Obama on Detroit Big 3: 'Why can't they make a Corolla?'White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emmanuel drops f-bombs when talking about the United Auto Workers union. Fiat CEO Sergio Marchionne -- even though Italian is his first language -- drops f-bombs when accusing Chrysler execs of talking down to him. And President Obama stays away from salty language but wonders aloud why the U.S. automakers couldn't they just "make a Corolla," an apparent referece to the popular Toyota sedan's reputation for reliability at the time.
It is all reportedly part of the new tell-all book from Steven Rattner, who served on the White House task force aimed at nursing General Motors and Chrysler through bankruptcy and back on the road to recovery last year, the Huffington Post says. He portrays Obama as fairly even handed, not showing any special preference to the UAW in the battle to save the automakers despite his Democratic ties to organized labor.