this country, sadly. Host can you respond to the argument that some folks have made that the market would have come in and pick up parts of gm to chrysler and been able move forward with the Auto Industry . Caller if you followed it at the time, that is simply not true. Suppliers were saying the entire supply team was going to collapse. All of the big Car Companies were going to collapse. Just go back and look at the reporting that was done at the time and you just know that is not true. People are being driven by their. Wn ideological preferences if you had any economist on there, they would agree with me. Host frank from california, the center for Automotive Research took a look at this from an economic standpoint and this estimate pointed to that report. You can find it on the website for the center for Automotive Research. Jobsbelieve 2. 6 million were saved in the u. S. In 2009 alone as a result of the 280 4nd 284 billion in personal income saved over the court 284 billion in personal income saved over 22010. Rse of 2009 bobby is waiting in oklahoma come in nashua, oklahoma, on our line for republicans. Caller i dont think the government ought to be picking and choosing winners. The government dont have any money. When they call it a government bailout, it is not a government bailout, it is the taxpayer bailing out them companies. I think the free market all to work. If they can make it, they go bankrupt. That is the way it ought to work. Host American Hero joe says on , why was gm unable to make a car the customer wanted . Ther carmakers could andrew is in alexandria, virginia, on our line for independents. Caller good morning. Host your thoughts on the auto bailout . Yes, i am glad that the Auto Industry was bailed out, a timeould like to see in america where every company would survive or fail on its own merit. I hope that comes soon because right now government is involved with regulation and with tax incentives, tax disincentives. So i would like to see a time when america was purely free market and companies could survive on their own merit. Andrew in virginia. Lets go to robert in mississippi on our line for democrats. Good morning. Caller good morning. Host you are on the washington journal. Watching yourjust show on tv and i have to say what i want to say about the bailout. I am from mississippi. When they announced the bailout, the taxes here went up so high, and the companies that could afford it or did not want to pay it, they went overseas the companies that could not afford it or did not want to pay it, they went overseas. That made everybody here , or had to take a job not in their profession or nothing like that. Afford to buy our cars down here because taxes are so high and the cost of living is so high. Robert calling in from mississippi. In louisiana, news yesterday on the political front. David victor, the republican senator, announced that he planned to run for governor of louisiana and made it clear that according to the timespicayune story that this would be his last job in politics if he won. You can see the front page with david vitter there. Also on the Political Campaign a story from the hill newspaper in washington, d. C. , on republican senator marco rubio from florida. He said tuesday he would not decide whether to run for president until this Time Next Year. During an interview on his weeklong trip to asia, he said he would wait before deciding to run for reelection for his thete seat or entering president ial contest. He did not rule out leaving a but office entirely. At this Time Next Year i will have to make a decision about Something Like that, and that time will come. One other story making headlines , here is the front page of the Richmond Times dispatch from virginia. Indicted, former governor Bob Mcdonnell and his wife, accused of 14 counts related to gifts. D loans in the first criminal indictment of the Virginia Governor in modern times, a federal grand jury tuesday charged former governor Bob Mcdonnell and his wife, that they violated federal corruption laws by using their position to benefit a wealthy businessman who showered them with thousands of gifts and loans. Some of the charges listed by the indictment include one count of conspiracy to commit three counts of Honest Services wire fraud, one count of conspiracy to obtain property under cover of official rights, leading to a 14count indictment announced yesterday. Some time left to talk to our viewers about the auto bailout. We are asking was it worth it. Jim is waiting in royal oak, michigan, on our line for independents. Caller i would like to point out that president bush also said he was not going to let the american Auto Industry go under, and the reason General Motors and chrysler are having trouble because credit there was no credit available after the collapse of wall street. Banks were not even lending to each other, so there was no money for either of them to survive because they were living on credit. They had to borrow money to survive. It was the economy that caused it to go under, that could have caused it to go under. Here in michigan, we gained 146,000 jobs. Without the bailout, it stayed in the dumps. ,ll these people talking about plus your other caller said 10 billion was chump change, what it would have cost the economy and the local communities if gm and chrysler were to fail. Host you are caller from michigan. Are you or any members of your family involved in the Auto Industry . If so, can you talk about what happened in 2009, how it impacted you . Host i a i am retired now. I worked for four years ago. It has not impacted me. The effect on michigan would have been devastating. That is all i can say. That saved michigan. Throughout the first 45 minutes of this program, we have shown shots of the floor of the Convention Center, where the d. C. Auto show is taking place. It is eight acres of Convention Center floor, covered by the show. Gton auto it used to be held the week between christmas and new years starting in 1988, but it was to coincide with congress return from recess, to capitalize on some of the business of washington, that according to the history of the auto show on the auto show website. Taking place january 23 through february 2. Wayne is waiting in greenberg, kentucky, on our line for republicans. Wayne, good morning. Caller good morning. I am concerned about what i i understand it has worked out fine with General Motors, but what about us stockholders that lost money in this . Dollars,few thousand and im glad i had most of my stock in forward. The point i am making is, the government bankrupted and left us private stockholders and bondholders holding the bag, low and slow. It hurt us. Mejust doesnt seem right to , the way it happened. Host do you feel like you have any recourse with the money you lost . If i have it, i dont know what it is. From spartanburg, South Carolina, on our lines for democrats. Walter, good morning. Caller how are you doing . Absolutely, anybody who thinks the bailout was a waste of time, all they need to do is look at inle in the 60s, argentina the 70s. The free market down there, they took free milk away from children down there from schools. Anybody watching fox news who thinks those lies are real, they need to get their facts gathered. The bailout was all we could do at the time. George bushs economy left us in such a mess, there was nothing we could do after eight years of republican policies. We were just finished. Host from our twitter page this morning, we talk about what might have happened without the bailout and some of these other situations. Knownould we ever have what wouldve happened without the bailout . We never will. We mentioned yesterday it was Chris Christie, new jersey governor, his second inauguration. Front pages from new jersey papers this morning about that inauguration. The trend tony and the trentonian. From the new jersey starledger, christies new term starts under shadow of scandal. The New York Times, one of their lead editorials today, references governor Chris Christie and how he can move forward from that issue. I will read you a little bit from the Editorial Boards comments. Mr. Christies great ability is so low there is only one way for him to dig out. He and his inner circle need to cooperate fully with the latest federal and state investigations looking into a fourday traffic jam in fort lee, new jersey, apparently engineered by his staff and officials of the Port Authority of new york and new jersey. The Editorial Board of the New York Times today. Another story i want to point out for you, this on security of the winter games. The white house making some comments about the upcoming winters games, in sochi, in russia. Has spoken toa vladimir putin. The russian president , by phone interest insic safety. That story also showing some estimates on Security Forces will be deployed in the olympics february,g in coming up. It notes 60,000 russian Security Forces will be deployed, about 26 security personnel for every one of the 2300 athletes expected at the sochi olympics. We have some time to take some more calls from our viewers from the auto bailout. You pictures live from the floor of the Washington Convention center. Pat is in fort pierce, florida, on our line for independents. You are on the washington journal. Dont think the government should have been involved in any kind of bailout. If anything, the public should have got involved. Aboutntleman who called his job being eliminated due to the bailout. They should get their money. 2 the last thing you were talking about today on the program, he needs to take care of veterans like he did in the first like you promised in the first election. The phone tapping situation i was in the marine corps when watergate broke out. What is the difference, and why isnt he being impeached . Fred is waiting in silver spring, maryland, on our line for independents. Caller perhaps i am ignorant with dealings with stock prices and everything, but i remember when the banking disaster took place. Gm stock was quoted that it had 6len down to Something Like per share. Gm stock was worth 38. 34 a share. I dont understand why the government should be taking a 12 billion loss when you have such stock prices gaining over that time period. Thank you very much. About thatll talk issue with our next guest, David Shepardson, the washington , the gm head. I want to go to james waiting in new baltimore, michigan, on our line for republicans. Good morning. You for cspan. Global warming is a myth. It is another way host james, we are talking about the auto bailout. If you have any comments on that , otherwise we will move on to pam from detroit, michigan, on our line for independents. For a few callers who have been calling and saying it is not worth it and we would never know if it was worth it. Yes, it was worth it. I am in detroit, and the effect it would have had on the other companies the fact my husband works for chrysler. If it was not worth if it was not for the bailout, he would not have a job now. Outlets, iterent helps because all of them would have collapsed and lost money. So i am very thankful to obama and bush for saving it. Chickot know young either, and it would have been hard to find a new job. I think god for the bailout. It was worth it. In detroit, michigan. Some collars and folks on twitter have mentioned they believe the bailout was more for a union quagmire for a union. This was a total bailout of the uaw and nothing more. Eugene is waiting inches long, minnesota, on our line for is waiting in chisholm, minnesota, on our line for independents. Caller i am a strong union person and i disagree with the unions causing the problem. Think back, all the Car Companies said it was bankrupt for the years. They had a good product that was far ahead of its time. The government did not do anything to help them, they just let them go by the wayside. They did not have any choice but to do one of those two things. Ander go on unemployment get nothing out of it, or helping the company. And people get a decent wage. Host eugene calling in from minnesota. We have ernie waiting from wisconsin on our line we have bernie waiting on our line for democrats in wisconsin. Caller my concern is that an american citizen would not feel the passion for american workers. They needed to be bailed out. The issue of whether we were helping unions, that is ridiculous. , andve bailout companies they are now competing against Foreign Companies and doing fine. And the companies we bailed out are providing healthy, middle , as a contrast to minimum wage jobs. I think we should forever be proud that our president made this possible. We have a poll going on on our Facebook Page, facebook. Com cspan. If you want to participate in this discussion, asking if the auto bailout was worth it. Now, 420 two people saying no, 373 people saying yes. Ryan phillips writes in that the another huge ripoff for american citizens. Alan says that it was a complete of the with payback loan. Thousands of jobs were saved, nslating on more people fewer people rely on the government. Wisconsin, steve on our line for independents. Gm should pay it back with interest because they got 38 billion in cash. Plus they lost all their money overseas because they are making money in china while this happens. Plus they got bailed out in their gmac financing deal, which is now called allied bank. From themore money government there. I will never buy a gm vehicle again. Thank you. Host some news on the gm front, this from the wall street journal. Section, thelace headline, cadillac sales are up, but so are inventories. Cadillac sales growing 22 , powered by sales of the newest and lowestpriced models, the 33,000 ats sedan. Hoped salescutives were stronger. President ofice editorial and