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Rewarding the Ecologically Irresponsible with Taxpayer Dollars

Even with a $4,500 voucher most of the people driving "clunkers" won't be able to get credit to buy a new car or truck. They need to save their money for lottery tickets and cigarettes.

8 Changes GM Needs to Make

I am constantly amazed by the self appointed experts who prescribe a treatment for GM. While Mr. Raman's advice to "focus on key brands" is valid, his list of key brands reveals a lack of knowledge of the auto industry and of GM in particular. GM has two healthy brands; Chevrolet and Cadillac. Every GMC that is sold is one less Chevy. GMC is the ultimate redundant. Keeping Pontiac makes even less sense. If Mr. Raman had ever driven a G6 he would not recommend keeping it. The G6 is an example of the bad cars that no one except a rental company would ever buy. The only Pontiac that should be retained is the Vibe (really a Toyota Matrix) that should be rebadged as a Chevy. Buick may have a role to play as a lower priced alternative to Cadillac, but that is debatable. Mr. Raman's suggestion to keep the Saturn Vue (an Opel product) is interesting. The question is how you retain a dealership network with one product. Saturn has the most unique product line in the GM stable. Importing high mileage, excellent models from Opel (or building them in the US) makes sense. It is sad to see that most people, inside and outside GM, are quick to right off Saturn. That may just be typical of the problem. The insiders can't see the trees for the forest and the outsiders can't see the forest for the trees.

The Swedish Solution

Don't be premature. It hasn't worked yet.

Six Myths about the Big Three

At a time of financial crisis it's important to get your facts straight. There is no doubt that Mercury and Pontiac are "overlapping lines." That is not true of Saturn. GM has turned Saturn into its US version of Opel (which is very successful in Europe). The Saturn Astra, Aura and Vue are not replicated by any other GM line. The Sky is almost the same as Pontiac's Solstice, but it is a niche vehicle. That leaves only the Outlook as a vehicle that is replicated by other GM lines. The problem at Saturn (and to a greater extent at Saab) is that their marketing budgets are not large enough to get their message out to the market.

Chrysler Official Graduates from the 'Baghdad Bob School of Corporate Communications'

It isn't Chrysler's credibility that's in question; it's their survival.