BobMichigan1251

GM and Chrysler Buyout Offers: Should Taxpayers Be Angry?

Another "expert" weighs in.

I can see the training on the first day - "American Bad, Japanese Good".

GM Proves There Is an Alternative to Bailouts

"Toyota Republicans" - perfect, they should rename the party like a stadium. "The Toyota Republican Party" Let's change the Republican banner to a white flag with a red dot!

Seriously, the transplants are here at all because a Republican president (Reagan) understood that our industries needed protection. The word went out that we would inspect the Japanese cars like they do ours and we would only have 2 guys available to do it, and suddenly they were building plants everywhere. He understood that American jobs should come first to an American.

The FACT is, as it is there are many reluctant to buy cars from these companies now becasue of fears of bankrupcy. Everyone remembers the owners of the Yugos, cars one year old and no parts.

Now I know that if it ever came to pass and the millions of GM cars and trucks out there, someone would step in and make parts, but what about warranties? What if your car was a "low runner"?

This is not a $200 airline ticket, this is the second largest purchase most people will ever make. Bankrupcy is an option, a hugely stupid option.

I know it is hugely fashionable to attack the management and the unions, I wonder though why all these "experts" in running auto companies are not getting in on those hugely lucrative jobs?

My favorite (not) columnist is a guy who brags that he has been writing about the auto industry for over 50 years. Never actually did anything, but wrote a lot. Throug the wonder of the internet I found a copy of a piece he did in 1997 attacking GM for not closing the car groups up completely and focussing on the truck market. He also lamented GM's lack of a V-12 for their trucks, even though the 454 could out pull the Ford and Dodge V-12's. I found an article more recently attacking GM for not restarting the electric car ($3 billion they could sure use now) and getting on board with hybrid cars sooner.

Apparently that advice is based on what is selling, because everyone knows that the best selling car in America is the Prius, right?

Sorry, no, the best selling car in America is the Ford Focus, followed by (drum roll please) the 21mpg Chevrolet Silverado. You know, that vehicle that GM is so stupid to produce.

I've never seen a dealer out in the road with a shotgun forcing people in to buy trucks, so they must be going in on their own. of course its because GM marketed them, their marketing prowess being responsible for their continued increase in market share.

One final thought. toyota and Honda have plants here, but they are no more US companies than GM is a Chinese company becasue they have plants there.

This holiday season, give a gift that will last forever to your friends, neighbors, and don't forget yourself. Go out to your local foriegn auto dealer, buy a car and help make Americans, those dirty, stupid, greedy pigs that they are (just like you) poor. That will teach them!

Obama Insists Cars Improve Fuel Efficiency by 40%

And I am sure you are already driving a smart car? That is available and is in the same class as all those wonderful European cars.

Like it or not, they are producing the vehicle people want. What was the #1 vehicle in the US last year? The Silverado/Sierra, a 20 mpg pickup truck.

Obama wants 35 mpg? Have the guts to put in a $3 a gallon gas tax and quit whining about the bad old car companies.


On Jan 27 08:55 AM mahony wrote:

> 35 MPG? That's a fleet average. Detroit will come out with nothing
> new; they'll just roll out more cars at 36 MPG to offset the other
> crap that still gets 28 MPG (same strategy it has had since the 70's).
>
>
> Sure they'll add a few hybrid SUV's to boost the numbers there from
> 17MPG to 19 MPG, but that is not real change. Where are the cars
> that get 45+ (you know the ones they already sell in Europe)?

Detroit: Please Bring Back the Stripped Car

"So bring back the stripped base model, Detroit. Remember: the Chevy Chevette sold for $4,995 in 1997."

This tells you all you need to know about this "analyst's" knowledge of the auto industry.

1997 GM did sell the highest mileage, cheapest car available. The Metro. They dropped it due to lack of interest.

Has GM Changed Its Tune Yet?

Yes, because selling high profit vehicles that people want when you ahve the money and the vehicle is all tooled is a VERY flawed strategy. It could lead to profitability.

Will someone let these dopes in on the fact that Prius sales have TANKED, that the hybrids that made little sense at $4.00 a gallon make no financial sense at all at $1.75 a gallon?

Some people need trucks. (Was your driveway plowed by a Prius?) The problem with truck sales is trucks last over 10 years. In tough times they can hang on to their trucks a while, but that just pents up demand.

300 Hybrid Escalades? Wow, they found 300 people who want a $60,000 vehicle and yet want people to think they care about the gas they use. Good for them.

Look at their car sales. The Malibu (midsize) and Impala (full size) cars are way up. Why, because they get good gas mileage without being a little toilet.

My greatest fear for GM is that with these loans they will be forced to build the little crap boxes that noone buys and it will run them out of business.

If Cars Are the Problem, They Can Also Be the Solution

But what if the public does not want the cars? This is just continuing the old failed policies that got us here.

For all the Hype, hybrids are 3% of the market and Toyota is delaying building the Prius plant. Why? Because at $4 a gallon for gas, a Prius is a bad financial decision, at $1.50 a gallon it is a joke.

