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GM News, New Models and Market Share

8523 messages,  Last post on Nov 30, 2009 at 8:34 AM

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#3166 of 8523
Re: GM slashes support of arts [dieselone] by bpizzuti
Jan 08, 2009 (7:11 am)
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Replying to: dieselone (Jan 08, 2009 6:36 am)

If I owned my own company, I should be able to operate it legally anyway I desire. If I wanted to layoff a few people in order to pay for the landscaping, so be it.
 
Legally you can. And when the public finds out, they can legally take their business elsewhere, leaving you to legally go out of business.
#3167 of 8523
Re: 2008 Sales (Final Figures) [dave8697] by m4d_cow
Jan 08, 2009 (7:18 am)
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Replying to: dave8697 (Jan 07, 2009 8:06 pm)

How to convince us we deserve no success. First write that the D3 products are bad. Then, when that is refuted, say that they are good but at some time in the distant past they were bad, therefore we still wish to be unsupportive of our own economy forever. Then, to further confuse, argue that American cars are made elsewhere and that Toyota is an American company.
 

 
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?
#3168 of 8523
Re: GM slashes support of arts [bpizzuti] by gagrice
Jan 08, 2009 (7:29 am)
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Replying to: bpizzuti (Jan 08, 2009 7:11 am)

If I wanted to layoff a few people in order to pay for the landscaping, so be it.
 
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.
#3169 of 8523
Re: [62vetteefp] by plekto
Jan 08, 2009 (8:16 am)
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Replying to: 62vetteefp (Jan 08, 2009 4:42 am)

Not quite. The assembly of a car is a sizable portion of the total cost of each car but the engineering/development and everything else is also. So that Camaro built in Canada does support a couple thousand jobs there but also supports many thousands more here in the states.
****
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.?
#3170 of 8523
Re: GM slashes support of arts [bpizzuti] by dieselone
Jan 08, 2009 (8:33 am)
Reply

Replying to: bpizzuti (Jan 08, 2009 7:11 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.
 
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.
#3171 of 8523
Re: GM slashes support of arts [dieselone] by bpizzuti
Jan 08, 2009 (8:43 am)
Reply

Replying to: dieselone (Jan 08, 2009 8:33 am)

My point is a person doesn't start their own business with the single goal to employ somebody.
 
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.
#3172 of 8523
Re: GM says it may not need more loans [62vetteefp] by tlong
Jan 08, 2009 (9:25 am)
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Replying to: 62vetteefp (Jan 07, 2009 12:25 pm)

General Motors Corp. said it has enough government loans to cover its worst-case forecast for U.S. auto sales and won’t need more if the economy holds up.
 
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?
#3173 of 8523
Re: GM says it may not need more loans [62vetteefp] by tlong
Jan 08, 2009 (9:28 am)
Reply

Replying to: 62vetteefp (Jan 07, 2009 5:44 pm)

GM will not need anymore loans if the sales do not get worse than what is now considered worst case. '09 on.
 
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.
#3174 of 8523
Re: GM slashes support of arts [bpizzuti] by kernick
Jan 08, 2009 (9:33 am)
Reply

Replying to: bpizzuti (Jan 08, 2009 8:43 am)

You're right, they supposedly go into business to make money. Now someone needs to tell Waggoner and Nardelli that,
 
Yes. First, GM and Ford are public companies, not owned by the execs; they are owned by the millions of shareholders. Probably you and I are owners thru our mutual funds. I invest in companies to make money; I really want GM (and every other corporation I have stock in) to spend the least amount possible on landscaping, office furniture, and the arts (examples) as possible.
 
Too many corporations waste money, and then when times turn tough they don't have any savings. If GM can get by now without corporate jets, then they could have done so for years, and the $ spent over the years could have been saved. The things GM is now considering to stay viable, should have been implemented years before this downturn.
#3175 of 8523
Re: 2010 LaCrosse [62vetteefp] by circlew
Jan 08, 2009 (9:36 am)
Reply

Replying to: 62vetteefp (Jan 08, 2009 4:05 am)

Nice improvement...I like it.
 
Regards,
OW

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