partner cadillacnt saying that is eroding the probability of the brand the profitability of the brand by allowing inventory from the portfolio to supply in 2013. If you want to read more on that story, that is in the wall street journal today. Lets go to brent waiting in arlington, virginia, on our line for democrats. We are talking about the auto bailout. Do you think it was worth it . Caller yes and no. I had a comment about, i remember when chrysler was bailed out. The stock and bond holders were recouped of all their funds and money. This would here, the gm stock, nobody got anything back. The same symbol, but nobody got the money from the previous stock. All the people who had gm stock previous to the bailout got nothing. All the new people got the new gm stock. They are the ones who got the money. So its kind of like a joke. Last caller from arlington, virginia, this morning. Up next we will have a discussion on the state of the u. S. Auto industry with a bit pardson, the washington with David Shepardson, the Washington Bureau chief of detroit news. , an update from the floor of the washington auto show, which we will take you to now. Here at the forward section of the washington auto show with lee, the group vice governmentf relations. Our interaction with governments and communities where we do business around the world. What is Ford Motor Company concerned about . One is regulatory certainty. We need to have some sort of roadmap on how we do business because we have long lead times. Tax reform is another issue, but most important is trade policy. We are the number one exporting the number one exporting sector in the United States. Trade agreements have worked for us, and there are those trade agreements that have not worked for us. The Biggest Issue is currency manipulation. There we stand with the majority of congress, house and senate, to get some kind of currency discipline inside trade agreements. What currency discipline means is trying to figure out a way to stop subsidizing foreign product. You would sayhink fuel mileage standards would be a concern. Havingvery important in a good roadmap, and we are pleased with working with the administration on a roadmap that takes us through the next couple of years. We will have a checkpoint, and we are working with the regulators to have some data points and share with them the data so we can Work Together on a midterm review. Host part of the news that came out of detroit was the ford f150 is largely made of aluminum. Is that a part of the low mileage standards . Part of it, a big and it is a fabulous product. You will see built ford tough. This product is 700 pounds lighter, and it will get rate fuel economy, but better towing, better hauling. It will accelerate faster. This is a lean, mean, fighting machine. Was going to ask you if aluminum was a durability issue, especially with things like impacts. Guest not at all. Aluminumitarygrade that comes from the humvee. You will see this in military applications. It is 700 pounds lighter, better fuel economy. That weere is a car will see eventually, that has solar panels on the top. Whats up with that . Guest a great concept. It is the latest research out of ford. That looking at other ways we can be Energy Independent in the longterm. Have looked at better internal combustion engines, or applications, fuel cells. Now we are looking at coming off the electricity grid and seeing if we can do this by solar panels. Maybe not on a day like this where it is 70 degrees, but it has some good applications. We are studying it, researching it, and seeing what its possibilities are. Host where does the government help or hinder you as far as standards for when you develop and market these vehicles . Aest the government provides role in providing some kind of incentive for an approach to alternative vehicles. On electrification, the government has seen fit to provide incentives. It,way we have looked at there should be maybe some kind of an incentive to get a foot in the door, but not some kind of overall neverending subsidy. The marketplace has to determine whether these vehicles can take root. What levels of government do you interact with . Everybody and anybody. We talk to everybody from the local level on up to the highest levels. We have interactions with governments not only here in the United States but all around the world where we serve and sell our products. Host one of the things i see her at the ford display deals with the idea of self automation. On top,e cameras built and apparently this is something ford is working on as massmarket . Guest we are doing a lot of research in the area of mobility and the future of mobility. It is all about the future of gridlock, global gridlock. I would Say Something that we care about here in the nations capital, we are rated as one of the toughest areas to get around in. Researching a lot of as to how vehicles can talk to one another. Airplanes can talk to one another. Vehicles should be able to talk to one another and solve some of the traffic problems we come across on a daily basis. Downpe everybody can come to the show and see that, the solar vehicle, the new f150, and our new mustang. Question about self automation. What is the kind of lead time . Do we see a Production Model in the next five or 10 years . Guest stay tuned. Host you talk about trade and fuel standards, so what other things are on the horizon that the government will have to face as far as automobiles or auto policy overall . Guest i think the whole area of Energy Independence we have a as a partnerplay with the government because there are a lot of areas where we contribute and ford continues to contribute. It is so important that we all Work Together on that discussion. Host we are at the ford auto part of the auto show, talking with z. Ojakly. Thanks for your time. Guest thanks, pedro. At oure are joined back studio on capitol hill by David Shepardson, the Washington Bureau chief of the detroit news. I want to begin with the news coming yesterday from fiat that it had completed its acquisition of chrysler. How is the deal changing the u. S. Auto industry . Guest for the second time, chrysler is now a wholly owned unit of a foreign company. In 2009 the Obama Administration said they would only agree to additional bailout funds if chrysler can reach a tie up deal with fiat. Part of that deal, the uaw healthcare trust, which is responsible for paying for Retiree Benefits for chrysler uaw workers, who got 55 of chrysler over the last few years. Fiat received part of the company, meeting certain requirements. They bought some shares back from the trust, and in recent weeks reached a deal to buy the remaining part of chrysler, about 42 , from the trust. As of yesterday, chrysler is a whollyowned arm of the italian automaker fiat. Host what does fiat one from the deal in terms of what is happening with the european art a market auto market compared to what is happening in the u. S. . Guest when chrysler was in trouble in 2000 nine, fiat was the stronger company. Today fiat is in essence surviving because of all the prophets that chrysler is generating here the sales of pickups and suvss. The European Market has been in a 30yearhape, at low. Sales have started to pick up slightly, but because of the depression the recession through much of europe, auto sales are still struggling in europe. Also a big drag on ford and gm profits, too. So fiat needs the scale of chrysler to create a global and also because of the profits from chrysler. Host some stats on the european auto market. A story from last week. New car registrations totaled about 12 me and vehicles for the year, the smallest number since 1995 about 12 million vehicles for the year, the smallest number since 1995. Smaller than some analysts protected. A dismal start, and then december, a gain of 13. 3 from a year earlier, the biggest monthly increase since 2009. We have been talking with viewers this morning about the auto bailout, asking them whether they thought it was worth it or not. Can you talk about the Companies Involved in the bailout and what their sales were in 2013, the state of their business right now . Guest sure. Three primary Companies Got the auto bailout. Gm, chrysler, and allied financial, which was the former lending arm of gm known as gmac, which during the auto bailout crisis was tapped to provide loans to both gm and chrysler. Gm and chrysler are doing very well. They are making billions of dollars in profit. Chrysler reported over four years of increasing sales in the 2009. Up about 98 since they have basically doubled their sales. M is up 35 since 2009 these Companies Got much smaller. Gm shed half its brand, and more than 1000 dealers during bankruptcy. And chrysler also got much smaller. These companies basically became sized so that they could be profitable with a much smaller overall auto market. But since 2009, Industry Sales year, about 50 last 15. 6 million, the best in six years. This year the market will be up timeillion for the first since 2007. A new normal for the industry. Host market watch has a chart talking about the rebound in auto sales. You can see the change from 2009. Annual Light Vehicle sales up to 2013. We are also talking about gm and we have had questions from our viewers on some of the money that the Treasury Department waltzed on the government effort lost on the government effort , 10 billion. Has gm said anything recently about whether they will repay the 10 billion that the government lost on that . Guest they will not repay the money because they are not required to. The bailout began during the bush administration. About 25 billion that president bush put into gm, chrysler. Added 60obama billion to that. Gm received 50 billion from the u. S. Government, 10 billion from the canadian government. In the case of the u. S. , rather than require gm to repay it, the Obama Administration decided to swap 42 billion of that with stock and the company. So gm was only required to repay a billion dollars of the 50 billion. Those shares were sold off to make more money, but in the end, the shares were only worth about 30 billion, which accounted for the 10 billion loss. Host why not hold him longer to see if you could make more money . Guest the stock has gone up. The government decided early on they did not want to own part of an auto company forever, as some of the European Countries own parts of european automakers. They wanted to get out as quickly as possible. However, during the 2012 campaign, governor romney made an issue of the gm potential losses, the 10 billion figure. The administration opted not to sell. The rest of the shares during the campaign. There was a concern about the ,mpact on the 10 billion loss sort of the overall assessment of the bailout. The reality is it would have taken me years, potentially ever , to get to that level. Canada has elected not to sell its shares. Talking to David Shepardson, the Washington Bureau chief of the detroit news. You can call in. We will also look for your tweets and emails as well. For is waiting on our line republicans in silver spring, maryland. Caller since detroit has a large muslim tabulation that has population, there is Scientific Evidence proving Tower Building seven was brought down with pre planted explosives. Host we will hold off on 9 11 calls. We will stick to the Auto Industry. Caller why are you afraid to talk about building 7 . Host not afraid to talk about it, but we have an expert here. We will go to ray. Independent line. Good morning. Caller good morning. You touched on this. Backould be made to pay the losses on the stock, and obama should be brought up on charges like mcdonalds. He did a quick procrow. They gave proquote. They gave him shares. The uaw kicked back to his campaign. I do not see a difference between what obama did. Madell not buy another uaw car. Giftwrap tothugs this guy and the white house. It is no different than what whatald did in virginia Bob Mcdonnell did in virginia. Guest as part of the bailout, the unions took dramatic concessions. Postrkers at the Company Bailout only made 14 an hour, as the uaw president noted. For a family of four, a uaw worker would qualify for food stamps. In the most recent contracts, those wages have gone up, but they are still dramatically lower. Significant concessions, but the caller certainly raises the anger a lot of people feel that the unions, especially in the case of the chrysler case, or put ahead of other creditors and that is generated anger about the bailout. Host melissa in ohio on our line for democrats. Caller good morning. I actually work for a dealership. I have been in the Automotive Industry for four years now. What i have learned in the last four years is how far reaching the Automotive Industry is. People think of it in terms of the manufacturers or the dealerships, but we partner with so many Different Industries that supply goods and products. If the Automotive Industry would one or two, or even of the big three would have failed, the job loss would have been horrendous. I can appreciate people not wanting the government to get involved, but at the same time a what has happened to our economy had they not been there . You raise a good point. At the time when they decided to rescue chrysler and gm, the economy was shedding 600,000 jobs a month. The impact to the Auto Industry is staggering. One of the largest purchasers of steel, electronics, other raw materials. In every part of the country, dealerships, repair shops, auto parts the massive impact of the Auto Industry is felt way beyond detroit and the industrial midwest. Industrypse of the would have been felt and some argue would have pushed the u. S. Into a depression. , we haveanted to ask been showing viewers live shots , ande washington auto