Ford Motor Co.'s F-150 pickup is the top-selling vehicle in America with more than 436,000 purchased through October. But when people stop buying the F-150 -- and 26% fewer have been sold this year than last -- it's not just Ford and its workers that suffer.
Falling sales dry up orders for antifreeze made in Illinois by a division of Honeywell International Inc., computer sensors manufactured by Germany's Robert Bosch Gmbh in South Carolina and a hood latch part made by the 110 or so employees of Amanda Bent Bolt Co. of Logan, Ohio.
All told, each truck contains 4,350 parts, made by 270 suppliers in 26 states as well as several foreign countries. Every F-150 that doesn't sell hits literally hundreds of thousands of people who play a role in putting the big machine on the road.
When it comes to the U.S. automakers and their financial troubles, politicians and the public tend to think about the 240,000 jobs that could be lost at the Big Three's assembly lines in Michigan and nearby Rust Belt states.
Yet suppliers provide about 70% of the content in most automobiles, from the seats to specialized bolts on the suspension -- everything except the sheet metal and the motor assembly. So when Ford, Chrysler or General Motors Corp. sneeze, 600,000 workers in places as widely scattered as Peachtree City, Ga., and Pittsburg, Kan., are likely to catch cold.
As the Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers trade group likes to say, "A lot of U.S. industry goes into every automobile."
That delicate but often overlooked relationship is of crucial importance now that Congress is preparing to debate at least $25 billion in new aid to the auto industry. The U.S. automakers have appealed to the Bush administration and President-elect Barack Obama for help, arguing that huge losses and crashing sales make emergency cash a necessity.
GM and Ford have lost a combined $30 billion this year, while U.S. sales by all three carmakers have declined 21%. This month, GM said it might not have enough cash to pay its bills in the first half of next year.
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) plans to try to bring up an auto industry rescue bill today, the first day of the lame-duck session. A vote could occur Wednesday, but it will be difficult to overcome a threatened filibuster, which would put the issue off until Obama takes office in January with bigger Democratic majorities in Congress.
