BIRMINGHAM, Mich. — In a spot survey last week of 270 supplier executives representing 185 companies, 76 percent said they support a federal government bailout of General Motors. Without it, they said they’d have to downsize or close, resulting in more than 275,000 people losing jobs at their companies.
While the survey focused on GM, 71 percent also favored government support for Ford Motor Co., but only 54 percent felt Chrysler deserved help. Overall, 41 percent of the suppliers indicated that GM troubles could be attributed to top management, 40 percent to the UAW, and 19 percent to the federal government itself.
The Pulse Survey was undertaken by Planning Perspectives, a Birmingham, Mich., consultancy that specializes in buyer-supplier relations in the automotive and other industries. It was conducted Nov. 20-21 and included suppliers headquartered in 12 Midwestern and Southern states.
The top three reasons why suppliers favored a GM bailout were the following:
— 34% felt that the potential negative economic impact of a GM failure on the country is too great to allow to happen;
— 25% felt that the automotive industry deserves rescue just like the financial industry;
— Nearly 20% indicated that bankruptcy is not a viable option for GM.
When the 24% of the suppliers who did not favor a GM federal government bailout were asked why they opposed the bailout, they gave the following responses:
— 35% said that bankruptcy is a better option than a Government bailout, principally because GM could renegotiate labor contracts and rid itself of unnecessary dealerships without concern for state franchise laws;
— 35% felt that GM would get into financial trouble again and need more money;
— 12% felt that the government bailout will have too many strings attached to it.
In response to what was most likely to happen to their company if GM declared bankruptcy:
— 68% indicated that their company would have to downsize;
— 9% said they would more than likely go out of business;
— 3% said they definitely would go out of business.
