ShadowDog

As well, knowing that killing brands = market share gone... it's the lack of market share that results in killing the brand. GM is not in image-mode, they're in survival-mode. The don't have enough money to sustain their entire operation. Think about household income and where most of it is spent. One has a non-existent income and must sustain themselves on credit until they start to receive income again. If housing and food are the necessities for survival, while everything else is an expenditure, one doesn't try to sustain their lifestyle or image by eating out for dinner, paying for their worst gas-guzzler, full-cable, big cell phone package, etc., they make cuts or eliminate some of these expenditures altogether in order to avoid losing it all.

Those stories were almost always great. My mother-in-law has a radio in her washroom tuned in to a talk-show channel that had his broadcasts through the day. Sometimes I just stood by the vanity and listened to the whole twisted-tale. No doubt a lot of old folks are saddened by his loss, as well as the reminder of their own mortality as the good pass on around them.

I don't even look at online petitions. I wonder why they even exist but simply to generate public interest. Croc said it best. No offense to anyone on the list, but the only thing that will help is if they put that signature on a cheque made out to the nearest Pontiac dealer.

The whole nature of the financial turmoil takes the majority of the blame for the current automobile crisis. The only thing GM can take the blame for is not being in an appropriate position to sustain themselves through this crisis. What really bothers me is reading all of the articles that focus on the 'failures' committed by GM (design, quality, product, management, etc.) that emphasizes blame upon them to be the only reason they are struggling. They didn't cause their financial problems; rather, their operational direction was only functional during the best of times. I dread the outcome of restructuring that will bring about change not unlike what was seen in the late 80's / early 90's with broad platform sharing and standardized drivetrain packages for many models across the board. I fear it will be worse. What with eliminated brands, lighter model offerings and simpler design elements, GM is looking at bone-cutting measures beyond trimming the fat. As long as there is still an effective marketing campaign to promote an image that can be carried onward into successful years, there is some hope. The only thing I don't want to see GM do is prolong the pain we see as they play the useless politics game with government; or go with heart-tugging commercials that provide mostly fluff, as if to say things like 'care' for this or that, employees or customers, blah blah blah... I'm a consumer and I don't care if they care or not; rather, I just want to see them continue to provide good design, build great products and retain a global position. That's the only thing that will speak to me. If they go the other direction, we'll have crap product and a lot of talk. Has that ever worked for anyone? Certainly not for GM. Face it folks, we'll see things we won't be happy with because we care about the product. In the end, as important as we know image is, GM can't hope to do everything to please the prospective, the loyal and the enthusiastic. If I had to drop one of the three to sustain myself, I'd pick the enthusiast.

If I were in the market for a small sport-coupe, considering what is available and at what cost, this car would likely be high on the list. It provides what is reasonable for the price, if not still somewhat expensive. I am slightly more drawn to this interior as well. I agree that its exterior styling makes the G37 look about as slab-sided, in my opinion, as the previous generation Honda Civic, though I'm not as fond of the rear-end on the Genesis. It'll make its buyers happy anyway. I suppose that's what counts.

Materials will not be the silver lining to the cloudy questionable interior layout. Visually, everything inside has the resemblance of a car ad one would find while flipping through a double-decades-old National Geographic. It's all plumb-and-square, straight from the 80's. I'm also not too fond of the dual-color instrumentation. With the rather pointless flip vents, after a few years, I get the feeling they will end up working like flip-lights do when it seems like the car wanted to wink at people. It's just another thing to break and annoy the driver. The exterior design and overall performance is rather appealing.

You know, that saying has been around almost as long as people have been complaining about GM's lacklustre quality and plastic interiors as well. IMHO, it's attitudes and old-school thinking from, both, consumers and the media that has held GM back as they claw their way out of the pit they dug for themselves. The only problem is with each milestone of progress they reach, a previous negative one keeps jumping out to bite them in the ass; and not by having a vehicle out that continues to have the same sub-par standards, but by constantly bringing up the memory of them. It's been said that GM could build the best car ever seen for the cheapest price possible and they still would have some dorks from the media say, "Who'd have thunk the car maker responsible for the [insert $h!-car here] could make this!" If we look at the many examples today of what would seem to be the best output from the Big3 (disregarding the questionably designed exteriors for some) in... well, ever, then what the heck are people smoking? ...and no, not everything has to be the best performing, most exciting, eye-popping designed and engineered vehicle each and every time; however, the masses are far too critical these days. It's unfortunate that the Big3 were finally in the groove to changing these preconceived notions. Either that, or these lousy consumers and auto journalists have been kicking the bucket. Maybe enough of them haven't died for the domestic-front to see their way out of this mess.

