Clownzilla

I have seen that book too. Haven't read it, but now I have to(out of curious anger)! I think the EV1 was one of the most important vehicles in automotive history. I wouldn't be suprised if GM uses some of the knowledge and patents from the EV1 project to develop their hybrids and hydrogen vehicles. Side note, haven't driven a Fiero or Vega, but the Eldorado ETC WAS NOT a crap car!!!

Isn't GM supposed to use fuel cells for the non-action military and postal service soon? Also (correct me if I'm wrong) isn't GM also testing fuel cells as a auxilury power source for a DOW plant? Are they still planning to do this? If GM can start selling this things for business' and homes (and not screw it up), I think that GM could dwarf the profits that Toyota is making now. The funny thing is, I don't see Honda doing any research like this at the moment. Link to DOW article: http://money.cnn.com/2003/05/07/news/compa...ow_gm_hydrogen/

According to the Car & Driver article Estimated price = $200,000 Lease = $500 Mo. SWEET DEAL!!!!!! It dosen't come with XM radio though, so I will have to pass. :(

I think Jesse James, The All American Bad A%^, would make many people angry if he signed up with said comapny. GM and Ford are the only companies I consider to be valid as "American" (I now consider Chrysler German).

Yes, we are not (and probably never will be again) the industrial powerhouse we once were. Face it, countries like China have us beat when it comes to factory work. This is economic evolution folks. China will probably one day be in the same situation we are and then some place like China now will become the China of the future....and on, and on, and on.... The USA is not in major trouble if we play our cards right. The USA must evolve into a information, service, and engineering society. We can be in the position we once were when we were in industry. Instead of a worker turning a wrench in a factory, a worker would punch a key on a keyboard. Industrial countries like China are not going away, and the USA has to adjust for that.

Makes sense. I have always wondered why Suzuki isn't on the foreign exchange?

I agree! Unions must make concessions or their job will be gone. It seems like common sense. Unions sit and say things like "We need to do research to see if GM has problems" and "We will make concessions ONLY in the confines of our contract". How can union workers get money through a contract with a company that dosen't exist any more? It really dosen't matter who is at fault, if the union doesn't make drastic cuts, they will be toast. Of coarse bankrupcy will not totally dimolish the company, but would force them to take drastic measures to survive (aka. move all jobs over seas).

As much as I hate to see it go, I think you are on the right track. SAAB would thrive more being owned by Subaru. The dealership I work at has sold SAAB for 2 years, we are in a pretty good sized city (with good sized surrounding cities) and we sell around three per month. We have other GM makes for volume, but I would hate to be a stand alone SAAB dealer, yet there are quite a few of them. I think Subaru can give SAAB the product and attention that they need. I always hoped that GM would let SAAB be the BMW-Mercedes fighter (for the snoobs that buy non-domestic cars only), but GM needs to pump Cadillac up (which is doing well already, keep rolling), and with limited cash, SAAB is getting f%@#$*! In all, SAAB is a better fit for Subaru.

Here is an idea. Take the Montana, and drasticaly lower to roof line. Take off the sliding doors, and put in four normal doors. Take out the back row of seats. Juice up the engine (turbo, supercharger, new engine or whatever would work). Put on a more suitible suspension. Put in a nicer interior, bigger wheels, and a spoiler. What you have here is something like a Dodge Magnum..............but more like a street cruiser. Somebody needs to photoshop one of these. Keep the sliding doors if you would like to. This project could be what makes GM different than the rest of the other bold designs out there. Anyone remember the Pontiac Thunder (I think) concept?

The auto also needs to be a column shifter, leaves more space in the center console for all the stuff you can't fit in the trunk

Catalina GT

Well Said!

I can't agree that Subaru is going nowhere, they are getting more customers. The fact is though, I can't ever see them even close to being as big as other players in the market. Subaru is a niche car, and are doing very well for a niche car. They are not (nor I don't think ever will be) a high volume, mass market car. That said, I think GM does need to get with a winner. Subaru is a stable company, but not the "winner" that GM needs.

I forgot that the Duramax V8 was an Isuzu engine..........that's about all that Isuzu has that GM would want. Anyway, seeing that the end of Isuzu is near, what was your favorite Isuzu? I must say that the Vehi Cross was (and still is) the hottest small SUV on the road. To bad they could not make somthing more out of them and the fact that they didn't build more of them.

The family is probably paying a normal lease rate for a small car, and Honda is eating the remainder of the cost. THe money lost is WELL worth the PR gained.

The sentence should read Japanese, not USA

I'm pretty sure that GM has 49% or 50% of Suzuki, 51% is considered a majority in stock ownership. At that point, they could do a lot more than they could do at 50%. The whole company would be nice but Suzuki might not want to sell to GM, plus it might take money that GM dosen't have. Suzuki would be great because they are VERY dominent in the Japanese compact, subcompact, and micro car markets. They know how to make compacts, subcompacts, microcars, and small engines. True, many won't be legal in the USA but they could adjust some for the USA and/or use their small engine knowhow for the USA market. Plus this would create MASSIVE inroads to the USA market for GM. Here's an idea (some will be angry for me saying this), if the only thing keeping GM from buying Suzuki were money, how about selling off Opel, Vauxhall, Holden, SAAB (in any combination) to make enough money for the purchase. Would any of these GM brands be worth the sacrafice? Just a question.................

Well, I just read the article. Yewah, they are leasing the car......to one family. THis is a huge PR program. The car still costs hundreds of thousands...........but the PR is worth much more.

I remember seeing this thing test driven in a car magazine (I can't remember which one, but it was one of the major car magazines). Yes, it was a fully functioning fuel cell vehiclle. The only drawback was that it woulld cost hundreds of thousands of dollars to sell. I though they wern't for sell, but I guess if a person has that amount of cash to spend on a car, then they probably have some strings to pull to get one.

The Subaru based 96x has been canceled. Will it still be made.......who knows. Somtehing nobody has stated yet is the long lasting hybrid battery tech that Subaru is working on currently. According to Subaru, it lasts a lot longer than Toyota's. Suzuki can give GM some good small engine tech, and SAAB could bring some Euro-luxury to the USA market to compete with the other Euro-luxury makes (Keep Cadillac an American luxury car, with American styling). Isuzu............hmmm.........

I mean Suzuki

Well, GM states that they want to look into other partnerships in the Asia-Pacific region. I hope they work more closly with Suzuki to develop some more small engine tech (Don't they own 50% of Suzuki?). I think that would be a better investment than working with Subaru. Subaru has given GM a low volume 92x, a future low volume 96x, and.............and............? Subaru can give GM MUCH more meaningful contreibutions.

I beleive GM will be the hydrogen leader, for cars..........business', homes,etc..I beleive that for GM to survice, they will have to become the leading hydrogen power provider for the world economy, not just the automotive industry. Far fetched..........why else would they bed testing car AND stand alone fuel cells?

To Toyota of all people.....................Anyway, since they announced no Tribeca-SAAB crossover will be made, what will they use? The SRX was deemed too costly to make different enough for SAAB. Wonder if that new Opel crossover will be a possibility?

1. The HHR actually looks like an mid-early 1900's Suburban and the PT Cruiser (while I might be wrong) dosen't have a classic counterpart. 2. Although subjective, I think the HHR looks MUCH better, is better built, AND has better utility than the PT Cruiser. I'm not biased against Chrylsler (well sort of)..........I think the 300 is one of the hottest cars on the road......but the PT Cruiser is a s%^& box!