In a lead opinion piece this week, Automotive News argues that "there ought to be a continuing role for the automotive task force, which engineered the (Chrysler and General Motors) restructuring process."

While it the companies are through their separate bankruptcies, "the task force can evolve in a permanent entity that exercises benevolent oversight over the entire industry, as (GM vice chairman) Bob Lutz suggested in May in a speech to the Automotive Press Association," the industry news magazine argued.

Great idea, but will it really fly?

There is deep-seated antipathy in this country to anything that smacks of "European socialism," and continued government involvement in one of the nation's biggest industries will no doubt raise hackles.

That's a pity because among the many pressures that domestic automakers have to contend with is the lack of a consistent energy policy.

As a result there is no fuel price stability. Thus when gas prices go up, everyone wants small cars. And when gas prices go down, everyone wants big cars.

Fuel is heavily taxed in Europe and Asia, which means that changes in the price of the raw material - crude oil - have less of an impact on the price at the pump.
That makes for a more stable market for manufacturers.

But higher gas taxes in the U.S. of A? It could be a real issue for the government and industry to work on. But it's hard to imagine such a level of Euro-style cooperation between the private and public sectors.

Peter C.T. Elsworth