We'd better put your phone number on all the product brochures so customers can call you directly since you know more about GM than GM.

If he keeps it up, that map of the U.S. they show on elections is going to change from RED to BLUE.

Well, it's definitely a concept, without a doubt I'm grateful for that. By that, I mean, rarely do concepts find their way to production form in every way. This is simply a showcase of design without any sense of practical thought. I'll probably appreciate it from the front and rear after it's been put in a wind-tunnel and through its paces to convert into something more people would like to own. ...I do like the profile. IMHO, the top view is rather pointless unless there's some sort of highly influential group that grades how a car looks from an overpass. Maybe due to all the L.A. high-speed car chases we see on FOX? I dunno.

English-style double-bell ring: Ring-ring... "Giggity, giggity, gig-i-ty" ...ring-ring... "Awlriiight".

It has its perks, as well as its drawbacks. We rented our house for a year before we bought it from the owners. That was the best advantage because anything that ever needed repairs was covered while we were renting; so by the time we bought it, we knew exactly what was good and bad about the place. The biggest problem with owning is all the potential extra costs, if you can't manage to do any of the repairs yourself with just the cost of materials to worry about. The biggest advantage is utilizing the value of the home for equity.

My first apartment had a $300 security deposit. We had pictures nailed up and some black bedding pigment rubbed onto the bedroom wall; however, after we replaced a light cover that was cracked (wasn't our doing and was missed on pre-inspection) we washed all the walls, closets, cupboards, windows, fireplace, deck, storage room and cleaned the carpets to have $250 returned. $50 covers mandatory carpet cleaning when moving out. We offered to fill all the nail holes but the building manager said he preferred to do it himself because they had poor experiences with tenants in the past botching the repairs. To be honest, we cleaned areas that had never seen a cloth. The tops of the kitchen cupboards had layers of dust and grease that had been there for years. The manager admitted that he rarely ever returns any deposits; however, we were so good to the place and did such a great job cleaning that he was just glad that hole filling and spot painting was the ONLY thing he had to do for the next tenant. For many landlords, a security deposit will cover simple repairs; however, many tenants also get charged for additional repairs if they were responsible for the damages. My mother has a rental place and I hardly ever feel any compassion for tenants when it comes to the amount of damage they cause to the living space. Being a landlord is tough.

Well, if I needed a new car, I would consider the G6. This is not because of any restyle/refresh, but because it's about the only car that really peaks my interest when it comes to what practical needs I would have to cover.

So, in review: Saturn costs GM far too much money to continue operating. Sell it to a foreign company and literally help them develop a network of dealerships to immediately start as a direct competitor. Not only give this new company some of your clientele, but even offer to build their cars for them in your own factories with employees already shaking their low-slung heads at the decision-making in upper management. As if employee morale wasn't bankrupt already, have these proudly (North) American employees build a car for a, likely, Chinese company. GM, as if your nuts didn't hurt enough already?

LOL, and any other thread is full of your innocent angels. Now, how would that be any fun? Ugh, another haitus is granted to you all then. You're welcome.

Threaten the CAW by yanking all their jobs, then say, "Oh, alright, we'll stay, but you have to take a serious cut." All this for heavy-handed bargaining perhaps?

It's not likely just fart-pipes. Around here there are local mud racers tuning their straight-pipe-sans-muffler vehicles. It's fine when they're on their own property and revving while performing maintenance. Sure, it's loud, but nobody really cares enough to report them to the police; however some of their ignorant buddies show up to rip around in their back yard and forget that they shouldn't be riding on the public rural side-roads without insurance in the wee-hours of the morning (4-5-6 am) right past your house. I'm all for enjoying a hobby, but I don't think anyone should have to suffer through caring for their frightened infant children because some arse-hole thinks it's fun to blast through a whole neighborhood with the pedal to the floor, literally rattling windows as they pass. That's just sheer ignorance. No, I also don't condone vigilante vandalism; I mean, his heart is in the right place even if his head is up his arse.

