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Does America Even Need Its Own Automakers? - READ ONLY

1788 messages,  Last post on Mar 03, 2009 at 3:18 PM

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What is this discussion about? Automotive News, Truck, Sedan, SUV

Messages Page 179 of 179

#1779 of 1788 Re: meanwhile, back at the ranch [kdhspyder] by fezo

Mar 02, 2009 (1:28 pm)

Replying to: kdhspyder (Mar 02, 2009 12:37 pm)
That's about right!
 
Where were you?

#1780 of 1788 Re: meanwhile, back at the ranch [fezo] by kdhspyder

Mar 02, 2009 (3:15 pm)

Replying to: fezo (Mar 02, 2009 1:28 pm)
Pompton Lakes and Wayne

#1781 of 1788 Re: meanwhile, back at the ranch [kdhspyder] by fezo

Mar 02, 2009 (4:59 pm)

Replying to: kdhspyder (Mar 02, 2009 3:15 pm)
Oh, you're kidding me. I spent the first 15 years of my life in Pompton Lakes. My youngest brother still lives in the house.
 
When I was 15 we inherited my grandfather's house and moved 5 miles up the road to Butler.
 
You one of those Pompton Lakes High School grads?

#1782 of 1788 Re: meanwhile, back at the ranch [nippononly] by dtownfb

Mar 02, 2009 (5:18 pm)

Replying to: nippononly (Mar 02, 2009 9:51 am)
it was between Buick and Olds. I believe Buick sales were higher then. The funny part is Olds had their best sales the year they announced they were shutting it down. (Best sales for the time period).
 
The problem with Saturn is they had no plans beyond the first model. When that was successful, I think everyone in GM was shocked.
 
Americans want to buy American cars. But the domestics gave up the car market in the mid 90's. The year the Taurus lost the sales title, the second time, the Camry and Accord never looked back.
 
With GM's $9.6B loss in the 4th quarter and many analysts are saying to expect the same for the 1st quarter, the writing is on the wall. The accountants are assigning a "going concern" label to GM which is not good. Most of the talking heads are now saying enough is enough.
 
It should be a fun March. When does vette62 get back?

#1783 of 1788 Re: meanwhile, back at the ranch [fezo] by kdhspyder

Mar 02, 2009 (5:36 pm)

Replying to: fezo (Mar 02, 2009 4:59 pm)
No I moved there from NYC when I got married in '81...a transplant. 5 yrs later we moved up the road a piece to Wayne. We we directly in the sights of the PL dam during the flood of 83 or 84. If it gave way the lake would have washed over the top of our house.

#1784 of 1788 Re: meanwhile, back at the ranch [kdhspyder] by bmgpe

Mar 02, 2009 (6:22 pm)

Replying to: kdhspyder (Mar 02, 2009 5:36 pm)
I was born in Oakland, and now live in Sparta. You missed the 2001 once-in-a-thousand-years storm which stalled over Sparta Mountain. 14.5 inches of rain in 5 hours. Dams collapsed, lakes drained, Glen Road washed out leaving the Sparta Glen 25 feet deeper. Millions of cubic feet of soil washed down on to rt 517.

#1785 of 1788 Re: meanwhile, back at the ranch [dtownfb] by berri

Mar 02, 2009 (6:28 pm)

Replying to: dtownfb (Mar 02, 2009 5:18 pm)
I think Olds died when GM cheapened the hell out of the Cutlass in the 80's and lost the younger (and older youth oriented) buyers. That was Old's bread and butter car in the later 60's and 70's and they ruined it and its following. The Ciera was a piece of crap so Olds became focused on the 88 which competed head on with the more popular and desired LeSabre. The Aurora came too late to make a difference and the party was over despite John Rock giving it a valiant last hurrah.

#1786 of 1788 Re: meanwhile, back at the ranch [kdhspyder] by fezo

Mar 02, 2009 (6:36 pm)

Replying to: kdhspyder (Mar 02, 2009 5:36 pm)
Oh, I know that area. My SIL grew up down there.
 
They really wrecked the PL dam. Used to look like a waterfall. Now it looks pretty industrial. The good news is it controls the flow so that Oakland doesn't get flooded. The bad news is in case of rain everyone downstream still does.
 
The house I grew up in is a block and a half from the lake. Used to swim in it. At the time we didn't know what kind of junk was in it.
 
I'm in the south part of the state these days. Maybe 8 years ago or so they had a big rain and the dam that made Medford Lake broke. There's still no lake last I heard. People with docks going into nothing.

#1787 of 1788 Re: meanwhile, back at the ranch [berri] by xrunner2

Mar 03, 2009 (5:54 am)

Replying to: berri (Mar 02, 2009 6:28 pm)
Seems like the 60-70 Cutlass was Olds last hurrah. Previously, the 88 and 98 with the rocket engines were very successful in their era. The Olds marekting people got hung up with "a" for some reason. Cierra, Aurora, Acheiva, Intriuga, Bravada.
 
With just a little vision back in early 80's, GM could have parlayed Olds into a performance/entry lux division such as Acura, Infiniti. They realized this maybe 2 decades too late with their Aurora.
 
MBA courses will be studying the GM disaster for the next 100 years.

#1788 of 1788 Re: meanwhile, back at the ranch [xrunner2] by srs_49

Mar 03, 2009 (3:18 pm)

Replying to: xrunner2 (Mar 03, 2009 5:54 am)
I think it's what you hinted at - a lack of vision. Infinities and Acura's weren't around back then (in the early 80's), so there was nothing driving GM; noting forcing them to change. When that market did appear, it took GM 20 years to catch up, and even then, it's debatable whether they have caught up or are still trying (despite some glowing review for cars like the Cadillac CTS).

Messages Page 179 of 179

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