Sign In Join 



United Automobile Workers of America (UAW)

16705 messages,  Last post on Nov 25, 2009 at 6:56 PM

You are in the Automotive News & Views Forum. Your Hosts are steve_ & claires

What is this discussion about? Automotive News


Messages Page 507 of 1671
1
...
504
505
506
507
508
509
510
...
1671
Prev
Next
Last
Go To Msg #
Search This Discussion

#5055 of 16705
Re: Only second-rate countries... [lemko] by jimbres
Nov 18, 2008 (8:58 am)
Reply

Replying to: lemko (Nov 18, 2008 8:19 am)

Help me understand your business model. What you're suggesting is this: when customers won't buy what you're trying to sell, don't change your product or how you market it. Instead, just blame (and, if possible, punish) the customers.
 
So how does this make things better?
#5056 of 16705
Re: Let's inject... [grbeck] by xrunner2
Nov 18, 2008 (9:02 am)
Reply

Replying to: grbeck (Nov 18, 2008 7:46 am)

But if the government really wants to save GM, it should turn it over to a foreign company - preferably Toyota - and give said company carte blanche to make the changes necessary to right the ship.
 
Would that need a chapter 11? Have to imagine that the corporate culture of a Toyota, Honda or Nissan is very different from GM. The GM workforce, without a union, and first level supervision maybe could be trained into that culture. Top and middle management would have to be replaced similar to a new U.S. President's administration such as what Obama and Emanuel are now doing. Obama is bringing in his people, but of course retaining apolitical career government employees and grunts.
 
Is there any way that elements of top/middle management at Toyota, Honda and Nissan could be induced to join a Phoenix GM? What a challenge. This would be like a head coach of a Super Bowl Team leaving it and taking over the worst team in the NFL with aspiration to build it into a Super Bowl contender.
#5057 of 16705
Re: Only second-rate countries... [jimbres] by lemko
Nov 18, 2008 (9:10 am)
Reply

Replying to: jimbres (Nov 18, 2008 8:58 am)

What the heck do you think they've been trying to do? What about the Malibu/Aura? What about the totally awesome new CTS? What about the Enclave, not to mention the beautiful Lucerne. I believe the Silverado is easily the nicest truck on the market.
#5058 of 16705
lemko... by iluvmysephia1
Nov 18, 2008 (9:15 am)
Reply
this is simply a supply and demand production thing here. Most of us middle-aged population here in the States feel like The General has been dead and dereft of creativity for about 40 years.
 
We don't feel the Big Guy has our best interests at heart by any stretch. Product has been tolerable but doesn't light our fire.
 
I say no to a bailout for the States. Maybe SAIC of China(their Chinese build partner)can purchase bits and pieces of GM, including some experts who don't mind moving to China, and work to build for the burgeoning car-buying public there.
 
Beggars can't be choosy, eh?
#5059 of 16705
Re: Only second-rate countries... [lemko] by xrunner2
Nov 18, 2008 (9:17 am)
Reply

Replying to: lemko (Nov 18, 2008 8:48 am)

And that vehicle is either a Buick or a Cadillac for me!
 
Well, that works for you and others who choose these brands. But, you cannot escape statistics that GM market share is declining. GM has needed to stabilize or increase its share by having its brands appeal to more and more buyers, but that has not happened.
 
GM did not have competitive models to Lexus, Acura and Infiniti when these were introduced in late 80's and never was able to catch them. If GM were great back then, perhaps Lexus, Acura and Inifiniti would have withered and died for lack of sales early on.
 
Finally, the 2008 CTS has been acclaimed as near/equal to its foreign brand competitors. Maybe 22 years late. I presume that UAW build CTS, but it was top GM management that finally got it right and hopefully not to late for Cadillac's fate.
#5060 of 16705
Re: Only second-rate countries... [xrunner2] by lemko
Nov 18, 2008 (9:28 am)
Reply

Replying to: xrunner2 (Nov 18, 2008 9:17 am)

I dunno. I bought a 1989 Cadillac Brougham back then and still have it. I have no intention of getting rid of it. I'm extremely happy with my 2007 Cadillac DTS Performance. Heck, it almost seems too nice to drive around here.
 