show the Financial Times had a story. The importance of the traditional car show has begun to fade. I want to get your thoughts on the importance of the car show. Guest i think there are a number of hurdles. A lot of these events are being live streamed. Not as many reporters are going. A lot of Auto Companies are going to Consumer Electronics shows to introduce new vehicles. At the detroit show, you still had 5000 journalists. It is a moment where the Financial Press focuses on autos. I think there is a role for shows, but we do argue longterm are there other Ways Companies will opt to get their company out. Host some of the big innovations people were waiting to hear about were actually announced at the consumer electronic show, correct . Guest absolutely. The focus on autonomous vehicles, that stuff is introduced there. Detroit is focused on politics. If you have a policy or a green initiative, it is better to find a different place to do it. Host the Financial Times notes that car shows all over the world. All of the country, callers are calling in. Chris is on our line for independents. Good morning. I would like to state the state of the uaw and gm i retired from gm after 31 years right now they are doing great. I would like to state that the retirees, since the recession, they threw us out with the bathwater. That is my comment. Host chris. That is your comment this morning. Marty is waiting on our line for republicans. You are on with David Shepardson of detroit news. Caller thank you for taking my call. One of the biggest misconceptions pertaining to this bailout was a was not backed by mitt romney. He proposed a government bankruptcy versus a government host marty, we can hear you. Just go ahead with your comment. Caller versus a government bailout. A big deficit and to would have made the Union Contracts null and void, where a bailout cap them in place in some of these ceos are making 6 million in salary. I think you need to start trimming the fat from the top and work your way down. Int is that playing out washington, d. C. , as you are the Washington Bureau chief of detroit news . Guest there will never be a consensus about if it was a good or bad thing, especially from republicans who are angry about how it happened. Bush important that the administration did consider having gm and chrysler filed for course,cy first, and of gm and chrysler did go through bankruptcy under the avernments watch, but in traditional bankruptcy, gm and chrysler could have been in for years, and the concern was people would not buy cars from a bankrupt company. The administrations plan got them in and out in 40 days. The passions are cooling now that we are five years away from the bailout. Host as we look forward to 2014, what are some of the projections for the Auto Industry this year . Guest pop open the champagne, right . Everybody is pretty happy because the market is expected 6 , 7 . Another we see new models. The concern is will companies go back to bed habits, cutting prices, increasing productions, which led to a vicious circle of higher production, lower prices, lower profits. Theres been a lot of discipline. The average new car price today is above 30 thousand dollars. Companies are making more money per vehicle and they are not keeping the companys factories running. Host comparisons to other places around the world japan, china, the European Union . Thet the u. S. Is not fastest growing, but the most profitable. Europe is still a problem. You have markets like india, russia, brazil and there is a longterm, worldwide question about will Companies Adopt autos at the same rate as u. S. And china . It poses a lot of questions for emissions as well as traffic. As the automobile continues to be adopted in broader terms of countries in countries of lower incomes, there is a rethinking of where that plays in along with mass transit. Host how are some of these other Companies Might countries, you mentioned china, getting involved in the u. S. Auto industry . Here is a story from the Christian Science monitor from last month that notes that the knowhow detroits and cheap real estate is a draw for chinese investment. Detroit filed for bankruptcy in july, but has seen an influx in terms of real estate. In terms of chinese automakers coming in, that is a long way away, but chinese investors are a depressedit as area to invest the currency they on. Host a question from twitter the airlines have been bankrupt several times and they did not stop flying planes. Is it dishonest to imply the Auto Industry would collapse . Is you by difference the airline ticket, and they asset disappears. The argument was able would not buy the secondbiggest purchase they ever make if the company is bankrupt. Would they stand by the warranty, would the parts be there . This drove the idea that the administration had to bailout the companies quickly or face uncertainty. Joe writescan hero in that people would buy cars from bankrupt companies. They do that all of the time at the correct price, its actual value. David shepardson is taking your calls and comments. Timothy is in spokane, washington on our line for republicans. Caller good morning. I want to say thank you to your guests for being sharp. He keeps hitting the points that i want to make. Isis incredible that there anger towards the Auto Industry bailout and the personal grudges. I am a contractor, and i drive a truck. I am not a redneck. Roofing material. If i cannot buy material to put on your roof, how my supposed to get a truck . It is bottomline to say we would be better off without our Auto Industry. Is obama going to come and give us all a ride . We have to have our cars. Is what has transported our on up. From world war ii it is what america is known for. It is a shame it went down that far and that everybody has their sides, but we have to keep our eyes on the prize. I am not mad at anybody in the country. I think the investment is a gift you gave us, and we have to make it move forward. The typewriter became the computer. We had to go through a lot of changes. There is so much available out here for us if we will just slow down. Host we will let David Shepardson jump in if he has some comments. Guest you raised points that a lot of people feel, especially in michigan and the midwest yes, there is a lot of anger. Have been donet better, could the government have saved money, but the government will say true, we will lose money on the auto bailout, but with the bank bailout the government has made significant profit, so overall the taxpayer will come out ahead. The, you are right housing sector, construction, so much of the rest of the u. S. Auto sales and auto sales have been one of the bright spots for the economy the last couple of years. Host we have been talking about gm a lot this morning. A piece from the detroit news, new ceo. Ut the gm talk about her and her impact on the industry. Guest it is interesting. , the first woman ceo of any major auto company around the globe, she is a real star in the industry, and there is a lot of Media Attention around her. She has not had a big rollout yet. She made a couple of appearances at the Detroit Auto Show with a huge number of journalists chasing her around to talk to her. She is the first break from the government appointed directors that came ceo became ceo. She was not named by the vernment, as the prior two were named bys the government. She is a fresh face. Freshfreshfaced any initiatives coming from her . Gm the lastuest couple of weeks been a lot of housekeeping. Off paid a dividend, sold assets they did not want anymore. They announced they were selling off the australian market. The old leadership did the uncomfortable things and try to clean the slate, so the new ceo has only been on the job about one week now, so no big initiatives from her. Host is she expected at the washington auto show . Guest this show does not draw as many highlevel executives as the detroit one. This is more of a policy on. I assume shell be in d. C. In the coming months. Host ralph is in North Carolina on our line for democrats. Ralph, you are on with David Shepardson of the detroit news. C yes, good morning. Yes,proud of caller good morning. I am proud of president obamas decision to bailout the auto and i am said some people took a loss because of it. Im a proud africanamerican. Japan,t live in china or and one caller spoke of charges being brought up on president obama. Where is the return on my tax for the war in iraq, when we shouldve been given an oil check back and we would not be in the mess were in right now. Thank you. Host ralphs comments from North Carolina. Twitter australia is losing its own Auto Industry. Projections show 2016 will be the end of. . Hat do we know guest the Australian Government has been giving subsidies to the companies to keep them in and gmia and with ford announcing they are going to withdraw production, it goes to the idea that auto production has been part of national pride. There are other intangibles beyond the direct jobs created. The country has been trying to keep production, but it is not like it will be successful. T from boring file clerk why can we not just invent Something Better than the conventional car. This is old technology. Can you talk about new technology you will look for this week . The car, the engine, is basically the same technology that was introduced 150 years ago. It has certainly gotten lighter, and we are going further. Fuelcell vehicles, those running on Hydrogen Fuel cells, we will see that, plug in there are a lot of alternative technologies, but with Oil Prices Steady and expected to decline this year a little bit, there is not been as big of a push as others thought , even though sales were up. It is still a small percentage. Showing have been viewers shots of the washington auto show that runs today through february 2. We have been talking with David Shepardson of the detroit news. Rick is in ohio on our line for independents. Ifler i asked your producer they had a stock price for halliburton. Before bush was elected, halliburton was going bankrupt. Just got nailed for all kinds of fraud. As far as the card industry goes, i grew up in detroit in , and i0s and the 1970s have written books about the evolution of this country, and it goes back to henry ford. When henry ford gave his workers wages, a were able to buy a car with three months wages. When you look at capitalism and 35 ,detroit was all about, 40 of the workforce were union. The uaw basically created an environment where they protected tax law, trade laws, antitrust laws and banking laws. When you talk about the big three, you are actually talking an economic ideology that was based on capitalism and democracy going back to the constitution. They were creating wealth. Steel, that creates wealth. You make the car, that creates wealth. The wealth, 99 of it was circulated through 95 of the people. Today, the union is dead, and you can look at north versus south, union worker versus nonunion worker, Union Soldier , and youuthern soldier can go back to the depression and see where henry ford actually fought the jewish bankers in the 1920s because his ideology was middleclass. The jewish bankers back then, they thought host i will let David Shepardson jumped in on some of the comments you bring up on the history. Guest uaw is facing difficult challenges. They have been trying unsuccessfully to unionize foreign auto plants in the u. S. , and as they have not been successful as that, the lower wages of southern auto plants have basically pressured the detroit companies, which are unionized, to not pay higher wages. So, unless the uaw is successful, they have argued they do not have a longterm future. They are trying to unionize a vw volkswagen plant in tennessee and a plant in mississippi. They still have 1 billion in the bank, a lot of political clout, and a huge role in a lot of industries, but they face a challenge with Foreign Companies. Host on some of the technology were talking about earlier, james writes he and on twitter big trucks can now be equipped with a natural gas motor. Any plans for cars to run on natural gas . Guest the honda civic runs on natural gas, and gm announced they are going to build a natural gas car in small numbers , but there are some issues in terms of the size of the fuel tanks. That is why some argued natural gas is a better solution for larger trucks and other your have other heavier duty term. Es in the short certainly, with huge natural gas supplies in the u. S. , there has been a lot of interest for adding incentives for those vehicles. In houston, texas, on our line for independents. You are on with David Shepardson of the detroit news. Caller good morning. My question is why did chrysler stop making its bestselling pt cruiser, and why did it come up with and that designs on the minivans . Was that to lower the value of the Company Prior to the sale . Guest i do not think i would agree that the minivans were in that. They are still the best sign in the u. S. Chrysler introduced the minivan about 25 years ago. A lot of automakers have gotten out of that sector and pushed toward smaller suvs as family haulers. Cruiser, like others saw sales decline and it ended its natural length. , the from twitter government bailed out chrysler and turned over the keys to the plan to fiat. What kind of business movies that . That . Iness move is government is stupid. Is any of this debate playing out on capitol hill . Guest strangely, no at the plight of auto dealers did get a ton of attention, and there have been hearings about delphi retirees. That was a former unit of gm and the retirees lost their pension benefits, but congress, in the aftermath of taking these two big losses as said well, and that was five years ago. It was a big