91z4me

Don't take Hudson's words the wrong way. What I posted was off a message board that I happened to be reading at the same time as this thread. I didn't know how much was true, I couldn't prove even 1 point of that. Since having read MANY of Hudson's posts I can say I trust him and his knowlege about as much as anyone else's I have ever read. If I knew who he was I would probably go buy some of his books and look his articles just to see how he thinks. Don't take him as anti GM or pro GM he is a guy with real answers and statistics he DOES likely know the impact that specific plants have had on areas and content analysis on specific vehicles done by others. He is just spreading the truth he can, at times, be a very strong supporter of GM but only if what is being said is truthful.

Balance issues are what I head. The Honda DOD system utilizes active engine mounts to reduce the vibration transmission. But GM doesn't have the cash to use this on the G6 so the peices are there but not active. I think we will see active displacement on the HV V6s soon but not until the bugs are ALL worked out, we don't need for GMs mainstream V6 to be thought of in the same light as the 4-6-8 V8 or the Olds diesels of the past.

I agree on all points.

I agree that its dealers could be a potential boost to GM BUT right now a lot are hurting GM's image by providing poor customer service and giving the wrong marketing message. GM provides dealers with hundreds of hours of stock footage and commercials that they only have to put their logo and stuff on. Instead showing this they show ads that remind me of the current Walmart or the past K-mart. Always advertising the biggest discount, we will no be undersold, we have the best promotions. It makes me sick that these people don't understand short term sacrafices for long term gain. I agree that GM dealers could implement some of his suggestions since they do center around dealers but remember the dealers are independant franchises and GM has almost NO control over them. GM can make suggestions but it takes the regional dealer associations to really cause any change and right now everyone is to busy looking out for themselves that they don't see the bigger picture.

I think it is possible that GM may re-open this plant if the Lambda crossovers start to sell really well. It would allow them to keep the Morain plant operational with GMT360s while pushing excess production to a relatively up to date plant.

Really? That disagrees with the statistics: These facts were posted here a while back. The amount of money put back into the US GNP by GM is enough to settle the argument. 82% parts in the average GM car or truck are domestic content At Honda, it’s 49% At Toyota, it’s 41% Nissan? 38% BMW? 11% GM/Ford/and DCX provide 23.4 jobs per 100 vehicles sold in the United States The Japanese competitors? 13.3 jobs per 100 vehicles sold in the United States GM’s capital investment in the United States from 1999 thru 2003 was $20Billion. Toyota’s capital investment from 1980 thru 2003 was $10.7Billion. Nissan’s? 2.8Billion from 1980 thru 2003. Honda? $5.6Billion – ’80 thru ’03. GM’s contribution to the U.S. Gross National Product (GNP) is 4 times that of Toyota Every Day, over 1 million North Americans earn their living by helping GM build and sell cars in North America. – Every month, 457,000 retirees and their spouses count on GM for pension checks. More than 1.1 Million people receive health care benefits from GM. Posted by Impala64 on CZ28.com

Does anyone know if we will see a 6.1 L Hemi and SRT8 package on this?

I can actually answer that one. The B-body was supposed to pack up and be shipped south of the border to Mexico and continue production, an IRS system was even in the works and the LS1 was already certified within GM for the Impala and Caprice. Heck I bet that a new interior was only a year or so away for the big boat. But what happened is that GM saw that more people were buying fullsize BOF SUVs, which were more profitable than the b-bodies, so they converted the plant to produce BOF SUVs and packed up the b-body equipment. Why production was not moved I do not know. Probably some bean counter decided they might as well cut their losses as opposed to letting the line run a few more years, remember the B-body had the gas tank behind the rear axle and it was the last car to do so from GM. That was a major concern, as exemplified by the Crown Vic and its fire issues. So the B-body died. The B-bodies were very profiable and popular until they were killed. In fact when the announcement came out that 96 was the last year so many police orders came in cars that were scheduled to be Impala SSs or were already completed as SSs were converted back to 9C1s to fill the orders. CHP also threw a BIG hissy fit when they found out they weren't getting anymore Caprice's but instead Crown Vics.

You can pretty clearly see the 300 style grill. This will definatley be better looking, less disjointed, than the Durango.

Same ad has been on Yahoo for a few days now.

Black and BAD BABY!!!

Yeah thats right Fiat was JUST Ricks fault. That is right only 1 person brokered that deal. :rolleyes: There were MANY probably hundreds of people who looked at the Fiat contract and determined, at the time, that it was in GM's best intrest. D*MN right I will make a good CEO one day. I will own MY own practice. It will be mine. Heck I manage 1 office now and assist in running 10+ others. I understand marketing and product. I work in healthcare so I can't really change my product BUT I can change how it is presented and change HOW it is perceived. GM has started working on both of these while bringing out updates of effectively the same models, W-bodies. At the same time they are tapping GLOBAL resources in producing all new models and extensive updates on the cheap. Daewoo was a freaking steal for what they got it for and it is starting to pay off. Daewoo is engineering whole ranks of small cars and crossovers tailored for the European, South America, US, and Pacific markets. Holden is engineering ALL new RWD car programs. Europe is specializing in FWD midsize cars for the WORLD. The US is making the BEST BOF and Unibody trucks even better. GM is finally doing what it said it would 5+ years ago because that is how long it takes to get things going within GM. God many of you people who complain about others not understanding the system clearly do not themselves.

