Chicagoland

Bush approves loans, finally. opps, double post, but still this is good enough to have many posts.

The days of fanatics saying 'only Honda and Toyota make good cars' are long over. Honda is in trouble since they get 80% of their income from the USA.

"It introduced gas-guzzling vehicles as fuel prices rose, failed to slim down its product offerings and dealer networks quickly enough and wasn’t able to cap its labor costs in time to stem the bleeding. " 1. So did Toyota and Nissan, and the Honda Pilot is no fuel sipper. 2. Can't just close down a dealer like a garage sale. 3. So, Blue Collar people have to give up $, but bankers on Wall St 'deserve' high pay with bail out cash???

Ford has a big plant in KY for the Explorers, and it is being retooled for smaller cars. So, Toyota isnt the only plant there.

To me the Malibu is just as good if not better than the Aura, due to its lower price. And, you can cut a deal!

Yes, Olds was selling well, and then GM in 1987 decided that it should be more 'Euro' and Buick should drop turbos and be 'near luxury. Should have let them be as they were. "New Gen of Olds" confused buyers and alienated loyal buyers to go to Mercury. Posted before, all the $$$ spent on Saturn could have been used for better J, N, W and G cars!

Well, they aren't making money the way they have been for 20 years. Import buyers are hard coded, so why bother and go after the 'swing' buyers.

Roger Smith did a lot of damage, trying to throw $$ at things. But so did the Proctor and Gamble people in the late 90s, with super bland cars like the 97 Malibu or the over the top 99 Grand Am.

I rented a Cobalt 2 door in Maui for a week and liked it. Sure, some inside parts were so-so, but it is no 1982 J car as some think. And next gen is 18 months coming, not 7 years away.

I dont see them bring back too many old outdated names, that most young adults never remember. Oh, and lets leave Terraza, Fiero, Invicta, and Rendevous in the dumpster. Also, Chevy has to compete head on with Honda/Toy, no more of this snobby 'i wont buy a Chevy'. Maybe if they have good cars, yeah, But to keep all the brands to keep outdated dealers open is bad business,

Is not the new Chevy Cruze going to share platforms with the Astra? So what is the point of importing Astra other than it being assembled in Europe?

Why doesn't GM just create a warranty better than Hyundai? That helped them. Then the Koreans can quit bragging about 'best warranty'.

I agree, all my steel cars have had small nicks, but not enough that I wish for plastic panels. Besides, it is a waste of non renewable materials. I am willing to bet most junked Saturns' plastic panels end up in landfills.

That's the whole point, California builds huge sprawl, then complains, and expects the whole country to give them 'help'. Also, the upper class 'have to move further out from those people', then complain about long commutes, traffic, services, and say they 'have no choice'. Also, the CA greenies have been saying 'it's up to Detroit to solve air pollution and global warming'. yet, these same people would refuse to buy a 'green' domestic car. [From some stupid excuse like "interior feel"] Why dont they point fingers at Asia? What about all the import SUV's? They mostly drive imports, but blame their own problems solely on 'Detroit'. If Detroit is diminished, who will they blame for smog and traffic? If China starts importing, greenies will find them tough to deal with on issues. Id like to see them go there and try to protest.

GM invented the catalytic converter, I'd say that should be in top 5.

UAW has to compete with transplants, and quit expecting tariffs, import bans, and time machines to the 'good old days'.

Saturns didnt dent, but they still broke down. And most GM vehicles from the 90's are still running and outlasted Saturns. A Chevy pickup, van, B body, or any 3800 V6 car can go well over 200K miles. The 91-95 SL's are almost extinct, so the 'crap' comment is false.

"Why would I buy an ugly Cobalt with its rear drum brakes and torsion beam rear suspension when I could get a Mazda 3 for the same price with 4 wheel discs, fully independent suspension, and a more impressive feature list?" Hmm, the Corolla and Civic have rear drum brakes, and the Toyota still has a 4 speed automatic! Shows the bias buls%t out there. Oh and one more thing, the Cobalt SS beat the Mazdaspeed 3 in a test in Road and Track, who I think is way better than Car/Drivel. And M3 wagon is a heavy gas hog for its size, too and ugly.

Well, what makes me mad is the Calif greenies put blame for smog soley on Detroit, and out there 70% of cars are imports! The rich F-ks in Beemers and Benzes are certainly not innocent in making smog. And, why the hell do they keep building these huge subdivisions in Calif?? If they built more mass trasnit, they'd have less smog and more open land, trees, what not. They are such hypocrites.

I am willing to bet most commentators didnt read the plans. Shows how bad attention spans are and all that matters is ratings, huge headlines and drama.

"3-lastly is the lingering racial profiling that those nice quiet Asians sit and work diligently after years and years of all those math and science classes, now they toil endlessly using their quiet little scientist minds to make and build sht for us holier than thou Americans. Whatever they make must be perfect, because that's all those people do.....sit and study and overwork because they are fanatically studious just exist to build our sht." I agree, and these same people, usually upper class whites, will not socialize with Asians or other races and make fun of them behind thier backs. Oh an dof course, if one is good at math/science in a typical burb, they are 'uncool, have no life, and will never have sex'. $@$@$ THEM! The other exepctation is that if Motown 3 go away, then suddenly "smog will disappear", and global warming will 'cool'. :P:P As if the smog over LA is only from US cars, and imports have steam from exhaust pipes.

"Popular Forenza"? It's got one of the worst resale values and ratings. Dropped for 2009.

What will have to happen is some 'dominoes' will have to fall, and then the nay-sayers will maybe get a f-in clue. Unemployed workers should move to 'import friendly' states [AL, TN, SC, GA, MS] and apply for welfare, since they supposedly have so much $$$ to give to MB, Beemer, Toyo, Nissan, VW, and Kia/Hyundai.

Big problem is people just think "i dont like their cars, so what?" And then ask them what particular car and they'd bring up Vega, Pinto, Volare' or some other ancient car. Come on over 25 years of improvements and some still think US cars are same as then! People will gladly throw money into China Inc, but "They dont trust" American companies.

Well, the Cruze is coming and that platform will be from the next gen Astra. So, the Astra is coming. "Well, there must be a reason why people prefer Pontiac's G5 to Chevy's cobalt up here" And, why does CDN have Chevy and Pontiac clones? [since forever, such as Beaumont, Firefly, and Astre] Better get used to buying Chevys, since there is NO difference between G5 and Cobalt. Why f-ing bother? The trying to sell same car at all GM dealers is going away and fast. "Buick was always upmarket of Olds". Many Olds buyers during their peak years didn't agree. Maybe before 1959, but here in Chi-town, Olds and Buick competed for similar buyers.