issue during the 2012 campaign, but by and large it was more shrugging shoulders and moving on. Department of transportation got a new secretary this last summer, anthony fox. Any changes in policy that he has been pushing . Guest he made his first policy speech last week here, and he talked about the Auto Industry and one of his issues is Pedestrian Safety and in fact recounted that he had been hit by a car as a jogger. Pedestrian safety is a big issue. The number of fatalities has gone higher than the overall rate in 2012. He has also been dealing with lingering anxious lingering issues from his predecessors 10 years including a long require all cars to have rear cameras as you back out to prevent people from being struck. Host the Highway Trust Fund is something he brought up. What is the status right now . Guest it is not good. It is running out of money and congress has had to make several emergency infusions of cash for the simple reason that americans are driving less, driving more fuelefficient cars, and therefore gas tax revenue is not keeping up with the demand for road repairs. There has been talking capitol hill about should gas taxes be raised to pay for the roads, and did endorse that ive talked about the need for more revenue. Projections that he could run out of money as soon as 2015 . Guest that is correct. It has not been raised, and not kept up with inflation. Remember, the administration wanted to double fuelefficient say by 2025. In the longterm, absent more gas tax revenue, it does not appear there will be enough money to keep up with rotary pair means road repair needs. Host troy is in winter haven, with David Shepardson of the detroit news. Caller good morning. These companies, ford, chevy, gm, before they went bankrupt, they had guys making 30 an hour to put a log not in, and then we bail them out, and they are doing good now. That is awesome. Theirhey did not run business properly. They did not make a product people want to buy. They did not make it affordable, and now they are making profits. In my personal income, if somebody gives me a bunch of money, i am pretty sure five, six years later, i would be doing just fine. Now it is time for them to be paying us back, and im not sure we should have help them out. Thank you. Guest the caller you make a point about the moral hazard. Should companies that did not succeed, should the government stepped in to save them, and certainly a lot of people agree with you. The executives at gm and chrysler, they lost about two two thirds of their pensions. Mode most of the top leadership was completely removed from the companies. I think you hit on a lot of. Nger that a lot of people feel on the other hand, you had hundreds of thousands of workers that did not make mistakes and would have lost their jobs, health care the administration said yes, the top executives made mistakes, but we will not let the companies die because of that. Host on the subject of the Highway Trust Fund that we were just talking about, a tweet from dfw librarian yes, raise the to tax and put some people work to fix the roads. Donna is waiting in glen falls, new york. Caller good morning. Thank you for taking my call. The question is would it have been beneficial if we did a partial buyout as opposed to a full buyout . Guest in terms of the bailout . Gm and chrysler . Caller yes. Could we have done a partial buyout and try to have gm and chrysler, with the other half . In 2009, the Obama Administration opted to give gm significantly more cash than they needed because they were afraid congress would not agree to a second bailout, so they gave gm far more money than they ded add a dash at the time at the time. In retrospect, some of the sayout officers authors they could have required gm to pay more of the money back and gotten more returns. Hindsight is always 2020, but there are certainly plenty of alternative scenarios where the government could have been repaid more and the company would have been saved. Obviously, we will not know if those would have worked or not. Host David Shepardson is the Washington Bureau chief of the detroit news. To ever talking to our viewers. Guest thank you, jon. Host our next guest served as the head of the National Transportation Safety Administration. First he want to head back to the floor of the washington auto show. You. thank host electric and alternative vehicles are a big part of the washington auto show, and joins us now, bob from toyota. Tell us about what you do. Director of the research and the toyota north america. Host one of the things toyota vehicle. G about is a what is the concept . Guest the concept of the Hydrogen Cell vehicle. It is not dissimilar from the electric vehicle. It has zero emissions. Alike an electric vehicle, or batteryelectric vehicle, it has a quick refill time. And it also has a range of over a single filling of hydrogen that would get you to philadelphia and back on one tank. Went for the folks that would invest, would it be different . Guest hydrogen is a gas, and it would involve a station similar to a gasoline station. In Southern California we have 100ted a process to deploy stations over the next, roughly 10 years with 200 million from the state of california in funding, and partners from both the Industrial Gas community, this date, as well as the other Auto Companies. Thingsuest one of the you have is an inside version of the fcv. Talk about the battery, and if somebody has to replace it, how expensive is it . Guest our battery has the fuel cell stack and the Power Electronics to drive the vehicle. These components are based on our hybrid systems, so we have managed to reduce the costs 95 from the original fuel cell vehicles that we developed 8, 9 years ago. So, the cost and the durability life of those components are coming down and they are in line with conventional vehicles. Somebody has to fix this, what kind of costs are they looking at host if somebody has to fix it, what kind of costs are they looking at . Guest those have not been operating coste will be inefficient. Efficient. To from whatu look washington does . Creating a level Playing Field, and that can be from infrastructure support to actual vehicle support. Whether we are looking at a Battery Electric Technology or a fuelCell Technology, support from the Public Sector is equal, and it will allow consumers in the marketplace to choose the winners and the losers, not public policy. Host does the government favor one type of technology over another . Guest over the last decade, the naturalnt has favored gas, methanol, fuel cells under the bush administration, and now there is a strong focus on plug in vehicles. We will like to see the Playing Field as level as possible and let the market choose. What does the government do to make that level . Started thehave process. We have incentives for both technologies. We want to make sure the incentives continue to be in place so that when the vehicles come to market there is the infrastructure and vehicle incentives for fuel cells that are currently in place. Host does the government still offer tax breaks for people that purchase these types of vehicles . Yes, it can be up to 8,000. Our hope is the federal government will continue to keep that incentive. , whatas far as the fcv once it hits cost market . Guest once it gets closer to market, will be able to disclose the cost. Next page as the far as the world of energy and Environmental Issues when it auto issues what you see down the road . Guest we really see fuel cells as the game changer that we are just darting out on today. Over the next fiveto10 years we see this as the future. Host were talking with bob from toyota. Thank you for your time. Guest you are welcome. Studio, we areur joined by David Strickland, former administrator of the national highway Transportation Safety administration. Mr. Strickland, for those unfamiliar with the agency, what mr. Nhtsa do . Guest it as two missions. Safety responsible for standards and behavioral safety, trying to encourage people to wear seatbelts, not drive impaired or distracted. In addition to the safety mission, there is the mission on fuel economy. Shares jurisdiction responsibility with the Environmental Protection agency. When you think about cafe standards, nhtsa has been responsible for 30 years. Host you have worked you worked at nhtsa from 2010to 2013, and a wall a wall article saidl your initiative your legacy guest we look at a number of issues including the level of fines, our ability to reach andrtant vehicles issues vehicles themselves. There was a conversation with congress, and they agreed to some of those changes, and the agency has been fortunate to have that increased authority that will pay off for the safety of americans for years to come. Host how might viewers to ignite your work at nhtsa . What were some of the major headlines . Been a numberas of things the agency has been successful on in the past several years. Since 2005, the agency and partners across the country have seen a reduction of 25 in the fatality number, which is significant. It is a long issue, and we resell law lowest number since we have been keeping 2011. S in fuel economy standards, where the Passenger Fleet will be doubled to approximately 54. 5 miles per gallon by 2025 is a hallmark for the Obama Administration and the agency, along with a couple of fairly major rules the agency was able to issue during my tenure. First, injection mitigation when the car is struck and rolls over, making sure the car keeps people in the passenger compartment, as opposed to being thrown out of the vehicle, which increases the chance of death. Also, most recently, the agency mandate to make sure all have seatbelts on board. Host agencies recently laid out rules they are looking at through the next year. What are some of the major regulatory rules that nhtsa is looking to come down the pipe in 2014 . Ofst there are a number issues the agency is working on right now. One is the issue of a deck camera back camera roll. I know secretary fox is passionate about that to protect children and seniors. Gencies are working very hard there are rules regarding trucks electronic stability control for heavy duty vehicles is also on the list of rules we are working on that will have a impact on improving the safety of the fleet, and there are a number of other issues regarding , includingafety adding sound to electric vehicles. I know a lot of folks that are out there in parking lots across andcountry, hybrid vehicles electric vehicles, one there at speeds of less than 10 miles an hour, you do not really hear them. One of the issues the agency is working on is adding the right sound so that people can recognize and electric vehicle is a car, but not having so much sound that you are creating more noise pollution. Host essentially speakers on an engine . Guest they are looking at a number of Research Pipelines to do that. I do not think you will see a situation where you have a ring tone for a car, but you will have something that can be heard a Long Distance that is louder than a tire noise. Is notrtain speed, it the engine that you hear, but the friction from the tires. There are a lot of electronic and other sounds that are pleasing, if you will. Host we are talking to David Strickland, former administrator want to talkf you about some the safety issues. Give us a ring. Phone lines are open. With dave in wilmington, delaware, you are on with David Strickland. Caller as we look forward in the Global Markets and especially the asian markets, for example india right now underthey can build a car their market for about two thousand dollars. If a car like that was to come to the u. S. In terms of meeting safety and cafe standards, does your desk have any idea what the conversion costs and effort would be to bring the car to market . Host thank you for the question. Mr. Strickland . Is a great question, and the standards in the United States are the strongest in the world in terms of detecting occupants and pedestrians as well. The fuel economy standards are also strict. It is difficult to say what the cost differential would be for a vehicle that is only for sally and other parts of the world for being compliant for sale in other parts of the world, for being compliant. The reason is americans in our driving environment facing number of different issues. We have very different terrain across the country. Different levels of pedestrian congestion. Higher levels of speed. Decadesw the data for in terms of making sure you have the right crash pulses and elements addressed to reduce fatalities. Yes, there will be a differential from a vehicle produced in india. Host from twitter auto safety how safe can cars the u. N. Hackers commandeer your new webconnected smart car . Is anyone looking into this issue . Guest it is an important issue not only from the issue of Cyber Security, but the other societal issues of data privacy. At this point, right now common in order to be able to take over a car, a hacker would have to toe physical presence actually touch the car, make a change, and then execute a cyber attack. However, we see some manufacturers can make dynamic changes to the vehicle with upgrades from the sky. Tesla is one of those manufacturers. Clearly, the manufacturers and the agencies will have to work very hard to make sure there is rigorous Cyber Security protection. Everybody is working very hard on it. I think it is a point where everybody to be thinking about. An excellent point for everybody to be thinking about. Host with Vehicle Technology improving, and more distractions for drivers, and does nhtsa get involved to say enough is enough and there are too many distractions in terms of technology for drivers . Guest the agency is working on guidelines right now. The first