If you actually want fuel economy, tax gas to $5 and push it to $8, the market will decide. Great idea, but neither party has the political will. the oil companies don't control the auto companies, dummy - the control your government.

Quit the union bashing and all the "Americans are stupid" crap. What are the two best selling vehicles in America in 2008? The Ford F150 and the GM Silverado/Sierra. The Toyota truck is a distant fourth in part because it's fuel economy stinks comared to the American Trucks.

Detroit's Been in Trouble Before - Why This Time Is Different

Tessla Motors is competition to GM? You do understand that even today, GM sell more cars and trucks than any other manufacturer in the US, including Toyota.

GM Lordstown made Friday more vehicles than Tesla will make next year.

Keep smoking whatever you are smoking, and have a good laugh at whoever pays you to write that drivel.

"People will not purchase their stuff out of patriotism." How about self preservation? Do you people think that this depression (it took the feds a year to figure out it was a recession, sooner or later they will figure out what this really is) was caused by a couple of banks? We have been running on borrowed money as the real wealth of this nation, manufacturing, has gone from 20% of the economy to 10% over the last decade. If you are upset about your 401k, all the for sale and forclosed signs on your street, look at the Honda in your driveway and repeat after me: "I did this to myself."

We "stupid buy American first" people have been saying this for years, but you people are too thick to listen. Are you listening now?

Buy Ford, Short GM

Don't be so frustrated Hoffman. The business "analyst" world is full of guys who have wonerful opinions about industries they know nothing about.

Has General Motors Earned a Bailout?

Just one question - how much questioning did Citigroup endure before receiving 10x the money?

You know, important questions like private jets.

How to Save the U.S. Economy

All the analysts seem to be missing the point. GM is a symptom, not the disease. The disease is that no American manufacturing is compedetive. Wages, taxes, health care all combine to make it difficult or impossible for Americans to compete.

Go ahead and spout all that stuff about GM management. Cerberus came into Chrysler to show us all how a car company should be run by smart financial guys. Check out how well that's working out.

Don't hold up the transplants as examples either. They pay a small fraction of the taxes and health care costs that the Big 3 pay.

Do you want to live in a country where companies are penalised for keeping workers 40 years? Well, you do now.

The Big 3 need emergency assistance, but long term this country needs a plan to make manufacturing compedetive. No other industrialised nation would put up with this situation.

The wealth of an economy is created by adding value to goods. Everyone has a take on why we are in a tail spin, but noone talks about the 800 lb gorilla. Manufacturing has gone from 20% to 10% of our economy and dropping.

Yes, demand for cars will continue without the Big 3, but will the wealth exist to purcase them?

Can GM Really Abandon Trucks and SUVs?

Tom Lindmark, thank goodness someone here knows something about what they are talking about, and not just crapping out their mouths like most posters.

First off, some customers NEED full size pickups. You Prius drivers, when you get your driveway plowed, your house painted, whatever, do they show up in a mini car or a pickup truck? Get off your latte sucking high horses and recognise that some people in this country WORK for a living.

By and large, GMC costs GM NOTHING. A couple of guys in the marketing division and some tooling for emblems. I don't know how many "would never buy a Chevy", if it came down to it, what else would they buy? Those customers want a vehicle that is less "generic" than the millions of Chevys. Agree or disagree, give the customer what they want. Since it costs nothing, and you make money on it, keep it!

BTW - last year the GMC Sierra outsold the Toyota Tundra. The total cost of keeping GMC isn't 10% of the profit from those sales alone.

GM: An Inside Look

Paul,

We get it; you hate Americans and everything American. Your comments indicate your total cluelessness about the Auto industry.

I like the comment about the Aztek. Pull your head out of your anus and figure out that model has not been made in years.

I have owned or leased 6 Chevy Trucks over the last 20 years and have never had a bit of transmission problems, you are full of it. Why don't you talk about your Toyota engine full of sludge? Or maybe its poor fuel economy and lack of power compared to a Chevy?

CNG was discontinued at GM after FIRES. Your Oil baron buddy does not mention that, or all the money he has in CNG futures.

And random, what non automotive parts of GM do you imagine are still there? Get a clue and do some research before you crap out your mouth like Paul.

Epeon, when will dopes like you figure out that hanging on to market share and bankruptcies are mutually exclusive.

Most of you need to get on a boat and go live in a country you don't hate, if they would ever have you.

Detroit: Please Bring Back the Stripped Car

Give the gift that keeps on giving, buy a Honda and give poverty to your neighbor. The best part is you get the gift back!

Then you wonder why you can only afford a POS 18 year old Honda.

On Jan 07 10:01 PM bobbiemcgee wrote:

> buy a 7-8 yr old Honda. Drive for 10 yrs. Repeat.

A Modest Proposal For The U.S. Auto Industry: Stop Building Cars

The first thing we can outsource is lame financial articles written by people who don't understand basic economics.

Has General Motors Earned a Bailout?

BTW - Baddog - people would be much more inclined to pay any attention to your posts if you QUIT SHOUTING!!!!!!!!!!!!