Mitt Romney: Let Detroit Die and Rebuild it Better

Mitt's a car guy, but he doesn't want to see taxpayer money thrown at an industry in disarray. Here's what he thinks should be done:

First, their huge disadvantage in costs relative to foreign brands must be eliminated. That means new labor agreements to align pay and benefits to match those of workers at competitors like BMW, Honda, Nissan and Toyota. Furthermore, retiree benefits must be reduced so that the total burden per auto for domestic makers is not higher than that of foreign producers.

That extra burden is estimated to be more than $2,000 per car. Think what that means: Ford, for example, needs to cut $2,000 worth of features and quality out of its Taurus to compete with Toyota’s Avalon. Of course the Avalon feels like a better product — it has $2,000 more put into it. Considering this disadvantage, Detroit has done a remarkable job of designing and engineering its cars. But if this cost penalty persists, any bailout will only delay the inevitable.

Second, management as is must go. New faces should be recruited from unrelated industries — from companies widely respected for excellence in marketing, innovation, creativity and labor relations.

The new management must work with labor leaders to see that the enmity between labor and management comes to an end. This division is a holdover from the early years of the last century, when unions brought workers job security and better wages and benefits. But as Walter Reuther, the former head of the United Automobile Workers, said to my father, “Getting more and more pay for less and less work is a dead-end street.”

...But don’t ask Washington to give shareholders and bondholders a free pass — they bet on management and they lost.

He's right. I heard the head of GM telling Congress that the problems with Detroit have nothing to do with the product line or the employees, and he's wrong on both accounts. Until you fix the employment contracts you can't fix the product line to reflect the higher quality that can be put into it.

Throwing $25 or $50 billion will simply delay the inevitible collapse for a few more months without dramatic changes in how they do business.