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8309 messages, Last post on Nov 24, 2009 at 1:01 PM
You are in the Automotive News & Views Forum. Your Hosts are steve_ & claires
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Replying to: sixfive (Nov 11, 2008 11:24 am) Wagoner has been in charge in North America for FOURTEEN YEARS. See what I posed in another fourm: He presided over the SUV boom. The G6 was going to be a savior and was mediocre. The Cobalt was going to replace the tarnished Cavalier and was mediocre. Hummer was expanded. He didn't focus on high quality small cars; he kept expanding SUVs. There was no high-fuel-cost contingency plan. Lutz thought that hybrids were a joke until the Prius became wildly successful. GM could have led this technology with all of their profits in the late '90s and early 2000's. They decided to work on a retro HHR years after the PT Cruiser was successful. They decided to resurrect the Camaro years after the Mustang was successful. Meanwhile they pumped their dollars into inane advertising campaigns: "An American Revolution"; "Baseball, Hot Dogs, Apple Pie, and Chevrolet", "Born from Jets", "A Different Kind of Car Company". By the time they got religion the church bus was already arriving at the bingo parlor, and they weren't on it. Even with a bloated structure and way too many divisions, they dabbled in more car companies. They lost billions on Fiat. They decided to acquire Saab. When it was apparent that the emperor had no clothes (i.e., competitive product for a changing market) they started heavy marketing of nearly useless E85 capabilities and of a plug-in hybrid that was 4-5 years from production. All vaporware to cover up the lack of competitive products. They offered the whole country discount pricing which killed their own residuals. Rick did a fairly decent job on the cost/operations side, cutting costs, and he made some efforts to put out new good products, particularly the CTS and the Malibu. But the large, strategic decisions - no leadership or vision at all. Put Steve Jobs in charge and you would see some bold decision making. |
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Good listen http://www.cnbc.com/id/27647852 |
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Replying to: 62vetteefp (Nov 11, 2008 3:32 pm) 
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Replying to: 62vetteefp (Nov 11, 2008 3:32 pm) Now, if GM closes it's doors, kiss that $68 Billion AND the jobs altogether. I can only imagine what Ford owes on top of this. |
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Replying to: cooterbfd (Nov 11, 2008 4:58 pm) They have to pay debts first. Figure out things would logically work and then do just the opposite. That's about how it works. If you think bankruptcy works to take care of the folks most invested in it you need only look to Kmart. They declared bankruptcy, turned all Kmart stock into toilet paper and then the moment they were out of Chapter 11 bought Sears.
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I find it hard to believe that GM is at the brink of brankruptcy,i know things are bad but come on! i think they are crying wolf just to get a hand out. remember ,the fundamentals of the economy are STRONG, and Americans are just a nation of whiners,bailout or not,GM will still be around. 
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Replying to: fezo (Nov 11, 2008 5:03 pm) |
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Replying to: toyot4life (Nov 11, 2008 5:14 pm) Who are you, Mitt Romney???? |
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Replying to: 62vetteefp (Nov 11, 2008 3:32 pm) Most people do not realize how much of a disaster letting GM Ford and Chrysler die would be. It would be far far worse than anything the Taliban or Osama could do to the U.S. As for advertising.. you can't sell cars with out it. People who don't understand need a lesson in marketing 101. |
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Replying to: fezo (Nov 11, 2008 5:03 pm) There's an old saw - borrow a little and you owe your soul to the bank. Borrow a lot and you own the bank. 
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