American Icon of Freedom & Romance Hit

Americans are known the world over for their love affair with cars…the bigger, the better. But their long time symbol of freedom and romance — THE CAR or The AUTOMOBILE — is in trouble with the car making giants Chrysler, General Motors and Ford in convulsions struggling to survive the recession.

The USA and Canada are far behind the European countries in providing mass rapid transportation within cities. North America seems to have left individuals to fend for themselves and encouraged motor cars to rule the roads in the past few decades.

“Except for the American woman, nothing interests the eye of the American man more than an automobile, or seems so important to him as an object of aesthetic appreciation.” Thus spake Alfred Hamilton Barr, Jr., first director of the Museum of Modern Art, New York.

Art Buchwald once said: “Americans are broad-minded people. They’ll accept the fact that a person can be an alcoholic, a dope fiend, a wife beater, and even a newspaperman, but if a man doesn’t drive, there is something wrong with him.”

“The car has become the carapace, the protective and aggressive shell, of urban and suburban man.” said Marshall McLuhan, Understanding Media.

Here is Tom Krisher, AP Auto Writer’s report: “Chrysler, GM and Ford have been taking dramatic steps as they struggle to survive the recession and U.S. sales have dipped to their slowest rate in 26 years.

“Chrysler and General Motors fear they might not have enough money to pay their bills in a matter of weeks…” More here…

“Chrysler LLC said Wednesday it will idle all its U.S. factories for at least a month starting Friday and Ford Motor Co. (F) will halt production at 10 plants for an extra week in January, the latest moves as U.S. auto makers scramble to align production and inventory with sinking demand,” reports CNN.

“The cutbacks follow General Motors Corp.’s (GM) decision last week to idle most its U.S. factories for much of January.

“Auto makers are saddled with a glut of unsold cars and trucks amid the worst sales environment in a generation. Consumers hit by the slumping economy, tight credit markets and falling home values are holding off on buying new vehicles or struggling to secure vehicle loans.” More here…

The NYT reports:”The Bush administration appears to want an agreement with the automakers before Dec. 25.” More here…