Bredesen Downplays Significance of GM Decision

Published reports say GM has decided to build its new subcompact car in Michigan instead of Spring Hill. The company hasn’t yet made an official announcement. But Thursday Governor Phil Bredesen downplayed the potential impact to Tennessee if it’s passed over for the project.

Even in a good budget year, Bredesen says the state wouldn’t have been likely to offer GM all the incentives the company wanted. He says the state made the best offer it could, but wouldn’t give details.

Bredesen says in talks with GM officials it became clear Spring Hill could still build another vehicle. And when the car market revives, the company will need a place to expand production.

“So I think if this doesn’t happen, I think our job then is to say ‘Fine, okay, you don’t win ‘em all, we didn’t this one. Let’s get on with the business of convincing them to do the next thing in that plant and we’ll work hard on that.”

Bredesen says GM’s decision won’t change much for the state’s auto parts suppliers, because many of the new vehicle’s parts will be made outside Tennessee.

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From Bredesen:

“It certainly is not a criticism of General Motors, or their business strategy or their receipt of funds or any of the things that have been typically covered here, but just saying that what they were asking for I thought was more than we were probably willing to step up to. And that would’ve been true I think even if revenues were very strong.

“I mean I think what they asked for was beyond what we’d be willing to step up to. And we said so frankly, but without, I don’t think, particularly saying anything bad about General Motors. It’s just it’s a business deal. And they put forward what they would like to see, and we said ‘Well, we can’t do that, but we’ll put our best offer on the table.’”

Bredesen also signed the state budget today Thursday, saying despite the tough year he was pleased with how it turned out, largely thanks to federal stimulus funds. The governor signed the bill extending unemployment insurance benefits as well.