FAPTurbo

I'm sorry GM, but I thought "Pontiac" was as close to all-American as you can get? (or at least used to be) It looks as if GM sent their G6 coupe across the ocean to be bastardized by the morons at Mitsubishi "Ralli-Art." This thing looks so overwrought and ricey that I'll bet it runs on soy sauce and uses wasabi paste in place of motor oil. Way to cheapen your image Pontiac.

True dat!

Never in my life would I have ever thought I'd say this, but here goes... I Want A Saturn!!!

Imagine if we could fit this thing with a flux capacitor and drive it back to the 90's when Saturn debuted! I'd just love to see the reaction. Edit: Looks like I may have an upcoming project! http://www.monkeyrivertown.com/brains.php?ART=641 Now, all I'll need is a volunteer Aura...

I don't know how many Camry cult members would convert to the Aura. The ones I know wouldn't even consider Accords or Mazda6's, and even go so far as to mock me for driving domestic... ...The Aura looks too exciting for them anyways. From my experience, most Camry drivers are the type who get very excited when they add a scoop of caffienated coffee in with the decaf on New Years Eve...

Well, isn't it supposed to appeal to Camry, Altima/Maxima and Accord buyers? Something tells me that GM watered down the design to appeal to those buyers who seem to have more conservative "tastes..." No doubt that this will shape up to be a great car, but honestly, if they kept it more in line with the concept, it'd be an awesome car. But I'll reserve my opinion until I actually see the vehicle.

Looks like it's on. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/4872498.stm GM agrees $14bn finance arm deal General Motors has announced it is to sell a majority stake in its highly profitable financing business to a hedge fund-led group for $14bn (£8bn). The struggling car giant had been in talks with Cerberus Capital Management about selling GMAC - which made a $2.8bn profit in 2005 - for weeks. GM is trying to raise money to shore up its finances, which have been hurt by weak sales and large pension costs. It also faces huge liabilities from bankrupt car parts firm Delphi. Vital funds GM made a $10bn loss last year and is cutting 30,000 jobs in an effort to make its business more competitive. It will raise $7.4bn upfront from the sale of 51% of GMAC to a group including Cerberus, Citigroup and Japan's Aozora Bank. The deal will also yield a further $6.7bn from car lease and retail assets, which GM will retain, and financing costs over the next three years.GM said the deal would be a major step in the company's effort to drag itself back into profitability. GM shares rose 8 cents to $21.35 after details of the sale were announced. "This agreement is another important milestone in the turnaround of General Motors," said chief executive Rick Wagoner. "It provides significant liquidity to support our North American turnaround plan, finance future GM growth initiatives, strengthen our balance sheet and fund other corporate priorities." Pension costs GM faces huge challenges as it tries to turn around its fortunes. Fierce competition from more competitive foreign firms such as Toyota and Nissan have eroded its sales in the US. Like great US rival Ford, it also has to deal with massive labour costs. It struck a deal with unions last year to cap its pension and healthcare contributions, but GM also faces potential liabilities from Delphi - the ailing car parts firm it once owned - of up to $12bn. Delphi is taking legal action to try and invalidate a host of GM contracts - which it says are highly unprofitable - and labour agreements with its own staff as it seeks to guarantee its long-term survival. The dispute could prompt strike action by Delphi staff, which in turn could cost GM huge amounts in lost output. Credit concerns Some analysts have warned that GM's financial position remains precarious and it could yet be forced into bankruptcy. Credit ratings agency Standard & Poor's said on Monday it may further lower GM's credit rating - a measure of its ability to meet its borrowing commitments - at any time because of "evolving events" at Delphi. GM currently has a long-term B rating which - were it to be further downgraded - would signify that it was considered "vulnerable" and "dependent on favourable conditions to meet financial commitments". "We have become even more concerned about how developments at Delphi are unfolding," Standard & Poor's said in a statement. "If Delphi is successful in rejecting its high-cost labour contracts and a large portion of its auto parts supply contracts with GM, this could prove extremely costly to GM."

Gee. I half expected BuickDude to get in on the fun and write a credible, open, relatively unbiased and thoughtful article on the current situation of General Motors which would explore mistakes made by previous board members and would also criticize Wagoner, but at the same time also applaud some his decisions. Well, maybe next year...

We knew that GM and Delphi saw this coming. I'm pretty damn sure they planned for this, and it is all going according to that plan. They may finally have a chance to ruin the UAW, or at least humiliate them. I'm going to keep optimistic and even buy a few more GM shares. Sure, it's a rough time with high stakes, but they'll pull through. ... by the way, Mustang84, is that the "Crue" in your avatar? I think I can pick out Vince Neil And Mick Mars, but I ain't too sure.

It'd be awesome have a job like that, but I don't live near any Delphi plants, and I doubt communting 3000km's a day to Michigan from British Columbia would be healthy...

Wow, it's an Audi, but only with rear wheel drive and better build quality. I dunno, it needs a bit more personality, but then again, maybe the Australian demographic doesn't think so.