Reading can be fun! Understanding is another thing... 1) The point wasn't that one would have to eat the whole thing, but that one decent slice is like eating half a box of Twinkies. I didn't think perspective was so difficult. b) "That ugly thing ranks right up there on the gross scale next to cannibalism." <-- Which is to say, cannibalism is gross, and IMHO, so is that log-o-lard iii) I recall Captainbooya exclaiming, "God Bless America!", as well as a reference to West Virginia at the sight of the two relatively heavy men. Face it, you're a 'growing' nation with many proud to be free to eat their way to the grave. Yeah, it's a problem in many places, but it's not any better in the home of the Whopper.

"... The entire meat log contains something like 5,000 calories and 500 grams of fat." You don't get to be the nation of lard-asses without too much pride in making anything edible, plus a whole lot of ignorance for your health. That ugly thing ranks right up there on the gross scale next to cannibalism.

My dad is on one pack a day and has been like that for years. He's 68 now and sounds like his lungs want to escape for air when he starts coughing with a really disgusting sound. The family is pretty sure he has emphysema as he is very short of breath from any amount of physical exertion. This is all key because watching him age with smoking is what kept me away from cigs all my life. In fact, my mom, two sisters and my brother all avoided the habit for this very reason. We're all actually amazed he's made it this long. My wife, on the other hand, smoked since she was 12. She's 31 now, but quit smoking after she met me when we were 23. The biggest reason? She loves me. I never did anything to suggest that I hated her for smoking; rather, I reminded her that if she were ever to want to quit, I would support her in any way she desired. What did it was, in her words, the fact that I smiled at her every time she lit up. This made her think that I had endless faith in her that she would one day be free of cigarettes. Little-by-little, she was down to barely one a day before she quit altogether.

Perspective on age: When I was a teenager, I was regularly helped by a gorgeous 30-something bank teller whom could give a guy wet dreams every night. When we moved back here after being gone for 5 years, I didn't realize how much the local kids had grown up because her daughter now works at the same bank and is even HOTTER than her mom.

Apparently, size doesn't even matter when it should! As an example, when my friend and his wife were shopping for a new car (mostly for her because he already had a Grand Cherokee), she just 'had to have' the new PT Cruiser (introductory year), as it was the flavour of the month/year for consumers. She wasn't taking in what made it work, the ergonomics, or even if the seats were comfortable enough to support her bad back and hips (previously broken pelvis leads her to near-constant pains). Anyway, anything that a car buyer should look at, she could change every negative into a positive to go along with just how much she loved the strongest reason she wanted one, how it looked on the outside. She put everything in her life to form-fit the car, which is odd for those needing a car to fit the majority of their needs when it comes to car seats, pets, groceries, traveling, etc. Nope, it had to be the PT or nothing else. Now they have two kids and the main mode of transportation for the family is their Montana SV6. Who drives the PT? He does, to commute to work, and he is trying to sell it. So no, sadly, not everyone looks at what would seem to be important for the best car buying decision. For vehicles like this Nissan, it's general transportation with style. The fact that it might have some extra cargo space or additional passenger room would really only be looked at by those stuck on what they can afford and need all the space they can get for the money. Even then, IMHO, for a vehicle like this, styling would be a determining factor.

Hmm, it's just not square enough for my taste. Sorry, it needs to have corners so sharp you can impale yourself. Kinda like the shape of a car made from Legos. Yeah, that's my style. Cupholder on the left? I don't think the majority of drivers out there will be able to figure out such a dramatic shift in their ability to do anything when the cup is in another hand.

Every single-toothed, gun-totin' mullet-head hillbilly is buildin' themselves a stockpile of revolutionary arms in their bunker as I type this. Oh yeah, and I don't think we should have an eagle on it. It's bad enough that tourist towns where bird watching for eagles can't even survive, much less the numbers of the bird itself. We should be looking at some kind of creature that we can proudly display as a symbol of our everlasting survival in this world... a metropolis sewer rat. That would be WAY more fitting.