FUTURE_OF_GM

LOL... Was thinking the same thing. Am actually working on something rather cool right now that I will FB you about when the deal goes down.

I agree about the GMC part. Why not make a few GMC models true to the "GM's truck division" formula and let them compete with Jeep or Land Rover? The HX needs to be approved for GMC ASAP IMO. There is also room at GMC for a Raptor/Power Wagon fighter IMO and a small BOF SUV (THINK: Ford Bronco concept)

Sure... Why not? No one said anything about any of that. And it's pretty obvious to anyone with a pulse that the above scenario is fruitless. Yes, GM SHOULD please every buyer... That was the POINT of GM at one time. But for some reason, GM decided instead of using it's 8-10 divisions to cover every aspect of the market, it would use it's 8-10 divisions to cover 50-60% of the market and call it a day. Nothing... Sales are sales, especially if the make a big profit margin. The point is the very argument you bring up: dilution of the brand name GM needs to figure out what it's brands are going to represent, and fast. Right now we have GMC's that are basically Chevrolets, Buicks that compete with GMCs on the same showroom floor. (Enclave/Acadia) Buicks with nicer interiors than Cadillacs. (Regal) Cadillacs that want to be Buicks (XTS) and Chevrolets that sell to Cadillac customers (Corvette). And to make matters worse, GM is beginning to dilute the brands further... Every Cadillac will have either a V-series model or a Platinum model. (Why can't Buick cover RPO Cadillac ground and every base CADILLAC be Platinum level?) Every GMC is apparently getting a Denali version. (So, how long until the Denali name is so whored out on the 'trim packages' they're doing now that it becomes another useless badge?) Chevrolet is now this albatross that must account for most of GM's sales and must target 5 different sets of customers with the same marketing $$$. AND Chevrolet is thinking of establishing a very 'niche-Pontiac-esque' SS sub brand. And Buick just has it's work cut out for it becoming relevant again, much less trying to be Saturn and Pontiac. So what the hell does it matter? GM can either cover the market with more brands or dilute the hell out of already weak "core" brands. This costs the brands more identity and confuses the customer even more. Why not set a mission/image for the brands and target a SEGMENT (complementary to the other brands) of the market instead of trying to hose the whole thing? Which was PCS's idea all along... The only way I could see Olds coming back is through the green movement. Olds was always GM's 'techie' brand, right? So why not design a completely environmentally friendly car from the ground up (recycled materials, Voltec, butterfly farts for exhaust, the whole mess) and market it to a very specific crowd as "the automobile of the future" My thinking behind this even involves completely factory controlled stores (THINK: Apple stores, for example) in major urban markets (Maybe one city per state) "America's first automobile brand in the 20th century is now it's first automobile brand for the 21st century" (Cheezy, I know, but you get the picture)

Is that why the Chinese hold so much of our money? You really don't think an american electronics industry could BEST a $20 Wal-Mart DVD player? Japan didn't "win" anything, Japan used bad trading practices to TAKE OVER an industry that it knew had HUGE growth potential. Excellent analogy... But it will (unfortunately) The rich are so diversified now with access to make money around the globe through free trade that THEY will survive. Does our recession hurt them? Sure. But it damn sure ain't gonna kill 'em. Hell, I've even read marketing media now that suggests companies shift their ad dollars to the top 5% of the population and try to sustain themselves on THAT revenue alone, effectively cutting out the lower class and leaving it to rot. (I think this will eventually happen as prices are increasing and images are being elevated even for 'plebeian' brands) So, you're saying that $25-30K for a college degree job hasn't been the "leveling down" of the middle class? You're asserting that going from $15/hour in a textile plant with full benefits to $6.50 an hour with no benefits at Wal-Mart hasn't been a leveling down of the lower class? The labor movement, like it or not, is what made the american middle class. Free Trade (and the WTO) undermined the labor movement because companies no longer had to increase pay for increased productivity. Companies could no just outsource the work to a sweat shop. So, your well paid job gets outsourced and you get a $h!ty gas station gig. There's your "leveling". And what's worse; because of this outsourcing, the WTO has managed to bust most of the big american unions (or make their membership so low that they're just 'along for the ride') The UAW was the LAST exception to the rule and IMO, was the LAST leg of the labor movement. Now that the UAW has been sedated, things will only get worse. Exactly... There is no such thing as FREE TRADE. There is, however, the bleeding of america.

Economics courses are WHERE the problem (disconnect) lies. I was a business major, I took a lot of economics courses, and everything is skewed into black and white. Want a figure for unemployment? Just count the people who are actively LOOKING for jobs in the last 6 months, not the people who have given up. (How flawed is that?) Want a measure for GDP? Go ahead and count production from businesses that take the profit elsewhere. It's too generic and not accurate enough. The real measure of wealth is STANDARD OF LIVING. I have a lot of experience in Political Sociology as well (again, a major) and *any* sociologist will tell you that our standard of living is RAPIDLY declining because of the destruction of the middle class.