You know something is wrong with North America when its people are willing to buy cheap $h!-zu boxes manufactured by companies owned by a red communist government, (yeah remember, they ARE communists) which pursues rampant hedonism and capitalism (not the good kind) at the expense of poor farmers who are drop kicked into prisons after their local official steals their land in order to use it for a new sweatshop which will line his own pockets and at the same time add just another burden on a country suffering from intense environmental degradation and yet feels the need to aim hundreds of missiles at an independant island nation to its southeast and routinely menace the population of that nation claiming that this nation is in fact a part of the mainland when really the people fled to this island to escape communism in the first place. Then again, the Wal-Mart shoppers never seem to listen to me either.

Sad... Sad... Sad... If GM goes down, they may be happy for a small time For some strange reason, they'll feel some strange sense of accomplishment that they did something "monumental;" bringing down a corporate giant. But I'll bet when these guys are trying to find jobs, make ends meet, then they'll realize that they made a mistake. The educated and younger ones won't have too much trouble finding work, but what about the older guys? Ford sure isn't going to be hiring, and ditto Chrysler. Who are they going to work for? Toyota or Honda? I doubt it, because these guys sound so indoctrinated with big labour propaganda and policy and companies like Toyota could see it as threatening to their current policy of not having unions. I'll bet that GM does have a plan B though. With all the problems, Wagoner and the gang would be stupid not to have a plan (cue Buickman "Anti-Wagoner" rant).

But it seems GM's have always been a bit more conservative in their design. Not as if that's always a bad thing... Bingo. GM knows its trucks actually have the goods. Sure, they could have gone with a "we got it, we'll flaunt it" approach, but their design is sophisticated and has class; very unlike the chintzy-looking Ram. The only way the average person will know that these trucks are the real deal, is when that person is looking at the taillights through a cloud of dust. Rice Boys And Tundra Drivers Be Afraid... Be Very Very Afraid...

Lemme guess... it's the foreign janitor "Tibor" isn't it!?... I mean, who ELSE could it be?...

'nuff said

Yeah, I don't have much confidence in people my age anyway. We're the generation that gave you all Paris Hilton.... (sorry)

I appreciate your confidence in people my age.

What? Have average people acquired the tastes similar to Paris Hilton or Dashiell Hammett? What do they want? Velour HVAC controls that do not need to be pressed or turned and instead be like an iPod "clickwheel"? Maybe I am just old school (I'm 18) or plain down to earth, but those controls look pretty fitting for the vehicles they are going into. I have seen and felt GM's controls in the new Impala, and when compared to vehicles like the Accord, Camry and Mazda3, they seem on par. I get the feeling that as Domestic vehicles catch up to their import rivals, people are starting to have to nitpick the small details.

Ok... so who should take Rick's place then smart guy? As mentioned before, it IS the clowns in the 70's and 80's that got GM to where it is today. I honestly think that given the situation, Rick is doing a decent job, and I doubt many of us would be able to do any better. Some of us probably have bigger dreams than Rick and a better vision, but with all the financial constraints and labour issues, we would not be able to realize them anyway and we'd be in the rut regardless. Buickman, you gotta stop hammering Rick. I think most of us know what you are about and where you're coming from, but the Wagoner bashing is not really helping much in the discussion, and it seems to hijack threads... GM should have never gotten into financing IMO. It never seems to fail; companies that grow too much and/or don't stay in their jurisdiction seem to do poorly (cough, Disney, cough). Call me crazy and insane, but I am about to head over to a broker and buy some GM shares. I am that confident in the company, that I am willing to risk some of my hard earned cash from working graveyard in 40 hours a week. It'll all turn out good, you'll see.

All this talk of product placement makes me wonder just how much Ford payed the producers of the new Bond movie, "Casino Royale" to have the "Blonde Bond" drive... I'm not kidding here... a Ford Mondeo. (A Ford Contour to us in the colonies). Yep, he'll still have it packed with plenty of gadgets and he will use it to pick up the girls, but he will be doing it in a family vehicle... (Apparently the actor has already sustained a lot of injuries in the movie including the loss of two teeth... oh and he is willing to do full frontal nudity... Looks like this is the Bond movie we all ought to miss...)

Well, people gotta learn the hard way. And I see a silver lining... when they realize they have a "shi-tzu" automobile that cuts corners, then they may also realize all the Chinese crap they bought at Wal-Mart is of the same poor quality too.

If anything, this may just steal sales from the Lexus "Land Cruiser" and the fat, ugly, disgusting Infinity "Armada." For humanity's sake, lets hope the Mercedes does steal Infinity's sales...

After 3 days of testing, CR has been rated "Average" for Bathroom Absorbancy Use. Due to the excessive gloss, the absorbancy of fecal matter is mediocre compared to competitors. However, the use of this gloss prevents chafing on some of our older testers.

The first step towards recovery is admitting you have a problem!