set was for what the interface looks like, they can sure there is no streaming movie or video in the front, or long, streaming text to be read. You can interact with two seconds between an individual task, or 12 seconds for back andforth tasks. That is the template. The next guidelines will be on handheld devices, and the proper uses of handheld devices and how they are being connected into the vehicle to make sure they are not too distracting. On third phase will be voice, making sure there is not a high level of cognitive distraction in the vehicle. The agency is very focused on while you havet innovation and technology it mightple want, improve the safety, but there is a point where you have to make sure the driver is doing the thing theyre supposed to be doing, which is driving. Host you mentioned voice distraction will there be rules that you cannot talk to the driver too much . Guest no, but there is a cognitive load in terms of what you are doing, and trying to find what the breakpoint is for the common person. Whether it is having conversations, wirelessly, or with a handsfree device, things of that nature. The interesting thing that the data shows is when you have a passenger with you, you actually improve safety and decrease the distraction in some ways because you have an extra set of eyes helping you drive versus the person being by himself driving. A lot of research to go. Things are promising in terms of having a viable interface, but really we need to learn a lot more before the agency is able to make a decision. In baltimore, maryland. You are on with David Strickland of nhtsa. Met once. Vid, we work the original seatbelt in 1951. Guest yes, sir. Great hearing from you again. Caller i want to bring up the unsung nameye, the of seatbelts. The other is on the fuel utilization by cars, the one thing that we discovered there was that the best way to was two things how easily is it portable and loadabley is it question red hat is what makes gasoline so good. Anybody can load it loadable . Gasoline so makes good. Anybody can load it, whereas natural gas is difficult to load and very dangerous to load, even though it is portable. Thing i want to get out, and i certainly appreciate the tremendous work that nhtsa has done, is that we seem to have a tendency to go away from the basic problem of there is and one cause for action that is in attention. Anything that provides in attention will increase the accident rate. And to tammy, i wrote the original accident report 4 incidentally, i wrote the original accident report for state police. That is the biggest thing, and it seems to be the simplest. Reduce the inattention makers, or talkingbe drunk, or texting and youll reduce accidents. Strickland . Points,e made excellent and i want to take a moment to talk about seatbelts. We are focused on active technology, where the seatbelt intervenes or the vehicle intervenes with the person driving has not made the right decision. Usage ofare up to 87 seatbelts in the United States, the highest ever, and is a huge achievement both from the agency and the state partners, but please recognize the fact that half of the fatalities in elted. A are unb it is a huge issue. One of the things that nhtsa is working on the part of a new initiative called significant and seamless, which is focusing on Safety Technologies that can drive down risk factors is seatbelt interlocks. It is something the agency 1970s, butn the mid it was withdrawn because of a backlash. It was not ready at that point. It was easily defeated. It was very uncomfortable. It into lock the engine when it should not have interlocked the engine when it should not have been. Now, the agency is looking at seatbelt interlocks were the technology is now much more elegant and a number of manufacturers are looking at the technology as a way forward to improve the seat belt use rate. As opposed to it being a mandate, the agency is looking at creating an incentive. There is a thing right now called the unbelted test. Because we have so many people in the United States that do not wear seatbelts, one of the safety countermeasures is to try to make the vehicle more protective of undoubted occupants. Elted occupants. If you have certainty that everybody is wearing seatbelts, you do not need the test anymore. Manufacturers and the agency, nhtsa, are working on a Research Project to see if they can create a system that cannot be defeated and can be in every seated position. If manufacturers use that, they do not have to use the unbelted protocol, which would save millions of dollars and at the same time everybody would be wearing a seat belt and it would save thousands of lives. Regarding distractions everybody talks about distraction is a fairly recent phenomenon because of cell phone use, etc. Involved inhas been the fleet since the first radio was put in the first early vehicle that was available. It has always been there. It is also doing other things you should not be doing shaving, eating a large, greasy hamburger and driving with your knees these are things you want to discourage drivers from doing, and there will be a long term effort to address inattention, but distraction related crashes have taken the lives of over 3000 people. It is a significant issue. Host we are talking with David Strickland who served as the administrator of nhtsa from 2010to2013 and work with the subcommittee from 2001to2009 and, you work at venable llp. What do you do there . Yet, i have not started but ill be working on a number of consumer issues, privacy, federal trade commission, and super Product Safety Commission issues i was very active in that in the senate. Also, privacy and connectivity issues is something im interested in working on. It is a new world when you talk about connectivity for vehicles, things like vehicletovehicle communications, and im looking forward to finding costcutting solutions to get these in the fleet. Host weighing in shreveport, louisiana, on our line for republicans. Wayne, you are in on with David Strickland. Ram, and drive a dodge i would not traded it in for 10 electric cars. You cannot go anywhere in them. If you got caught in a snowstorm, the batteries run down, and then what can you do . About electricl cars, they are the most worthless piles of junk. They will fail again. Who wants to buy 60,000 car that you cannot go anywhere in . I think it is ridiculous. Wayne in louisiana. As we show a bloomberg headline. Vehicles havec enormous problems, and one of the things that the fuel economy standards are aimed to do is to amount ofdiverse standards. The range is improving as the technology is getting better. Also, there is extended range hybrid like the chevrolet volt, where you have an electric motor that can take you approximately have 40 miles and then gasoline. There are a number of applications along with diesel and natural gas, which has been mentioned a number of times this morning on this program. The goal is to achieve the fuel useof reducing and decreasing Greenhouse Gas emissions. Yes, all vehicle pipelines regarding propulsion have risk. Electric vehicles are just as safe, or even safer than gasolinepowered vehicles, they just pose a different set of risks because of a thing called thermal overrun on the battery, when it is too hot, and of that nature. Folks have to realize that gasoline fires from crashes in the existing fleet had happened several times a day, happen several times a day. It is a tragic situation. Electric vehicles are very safe to drive, along with a number of technologies manufacturers are making, and it is good to have a consumer technology. Host re electric cars catching on . G they are. Guest they are. Several vehicles are at lower price points. Luxury brands at the upper end. Up to thel the way upper end, which is the tesla model s, which has done very well. Host steve in oklahoma on our line for republicans. You are on with David Strickland, former administrator at nhtsa. Caller good morning, mr. Strickland. Guest good morning. Caller i am a former truck have six month and oneyear intervals on safety and they push safety on the drivers. You are armer former administrator, so there is not a lot you can do about a lot ofn companies will take advantage of drivers by calling a pickup just before 5 00 on friday. I would get stuck with a load, wasat the next place there a scale, and a way station. I had no truck stop. They are off. It was probably about 39,000, and then i find out it was overloaded late on a friday. They put it on the driver to get be, orhere it should the not to put it on the driver, because that wasnt their fault. Mr. Strict hand, how does that help us understand what the was talking about there . Sure. Theres a thing called hours of Service Rules and also driver responsibilities in terms of making sure your vehicle is properly weighted. The one interesting thing, i think the, owe i thank the caller for the question. Thate have several modes are responsible for Different Things at the department of transportation. Responsible for passenger cars and heavy duty vehicles in terms of the actual crashes. For there is another fantastic anncy led by administrator farro called the federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration which deals with professional and Driver Safety and making sure that drivers are not on the road too long, via hours of service, making sure that theres inspection stayings staff is across the country to assist and make sure that trucks are compliant making sures and that drivers are not being taken advantage of and are comporting with the law. They do a fantastic job and they leadership over there. And i think the driver flagged several issues that they are on. Sed host we talked about regulations on distractions for cars, id be happy mandate that people not sing in their car. And one other tweet, what regulations to keep hi in place dro general fuel cells safe from hazards . Guest actually the hydrogen a greatl question is one. Theres a Global Technical regulation, the United States and several other countries the world come together and try to harmonize regulations fewert there are differences between Safety Standards between the countries, safetys the level of around the world which is always the first goal. But also helps in terms of the theciency for each of manufacturers so you don have to make different types of vehicles market. Y different and these are especially important when you have new technologist which you dont have any prior work done, its a good tub to harmonize. Cell safetyel Global Technical regulation that was just approved a few months in geneva, and national highway Traffic Safety thenistration was one of leaders in formulating that particular Global Technical regulation that now has to come back to the United States and be a regulation here in the united thees and has to go through formal process. But we are moving forward on working on Hydrogen Safety and important work, and very excited for the agency to reach that nile ston on this issue. Host how long until that regulation goes through the in the United States . Guest it going to take some time. Regulatory process has to be very careful, it always takes some time. The very beginning, i would guess it will probably take a handful of years probably initiation to completion. But the fact is that the United States in a lot of the Research Behind the hydrogen Global Technical regulation, so theyll be able to get that within a few years. Brp joseph is next in cleveland, ohio. Good morning. Caller. Morning. Caller my question is when it comes to safety. Cars with onlye drive . Eel fuel spill, that can be one of the most Dangerous Things on the road, so why dont where thestandard cars are all wheel drive or front wheel drive . Have never wanted to be beside a car that skidded out because wheel drive on ice. Host mr. Strickland, on a snowy d. C. . Guest its a great question. The one thing that the sureacturers have to make is that you maintain Consumer Choice because theres different needs and different applications different vehicles, and rear rear drive vehicles on winter do not necessarily have success when getting stuck. There are choices for people vehicles, and some can affly Different Levels of torque wheelsn to individual depending on how the vehicle is stuck, and you have front wheel drive cars as well. Leave it up to the particular driver to figure out what is the best technology. They all have did it price points, advantages and disadvantages, and you dont to takeily want something away and say you only have allwheel drive available in the United States, because may not be the most Efficient Technology for a particular consumer need. Host weve been showing shot from the washington auto show this morning as part of our running todayshow through february 2. A lot of new technologist being at that show. I want to ask you on the governments position on Driverless Cars. And where amazingts an technology, and i never want to jump all the way to the end point of the fully automated that doesnt require a human being. That is a long way off. Many advantages for things the active safety technologist, which are the toments of getting automation, things like crash imminent braking where the radar system will pick up the fact youre driving too fast and approaching another car and will apply the brakes for you. Systems thatng will keep you between the lane lines, or blind shot detections. Are thee things elements you think about for automated driving. TheObama Administration, department of transportation, are very supportive of this innovation because we have truly to a new era in Traffic Safety. Years, nhtsa has been focused on how well a car you when you get into a crash. During the four years that i was blessed to serve as administrator, the