evok

Oooooooooooooooooo Kaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay

Not true - go over the GM press releases over the past 6 months.

They do not know what customers want and they are afraid. Afraid to make bad decisions and as a result make them anyway. Look at the Aura, a brand new car that is a gerneration behind the competition in styling. They had a golden opportunity with the Aura but instead of going for a home run, they hit a solid single into the outfield. They will not turn the company around with decisions like that. Another example is the lack of follow up to the success of the CTS. Instead of pushing the envelope with the SRX and STS, they cave to fear and the market still is buying the CTS and the STS/SRX linger on the lots. As for union busting - contracts are LEGAL agreements.

There are three CAFE numbers. CAFE for light trucks and Import and Domestic content cars. In the case of cars both fleets must equal 27.5 mph on the EPA procedure. With the new light truck CAFE rule, CAFE becomes a little more complex because of the sliding scale foot print approach. Either way, GM might have to juggle their production to meet the 27.5 in one of the bins as you elluded to earlier. As for my PhD - I can't remember what I had for lunch today but for some strange reason I remember this nonsense. ha ha

No balls and an institutionalized mid-west mind set? Also, GM is still paying the price from the Ron Zarella business plan. Sticking with that plan when Lutz came one board turns out to be a very bad move because the product is a dud. That is a hindsight only critique but it illustrates the position GM is in. They invsted a lot of money in product that is not selling, which forces them to contract further with less money to invest in future product. There really is no easy straight forward answer and is a combination of the factors you mentioned. Man if only GM could have invested all of that money they are going to buyout their employees with into the product, things might be different. Instead they keep peace with the UAW and loose people like me as a customer. Rick is in a tuff position.

We will see what happens with the UAW. Gettlefinger and Shoemaker get it but I find their lack of effort in selling the story to their members a problem. I suspect that after elections in June and Gettlefinger retains his job that the real work publically will heat up and he will begin to sell the US OEMs pitch. Also, it will be interesting as to the number of takers to the GM buyouts. One has to be pragmatic in this business.

Simple question, the product. Without looking at a crystal ball, and talking as a consumer, there is almost no reason for me to walk into a GM brand dealership. GM does not build vehicles that I want or for that matter what the public wants in the US based upon sales trends. That is the most troubling aspect of GM's outlook. Only an incentive will get me into a GM product. I find it very troubling that a company the size of GM with the multitude of brands and vehicles they offer does not have ANY product that I will consider, unless subsidized. I find it even more troubling that a Hyundai Sonata appeals more to me than anyone of GM's latest offerings. Just walk into any GM brand dealerships and you will see the obstacles.

That is not true. Place of manufacture does factor into CAFE but not as you state.

Well there are a lot of question marks that are left to the future. GM in the US is the poster child of USSR style communism run awry. A welfare state of diminishing importance with increasing obligations. Profits? There is still a lot to overcome!

Agree.

Yea - It is a curse and lucrative talent. Easy question to resolve. There is no mass manufacturing in America anymore of any significance. The US auto industry was relevant in WWII because of the times but they will not be in a hypothetical WWIII. Smart bombs are built in a lab and not in a refurbished Grand Prix plant. Times have changed as have GM/Ford's importance to the country and national security. GM/Ford as a company are replaceable and has been on the cusp of being replaced for years now. In a country of 300 million people, GM/Ford only hires about 200,000. That is not significant in 2006 when compared to the percentage in the 1960s. GM/Ford do not employ, directly or indirectly the percentage of the US population they once did and therefor do not have the impact on the US standard of living today as they did in the past. My WWIII comments were based upon, GM/Ford's not being relevant in fighting the next war. As a result, not as relevant to the country as they were in the 1940s during the WWII build up. So with GM and Ford both not the significant players they once were in the US auto industy, not employing the high number of people they once did, not likely to build smart bombs for the next world war they are only a marginal factor in the US economy and importance to the conutry.

GM is not going away. They just will be smaller in the US. Possibly a lot smaller.

This is not hypothetical but real. The situation at GM is dire and ranks up there with the early 1990s implosion, when GM was on the verge of having to file Chapter 11. That is open for debate. What do you think has been happening the past 3 decades? True - but how different is the real wild card! Remember that GMs true retail market share in the US is in the high teens, app. 18%. And those sales are heavily supposrted by GM discounts. ie Retirees and employees are buying the product, not real customer demand. There is a lot of room to define different.

Yea whatever - you have no idea what you are talking about. RW might very well turn the company around, the stock should go up but GM's relevance to the country is severely diminished except for the retirees. And with 300 million in the states there significance is over blown. WWWIII - I will not answer that further because you do not have a grasp on history from your above comments. There was a hell of lot more "lost" value/worth in Enron when they blew up compared to GM. And that was just a blip on the US economy.

No matter what the turd BM says about Rick, Rick is GMs last hope. BTW - GM started to loose money in the 4th Q 2004, so let keep things in perspective.

Learn your history. GM's relevance to WWIII is almost zero. GM's relevance to the economy would be replaced if they were to fold. Things change and society evolves. A GM failure is blip on the economy as consumers have left GM in the past 30 years in the US GM is irrelevant in the big picture in the US. The economy is very complex and GM is but a point of reference and not a standard anymore. Be smart and buy GM stock.

Give me a break! There has not been anything good to say about the company in 25 years. Learn the business. 30 Years of losing market share awards the company accolades?

If GM goes Ch 11, the only significant drain on the US economy/government/tax payer will be for the PBGC bailout..

You are correct sir.

It actually got a good after GM submitted the data to the IIHS. The IIHS corrected a GM error. There was a story about it last week.

My god you are immature.

This was to be expected. People that want a hybrid, want to tell the world they are driving a hybrid. They do not want a badge on the rear bumper, they want the car to look like a hybrid. That is why the Prius is a success and the Hondas, Fords and the rest will go thud in the market.

I mean a lot of you just do not know how to read. I might suggest hooked on phonics!

See my earlier post. It appears missed it or purposely ignored it. Updated data is available and posted. Your numbers are old and posts off topic with regard to the Kia plant and US/Canadian content of vehicle built at transplant facilities. You have no point as it applies to this discussion.

That is just propaganda because it excludes the fact GM, Ford and even the domestic operations of DAIMLERchrysler are overstaffed because of contract obligations. And if I remember correctly that came from a GM presentation.