DETROIT — Even amid the festive atmosphere of a downtown ice skating rink, it’s impossible to escape the worries the Motor City faces as the U.S. auto industry waits to see whether it will get a lifeline from the federal government.
“People are scared to death. You can’t have a conversation without it coming up,” said Jeff Doyle, who watched his children skate at Campus Martius Park, just a few blocks from General Motors’ headquarters and its giant blue GM logos that loom over the city. “Everything here is related to the auto industry.”
Nearly everyone in the Detroit area has a family member or knows someone involved in the industry, and the uncertainty of its future is painting a pall over the holiday season.
Doyle, the only person in his immediate and extended family working outside of the auto industry, said Saturday that there’s an “underlying tension” among his family and friends with the fate of GM and Chrysler up in the air. He said everyone’s trying to remain upbeat during the holidays, but family gatherings “certainly won’t be as extravagant.”
The fates of thousands of auto suppliers and dealers across the country are in limbo as they wait to see what will happen to GM, Ford Motor Co. and Chrysler.
Dave Green, president of United Auto Workers Local 1714, which represents about 1,100 workers at a GM fabricating plant in Lordstown, Ohio, said the bailout’s uncertainty makes it hard to feel good about the future, even though an adjacent assembly plant is scheduled to begin production in 2010 of the Chevrolet Cruze, a fuel-efficient small car that aims to get about 40 miles per gallon.
“If GM runs out of money, obviously the fear is that something will happen to that product,” Green said. “That car is the future of our workers. It’s the future of our community.”
J.R. Dugan, co-owner of Dugan Chevrolet in Avon, Ind., said he is confident that the automakers will get the money they need, whether it comes from Congress or the Bush administration.
“We’re going to have to kick and scream a bit more, but the Big Three will get what they need, no doubt.”