agency has really turned the corner to look north star for safety, which is how the car can the crash from ever happening. And Automated Vehicles are a to that. One the Agency Issued a statement of policy for Automated Vehicles to help support testing regimes in the states and support the develop thesethat technologist. The agency is also supporting active Safety Systems and try to figure out a way to encourage manufacturers to provide more vehicles, and that work is under way, especially things like mitigation which is part of the Technology Initiative and a number of other elements which are so important the future of automation and frankly to make sure that we dont havewhere you a vehicle that is capable of being crashed. It is a goal that the agency support. Y wants to host before the segment you mention that theres been some flying cars . Guest actually, yes, we had a waitingtion that were for the day for flying cars to happen. Car,lly is there a flying and they actually applied to the national highway Traffic Safety certification for for federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards. So yes, ladies and gentlemen, it happened, there is such thing as a flying car. Host and how many of these are now . Out there guest i dont know how many, i cant imagine there being a ton of them. Say that when you think you thought about all the we seein the future, those old 1950s world fairs and expos, you know, Driverless Cars of them, flying cars being one of them, all the way whereh to night rider your vehicle has a relationship with you. Elements of all those things that are coming into the fleet right now, and funny in some elements, very exciting, especially the prospects of safety. Host drew in new jersey on our line for democrats, good morning. Toler good morning, thanks cspan for the important subject and also to mr. Strickland who across as an excellent example of public employees. Guest thank you. Limitedgiven the distance technology, why didnt create a standard for battery size, so replacement available,ould be similar to gas stations . Could be as simple as removing a of battery selfs cells that unplug into the not have an option to connect some to extend the range. My understanding is batteries in a car maybe 300pound, and maybe 20poundfew that are extra packs could really help, that way the distance issue would be eliminated and the adoption could have been beth. Can you speak to that issue . Guest i can a little bit. Interesting thing about nhtsas responsibilities and jurisdiction, it is safety jurisdiction and is not designed, is not a design jurisdiction, if you will. We leave it up to the the suppliersand to come up with technology on the question that we face, is it safe, or does it pose an illegal risk to safety. So different battery and ability togs change out batteries is purely a decision made by the manufacturer. The agency looks at whether or its safe. The one thing that nhtsa is now is an right upgrading or improving of safety Motor Vehicle standard, battery safety, which is how well the battery is of a crashthe event to make sure, especially in electric vehicles when you have battery which has a larger wider footprint, that it doesnt get penetrated or that if it does get penetrated it doesnt go to whata thermal overrun, is the professional term is. Thats what the agency is taking on right now. Those variants will be making about making sure theyre safe and compliant with standards. But giving the manufacturers the changeableaving battery packs. I know there was one Technology Company that was looking at that having sort of a battery change, you lease the vehicle and then you have sort of, you change the batteries as needed, razorwas more of like a blade and razor model where they sell you the actual razor handle less money to look at the chance to sell you razor blades in the future. I know there are Companies Looking at that, but nhtsa is safety. Solely on host jimmy in florida, on our line for independents. Good morning. Caller good morning. I need to know, should it be my wear a seat belt or not . Because you have all these Motor Vehicle drivers that dont have motorcycle drivers that dont have helmets on, and most School Wearing a only one seat belt is the driver. And im in a car with airbags got to drive and i several hours and i weigh over 300 pounds and its very uncomfortable. The seat belt off i get a ticket. And i think we should go to vehicles. Guest wearing your seat belt is important. That is the one thing that yourbly best predicts ability to survive a crash. The reason why nhtsa and the hard toave worked so encourage seat belt use is because it is the most effective of almostntermeasure any in the vehicle. That definitely understand people feel it is their particular right to not wear a seat belt. But you also look at societal impact and individual impact. Not wearing that seat belt may make a difference when you do may nott crash and you go home and see your family. And we feel that its very agency, at the usage isng seat belt the best thing you can do every one. E trip, thats number host the caller seemed concerned about the inconsistencies and bringing up buses and that issue. Guest thats also a great point. At schoole looking busses, school bus travel for children is the safest means to child to school, period. Unfortunately school bus probably we lose, unfortunately, about eight to 10 children a year. Two ofically only one or those children are lost because the actual crash is inside the bus. Children eight or nine are usually victims of being struck outside the bus when through the stop placard thats extended. At hundreds ofng thousands of miles a year of bus one orand virtually only two children a year losing their life. The reason is because of the countermeasure you have around the school bus, the speeds that all are driven around, that the vehicles stop around them, all those measures work. So the most important value is to make sure that there are as many School Busses as possible to carry children. Agency haswhy the not mandated seat belts on School Busses, because it busseses the cost of approximately three to 8,000 per bus, which may ultimately mean that theres fewer busses available which means that weve now put more children into which increases their risk of crashes and fatalities. So this is one of these things, where the optics of the situation versus the real world dont match up. And you have compartmentalization where the benches are configured so that they hold the children very tightly, theres lots of cushioning around it and thats the countermeasure to there is ahat if crash theres not a bad outcome, and its been very effective. The decision is for safety, children in School Busses are the safest. If we take away more busses were going to hurt or possibly even kill more children. So thats the reason why you see seat belts in every vehicle because of the risk in every see seeand why you School Busses at this point in time not have it. Now, on the other hand the did, regarding School Busses, states can make their own choice if they want to belts on the School Busses, they can do so. And every state has the ability part of nhtsas rules. But thats the reason why you contrast between a passenger vehicle versus the safety of School Busses. Chris in new haven, connecticut on our line for democrats. Good morning, youre on with David Strickland, the former administrator of nhtsa. Caller good morning, david, morning, john. We got off on the wrong track. Withtle over 100 years ago these individual vehicles. Mass transit is the answer. Belts on School Busses, put seat belts on trains, put busses. Ts on the only vehicle i saw that you the vehicle show in the onlya bus, its thing that appealed to me. I think that we have accidents so maybehere are drivers so many drivers. We have traffic reporters on every station now because we have accidents on every highway, every morning. And we just cant be trusted to just dont know how to do it. We need less drivers, less distractions, more accountability and responsibility on the part of drivers. We need to take cars off the roads and keep them away from trucks. Trucks cause a lot of accidents with cars. Cars cause a lot of accidents with trucks. Put them on busses, put them on on airplanes,em make them all wear seat belts a lotthink well all be safer. Thanks. Host mr. Strickland, your thoughts. Guest absolutely, kid say that the Obama Administration and the transportation, these issues of mass transit getting more people to walk, to the safest way for us to convey people from place to place. Individual mobility will never the expud we have to work very hard to make sure that its as safe as it can be. Is absolutely right in the fact that mass transit has so many benefits not for for safety but also fuel economy and fuel efficiency and on Green House Gas and so benefits. The federal Transit Administration led by peter rogoff who is now going to be the acting under secretary of transportation, he was just positionto that recently, worked very hard over improve four years to transit to make it more expansive and also to improve safety. Federal Transit Administration has the Safety Authority talking about imtermeasures in crashes, not sure about seat belts on transit. Thing you want is the highest level of safety in the most efficient way possible. For people,hoices whether its great choices of choice of very mobility, but the caller made a good point. Get more people who take mass transit, we gain so many benefits. Frontthe subject of a pale story on u. S. A. Today talking about small cars and their ability to pass crash i can get to you talk about this issue, the crash test theyre talking about in small front is the overlap crash test in way car hits a barrier with the front corner at 40 miles per hour, of the eleven cars the testly one passed by the Insurance Institute for highway safety. The small recovery test. St is a very severe to help the viewers visualize what that is, as opposed to for basically when frontal crashes would have the car running directly into a wall barrier, but the data showed that more likely what you cars actually clip each other over the corners of the bumper. Like when you have a person come the center line and clip you. That is a very, very severe unfortunately also means that theres usually very fay talts es and fatal is the from that. To rep plictied that crash to encourage manufacturers to beef up their in this area. S and youre going to have the type of results you see in the lot of where you have a vehicles that arent passing. The Safety Administration is similar crash, crash test,fset which is a variant of what the doing. Ce institute is so in the future youll see a lot of vehicles that dont do well in these tests in the as new vehicles come online you will see their performance improve, which is to have happen. Host David Strickland, appreciate you stopping by the washington journal today. Guest thank you so much, it was great. Host when we come back well phones to our viewers, were asking you in our last 30 minutes of the washington journal today, is the u. S. Auto best in the world. Our phone lines are open. But first we want to bring you back to the floor of the washington auto show. The chevrolet section of the auto show, and as you can see one of the standout sting raychevrolet for 2015. Tuolumne to talk to james bell, head of consume affairs for g. M. , hi. Having me on. How would you describe your job to people. Fantastic question. Between the industry and the consumer. I used to work for kelly blue book. In detroit, im based in Southern California and i keep find out the business, where the trends are, and make sure summers are come back in marketplace. Since youre in washington and since washington had a hand g. M. What would you tell consumers as far as the washington vent in g. M. , when of it . T out the easiest way i would explain it is theres an old hey in the business that theres no problem a good car wont fix, and thats what that investment has allowed. See the awards from the Detroit Auto Show, the corvette american car of the truck, the silverado the truck of the year. Given. Re not lightly the journalists who give these awards are a tough crew. So the fact that weve got vehicles are capturing the imagination and the excitement of the judges and the journalists, but more importantly consumers. I think the easiest way i can whenhis, once upon a time i was with kelly blue book somebody would say, oh, i bought dodge, oh,ford, a you must have got a good deal on it. Now jump ahead five, six years later, its oh, no, check out this buick, it rides great or voltat the way this technology works. The game is completely changed and its really put the imports notice. G would you say that g. M. Is a Different Company in how its run because of the influence of the federal government . Heres the best way i can put it. For been with general motor a little over three and a half years now. What i see is two different groups of people within the that haveon, those been there before the trouble came and like myself that came after. And theres an attitude within company that were not sliding backwards, were not doing things the old way. Amount oferes a fair hand slapping if somebody says anything goes back to the old style. So its really focused on making that we can be proud to drive. As an employee of General Motors drive, iompany car to want to be proud of what im driving. Thats important stuff, especially in the car business, so connected to an emotional appeal. Appeal too,e because fuel efficiency is a big selling point. Even with cars like the sting ray, can you talk about fuel efficiency . Doings the requirement of Business Today with the regulations in the u. S. And the in otherregulations parts of the world, if you want to be in the car business you that. O address the sting ray has a 6. 