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Fed Considers GM Buy-In: Digging a Deeper Hole

Wadhamite,

"domesticated imports" - get a grip. 50% of Toyotas and 46% of Hondas are still imported from Japan.

before we go encouraging bankrupcy we need think about what that means. the gov't pays either way. all those folks who's pensions go away are going to hit the gov't books. All that debt that gets lost leads to deeper recession and union jobs at $12 an hour makes for no more service economy.

level the playing field, really look at the new GM products, they are very good. Get the media to stop biasing toward imports. the people who bash GM need to understand that you are bashing your firends and neighbors and their liovelihood. We need to buy American real soon and support our home company.

Panelists Predict Smart Grid Cars in Five Years

There is a clear misconception that batteries will save the world. I don't know about you but my Lithium Ion Battery for my cell phone dies in about 8 months and its expensive to replace ($30). The automotive duty cycle is hard enough just hauling our butts around. Now lets think about smart grids that transfer power in and out of our car battery more frequently, factor in the charge time as well as the fact that if the battery is too hot or too cold (like in my driverway this winter) you get butkis for storage and you have a no-go in my mind. I like the Volt concept for a commuter car but all these jokers that see the car plugged in and use it to sell power to the grid are wacked, that means we are using gasoline to make electricity to put on the grid. A million small power plants can't be as effecient as one big electric power plant. Then what about our desire to get off of imported oil and the emissions from all those cars idling all day? I just don't see it as viable. We need to switch to natural gas and then to hydrogen and we better do it soon.....

Six Reasons Why GM Should Declare Bankruptcy

So much misinformation, so much negativity, so much vile. I hope all of you remember that those that you disparage are your friends and neighbors, real people who from what I see work damn hard to make a good product. I’m sure there are some who do not but when you talk about closing down plants and stopping benefits there are real people behind those threats. Stop referring to GM as a big Corporation with no human face.

First a point to 283977 I disagree. Lutz has done a great job of styling. CTS, Enclave, Sky, Malibu, Silverado. All great looking. My neighbors Lucerne is really sharp when sitting right beside his wife’s dull Accord with the big hips. And talking about styling all those Japanese square boxes (Element, SCion, etc.) are uglier than any Aztec ever was.... To BoboWhite it takes time to get quality up and they have done it. Malibu ranked better than Camry and Accord. Remember all the earlier Japanese products were junk but they kept improving them and so is GM. To my eye the new Camry is butt ugly and bloated from the rear, as boring as a car can get.

As to the assertion that they are waiting I read that they have taken billions out of their operating expenses in the past 2 years and are continuing to get in line with sales. Globally they are still leaders in 20 of top 25 markets.

We really are fat and lazy that we can't as Americans go out and update our data. We are sooo quick to spout 20 year old biases and bring up hearsay. I test drove all the cars out there and I think GM and Ford have some pretty darn good products. We have all been Walmarted into buying any product because it is a cent cheaper regardless of where it came from.

I agree with Detfan above. We need to stop slamming the home team. You would never get this crap from Japanese in Japan even when they are screwing up (read the Toyota foibles and look at the stock pile of imported cars at the US ports). So much for their inventory control methods! We better start making things again in this country before it goes any farther in the dumper. I have owned many cars and ALL manufacturers have defects and problems. Some may do a better job of hiding them than others, just look at all the trouble with the Tundra - despite the commercials its a piece of junk. They still use a Chevy truck to pull their race car to the track (minus the bow tie of course - but look close).

I say support our home teams before it’s too late. I want my tax payer money paid back in full just like Chrysler did in the 80s!!!

The Current Stagnation of Natural Gas Vehicles in America

Good article and interesting short term plan. To me there are still several drawbacks that you missed. Why put in a network of stations if it s short term? Why not just go to hydrogen? While a 30% reduction in CO2 is ok its not enough. We need the 80% that Fuel Cells can provide. Also the effeciency of an NGV is significantly less than gasoline. What about the imnpurity (sulfur) in the current miles of pipeline is not easily removed so some work is required to make all that pipeline useable. The last question is will the consumer pay for even a slight engine hardening cost if the cost per mile is less, to date no.

Sick of Hyperbolic Rubish

You sir are a boob if for one minute you believe that the banking industry is anything but a broken model than you shouldn't be writing publically. The banks and the likes of Madof and other corporate bafoons (AIG) got us into this mess with horrible loan practices. Congress didn't bother to ask them for a viabiloity plan they just sent them money and lots of it no questions asked. Meanwhile Detroit has to cowtow to and answer a bunch of questions simpletons who mostly have never run a company, have outdated data and already purchased and drive foriegn cars. If you ask me you are the one adding hyperbole to the same old garbage. We better figure out how to make stuff in this country again and soon before we are a third world country....
I say when the times are tough we better band together and support the home team vefore its too late.

Doubling Fuel Economy Despite Economic Turmoil

Hey Mister Jim,

Couldn't agree more that this group pushed a button at their desk to make some headlines. I think you are wrong on HP. With Electric vehicles the torque available is more important and with Hydrogen and a fuel cell you can get all the torque you need. That Equinox that GM has been driving around has 235 ft/lbs. The thing is a blast to drive and gets nearly 50 miles per gallon with zero emissions in an SUV. I read they have already gotten a million kilometers in customer hands. I want one in red right now - forget about waiting till 2050. We could be off imported pertrleum well before that if we would make it a national priority to switch to Hydrogen. Buy American - Buy GM - get me a return on my tax dollars.

