NYT: (Gov. Granholm) Taking Down the 'No Foreign Cars' Signs in Michigan [View All]

[DeepModem Mom]

Taking Down the 'No Foreign Cars' Signs in Michigan
By DANNY HAKIM
Published: March 3, 2005


DETROIT, March 2 - At many union halls in Michigan, signs on parking lots still warn that foreign-made cars "will be towed away at owner's expense."

So why is Michigan's Democratic governor, Jennifer M. Granholm, pushing so hard to close a sweetheart land deal with Toyota Motor?

The answer: Because the domestic auto industry, the engine of the state's economy in the 20th century, is sputtering in the 21st. With 7 of Michigan's 10 largest employers either domestic automakers or parts suppliers, Michigan's unemployment hit 7.3 percent in December. That tied with Alaska's as worst in the nation, according to the most recent report from the Labor Department; numbers released by Michigan on Wednesday adjusted December's unemployment down to 7.5 percent, but showed some improvement in January.

General Motors and the Ford Motor Company, two of the state's three largest employers, said Tuesday that their sales continued to fall last month. With both company's shares trading near annual lows, they are cutting the number of cars and trucks they plan to produce. G.M.'s production cuts are particularly deep, spreading economic distress across the region. That has left Ms. Granholm little choice but to redouble the efforts to diversify, both beyond cars and towards other carmakers....

***

That includes wooing Toyota, the company that has taken more business away from the Big Three - G.M., Ford and the Chrysler division of DaimlerChrysler - than any other. Michigan is currently fighting in court to push through a deal to sell public land to Toyota that would allow the company to expand a technical center near the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor. A developer who outbid Toyota by $16 million has sued to block the deal, but courts have sided with the state....


http://www.nytimes.com/2005/03/03/business/03michigan.html