Deweyp

I Was Wrong About GM Bankruptcy

Finally, someone with a sensible comment. Very well said.


On Jul 07 11:19 AM User 158164 wrote:

> Somewhere between Davewmart and Detfan is reality. Every recession
> you hear the "the economy will never be the same again" and they
> are right, the economy comes back different, and usually better.
> I remember the late 80's doom and gloom, followed by the 90's unemployment
> so low a blind felon could get a job as a night watchman.
>
> On the other hand, GM is facing world wide competition from Volkswagon,
> Fiat, Toyota, a resurgent Ford, Honda, and now a slew of Chinese
> and Indian companies. If they all take only 2% market share, just
> in sheer numbers of companies it will be a hard row to hoe.
>
> Buy back the stock? Yeah, that was a winning strategy in the 90's
> - $25 Billion in stock buy backs and now that stock is worth zero.
> The smart money spends money on product, not stock buy backs.
>
> GM has some excellent product now, I have a Silverado with ZERO issues
> and I have driven the new Camaro and it is world class. They need
> to keep that quality up.
>
> Most of what I read about the UAW is based on stuff they read before
> the new contract, and even more changes have taken place with the
> crisis. I never met the guy "making $80 an hour sweeping floors"
> in the first place. Most of that crap was just BS anyway. There
> are some horror stories, but I can tell you some horror stories about
> non-union shops also. Somehow a truck a minute spits out the back
> door, so someone must doing some work.
>
> I know there are some retards talking boycotting, yeah that makes
> sense. Put Americans out of work solely because you don't like the
> President and drive down the value of the company so that you the
> taxpayer loses money in some kind of childish hissy fit. Fortunately
> I think those numbers are small and their job at the car wash does
> not buy a new car anyway.
>
> In other words, if you are looking at the future for GM, I think
> you can be pretty optimistic, but realistic.
>
> I think more important to the question is not what will GM do, but
> will this country EVER develop a sensible manufacturing policy that
> will get us back to work.

GM Bankruptcy? Probability Using Options

Nearly all the dealerships being cut have very low profits and do not enjoy the prime real estate you mention. The prime locations are the ones being kept open, mostly just for that reason. Having called on dealerships in Ohio, West Virginia and Kentucky for many years, I can tell you that less than half would be considered prime locations. In most cases the impact on a community will be barely noticed by that community.


On May 29 07:23 PM Mad Hedge Fund Trader wrote:

> It's going down. The imminent demise of General Motors (seekingalpha.com/symbo...)
> will be a nail in the coffin for the commercial real estate market,
> which I believe will be the financial crisis of 2009. Some 2,000
> dealers are being axed, dumping hundreds of millions of square feet
> on to a market that least wants it. These were the guys who sponsored
> the local baseball team and Girl Scout cookie sales, and their absence
> will rip the hearts out of hundreds of American communities. Much
> of this is prime space, near dense populations, with great frontage,
> adjacent retail space, completed site work, mitigated environmental
> work, and already zoned for commercial use. Some might get turned
> into mini malls, but I’m afraid more will end up as indoor climbing
> walls and paintball battlefields. Commercial real estate sales are
> off 73% this year, while vacancies have catapulted to 16.7%. Banks
> have seized 464 properties so far in 2009, including $7 billion worth
> in March alone, and thousands more are on the brink.

Chrysler Travesty Hearings Continue

This day was written in the wind over 20 years ago and as many predicted it has happened. As to F having superior products in the pipeline while GM and C have not, I question who would have that true knowledge, as these are very closely guarded secrets, unless already announced. What may be the probable outcome of all of this is C and GM, unencumbered of the debt that drags any development of future products down, brings forth the great products they have had in the pipeline, while F stumbles trying to finance their pipeline products while laden with draconian debt that has not been forgiven. Those who truly understand the auto industry know that product plans are made several years (3-5) in advance and this economy downturn is only 9 months old, although it really began 20 months ago. It is purely supposition to say one company has better products "in the pipeline" than another, especially when one looks at the superior products that have been produced by C and GM (Dodge Mini Van, Cadillac CTS,
Chevy Malibu, Chevy Volt, Jeep, Dodge Challenger and above all the 2010 Camaro). These are acknowledged product winners. The morass C & GM currently find themselves in is purely financial and is in no way a result of the product they have brought to market. To be sure F has shown many successful products and I am sure they have more in the pipeline, but let's not confuse economic problems with product issues and, we should not assume that F has solved all their economic problems as well. There is a reason Ford's major supplier (Visteon) filed chapter 11 today and it is an economic issue just as it was for GM's major supplier Delphi. The American auto industry is truly the best in the world and once these issues are resolved and the economy improves, they will be back on top, no matter what the Asian guys tell you.

Obama's New Mileage Standards: Let's Wait and See How the Final Rules Shake Out

How in the name of all that's Holy are we supposed to haul our campers, boats and trailers under this new mandate? Probably one of the most dangerous highway issues will be an under powered vehicle trying to haul a trailer full of horses or a boat that weighs twice as much as the car, up a hill at 10 mph. I for one intend to keep my 89 Chevy pickup (245,000 miles) for just that purpose. Twenty years from now these will be more valuable than new cars.

UAW: It Should Be Giving Up More

For some people it becomes like a game to pick an issue that is in the news, then work up a convoluted article using doubtful math while ignoring almost every other segment of society that could fit that same pattern. How about Truck Drivers or Steel Workers or Highway Maint. Workers or Teachers.... The list goes on and on. People choose their profession for a lot of different reasons and there will always be pay disparities. If you believe that everyone should earn the same amount, think about what Communism did for the Soviet Union with that approach.

