Oracle of Delphi

Not so much a case of foot dragging, but more like being blocked by a powerful internal source from proceeding. That source had a vision two years ago that gasoline would be 4 - 5 bucks by now, seems they were correct. I read today that gasoline may be 12 - 15 dollars a gallon by 2010. I think more smaller fuel efficient cars will be the norm and V8's the exception to the rule in the near future.

Personally Camino, I don't know why you're so upset. As it stands now, you will get the G8 ST. So it's not like you won't get what you want.

I can't imaging what two hysterical gay guys would talk about after an accident. JK, Blu, I'm starting to think that truck is jinxed, maybe it's time to get something else, perhaps an economical Saturn Astra. Again my condolences!

Saturn is quirky like that, no XM on the Astra, and on the Vue, you can't get a Sunroof. My question is why???

You will miss Delaware if you go, I know I do when I am away. :AH-HA_wink:

That's just crazy, are you the only one being let go, or are there others. The reason I ask, they may have let you go because you were leaving. Companies can be heartless when they want to be. What kind of work do you do, it might be good to let us know, someone here may know someone that needs someone, it never hurts to network. Best of luck Dave.

A European view, for me.

Mind you I have been out of North America almost a year now, but Friday I returned here for 4 weeks. Since I have been back in the good old USA, I have yet to see/hear a GM ad, on TV, radio, print media or internet. Before people will look at your product, they have to know about your product. GM needs to advertise and come up with some sort of plan that the car buying public will notice. Chrysler had a good idea by offering gasoline at 2.99 for 3 years, that really got peoples attention. What I think GM needs to do in North America is play up the it's green initiative. With the Chevy Volt coming in 2010, I think that's a natural. Inside GM it's already starting, but they need ramp it up and get the advertising word out to the general public and they need to show people something like what's in this short video ( http://www.gm.com/explore ), but in a much grander scale. We have to out Toyota, Toyota when it comes to what's green, hip, and cool. People like the green initiatives because it makes them feel good about themselves. They feel like they are doing something good for the planet and their fellow man/woman. How much would it cost GM to maybe give a pair of mountain bikes away or plant a tree in the families name if they buy a hybrid, or a flex fuel or very fuel efficient vehicle etc, or free gas for a year based on 12,000 miles driving in a year if you buy a GM Green vehicle. That would get the buzz out there. (IMHO) The main thing is the advertising in North America, or lack thereof. It's funny, from my experience, the rest of the world, wants a GM vehicle, here it's just the opposite.

World

Gay

If i go it will be just me. So you live in Mastic, LI?

It doesn't, I work for GME, we make money! Thank you for your concern though!

Automotive News May 29, 2008 - 3:37 am ET UPDATED: 5/29/08 4:29 p.m. EDT DETROIT (AP) -- General Motors' top managers are working on additional restructuring measures to deal with a declining U.S. auto market and an accelerated shift from trucks to more fuel efficient vehicles, a person familiar with the plan told The Associated Press late Wednesday. The person, who requested anonymity because the plan is still being devised, would not give details of what is under discussion by Chairman and CEO Rick Wagoner and his top managers. The source told the AP that GM will furlough entire shifts of workers at some truck factories and may move them to nearby car plants as it restructures to adjust to a rapidly changing U.S. market brought on by $4 per gallon gasoline. The restructuring, which follows thousands of job cuts over the past three years mainly through buyout and early retirement offers, is to be announced at the company's annual meeting in Wilmington, Delaware, on June 3, The Wall Street Journal reported Wednesday night. GM spokesman Tom Wilkinson said he could not comment. The new steps likely will involve further cost cuts including reduced truck and sport utility vehicle production and a faster rollout of more car and crossover models, similar to what Ford Motor announced last week. Already this week GM announced it would speed up the elimination of one shift each at its Flint and Pontiac pickup truck factories. Ford on Wednesday confirmed that it is looking at involuntary layoffs of salaried employees, perhaps costing as many as 2,000 workers their jobs. The Journal quoted GM Director George Fisher as saying that the company must take further steps. "Obviously these times dictate more actions, and Rick and the team are about doing that," Fisher said in an interview with the newspaper. "Rick and the team are looking at what things can be done and will be done." GM shares on Tuesday dropped as low as $16.87, their lowest level in nearly 26 years. The automaker's stock closed Wednesday at $17.15, down 27 cents, or 1.6 percent. The company also has just emerged from a spate of labor problems, with two local union strikes at key factories and a nearly three-month strike at key parts maker American Axle and Manufacturing Holdings. GM said in a regulatory filing last week that the strikes will cost it a total of $2 billion before taxes in the second quarter. Fisher told the Journal that GM's board fully supports the company's management team. Link: http://www.autonews.com/article/20080529/C...299736460/1205/

