St. Louis a Loser in Chrysler Bankruptcy

"I gave the public not only quality," he said, "but beauty, speed, comfort in riding, style, power, quick acceleration, easy steering, all at a low price.

— Walter Chrysler, 1924

Ah, Walter. You should see what they've done to your company. Shoved it into bankruptcy court. Sold a big chunk of it to the Italians. Put a bunch of government regulators on your board of directors. Closed eight of the 31 plants you had left in North America. And of 23 remaining, five are in Canada or Mexico.

If the bankruptcy court signs off on the deal, your creditors will wind up with 33 cents on the dollar, Walter. The United Auto Workers will wind up holding a lot of the company's stock. A lot of your dealerships will close, to say nothing of your suppliers. And the government, Walter — the government! — will back your warranties.

And the thing is, Walter, this is probably as good a deal as your company was going to get. The president of the United States says it will enable Chrysler "to thrive," but that's not a sure thing. Quality, beauty, speed, comfort, style, power, low price — they're not enough anymore. It's a different world.

Walter Chrysler died in 1940. Nearly 50 years later, thanks to a government bailout in 1979, the company still was going strong. In 1988, the automobile industry was a cornerstone of the St. Louis economy, and Chrysler's two plants at Fenton, Mo., were a big part of it.

In 1988, St. Louis produced 771,692 cars and trucks, more than any city but Detroit. The industry employed 18,440 people here with a payroll of $694 million — $1.25 billion in today's dollars.

Things have been more or less downhill ever since.

Ford closed its Hazelwood, Mo., plant in March 2006. Chrysler idled its Fenton minivan plant last fall and cut production at the Fenton pickup truck line to one shift. With Thursday's announcement that the Fenton truck plant is among eight plants to be closed as part of the bankruptcy, only GM's Wentzville, Mo., cargo van plant remains, and demand is down in that category, too.

More than 17,000 solid blue-collar middle class jobs have been lost, and thousands more among suppliers. Some of the area's Chrysler dealerships will close, at the cost hundreds of more jobs. The Chrysler bankruptcy is a stark reminder of the challenges facing this region's economic future.

Here is what bothers us most about the Chrysler bankruptcy: For all the whining among hedge funds that they're not being treated fairly, for all the money that will flow to the UAW health fund for Chrysler workers and retirees, it's the American worker who is taking it in the chops.

Chrysler, with the help of the American taxpayers, including 2.6 million people in the St. Louis region, will continue to build minivans and Ram pickups in Mexico and Canada, but not in Fenton, Missouri, U.S.A.

We support free trade. We understand the automobile industry is global. We're sympathetic to the plight of Michiganders and Ohioans, and we're happy that their factories may some day produce new fuel-efficient Fiat/Chryslers (Fiascos?) but ... where's ours?

St. Louis' business and political leaders must press this point: We used to build a lot of cars here. We don't anymore. If the government is getting into the automobile industry, the people of St. Louis need to be a part of it.

REPRINTED FROM THE ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH.

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