Politically Powerful Unions: A New Class of Senior Debt?

That should be FAIR LABOR, which has not existed within the UAW ranks for over 40 years. The reductions mentioned do not even come close to bringing runaway labor in the auto industry back to par. The last labor contract drove the final nail in GM's coffin. Your defense of UAW practices simply will not fly.


On Apr 29 09:02 AM Bibble wrote:

> Turn about is fair play. While GM was paying huge dividends and making
> huge overseas investments with money that should've beeen set aside
> for retirees, plants were closing, COLA was delayed, health care
> was rising and union leadership went right along with the company.
> Now when the ramifications of not properly funding their obligations
> comes home to roast, the same folks who benefited from that slight-of-hand
> are whining again because they can't simply throw the workers who
> made decades of windfalls possible in the trash can? The union's
> hairCUTS began well before the latest and most severe ones of 05,
> 06, 07, 08 and 09.
>
> "Labor is prior to, and independent of, capital. Capital is only
> the fruit of labor, and could never have existed if Labor had not
> first existed. Labor is superior to capital, and deserves much the
> higher consideration." - Abe Lincoln

Obama to Automakers: Ultimatums with Teeth

That was supposed to read "chapter 11"

Obama to Automakers: Ultimatums with Teeth

The whole point of Obama's speech and the position he has adopted was indeed to scare the bond holders and the union into taking action to relieve the debt load and change the union's position on work rules and benefits that have given the Asian transplants an advantage. I really don't think there was an intention to force GM into chapter 1

Auto Sector: Flow Through Industry Assistance

The things you mention in a flow through system are well in place now and really do not need to be designed or redesigned. The $s needed by tier 1 are primarily for continued operations and would not be hoarded as suggested. Tiers 2-4 are only in trouble because of cash problems at tier 1.

The Current Stagnation of Natural Gas Vehicles in America

Well written and researched. I do see an additional problem and that is price. During the bubble years through early 2008, the price of NG jumped to over $9. This was done without an appreciable increase in demand. If we go to NGVs in any volume at all, the gas company's will undoubtably run the price to that level and higher. With proper controls on price increases NGVs would truly be an answer to US energy problems, at least until fuel cells are perfected. One other reason conversion kits are not available is the tax collecting system does not lend itself to NG well because it is readily available in most homes, just like electricity. States are already scrambling to devise a method of collecting their share when EVs become popular. We will need some well thought out laws to regulate NG and El prices and taxes before either will be viable..

Is a Car Produced in Alabama Really an Import?

In addition to the very accurate list Mister Jimmy put forth, there is the tooling built in outside shops. Last I heard the labor costs involved in assembling an auto were less than 10% of the total cost. Design and tooling constitute much more. States where foreign carmakers built assembly plants paid hundreds of millions of taxpayer money for each plant to be built there. In return the hourly wage and benefits were much lower than at union shops.
When foreign carmakers costs increase to the level of domestic carmakers, they will close it down and go somewhere else where they are given even more millions to build a new plant.

Ford a Likely Survivor of the Auto Industry Crisis

I have to wonder how much research you put into this article Faisal. GM stock prices during the 70s was in the $80 neighborhood. A gain in market share when sales are down nearly 40% is less than significant. If sales continue to be in 10 million range for any length of time, then Ford will also go to Washington. As to product, Ford truly has some nice models out and is right in there with quality high mileage cars, but so does GM. The new F150 is really nice, but no better than the Silverado. That was a catch-up truck for Ford.

Do We Need a Car Czar, Or Is That Just an Excuse?

I can promise you one thing Tom, GM and Chrysler know exactly what is needed and a lot more than WSJ or you. Get off the Ch11 thing already. That was last years news.

Ford Celebrates, GM Scratches Its Head

I am firmly convinced after reading these blogs for some time now that paulk8756 is in the foreign auto camp BIG TIME. This person has never had an unbiased or accurate comment since I have been reading and answering these comments. The US auto industry is doing everything possible to turn things around while at the same time being a responsible corporate citizen in the US. They are supporting employee and retiree healthcare and pensions at a level that provides a decent standard of living for them. None of the foreign transplants have this burden, having recently arrived on our shores, nor do the plan on doing so in the anytime future. Yes there are problems, but the big 3 are not abandoning those who have devoted their lives to these companies and are now living out their golden years comfortably, but not at the richness
level that some would have you to believe. The efforts of these companies deserve our support, not our disdain. They should in fact be honored for what they are trying to accomplish. Paulk 8756, I find your extreme bias against the US auto industry SO reprehensible and SO entirely inaccurate that you should be censured or banned from commenting on the web sites Seeking Alfa provides.

Auto Stocks: Value Investments Gone Wrong?

By necessity the restrictive, destructive union rules are slowly being reduced, but not fast enough to prevent the wholesale damage to the big three. Elroy hit the nail on the head, but the protectionism involved extends to currency manipulation, which I believe is the biggest piece of the pie, but at the expense of the Japanese citizens, because they pay considerable more for the products imported to their nation than Americans do. They can do this and give their auto and other industries a huge leg up, mainly because the citizens of Japan have such a high savings rate. The big three have historically provided a higher standard of living than most other industries, and they should be applauded for that, except that, with world competition as strong as it is now, it has no where to go. The American auto industry is far more important than the jobs that are provided to our labor force, although that is important. As history can verify, the auto industry has been a key player in our national defense and will continue to be, if it remains strong. Allowing that industry to go away, as some would suggest, is not the smartest thing to do. We should support it (although with much oversight) and insure it continues to be a strong segment of our manufacturing base.