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Automotive News & Views United Automobile Workers of America (UAW)
16738 messages, Last post on Dec 03, 2009 at 10:07 AM
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Replying to: jimbres (Nov 18, 2008 8:58 am)
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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? |
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Replying to: lemko (Nov 18, 2008 8:48 am) 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.
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Replying to: xrunner2 (Nov 18, 2008 9:17 am) 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. |
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Replying to: jimbres (Nov 18, 2008 8:08 am) 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.
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Replying to: gagrice (Nov 18, 2008 9:31 am) |
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Replying to: lemko (Nov 18, 2008 9:10 am) 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. |
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lemko! I would mourn Buick's passing more than facing the prospect of my own death. 
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General Wesley Clark, New York Times: “What’s good for GM is good for the Army” “[W]e must act: aiding the American automobile industry is not only an economic imperative, but also a national security imperative… “[A]s Detroit moves to plug-in hybrids and electric-drive technology…automakers are developing innovative electric motors, many with permanent magnet technology, that will have immediate military use. And only the auto industry, with its vast purchasing power, is able to establish a domestic advanced battery industry. Likewise, domestic fuel cell production — which will undoubtedly have many critical military applications — depends on a vibrant car industry.” New York Times, Nov. 16, 2008 The real General has spoken iluvmysephia1 ~Those of your against the Big 3 are under some kind of hypnosis~ GM and the Big 3 under normal conditions pays dividends.., sponsors more.., contributes more.., pays more taxes and bails out more than any other.., and yes the Big 3 would bailout the government if needed - All positive - so it pays to help the Big 3
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Replying to: lemko (Nov 18, 2008 9:10 am) The Malibu and Aura actually have potential, but unfortunately they're late in coming, have yet to prove themselves long-term, and let's face it, people aren't going to come back to GM overnight. It's taken GM decades to lose their customer base, so it's going to take more than just one or two model years for them to get any semblance of it back. Also, while the Malibu and Aura are competitive cars, they do have some shortcomings. One problem is that they're narrow inside. The back seat probably has about 3-4" less shoulder room than the Camry, Accord, and Altima. It's still a comfy 4 seater, but 3 people in the back seat is going to be tight. That might be a concern for some people, although I can't remember the last time I've had three across in the back of any of my cars! When equipped with the 2.4 4-cyl and 6-speed automatic, fuel economy is impressive, and competes very well against the 4-cyl Camry/Accord/Altima. But with the V-6, it seems like they finally got the performance with the 3.6 DOHC, but it's a bit thirsty. The EPA rates it at 17/26, compared to 19/29 for the V-6 Accord and 19/28 for the V-6 Camry. Now the old 3.5 pushrod, which I think is still offered in some trim levels, or may be only for fleets by now, gets 18/29. So it seems with the V-6 in these GM cars, you can either get the power or the economy, but not both, like you can with the imports. So I'd consider the Aura/Malibu to finally be competitive cars, but I'm not sure I could call them class-leading. If I was in the market for a car, I'd consider an Aura. But I'd also consider the Altima, and even the new Accord is starting to grow on me. The CTS and Enclave are great vehicles, but are also niche markets, and won't be enough to save GM. As for the Lucerne, well I like it and so do you Lemko, but not too many other people care about it! You recently bought a new Cadillac, and I'm not planning on buying a brand-new car for the indefinite future, so there it probably lost its only two potential customers.  The Silverado/Sierra might be the best truck on the market right now, but even they're not without their faults. I hear that the models that still use the 4L60E transmission still tend to eat them fairly regularly. The 4.8 and 5.3 V-8's used to have a problem with piston slap, but perhaps that's no longer an issue? And even if it's the best truck on the market, unfortunately that's also a market that's no longer very lucrative. Although with gas down below $2.00 per gallon in many places (I paid $1.879 during lunch today) it's possible that might change.
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