2 letter v8. When youre cruising down the highway, four of the cylinders will turn tem themselves off and you just roll as a four cylinder. When you need the power, everything lights back up again. Sites just being smart with the fuel that were bringing on board. One of the things that was as influence of the bailout the volt. Obviously the administration touted its virtues. The volt you as far as is concerned in 2015 . That was on our drawing books troubles. E any of the it was a vehicle that was allowed to continue in its has been on the market for a few years. The volt is the first page in a of whats going on in the car business, its not the end of the story. Bore, thelogy is on fact that you can plug in and electric, but then when you need to go a further need to beou dont worry about being left at the side of the road. That technology has gone onto cadillac er, which is here at the show, and youll see it in other vehicles. You have me on your show in five years and well look back at the volt and say thats where it all began. So how much influence should washington now have on the operation of g. M. . Be very plunt it had very little influence even when there was still a stake this the company. They set us up to say, hey, make good cars, be a good business, get yourself in order, and thats what the company went out to do. Now that the government has off its stock, were allowed to refocus on ourselves and become the next Great American car company. Which made a lot of news. Did hear about that, it was one of the big err news stories from the Detroit Auto Show. Fantastic. I think what she is going to capture is the fact that youve peopleocused group of inside g. M. Now that love being part of the car business that into want to slide back old habits. If youre a guy like me, the effect that i can come in and perspective, i can shake it up a little bit. That is kind of a new thing, and fact that that outside view i think mary will be very receptive of that. A companyd you had car. Do you get a sting ray . I dont yet, but im going to soon. O i get to drive them on occasion. No, i think having that in my the most fun. Be james bell with General Motors, head of consumer yourrs, thank you for time. My pleasure, thank you. Host back in our capitol hill studio were opening up our phones to you in this last halfhour of the washington journal today. Weve asked you this question. Is the u. S. Auto industry the best in the world . We want to get your thoughts and comments, and were separating little bit differently as we do this. If you own an american car the 2025853880. If you own a foreign car its 2025853881. If you dont own a car, its 2025853882. Our phone lines are open and happy to take your thoughts here of todays segment washington journal. As we do in, i want tohone read you a little bit from a market watch piece that we showed you earlier today on the rebound in u. S. Auto sales, the vehicle sales, theres a chart there showing the rebound from 2009 to where today. Still below where it used to be, but rebounding significantly from that 2009 losses. In 2013 the story notes u. S. Brand accounted for 46 of u. S. Sales outselling their japanese, korean and german competitors, toht vehicle sales climbed 15. 6 million, the highest level in six years. Comparison, i want to show you some stats from a New York Times piece from last week on the european auto market, the last yearline of 1. 7 in the European Market was smaller than some analysts had anticipated after a dismal start, the story notes, the december gain of 13. 3 from a was the biggest monthly increase since 2009, the European Unions new car registrations total about 12 million vehicles for the year, the smallest number since 1995. And the block had about half as many countries. About the u. S. U auto sector. Do you think its the best in the world . If so, why. Not, why not . And one other piece i want to todays quavment times has an entire section dealing with the washington auto that arepart of separate views from capitol hill on the Auto Industry and the auto parts of industry much heres congressman comments on new innovations that he says will drive the american Auto Industry, hes from nebraska, he says in his Washington Times that our nation of builders is inding the renaissance American Manufacturing and our automobile manufacturers, almost these hard working men and women in all 50 states are illustrating the best america has to offer. Throughout the recession we saw drop 50 inuction two years. In 2009, however, automobile manufacturing began to bounce producing 8. 7 million vehicles and recouping 100,000 jobs. Great progress, lee terry writes, but there is much more work to do. To re more on his opinions and other members of congress, thats in todays self pieces,imes, in a special section on the washington auto show. Our phones. Charlie is waiting in heyward, california, owns an american car. Charlie, good morning. Is the u. S. Auto industry the best in the world . Caller well, thats a good question when the amount of into that were putting Hydrogen Fuel cells, and i cant even figure out what its going andost for the hydrogen what kind of Hydrogen Pressure in those cars, we seem to be spending huge amounts of money to generate these cars and looks carswere going to have with a tank that holds 10,000 pounds of hydrogen. Understand where this is going to go. How do you think the Technology Advances of other countries compare to the u. S. Auto industry . Something you follow . And theyes, i do, primary core of the hydrogen the Cell Technology for past decades has been a huge of staket of all kinds holders, so the amount of beentment for a car has absolutely horrendous. The total number of fuel cell iss in california approximately two to 300 total vehicles and were spending a car in putting in Hydrogen Fuel stations where the people that drive the car will get free fuel. Going to work in the marketplace . That seems to be putting the disadvantage at a in this overall market, putting all of this concentrated effort Hydrogen Fuel cell that just doesnt make any sense to all. Host charlie in california this morning, as our viewers look at washingtonfrom the auto show. Running today through february 2. Than 700 new makes and models from over 42 manufacturers are going to be on display at that eight acres worth of display at the walter e. Washington Convention Center, not far from capitol hill. U. S. Asking you if the Auto Industry is the best in the world. We want to get your thoughts and segment of our last the washington june al today. Rhonda is in vancouver, washington, she owns a foreign car. Good morning. Caller morning. Ahead, youre on q. The washington journal. Question was in regards to your article with the spark and how it fared in sub is cans and my question you fine out whether that was whetherctric spark or it was internal combustion spark. Because i have two nissan leaves and two corvettes. To corvettes get 30 miles the gallon, and the electric 2. 4 miles a kilowatt, so two cents a mile. Question. Host that article that youre referencing is in todays today money section, note that just one car among the 2013 and 2014 models tested received an acceptable rating in the test in which a car is hit with the drivers front side corner at 40 miles per hour, it noted the spark was who had the acceptable rating, doesnt say any more about what specific model was tested for you. But thats in the u. S. A. Today money, if you want to re more bit. Were asking youre viewers whether they think the u. S. Auto industry is the best in the world. Waiting in mount victory, ohio, lowell owns an american car. Good morning. Morning, john. It was kind of a coincidence here that i have an american its kind of a coincidence that just when you showed the right front end with some damage on it, thats in a little i did bit of snow here a while ago, and i wasnt going fast or a pole, andt i hit it did considerable damage to car. They dont have decent bumpers any more, thats one thing to say. About the, about whether its the best in the world. Its the only kind that ive ever had. But since the shakeup about 20 years ago or so, i lotk theyre getting a better and lasting a lot longer. And theres one thing i would about the other segment. You had a real good show this morning. I liked it all. But then i also wanted to say about the very tiny size and the magnitude of the controls of the cars. The heater, and all of the other things. Button with the mirrors and everything else, you know, so theyre just too many buttons and too small. A pencil to hit because theyre so small, especially if youre getting a longer along in life. Thank you, john. Host calling in from ohio this morning. The conversation about is the u. S. Auto industry the best in happening on our Facebook Page, facebook. Com cspan. Catherine writes in, i hate to sound unamerican, but one word, germany. The u. S. Auto industry the best in the world, kevin writes in no, the europeans, and now the koreans are producing better looking longer vehicles. Ss expensive we want to get your thoughts on this question. Waiting in massachusetts. Joseph owns a foreign car. Own . Kind of car do you own a bmw, and my bmw. Few wars were and i would say that the in thence from sitting showroom when im buying that years remember about 15 ago my last purchase of a domestic car, i didnt feel good experience, i drove off and i had a terrible time with it. And since then ive purchased cars, and i would say that the biggest challenge that industry has is fighting that perception for the consumer when they are going to buy a car. Host joseph calling from massachusetts this morning. On facebook, i have only driven american and german cars, likeyou our cars were more german, the drive features and technology bmw, awe day and to mine fast. And ronald below that, that the more intrusive the government the Auto Industry, the more it fails. U. S. Auto industry the best in the world . Maryland, in waldorf, owns an american car. What kind of car do you own . An f150. Ewith no, america definitely does not make the best cars. Also to the point the gentleman from the g. M. Auto show was vote is not g. M. The volt is not g. M. s first page on electric cars. About 20 years ago they had an electric car and they krawshed crushed it. They were at the forefront, but they didnt want that technology to get out to the people. We were just talking about this on a chat site, local space, about american cars. Chrysler, for example, has come 200. Ith the new it might be an okay car, has a lot of horsepower, but that design looks like something that have been out 20 years ago. A car,ve got to design you might as well make it look good. Just because its inexpensive not mean it doesnt have to look good. So this is not g. M. s first shot at electric it 20 years ago, but they didnt want the technology to get out and toyota jumped on and it thats why toyota is at the forefront right now. Will have to rectify that problem. Host darnell from maryland. Some stats courtesy of the Financial Times on u. S. Car ines and the annual change 2013, this is u. S. Car sales as carsight imagine american selling, having the best change termscentage in 2013 in of sales. Overall up just under 10 , ford up over 10 . 10 asr up just under well. Toyota also up in the united but volkswagen, volvo hyundai, down, losing market hyundai up13, and slightly. Currency on the Financial Times. To jim in signal mountain, tennessee, jim owns a foreign car. Asking our viewers, is the u. S. Auto industry the best in the world what do you think . Caller not in my opinion, its the worst. Jim . Why is that, caller im still upset about the fact that they turned to the bludgeon the taxpayers out of money to bail them out, plus the nonsense that theing around bailout saved the Auto Industry and the employees. Have disappeared, bankruptcy doesnt take a curl it up you know, into mid air, it allows the company to reconstruct. In that, they did go through bankruptcy, but the government and saved the union at the cost of the bond holders who were, you know, we had bankruptcyes in court that were thrown out, and saved thement employees because they could vote. Savehey really didnt them. They would have been working afterwards for who ever bought remainder of the company out of bankruptcy. But ill never own a General Motors car nor a chrysler car that. Ecause of host thats jim calling from signal mountain, tennessee. Our Facebook Page says the only reason that this question that were talking is becausee ask competition from foreign auto makers making Higher Quality inferiorforced unionized American Auto workers to compete for a share in the market. John is in richfield, ohio, owns an american car. U. S. Auto industry the best in the world . Caller absolutely. By ayou buy a car made u. S. Made u. A. W. Car, you buy a the suppliers, you know, the auto workers, about 10 , the suppliers another of the employees, that you know theyre going to have a good income with good benefits be there and the pollution, everything is in place. Police and levies, fire levies, you have people with good jobs that will vote levies, pay for these things. Every time you buy an american car you help your community. To mention that their quality has improved vastly. Host what kind of car do you own . Caller i own a dodge caravan. You always owned an american car . Caller yes. General motors for some time, then i went to chrysler. Host john calling in from ohio. Is in charleston, South Carolina, owns a foreign car. Good morning, what kind of car do you own . Caller oh, good morning. Actually my husband drives the nissan and our family is split, and here weillac bmws,charleston where all you see are big ships putsing