Mister Jimmy

Why GM Is Ready for a Rebound

No doubt GM has produced some bad designs and poor quality products, but it still sells 6 of the top 20 vehicles in America and is the most popular manufacturer in China. Clearly, in spite of its shortfalls, it is doing SOMETHING right. As far as "government support", the Japanese and Korean auto OEM's have been in bed with their governments since day one. So, after the billions in tax dollars paid by GM and its employees over 100 years, a little payback is OK with me.

Taxpayers: Beware GM's Decision to Build Compact in Michigan

Your tax dollars provided to GM give you as much of an ownership interest as your tax dollars spent in Iraq......zero.

Hummer: Too Dirty Even for the Chinese

"Too Dirty Even for the Chinese"? Why is it OK to disparage a race of people in that manner?

What About Product Liability Claimants in Automaker Bankruptcies?

You 'experts' on Seeking Alpha were advocating a GM bankruptcy filing for months. Now that it's happened, and the underside is exposed, you're beating your chests for the 'disenfranchised'. Remarkable. You didn't consider this sort of fall-out? Next time, think about the full range of consequences for before you publish a string of articles advocating a course of action.

Why I'd Avoid Toyota, The #1 Automaker in the U.S.

So, U.S. government ownership of GM and Chrysler will ensure their success, to the disadvantage of Toyota? Seems fair. The JAPANESE government has partnered with Toyota for decades.

GM's CEO Choice Is Painfully Obvious - And Painful for Consumers

It will be more telling to see who this chairman and board chooses as new CEO to succeed Henderson. If they keep him, or make a weak choice, it will be a foreboding sign to say the least. It's an incredible leap to state that this choice of chairman is "not to direct the corporate strategy to create distinct products and distinctly positive relationships with prospects and customers".

Some Facts in the GM Propaganda Race

OK, the Aztek was a horror. But, this is the same company that also produces the popular Impala, hugely exciting new Camaro, market-share growing new Malibu, two (2) pick-up trucks that are tradesman favorites (Silverado and Sierra), the immensely popular Chevy Tahoe, the Suburban, and legendary Corvette. It's so typically one sided, and SO typically Seeking Alpha, to throw a failed product out there and imply that it defines the entire company.

GE? Too Pedestrian for Me

Oh, yeah, berloe, whenever the New York restructuring 'geniuses' get involved, real value is created.....for them
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GE? Too Pedestrian for Me

aarc, I enjoyed your take on GE, but need to point out that its "11.30% dividend and yield at current prices" is no longer valid. The annual dividend was just reduced by GE from $1.24/year to $0.40/year, which cuts the yield to something on the order of 3%.

How Many Automakers Survive the Long Haul?

GM has designers, engineers, and planners as creative and smart as any in Europe and Asia. Its leadership did not address spiraling legacy (health care and pension) costs long ago and failed to use its global footprint to compete effectively in key segments. Yes, the new Malibu is a formidable competitor to Camry and Accord, and GM builds an awesome truck, but there is no excuse for a 100-year-old company not to have a vehicle competing effectively with the Corolla and Civic. Emerging markets gravitate to that vehicle class and smaller, something GM should have recognized long ago. Look for the new GM board to replace Fritz Henderson with a visionary outsider, much as Bill Ford brought in an outsider to run his firm. This iconic old firm will never be what it once was, and that's undoubtedly a good thing.

UAW: It Should Be Giving Up More

In 2008, with GM already buckling at the knees, the UAW chose to strike both the Malibu plant in Fairfax KS and the Buick Enclave plant in Lansing MI. Both were GM's most popular models at the time. It was stated to be over "local issues", but was obviously in sympathy for UAW brothers at American Axle's Detroit plant. The UAW-represented industry is less than 50% of the American market. Toyota and Honda dominate most American cities. Yet, this union acts as though it's 1965. Yes, management has made many strategic mistakes over the years, but one of those mistakes was allowing the UAW to help hand the industry to Asia. Oh, and that American Axle plant in Detroit. AA just announced its closure because of a chronic 25 to 30% absentee rate, far worse than any of its other North American plants.

General Motors Shareholders: Poof!

If a re-structured GM garners a market cap of, say, even $80B (Toyota's is about $130B today), wouldn't the existing 611M shares (pre the reverse split) be worth something over $1, assuming the current shareholders receive the proposed 1% equity in the new company?

How Trucks and Tariffs Contributed to GM, Chrysler Failures

mycargets52mpg, your statement "other OEMs operating under the exact same set of rules" reveals a lack of industry and economic insight that's simply too enormous to argue about. However, as I told you before, farmers, carpenters, and drywall installers cannot earn a living driving that same 52 mpg Japanese-subsidized phone booth that carries your sorry a** to and from a desk job every day. They need trucks, and prefer the American designed and manufactured brands.

How Trucks and Tariffs Contributed to GM, Chrysler Failures

Toyota built a Tundra pick-up truck plant in Texas, and is sorry they did. The construction tradesmen aren't buying, and the average consumer has abandoned the segment. Add to it that the Tundra had a design problem with its crankshaft that caused a number of failures and its easier to see why the remaining market for pick-ups prefers Ford, Chevy, and GMC.

General Motors Shareholders: Poof!

Who'd have thunk it? After sucking these companies dry, the UAW ends up owning them. Bloodsuckers.