WWJ Newsradio 950 - John McCain Pays a Visit

Posted: Friday, 18 July 2008 2:01PM

John McCain Pays a Visit

Warren (AP) -- Washington allies haven't always been easy to come by for the U.S. automakers, but Republican presidential candidate John McCain told General Motors Corp. employees Friday that reviving the struggling industry would be of utmost importance in his administration.

"The key, integral, vital part of our ability to eliminate our dependence on foreign oil will be directly related to that sign over there,'' McCain told an invitation-only town hall meeting at the GM Technical Center in Warren, pointing to a sign for GM's first plug-in electric car, the Chevrolet Volt.

"I wish you every success, and I want to help in every way,'' he said. Listen to the speech and a question and answer session.

Organizers added seats and risers to accommodate at least 500 people in GM's Design Dome. The Macomb County technical center north of Detroit employs nearly 17,000 people and is where GM is designing the Volt.

Before the town-hall meeting, the Arizona senator toured the facility with GM Chief Executive Rick Wagoner and other company executives. McCain examined and got into a model of a Chevrolet Volt, a plug-in hybrid-electric car GM says it plans to have on the market by 2010.

McCain has called for incentives for next-generation vehicles and the need to move to new technology such as the Volt.

Wagoner told McCain members of the Volt development team ``are pushing the time envelope,'' an apparent reference to the deadline to get the Volt to showrooms within two years.

The GM officials also showed McCain a cutaway mock-up of the Volt's power system and innovative battery that would let it drive about 40 miles without using any gasoline.

"If this doesn't work perfectly, we can do everything else perfectly and it's not going to work,'' Wagoner told McCain.

McCain said he disagrees with GM officials on one front: creating a federal standard for automobile emissions. While he said he's a federalist, he said states should make decisions that affect states.

"I understand the labyrinth (automakers) have to navigate through,'' he said. "I'm not without sympathy.''

Congress last year required the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration to set fuel economy standards at levels that reach a minimum of 35 miles per gallon by 2020, a 40 percent increase over current standards. NHTSA has proposed raising the requirements to 31.6 mpg by 2015.

California unsuccessfully has sought a waiver from the federal government to allow it to set the nation's first greenhouse gas limits on cars, trucks and sport utility vehicles.

The Environmental Protection Agency in December blocked efforts by California and about 16 other states to impose tough regulations on emissions. California officials have said their program would cut emissions by one-third in new vehicles by 2016 and increase fuel efficiency to about 36.8 mpg.

EPA officials said the energy bill signed by President Bush would boost fuel economy standards while providing a national approach for reducing emissions.

Automakers agree with the Bush administration and say a national approach would allow the industry to aim for one standard. Wagoner told reporters after the town-hall meeting that current fuel economy standards are challenging enough, and the automaker wants to focus on them.

McCain's GM visit comes the same week the company announced a combination of cuts, borrowing and asset sales that would raise $15 billion to weather the recent slump in U.S. auto sales and the rapid shift from trucks to cars.

Faced with high gas prices and a weak economy, GM's sales fell 16 percent for the first half of the year, with trucks off 21 percent and cars down nearly 9 percent. GM has lost billions of dollars during the last three years.

McCain said last week in Michigan that U.S. auto workers have the ingenuity and skills to move to new types of vehicles as sales of profitable but gas-guzzling sport utility vehicles plunge and predicted the Volt ``will create thousands and thousands of new jobs for Michigan.''

GM spokesman Greg Martin welcomed McCain's decision to come to the Technical Center, noting that it's a good way "for us to show what we're doing as far as advanced technology and a lot of our plans for strengthening our place in the market.''

Martin added that the automaker has been pleased with the attention it has received from both McCain and his Democratic rival, Sen. Barack Obama.

Kathy Doher, a 36-year employee of GM, said she replied to a company invitation to attend the event because of her interest in such issues as the economy and the state of the auto industry. While undecided, she also was interested in attending a meeting with a presidential candidate.

With retirement in sight, it's not about her personal job security, but she said, "I'm obviously concerned about just turning the company around in North America.''

"We really do have some great products out there that can compete with the best,'' said Doher, an assistant to the vice president of North American engineering.

Meantime, Senator Barack Obama, who is expected to be the Democratic presidential nominee, released a letter to autoworkers Friday.

The letter tells United Auto Workers union members a number of Obama’s policy proposals aimed at strengthening our economy, helping the auto industry and addressing the everyday concerns of working families in Michigan.

Click here to read the letter.