"Lost Your Job Yet? Keep Buying Foreign" said the sign on the back of a car. Ironically, it was stuck on the back of what is now, by a quirk of the great recession of '09, a foreign vehicle.
When the proud owner of the car glued that sticker on the rump end of his van it was a domestic vehicle. Now it's Italian. The vehicle was a Chrysler. Chrysler was once the pride of the big three North American auto makers.
Back in the 1980's legendary chairman Lee Iacocca saved the company from bankruptcy and turned it into a financial success story. Mr Iacocca, now retired, is a Chrysler pensioner who is about to lose his pension now that the company he saved has - once again - looked bankruptcy in the face.
Chrysler is now owned by the Italian car giant Fiat. "Want to lose your pension? Keep buying domestic!"
But, that is not the key issue of today's Blighty's blog post. I am sure that very few expat Brits in Canada failed to notice that a Canadian company - Magna - has bought GM Europe. And which fine motor cars are included in that deal? None other than our old favourite - Vauxhall motors of Jolly Old England.
She Who Must Be Obeyed and I rented a rather dandy Vauxhall during our trip to J.O.E. last summer. It was very comfy, extremely fuel efficient and a vast improvement over the unreliable rust boxes that Vauxhall pushed out of its factory doors back in the 1970s.
And, oh what a bonus, when we go back to JOE this summer we will be able to proudly drive a Canadian car through the streets of Great Britain. My job will be safe.
No comments:
Post a Comment