Buick is not dead, why would GME be the Homeroom of Epsilon II and Alpha and then turn around and kill the Invicta/new LaCrosse that's on EP II? That's not logical, now is it? It's been purported that I favor and even wish for the death of Buick, again not true. Think about what GME is the Homeroom of, do you actually think it's not going to give a version of those cars to Buick? I would think there is an Alpha heading to Buick, but hey, what do I know!

By Roland Jones Associate editor MSNBC Time was when automakers would slap a wad of cash on a car’s hood to shift it off a dealer’s lot. These days, with gasoline prices climbing to new record highs almost daily, they’re slapping down a can of gas instead. With the summer driving season just around the corner, Chrysler recently launched its “Let’s Refuel America” program — an offer that caps the price of gasoline at $2.99 a gallon for three years for people who buy or lease new vehicles from the maker of Dodge and Jeep vehicles. The automaker, which was acquired last year by private equity firm Cerberus Capital Management for $7.4 billion, said this week that the gas deal has has resonated with consumers and raised traffic on the Chrysler Web site by 25 percent since it began May 7, and so it has extended the promotion through July 7. “Boy, have we gotten a great response,” Chrysler’s Vice Chairman and President Jim Press said on a conference call with reporters. “This has really resonated with the needs and the worries and concerns that customers have.” But free-gas deals rarely work out well for automakers, experts say, and Chrysler risks coming off as insensitive for encouraging Americans to drive more at a time when soaring fuel costs are making most aware of the nation’s overuse of energy. And in some cases car buyers might be better off taking advantage of a rebate or low-interest finance deal. Cheap gas deals are not new. Japanese automaker Suzuki has made a similar offer to Chrysler’s in the United States, offering free gas for the summer through June 30. And in recent years, a number of automakers — including General Motors, Ford, Mitsubishi and Volkswagen — have offered cut-price gas deals to lure shoppers to their vehicles. The thinking is that gas-price sensitive Americans will find an offer of cheaper fuel something that’s tough to resist. Gas deals are usually offered in times when sales look shaky, as they do this year. U.S. auto sales are expected to be weak in 2008, dropping to their lowest levels since 1995 because of rising gas prices, a harsh economic climate and a dearth of appealing new models on offer. But the deals are little more than a gimmick — they’re not often successful for automakers, and they’re not always in the best interests of car buyers, notes Philip Reed, senior consumer advice editor at automotive research Web site Edmunds.com. “People tend to get panicky when it comes to high gas prices, and that can mean a snap decision — but that could cost them,” he said. “If someone is wondering whether to take a deal such as the $2.99 gas deal Chrysler’s offering they should look at the math first, because they might be better off going for a zero-percent financing deal,” he continued. “The interest on a car loan can be $50 a month, and that buys a lot of gas, and a rebate of between $2,000 and $4,000 is not uncommon these days, and it could take a while to make back that amount with the savings you’ll get from cheaper gas.” Chrysler’s deal caps gas at $2.99 per gallon for new car buyers with Chrysler paying the rest. It covers most of the automakers models and is based on 12,000 miles of driving per year and the vehicle’s government fuel economy rating. Video Chrysler’s gas deal May 6: Chrysler is offering new car buyers a card that locks in the price of gasoline and diesel at $2.99 a gallon for three years. CNBC’s Phil LeBeau reports. CNBC The highest take rate has been on the company’s smaller, more fuel-efficient vehicles, Press said. Chrysler would not say how much it expects the offers to cost the company, but did say it has purchased hedging instruments to guard against the price