In the South, there's disdain for Detroit

WEST POINT, Ga. — West Point, an attractive old mill town along the Chattahoochee River, could be the backdrop for a patriotic U.S. car commercial.

But America's Big Three automakers, which are teetering on a financial abyss, shouldn't expect much sympathy in West Point.

Kia Motors, the South Korean automaker, is building a plant in West Point, promising 2,500 jobs to help replace a textile industry that has all but vanished. The locals are excited to have nonunion work that will start at about $14 an hour. They are discovering the joys of authentic bulgogi — a different kind of barbecue — at the Korean restaurants popping up.

And many wonder why Detroit automakers think they are so special that they can ask taxpayers for a $25 billion bailout.

"The foreign cars took the lead, and they deserve it," said Emile Earles, owner of Sweet Georgia Brown, a gift shop.

Earles, 60, said she is fed up with General Motors, Chrysler and Ford, fed up with their fat labor contracts, arrogant chief executives and even her Cadillac, which gets only 15 miles per gallon and cost her dearly when gasoline spiked to $4 a gallon. Buying American, she added, "is still a big deal. But you can only be patriotic until you can't afford it anymore."

Marketing problem

Such sentiments represent more than a marketing problem for the leaders of GM, Ford and Chrysler, who will return to Congress next week to argue that a federal cash infusion will help them avoid bankruptcy.

A number of the bailout opponents are lawmakers representing Southern states that have lured foreign auto plants in recent years with generous tax incentives and right-to-work laws that guarantee abundant cheap labor.

Like many residents of West Point, these lawmakers are wary of helping the domestic auto companies. Rep. Lynn Westmoreland, a Republican whose district includes West Point, said the bailout would harm the companies by shielding them from the vigorous competition presented by auto plants in the South.

"Competition makes people do a better job," he said.

Westmoreland said fairness is another issue. Why, he said, should his constituents subsidize autoworkers who, thanks to generous union contracts, often earn higher wages and receive better benefits than nonunion workers in the South? And didn't those contracts help get the Big Three into this mess?

Ron Gettelfinger, president of the United Auto Workers, has argued that union contracts are not greedy. This month he said that state incentives to foreign auto companies are one reason domestic automakers deserve federal help.

Kia found plenty of incentives in West Georgia. When the company announced plans for its auto plant in early 2006, it came after intense courting from state and local officials, who offered the company tax breaks and other incentives totaling more than $400 million.

Gratitude for Kia

In West Point, disdain for Detroit commingles with gratitude for Kia, which plans to begin production of its light SUV, the Sorento, in November 2009.

The new jobs will counter the collapse of the textile industry in this border region of Alabama and Georgia, known as the Chattahoochee Valley. In Troup County, which encompasses part of West Point, unemployment stands at 8.9 percent. On the Alabama side, in Chambers County, unemployment is 14.3 percent, highest in the state.

Little surprise then that Kia has received more than 43,000 applications for the 2,500 openings. Another 2,500 jobs will be created by five new suppliers that will make parts for the main plant.

As a result, West Point can seem like the rarest of U.S. places these days: a city daring to hope and planning for growth. Driving around town — in his new Sorento — Mayor A. Drew Ferguson talks of plans for riverfront development, a new high school and a new kayak launch on the river.

Todd Costley, 45, owner of a house-painting company, has added the name of his business in Korean script on the side of his Ford Ranger pickup. He hasn't had any Korean business yet, but with the number of foreign workers who have arrived, he figures it's inevitable.

Costley is of the old school: He likes his car or motorcycle to carry a U.S. brand. He supports bailing out the Big Three but reluctantly, fearing the broader economic calamity that might come if the carmakers fail.

But as part of the deal, he said, domestic auto companies must learn from their mistakes.

"I think our government needs to have somebody analyze these foreign carmakers," he said. "Maybe we can copy ourselves off of them."

Some of the bailout opposition stems from the long-standing opinion that the Big Three no longer build durable cars.

On a recent Monday afternoon at the Korean BBQ House — a year-old restaurant in an old Pizza Hut — two Georgia natives in work shirts sat among Korean businessmen and housewives, sampling braised short ribs. Both worked for a company that was helping build the auto plant; they said they couldn't give their names for fear of losing their jobs.

One of the men, a 57-year-old in a camouflage ball cap, growled at what he called the Big Three's incompetence.

"I drive an '86 Nissan; it's got 160,000 miles, and I can drive it to California today," he said. "Now you show me an American car that can do that."

Across the street, more traditional Southern fare was offered at Roger's "Pit-Cooked" Bar-B-Que. Here, too, there was little enthusiasm for a bailout.

Owner Debbie Williams, 50, blamed the Big Three for failing to change with the times and build smaller cars.

She said she was thinking about getting rid of her Ford Explorer. "My next car is going to be a KIA, 'cause I appreciate them coming," she said.

Leon Newton, 74, a retired pastor, said the domestic companies should be left to fend for themselves. Besides, he said, globalization has muddied the old rallying cry of "Buy American."

"I have no problem with the foreign car companies because they employ people here in America," he said. "We're making 'em here."