It would surely be bad for GM. Mark my words guys Kerkorian on the board would mean selling off profitable areas and then running. Jim, you who say you want the best for GM, should understand this as well as any: We don't want Kirk getting representation!

Wait a moment lets decipher this to see if Jim has any idea what these people would do to GM, or if they would even take the job. Ghosn, running Nissan right now and did a great job bringing it back from the brink. Pushed through 1 VERY flexible platform and took platform and parts sharing to new levels, VERY good at that. He also revamped Nissan/Infiniti's marketing to co-inside with what was in the show room. BUT there are serious questions if he can keep this going for very long, if at all. On the plus side he understand's product and that it is key. He may not be willing to take on GM as much as it has against it. Until he proves he can take a company all the way into the black for a long period of time he wouldn't get my vote. Tom Lasorda, the baseball manager??? Are you just joking right now. Where are his degrees showing he understands enough about business to lead a multi national conglomeration the size of GM? What is his real world business experience? I guess you are going to play but he has worked with unions in the past card, right? UAW vs MLB player's union are 2 totally different animals. Lutz while I think he could do the job lets face the facts: he is an older guy and won't be around forever we need someone to stick with it and be there for the company (think Bill Ford), he was brought in for short term and I think that is where he wants to stay (he wants to just work on product it is what he loves let him do it), and finally who is to say he could turn around GM? I know Bob has worked for almost every auto company under the sun and he has done a good or great job at each one but come on has he turned around a boat half as big as GM? Keep them coming, Jim.

You know it seems that a lot of people dumping on Rick Wagner and his performance don't really have their own arguments against him. Rather they recycle Jim's as their own. Also who would everyone suggest replacing Rick with? I don't think Lutz wants that much on his plate right now he is just in for the short term to ensure that the product channels are clear of iceburgs that can sink a program in its tracks, and to ensure that platforms are truely shared.

Your right you can't grow by cutting BUT you can become profitable at a lower sales level, something GM needs to have done years ago. Now they see that 30% marketshare is impossible to achieve in today's market. NO auto company will ever achieve 30% US marketshare EVER again. PERIOD if you think one will you are SADLY mistaken. GM is changing its cost/manufacturing structure to improve profiablility at its current and project sales volume. That is JOB 1. Jim do you realize that Porche was the most profitable automaker for YEARS because it understood its role in the market and was so because it had a profitable manufacturing structure. Same with Nissan. They became VERY profitable for a VERY good reason. Nissan and Goshen made plans to re-design its whole lineup and based most of its lineup on 1 chassis and share its engines extensively throughout the lineup. There is most likely not 1 engine/chassis component/electrical component that is not shared between at least 2 models. Your plan may not cost anything more than what GM is spending on advertising right now but I am sure it would cost in restructuring its dealer opterations and integrations. Also you, of all people, should realize that GM as a whole has NO power over its dealers. Dealers are separate franchises and are NOT controlled by GM. GM has only the power to sell at specific prices to dealers, control allottments, set suggested retail prices, AND suggest marketing strategies. So you, just like your Darth Vadar Mr. Wagner, can admit that you don't understand manufacturing or design. So I guess you would do EXACTLY what he did, you would bring in experts in the fields that you don't understand. I have asked several times for you to leave out Rick from your 'discussions' as it proves that your motivation AND understanding are both flawed. You loose more of my and I am sure other's respect for you when you trash someone who is doing good, maybe not what you invision but good none the less.

Jim, you know my stance on your proposal but I don't know if I have expresed my disdain for you polluting other websites with spam such as this. A better way to get your message across would be to post a link to YOUR site with YOUR opinions on how to better GM and post that an UPDATE has been made. To copy the whole shabang to this site you are simply filling the forum with crap that doesn't need to be here.

I thought you meant you see more of the post 00 Impalas than 300s.

I would hope you see more W-body Impalas they have been out for what 5 years relatively unchanged AND they sold above 250,000 per year. The LX cars have been out what 2 years?

Yeah, I gotta side with Fly on this. There is no other 7 seat crossover from GM right now besides the Rendezvous. The closest thing out there was the SRX and it is a totally different animal aimed at different buyer.

Kinda scared the sh*t outta me.

Wait are you talking the car totally, the look, the year, the name, or what?

Mouse we don't want you to post anything that would break your NDA. Don't get yourself in trouble.

It is the turbo 2.8. I think it is worth pointing out that ALL HF V6s have forged cranks. I don't know about the pistons or connecting rods but I imagine that the 2.8T and 2.8 bottom end are pretty similar so a small cost savings is present by sharing the engine.

It weighs a hair more than the G35 sedan (3472) but has a much smaller motor.