of gas going up even further. While Chrysler’s free-gas promotion only stipulates that shoppers lease or buy a qualifying Chrysler, Dodge or Jeep vehicle, Suzuki’s promotion requires entrants to take advantage of its zero-percent financing offer as well. The aim is likely to build brand awareness for its cars, notes Aaron Bragman, an analyst with the consulting firm Global Insight. “It’s interesting that Suzuki is jumping on the bandwagon here,” he said. “I think this is more about brand awareness than sales because they do have small cars out there, but the small-car marketplace is very crowded, and with more people starting to buy smaller cars because of high gas prices, Suzuki’s sales are not exactly on fire. So this looks like a marketing effort to get them on people’s shopping list.” Given widespread concern about problems stemming from overuse of energy resources, automakers that run gas promotions could see their efforts backfire, Reed said. “Essentially, Chrysler is saying don’t look at what’s going on in the real world with gas prices hitting new records. They are saying, ‘We will protect you from high gas prices,’ but people are realizing that the problem of high fuel prices is complex and that we need to do something about our dependence on foreign sources of oil, and lessen our dependence on fossil fuels,” he said. “The cheap gas deal is saying something else — it’s telling us not to worry, we can drive as much as you want, and so it’s as if Chrysler isn’t addressing the current fuel-economy trend,” Reed continued. “People realize that lowering the price of gas won’t fix things. This is a deeper problem that’s going to take years to fix, and people are already taking steps by driving less and looking to conserve fuel.” Chrysler’s sales may be goosed this summer by its promise of $2.99 gas, but its promotion smacks of desperation, said Global Insight’s Bragman. “This is the sort of thing you do when you don’t have a lot of product that can sell on its own merit,” he said. “In reality, Chrysler mostly sells trucks and SUVs and it still doesn’t have a strong line of smaller vehicles to sell — that’s what’s in vogue with consumers right now.” The latest data show that as gas prices have marched higher across the nation this year car buyers have turned to cars and crossover vehicles, while SUVs and pickup trucks have fallen from favor. And although Chrysler has made some deals to bring smaller cars to the North American market, the availability of those cars to consumers is still a few years away, Bragman notes. These deals include a partnership with China’s Chery and another, inked more recently, with Nissan to build a small car in Japan and sell it in the United States by 2009, he said. “Chrysler does have some smaller cars, such as the Dodge Caliber and the Jeep Patriot, and it has base four-cylinder versions of the Sebring and Avenger, but these cars by themselves are not especially competitive in their segments in terms of quality and design,” he said. Link: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/24709830/

Oh no, there is another! (Isn't that what Yoda said in Star Wars?)

Well you've seen where a Free Market Economy has gotten us. North American jobs being outsourced overseas. North American car makers on the ropes, world record oil profits, etc. I say it's about time government stepped in to even up the playing field.

I like Delaware for one main reason, no sales tax! :AH-HA_wink:

I read a lot, especially anything about GM in book form. I would recommend the following books. A History of General Motors - by Timothy Jacobs Pontiac They Built Excitement - by Thomas E. Bonsall For those of you that love trains, yes youngsters, GM made locomotives too! Our GM Scrapbook - by Kalmbach Publishing Company

Hello

Violin

Let me be the first to welcome you to my decade! :AH-HA_wink:

Hmmm, maybe I will go too, I will be up at the outlaws, ermm, I mean in-laws then. One last visit to East Meadow, before we take the Pontiac Custom-S on our cross country road trip to California.

The real question is, do you still have your Lincoln Logs?

Acid