Have you ever been downsized? I've watched my community wither and die because of Wal-Mart. It's not propaganda, it's real. Prime example: Fieldcrest Cannon in Kannapolis NC was the largest textile mill in the world. When Wal-Mart blew up, they urged Pillowtex (The then parent company) to outsource. Pillowtex refused and subsequently went bankrupt in 2003. The loss: thousands of good paying jobs. The "gain": NC Research Campus Now riddle me this: How the hell are people that barely have a HS education going to work on a medical research campus?

Add to that the average amount of debt of thee typical american household is deirectly proportional to productivity gain and what wages SHOULD be had the top 1% not capped them. In laymens terms; Productivity has increased, the top 1% has profited heavily from that and the cost of living has increased because of this. Yet the standard of living has decreased because instead of rewarding employees for increased productivity, the top 1% failed to pass on the money (it has been used to build wealth and conglomerates) The stagnated wages result in increased debt as the lower classes try to MAINTAIN their standard of living. The top 1% turns around and profits on that once aagain by EXTENDING a line of credit and charging interest. LOL, so perfect!

Do those things contribute to or positively affect quality of life?

As always, thank you for putting it into perspective. As a country, we're MUCH better off. As a people, conditions continue to decline and money continues to evaporate. Too many 'new age idealists' are tied up in THE OVER ALL, SOUND BITE READY GLOSSY AMERICA = ONE THING picture painted by Wall Street. The reality of the situation is very, very different.

Yes.

One of our Chevy dealers here still has a 'bulb' OK sign on their lot. Was really cool a few years ago when all the bulbs worked. Wish I could've nabbed a picture.

So, how about an Olds revival? START SOMETHING!

Here's an interesting Frankenstein: http://charlotte.craigslist.org/cto/1602490394.html Would LOVE to have a Trans Am, but I physically cannot fit into them well at all. And given my crash luck, I don't want it to become a death cage.

I've never seen one either. I wish they had better pics. Given that the Focus is now well on it's way to being totaled out, I've been looking for another car or truck. My main focus (no pun intended) has been 01-03 SVT Foci and 99-01 Mustang GT's. Just something to have some fun in and something I can pay cash for. However, the builder side of me wanted to look at 68-69 Firebirds and 70's era Jeep J-series pick ups (One of the coolest trucks on the road IMO) And that's how I stumbled across this jewel.

http://charlotte.craigslist.org/cto/1604876522.html http://charlotte.craigslist.org/cto/1593418693.html

*Dun DUn DUNNNN!!!!*

Reminds me of the 'brilliant' people here who build huge houses on the sides of mountains and then 'can't believe their eyes' when it rains hard and the house slides off.

Firstly, this us just another mistep for our once great country on it's stagger to demise. Is anyone really surprised? This government hasn't been for or by the people for 30 years now. It's pretty much a "we'll do what the f*** we want and you 'the people' can deal with it." Secondly, The Economist is a horrible choice to quote on this since it pretty much promotes PURE, unbridled American capitalism... You know, the kind that got us to this point in the first place.

I think these are from a dealer in NC. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e8cIz0rOHZU

.... .... .... .... (yep, same 'ole $h!ty luck) Oh wait, I did graduate with my SECOND degree! But have yet to find a job, and now my school loans are due. What can I say... Oh wait, MetallicA said it best: "Birth is pain, life is pain, death is pain... It's all the same." The GF says that if I'm more optimistic (bless her heart, she's a hopeless 'fuzzy, feeling, love-y' person -- she just hasn't been kicked in the face by life enough yet) better times will come my way. I tell her that life and being cursed with perpetual bad luck has made me the pessimist I am and that being pessimistic is my way of surviving the world we live in. I am so drastically different from what I was not even 10 years ago. Then we get into the 'chicken or the egg' debate. Make no mistake, I have a great life for the most part and I wouldn't change a damn thing. But it's been hard fought and that adversity is what keeps me going. Anyway.. At least I did graduate... AGAIN, LOL.

+1 I agree 100%. That is why I believe the 'green movement' is a giant scam and more a means of control than a solution. And it stinks of academia.. These people talk A LOT of $h!, but they never actually DO anything to solve the problem. Instead of taking direct action (the former "american way") and using our ingenuity to solve the problem, we judge each other, insult each other and hopelessly regulate and try to hold on to what little 'glory' we have left. It's all one big joke.

Spoken like someone who has endured lots of architecture professor 'opinions'. LOL I can definitely see that being the case.

LEED is getting better, but it's still a bit of a joke. Case in point: The previous version awarded ONE point for renovating an entire building for a renewed purpose. Yet it awarded TWO points for putting a a bike rack out in front of a new (READ: likely unneeded) 'ground up' building.

Actually, as anyone who is an architect can tell you, 85% of greenhouse gases come from BUILDINGS. Yet, for some reason, we target individual consumers... Hmm, it's almost as if it's a means to CONTROL.. Oh wait, you guys know all about my being a conflict theorist and my ideas on how the green movement is a tool for regulation instead of the 'happy, sweet, environmental savior' that they want you to think it is, right? Good.

LOL. And you all said I was crazy...