President Bush Visits GM, Ford Plants
March 21, 2007

Executives of Detroit auto companies have complained –- appropriately so –- that they have not received the attention of the White House that they deserve.

Indeed, President Bush has made time to meet with the winners of the American Idol television show and award-winning athletes but has held only one brief meeting with auto company executives.

But yesterday Bush paid a personal visit to General Motors and Ford plants in the Midwest. His message to executives and plant workers: ethanol, hybrids and fuel cell vehicles will aid national security by reducing the nation’s dependence on foreign oil.

Bush is scheduled to meet with industry executives next week in Washington. Detroit automakers are seeking federal help with health care costs and research on ethanol and battery technology.

These meetings and plant tours come at a critical time with the Democratic Congress pushing for higher fuel-economy standards, higher than those advocated by Bush.

Bush visited the Ford Kansas City plant that builds the Ford Escape and Mercury Mariner hybrids; he was greeted by Ford President and CEO Alan Mulally. Bush received a tour of GM’s Fairfax, Kansas, plant, which is making the Saturn Aura Green Line hybrid, from Gary Cowger, GM’s group vice president of global manufacturing.

Posted by Michelle Krebs at 6:07 AM under Ford , GM , News | Comments (0) | digg this | Seed Newsvine