the bmws on the water germany, i guess. But our family is split. Retired. I think a lot of families in the United States would buy used we do, and you just buy your best deal. And both the nissan and cadillac are satisfactory to us. Call in fromfor South Carolina this morning with your thoughts. Birch smith on our facebook pain the world, youre going to compare American Made japan, ohrerm any, even italian and ask that as a serious question . Comparison id say were at least fourth best. Lets go to thomas waiting in berlin, wisconsin, owns an car. Can thomas, good morning. Morning, sir, great show. Whichestion you asked, is, is it the best vehicle. My point is that that would be everyone isbecause looking for Different Things in a vehicle. Is overall,opinion by far americans are the best. If you can figure out a way to to give my problem with the american vehicles and others, economy you save in an and actually in fuel cost, then paying forxes youre or fuel, so the more taxes, the less taxes youre sending in for fuel, so the less taxes they get the more they have to raise the taxes and the people that goinge the cars are not to absorb that cost. So actually the small guy gets again with higher taxes, and higher vehiclings, which is a problem in just about everything in the United States builds right now. Butover all my opinion is that by far build the best cars and foreign countries, worked on many german machines and other foreign vehicles, their technology is probably borrowed or somehow acquired from the United States to begin with. The americans by far win. Host thomas calling in from we talk about car issues and comparisons to other countries between the u. S. Auto industry and others. I want to bring you some stats, monthrom earlier this from delight l. L. P. In its generationing about is a chart that deloitte online. Nearly 80,notes that generation y is nearly 80 million strong and generation will buy 40 of new cars by 2020. Ages 19 to 36. Re theyreey notes that three times more likely than their parents to abandon car costs escalate according to that Deloitte Survey and more than half of said they expect to drive a vehicle with an alternative engine such as a hybrid electric. Go to j. R. In woodlawn,. Ennessee caller i believe its still one of the best in the world, its as what itt what s used to be. Have hurt theions car industry. You go buy a brandnew car today and it costs almost as much as brandnew house costs you, and not quite, but very close to it. And so i believe the unions are the main reason why a car costs. O much i believe that the idea that ford didnt take a bell out but the others did a bailout, yet the others did, is pretty amazing. And i think that people ought to be asking that. G. M. Took a bailout and they to have one,ght well, why, information didnt get one. You. Ats my comment, thank host carol says i have had had id american and foreign cars, prefer foreign cars, my infinniti is the best car ive ever had. Own a in alaska doesnt car, alfred, good morning to you, your thoughts on the Auto Industry. Caller hello. My whole message is really that reason why they went to no speed bumpers is because they wanted it to fold up like an savedion on both ends and lives somehow. But i partially agree that bumpers should some cases at strong bumper. A host okay, al free calling in from alaska today. Hero joe on our question of is the u. S. Auto industry the best in the world, is no such thing as buying american. Every car is made from things the world. All are world cars. Lets go to steve in seattle, washington, steve owns an american car. Steve, good morning. The q. Washington journal. Caller good morning. Question was, is it comparing artery ferrari, their standards are far above ours, then you can go to have anyre they dont standards, or theyre far below ours. I believe the question is, is the industry better, not whether the car is better. Our industry is fine, but were nowhere near the germans as far as our what we people, what their environmental benefits are. Calling in from washington. We want to you keep calling in, well keep talking with this the washington journal. But we want to take you back quickly to the floor of washington auto show, and now. You live there were in the lower level of the washington auto show joined cogan, the publisher of the green car journal. Welcome. Thank you. Givesry year this journal out an award, most awards deal with the wheels and looks. Your award, though, deals on a different level. Tell us bit. Its the Green Car Technology award. Of the do the green car year, that focuses on the vehicle. Technologieson the that enable these vehicles to do what they do so well. Unsung heros of the advanced Technology Vehicles on the show floor. When what do you look for youre judging the unsung heros . Were looking for things that efficiency,reater or better interaction between a speaks and a driver that to higher efficiency, alternative fuels, hybrid power plugin power trains, things that give a vehicle the have lower co2 emissions, lower tailpipe emissions, higher fuel efficiency. Several models out hire, a porsche, but also a cadillac than most, whynt is that . Its a cadillac elr, its an extended range electric car, it runs on electricity for the so, and, 37 miles or then the on board internal generator creates electricity that powers the electric motors, so its unique is an electric car but there are no limitations youre going greater distances, you you put fuel in the tank, it generates electricity on bore. Seems like weve seen a move away from the boxy types of vehicles that we used to, a lot of interesting body designs out there. What does that say about the future of this market . It isnt just about efficiency, its about creating buy,les people want to thats the thing. So if you have a vehicle thats boxy thats unattractive yet offers great environmental performance, its going to be sold in much more limited numbers. Have taken this mainstream. Theyve made the vehicles wonderful vehicles that drive really well, but just happen to get extremely high fuel efficiency or drive on fuels, thats the win. So as far as washington is here, doesince were washington have a role in all this . Yeah, i mean, washington really spurred a lot of activity the higher cafe corporate average fuel economy by 2025, fleet wide average has to be 54. 5 miles per gallon. Huge, i mean thats a huge step from where we are now, and there are increment al steps along the way. That has driven a lot of innovation, because auto makers have to meet that goal. Are complaining or have been complaining of what it costs to do that, in the end goal and wereat seeing amazing vehicles coming out on the road to that goal. Are thejournalist, things that washington has done maybe not so good in this market . Theres plenty of things hasnt done well in this market, i think. But i try to look at the cafeive things, and thats increases and fleet average, thats a good thing. For electric drive vehicles, thats a good thing, althoughthe market, that can only stay in place so ing and should only stay place so long. But all these moves by washington are spurring inmo vagues in the Auto Industry. To go back to the investment in advanced vehicles, advanced technology manufacturing, some things have worked out well, worked out have not well, but the industry is better for it. And drivers are better for it, that investment has come from washington over the years. One more question. Porsche, aa cadillac, what are the price guzzlingto their gas counterparts . Theyre ways more expensive, lithium ion batteries are more expensive. Some speak to the regular line, the 3. 0liter tdi thatsiesel engine, maybe, maybe 5,000, or its a small number higher than the but it getscle, exceptionally high fuel efficiency and great performance. Ones like the porsche, well, you expensive to are begin with, so a 100,000 porsche that happens to be electric makes sense. A slightlways increase, but not so much in ones like the honda accord hybrid, the plugin is a little more. But theyre always a little more expensive. Ron cogan, the publisher of the green car journal also award here at the auto show, thanks for your time. On. Ppreciate you having me host and thats the Washington Place throughng february 2, some 700 new makes display from over 42 manufacturers. Weve been giving you interviews morning from the floor of the auto show. But weve got a few minutes left in the washington journal today to have our viewers answer question. U. S. Auto industry, is it the best in the world . A few meant on our Facebook Sharon says do we still have a u. S. Auto industry as it outsideey are all may the u. S. And jim says below that, seems industry, my kia is more American Made tonight fords and gms. On twitter, the u. S. Industry is best now, but have always bought u. S. A. , dont own when they make what i want and can afford will buy american always. To audrey waiting in hixon, ten seen on our line for American Made cars. Audrey, what model car do you own . Own the 99, we bought new 99 monte carlo. And the transmission went out, the paint started peeling off, other started to happen to the car, it wouldnt pull a hill, okay. Then 14 year ago, it is wont run. L still wont run at all. We have called the consumer affair, we wrote them numerous letters, weve done everything our power about this car. And we cant seem to get any help. All they owe us is 40,000, fors all we was asking what we paid for the car. Host audrey, how has this feel aboutmade you owning an american car . Caller oh, lord, you just dont know. You dont know how i feel about this car. Every time i look at it, it just turns me stomach. To think it was a beautiful and dream. The car of his he loved it, black on black, he it. D host audrey calling in from tennessee. Weve got a few minutes for hear your comments on the u. S. Auto industry. Do you think its the best in the world . Is in wading river, new york, owns a foreign car. Good morning. There. Hi, host go ahead. Caller good morning, yes, i truck, i had a 2001 chevy s10 that i kept right lasttil springtime of year. When all the bailout stuff was a lot of the union and their rules and compensation packages were in the national started hearing about people who when there was nothing for them to do they were up forxpected to show work and they were paid to sit in the break room all day. Now, im a contractor, i run a small business, we dont have a lot of guarantees and my men do very dangerous work. When theres no work or bad weather, we dont work, and around. Ays us to sit so i opened up my mind to buying foreign, and when i started around last spring for a new vehicle, nobody was really making small pickup trucks any more, the s10 wasnt made. I decided i was not going to buy really makingnt anything. So i had toyota and i had nissan. And i went out and i bought that nissan, why should i be expected to be loyal to g. M. , because im going to work for my money and give to it a guy thats being paid to sit in the break so i bought a niece soon frontier, and let me tell you, its twice the truck that chevy great vehicle. A host matt calling in from new york talking about his experience. Facebook page, the u. S. Auto industry might be currently the best in the world in our minds, however when the make it here another recession or worse is way. G our and average american writes in on our twitter page, if you count the cars made by American Companies in mexico and canada, then the american car industry in themost confused world. Lets go to remy in baltimore, maryland, owns a foreign car. On. Morning, youre caller good morning, thanks for a couple call, just quick comment. I have a 91 volvo, 240. Was a vw passat. And what ive noticed over the is basically what the three manufacturers did, General Motors, ford and chrysler, if look back, youve got ford because volvoolvo wasnt getting a market share i guess back in the 90s, and into thewas running same problem. And the problem they were running into was that these automobile manufacturers were too rough, but information managed to take chrysler took and mercedes, and showed them how to these automobiles where ory become either perceived obsolescent in order to get that market share back. And you see that take place even, the manufacturers of the American Automobiles, they tot to take and continue build automobiles that youre going to be going out and replacing, either because you perceive it to be obsolete or it becomes obsolete because of the Computer Technology that goes into it. Remy from baltimore. John is calling in from illinois our line for folks who own American Made cars. John, good morning. Caller good morning. Host your thoughts, is the u. S. Auto industry the best in the world . Are. R yes, they for 13 94 silverado years, i sold it and bought all had a prompto, i with the instrument clusser and the dealership said an, andk had low mile they said i was out of my time frame on the warranty but the mileage was good. Motors, toldeneral them and they backed it up, they problem. Of the and i was glad for that, General Motors stood behind their product. Thing is im an Electronics Technician and i computers. Motive these people are buying to the technology that america does. Trucks use ford computers. Toyotas use General Motors computers. Lamborghinis use chrysler trucks use board dont realize computers. Lamborghinis used chrysler computers. People do not realize that foreign trucks and cars use the shirttails of american technology. Host our last caller today on the washington journal, and i will do it for todays show, but we want to make sure you tune in tomorrow at 7 00 a. M. Eastern and 4 00 a. M. Pacific, and have a great day. [captions Copyright National cable satellite corp. 2014] [captioning performed by national captioning institute]