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GM News, New Models and Market Share

8236 messages, Last post on Nov 21, 2009 at 6:00 PM
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Replying to: kernick (Jan 08, 2009 6:12 am)
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Replying to: 62vetteefp (Jan 07, 2009 12:27 pm) Btw I have some theories on why there's barely any news on GM's Shenyang plant: 1) China's habitual restraint when it comes to releasing information to the "outside world". The practice remains even now. 2) By current standard in China a 2.67billion investment is a mere chump change that doesn't deserve much press coverage. It's true. In comparison we're talking about a country with the largest reserve in the world, vs. US with the highest national debt in the world. |
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Replying to: dieselone (Jan 08, 2009 6:36 am) Legally you can. And when the public finds out, they can legally take their business elsewhere, leaving you to legally go out of business. |
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Replying to: dave8697 (Jan 07, 2009 8:06 pm) Let's make something clear here. First off, D3 need to earn success, there's no "deserve", deserve only comes after results. This is not elementary school, where you "deserve credit" for trying and effort. We're not kids anymore. Second, the D3 products are still bad, however like I always said not all of them. In GM's case Corvette and CTS are world class imo, while Silverado, Traverse, Malibu, G8 and Tahoe are decent. That said, can this tiny group of select models cover the other crappy products? No. D3 are improving, but I don't think they deserve to be called good yet. Last, like it or not the truth is more and more imports build plants in US, while more domestics leave the US to save costs. No offense but why are you simply ignoring reality?
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Replying to: bpizzuti (Jan 08, 2009 7:11 am) I don't want to drift off here. But in Santee, CA, where I own a home. The city can come in and fine you if your landscaping is not up to code and groomed. If business is bad you may be forced to lay off people to keep the city happy with all their regulations. Nothing is simple anymore.
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Replying to: 62vetteefp (Jan 08, 2009 4:42 am) **** That's just not true, though. Urban myth level of wrong, actually. Sure, some money flows up to corporate, wherever that is, but that money usually doesn't contribute much to the economy. In fact, in the case of GM, since there are technically no profits, they pay no taxes on that money. And it doesn't cost 1 billion to physically design a new car at corporate. Not the way GM is doing it. The typical full sized auto plant in the U.S. contributes upwards of a billion dollars a year in primary and secondary costs that do go directly into the local economy. They design the cars in the U.S., but if they build them in a foreign country for a decade, that's 5-10 billion in lost money per plant. If GM and Ford have ten such plants between them, let's say, well, that's essentially a bailout every couple of years in lost jobs and money. The NUMMI plant in Freemont, CA alone does cost 1 billion in total upkeep and money flowing through it per year. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NUMMI Size of 88 football fields. These things are huge and when they're moved out of the U.S., it really does hurt a lot. And I'm not even talking about the snowball effect of thousands of people's jobs. Unemployed people are a huge drain on our economy, so it's almost like taking two hits. Where it is made is the vast majority of the money that actually gets into the economy from making a vehicle.(parts suppliers as well, of course, and not counting oddball practices like the Job Bank) Toyota makes a few thousand profit on each Camry made in the U.S.. 2/3 of that might go back to Japan, and maybe another couple of thousand for the engine and transmission. But last I checked, the things costs a lot more than 5K or so that's going back to Japan. The difference is all going somewhere - metal, parts, power to run the plant, gas to transport the vehicles, money to dealers... The list is literally nearly endless. Now, true, a D3 vehicle made in the U.S. is the best option, as more of the money is staying here, but I can guarantee that a truck made in Mexico is adding a lot less to our U.S. economy than a Honda made here. Surely someone has a list of D3 vehicles that are made in the U.S.?
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Replying to: bpizzuti (Jan 08, 2009 7:11 am) True, but I'd bet I'd loose more customer's by letting the weeds grow through the cracks in the parking lot and letting the facilities fall into disrepair. Customers want a good value and service for their dollar. If reducing employment leads to poor customer service or quality, then customers will eventually go elsewhere. My point is a person doesn't start their own business with the single goal to employ somebody.
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Replying to: dieselone (Jan 08, 2009 8:33 am) You're right, they supposedly go into business to make money. Now someone needs to tell Waggoner and Nardelli that, since it seems to be beyond their understanding that if they can't make money then they should go out of business.
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Replying to: 62vetteefp (Jan 07, 2009 12:25 pm) I wonder if this is really true or if it is a PR ploy to raise the confidence of buyers so that it *becomes* true? It doesn't seem like enough has changed in the economy to create this improvement unless GM was painting a poorer picture than reality during the Congressional hearings. Has GM completed some major new cost-control activity since the bailout hearings, or has the economy improved? What has changed from their previous dire forecast?
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Replying to: 62vetteefp (Jan 07, 2009 5:44 pm) And that even means they can afford to fund their VEBA commitments? Pardon me if that seems a bit optimistic, let's see how the year actually plays out. |
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