GM Might Live on, Doesn't Mean Stock Will Go Up

This article is a joke. I say if GM survives they are doing all the right things to be profitable at a man egeable market share. If the market comes back GM could be in good shape. Bottom line if we want to get our loan money back we should buy American, Buy GM. Their new products are all hits, CTS, Enclave, Acadia, Silverado, Malibu, Hybrids, etc. GO GM.

The Gas Price Roller-Coaster: It’s Not an Amusement Park Ride

The other big flaw in the article is that burning natural gas does not significantly reduce green house gas emissions. From Los Alamos National Lab report it makes way more sense to turn NG into hydrogen and use it in fuel cells to get a 60% reduction. Thats where your real clean fuel pathway lies. We can't afford to change the infrastructure twice, lets go to hydrogen and get on with it already. How much did T Boone pay you for this article?

The Global Race to Save the Auto Industry

Yada Yada Yada. Nothing new or original here. I whole heartedly agree with Sigh above, enough bashing and how about some support for the home team. Agree with BabyRay as well. Lets Buy American!!! and help get our money back asap. How about an article and a picture of all those imports piling up at the docks, where is that photo???

Why Won't GM Just Go Away?

This is a crap article and I am sorry I wasted time reading it.

Buy American when you can and the quality is nearly the same just like they do in every other country. Quote all the numbers you want but all auto manufacturers have problems - there is no perfect vehicle and the difference is now statistically really in the noise!!

Toyota: Undeniably Cheap Despite Industry Slump

Maybe these jokers aren't as smart as our media make them out to be. Expanding at the wrong time. All their growth from SUVs (Sequoa) and Pick Ups (Tundra) over the past 3 years wasn't too bright. Gas prices are back down and Prius sales dried up. quality taking a big hit as they get too big and now loosing money. What their gov't can't manipulate the Yen fast enough? Can't layoff their contract workers in Japan fast enough? When are Americans going to learn to stop sending our monry over there? I just hope that someday we all open our eyes to their un-honorable business practices and stop investing in them. They are unethical and not the saints you make them out to be. I would never buy their stock.......

The Case for Making Bigger Cars

Just wait til you have to repair your precious beamer when you hit a pot hole. My last repair of my rattly BMW cost me $4500. I sold it right after that.


On Dec 08 04:40 PM quasar71 wrote:

> Can someone tell me why the world would arguably be a better place
> if all or any of the Big Threes were kept from sliding into oblivion?
>
>
> The cars they make are clearly the reason why they are where they
> are (that is trading below $5 a share). So why not let the market
> take care of that? Let them fail, let them crumble, let them empty
> those big stuffy warehouses up in Detroit so they can be used for
> other things...
>
> If it's true that they're not good at what they do (I own a BMW)...
> well... they shouldn't be doing it in the first place...

Who Might Benefit From Detroit's Failings

Whats been a disgrace is how Americans believe whatever they read and focus solely on low price. Or how Americans quote 20 year old data as current fact. Comeon folks - do your homework. Current products are within the statistical noise on quality, the designs are way better looking thatn the stogy Camry, even the Malibu gets better JD Power rankings than the Accord. Yet we buy them in droves like mindless drones. How about we support the home team by at leaset getting updated uinformation and stop grinding old axes. Want to see how the Japanese treat their workers and whjy they can charge less and make more for their cars. Look here. Horrible.

online.wsj.com/article...
WSJ
FUJISAWA, Japan -- In the parlance of Japan's new brutal economy, Dan Yamamoto is a "disposable" worker.

On Dec 03 03:52 PM stox2buy wrote:

> let all 3 die if they can't compete, it's been a disgrace the way
> they behave.

The Big Three Crisis: Stocks Plunge as Politicians Moralize

WOW Midas, you should just leave the US now and save us all the venom. How about getting some current facts and stop grinding a very old ax. As Qobserver points out the quality is nearly the same with the Malibu BEATING (since you like caps) Accord and Camry in JD Powers quality survey. GM makes more models that get over 30 mpg than any other manufacturer. Look at the October Consumer Reports and GM placed 3 of the top 7 Hybrids based on Return on Investment. Wagoner and Mullaly have cut all the fluff out and cut all the benefits to get competitive. Both have very competitive products – have you bothered to look at them objectively or is that too intelligent? Meanwhile all Toyota's recent growth has come from SUVs and Pick-ups (opening factories just when fuel hit $4) - mind you the Sequoia gets the same fuel economy as the Hummer! Yet we oh so smart Americans give them a free ride for that debacle. Look at the quality problems with the Tundra. My friend just got a $10,000 check from Toyota because the bumper rusted off. Not to mention that 50% of Toyotas are still imported from Japan. You should stop listening to the media and get some current facts.

How about we stop giving the foreign makers a free pass and start supporting our home teams before it’s too late. Those of you that scorn the US manufacturers need to realize that they are your friends and neighbors and the ones I know work hard and are proud of what their companies are doing to get back on track.

Step right up, I am offering one way tickets to the country you would prefer to live in....

Take a Stand Against Government Spending

OK Mr. Quinn, Where is the rest of your article on the Auto Industry. Got the Union wage issue right, how about what the Foriegn Gov'ts do for their comapnies in terms of health care and pensions. Then ask youself how with fuel pricese going thru the roof it is that Toyota can still ship 50% of the vehicles they sell here from Japan and make any money at all? Then ask yourself where all the Toyota growth has come in the last several years and its not from fuel effecient cars its from SUVs and Pickups. Then ask yourself where is the real Buy American movement in this country? Ever read anything bad about a Japanese Manufacturer in the Japan press - not on your life. Ever read anything bad about the Japanese Manufacturers in the US - again not on your life. We need to start supporting our own companies the way the foriegners do. Here is a great thought on helping out our economy, stop handing out stupid loans and start buying our own products. Enough is enough already.....