Only Lexus seems to have been consistent and, to be brutally honest, the only really decent car they have is the LS460. Everything else is just a "Toyota Deluxe."
Do they still make that silly and pointless LS460h?
 
Infiniti had a recent resurgeance, but it wasn't too long ago it was an also-ran with a slow-selling Q45. Heck, if I wanted to stand apart from everybody, a Q would've been perfect. You saw maybe one for every 100 Lexus LS.
 
Acura? Well, the RL would be nice if they put a V-8 in it and priced it at least $10K-$15K less. They made a major blunder letting the cartoonist for Pokemon design the latest TL.
#5061 of 16705
Re: Only second-rate countries... [jimbres] by gagrice
Nov 18, 2008 (9:31 am)
Reply

Replying to: jimbres (Nov 18, 2008 8:08 am)

Today, GM's share is less than 20%, which means that an awful lot of Americans have gone elsewhere.
 
GM was the largest corporation in the World for many years. It has squandered that wealth. It is now something like 10th largest and the biggest loser. It is less than half the sales of WalMart. Only about 10% of the workforce that WalMart has. Yet rocky and friends have no problem trying to organize Walmart with the possible consequence of pushing them into bankruptcy.
 
If GM goes under Ford and Chrysler will pick up much of the sales and be stronger. I miss Studebaker more than I will Buick. I owned two Studebaker cars and the best PU my dad ever owned was a Stude. No subsidies were offered to keep Studebaker and Packard alive. Same should go for GM. It will add less to the unemployment than was added last month. The dealers that are not already bankrupt will be done from lack of sales by january. Those lost jobs are just as important as the UAW jobs.
#5062 of 16705
Re: Only second-rate countries... [gagrice] by lemko
Nov 18, 2008 (9:41 am)
Reply

Replying to: gagrice (Nov 18, 2008 9:31 am)

Well, maybe if the alternatives were awesome cars like Packards and Hudson Hornets instead of dull, tedious, anonymous, bland, nothing entities like Toyota and Honda, I wouldn't be so passionate about the impending doom of a cherished icon like Buick. I would mourn Buick's passing more than facing the prospect of my own death. Forced to live in a world with no choice but Ford and Camcords is a zombie's existence at best. I love my GM cars with the white-hot passion of a thousand suns! They are almost my religion.
#5063 of 16705
Re: Only second-rate countries... [lemko] by jimbres
Nov 18, 2008 (9:45 am)
Reply

Replying to: lemko (Nov 18, 2008 9:10 am)

I'm not a truck/SUV guy. Don't need one, won't buy one - either foreign or domestic. So the Silverado & the Enclave don't scratch my itch.
 
I'd seriously consider the Malibu & Aura if I were shopping for a family sedan. But why did we have to wait until practically yesterday for GM to produce compelling alternatives to the Accord & Camry? I've rented the previous generation Malibu & it's nothing I'd want in my garage.
 
I've said before that the latest CTS is gorgeous & that I'll test-drive one when I'm shopping for a replacement for my BMW.
 
Here's GM's problem as I see it. Once upon a time, if you asked me to list my 10 favorite cars, 7 or 8 of them would have been GM offerings. (The rest would have been English sports cars.)
 
Today, there would be 1 GM car on that list: the CTS. Most of the rest would be Germans.
 
Somewhere along the way, GM lost me because of decisions that GM made - or didn't make.
 
I'm the customer, & the customer is always right.
#5064 of 16705
Where's rockford to balance you out a bit... by iluvmysephia1
Nov 18, 2008 (9:46 am)
Reply
lemko!
 
I would mourn Buick's passing more than facing the prospect of my own death.
 
 

Messages Page 507 of 1671
1
...
504
505
506
507
508
509
510
...
1671
Prev
Next
Last
Go To Msg #
Search This Discussion
To POST a message, please Sign In.

New? Join Now!

Forum Tools

Please sign in.
Email Address:

Password:

Forgot Password?

Search Forums

Enter Keyword(s)

Advanced Search

Browse by Vehicle



View All Vehicles
Advertisement
Ask the Community
See What People Are Asking

Browse by Board

Browse by Topic


View All Topics

Today's Chats

Advertisement