International Branded Automakers Quiet on Detroit Aid

Washington DC December 11, 2008; The AIADA newsletter reported that on the auto bailout issue, one group has been notably silent: international car companies.

Toyota, Honda, Nissan and others have said little about Detroit's request for emergency aid. To date, the international companies, which have invested close to $40 billion in 70 American facilities in the last 30 years, have largely escaped any blame for Detroit's woes.

"It's a validation of all the years of working to prove they're good corporate citizens, even if they haven't convinced people that they're 'American' corporations," John Paul MacDuffie of the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania told the New York Times.

Some see international automakers as role models for Detroit. In an interview last month on the Fox News, former Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney said the Detroit companies needed to reduce their costs permanently "so they can be competitive with the Japanese cars that are made here, and the German cars that are made here."

Alan J. Buddendeck, a Nissan spokesman, said Tuesday that the company had not taken a stand on the legislation. He added, "Our concern is that the auto industry be healthy."