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Do You Favor A Government Loan To The Detroit 3?

3958 messages,  Last post on Oct 02, 2009 at 4:52 PM

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What is this discussion about? Legislation


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#940 of 3958
Re: Uncle, can you spare a dime? [tlong] by cooterbfd
Nov 27, 2008 (5:41 pm)
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Replying to: tlong (Nov 27, 2008 3:54 pm)

".....Tell me about the small D3 cars that are built with high quality, small engines, left drive for the Japanese market."
 
What about the Holden Barina and Viva, or the Vauxhall Agila and Astra??? All GM owned, RHD (not left) and available now.
#941 of 3958
Re: Uncle, can you spare a dime? [maple2] by tlong
Nov 27, 2008 (6:16 pm)
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Replying to: maple2 (Nov 27, 2008 5:20 pm)

Why dont you explain to me the purpose of designing a car for the jap market if you wont be allowed to sell it there in the first place?
 
Quote from a March, 2008 article:
 
"Wander through Tokyo's upscale wards and you'll find no shortage of expensive German models".
 
BMW, Mercedes, and Audi manage to sell in Japan.
#942 of 3958
Re: Uncle, can you spare a dime? [cooterbfd] by tlong
Nov 27, 2008 (6:19 pm)
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Replying to: cooterbfd (Nov 27, 2008 5:41 pm)

What about the Holden Barina and Viva, or the Vauxhall Agila and Astra??? All GM owned, RHD (not left) and available now.
 
GM should bring some of those small models over here! I know Ford is working to rapidly bring some of their Euro cars to the US. Many of us don't like big cars and trucks. If I want a good-handling, quality smaller car there is nothing of interest for me from the D3. That's a real shame.
#943 of 3958
Re: Uncle, can you spare a dime? [tlong] by cooterbfd
Nov 27, 2008 (6:21 pm)
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Replying to: tlong (Nov 27, 2008 6:16 pm)

Nevertheless, the amount of cars imported to Japan is miniscule.
 
http://www.customs.go.jp/toukei/srch/indexe.htm?M=03&P=1,2,,,1,2008,0,10,0,0,1,7- 050101,,,,,,,,,,3,,,,,,20
 
Germany IS the leader, but since ther is no breakdown by mfr., I'll assume that VW has the lion's share of those.
#944 of 3958
Re: Car Pool to Washington [cooterbfd] by tlong
Nov 27, 2008 (6:24 pm)
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Replying to: cooterbfd (Nov 27, 2008 5:35 pm)

Remember, the Big 3 haven't begun to see the real savings from their 2007 contracts (VEBA). Now, that's not to say that more savings can't be negotiated right now, that would say loosen work restrictions, save healthcare monies, shrink the jobs bank, etc.
 
So while you don't say it explicitly, I'd gather from this statement that you mostly agree with Wagoner - the restructuring is complete, GM only needs a bridge loan until the economy improves and the previously negotiated changes take financial effect. There might be a few more incremental changes but nothing major. Is that correct?
 
Let's just say that I totally disagree that this will be enough.
#945 of 3958
"GM Asks U.S. FAA to Bar Public Tracking of Leased Corporate Jet " by tlong
Nov 27, 2008 (6:33 pm)
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"GM Asks U.S. FAA to Bar Public Tracking of Leased Corporate Jet " - Bloomberg News
 
GM apparently doesn't want their plane trackable in the FAA public database!
#946 of 3958
Re: Move where the money is [cooterbfd] by gagrice
Nov 27, 2008 (6:35 pm)
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Replying to: cooterbfd (Nov 27, 2008 12:31 pm)

One thing I don't understand. Is he making more or less in Indiana than he was in SD.
 
They gave him a raise over what he was making here in San Diego. Plus he only drives 4 miles to work and rent is half of what he paid here for a lot bigger apartment. Taxes are cheaper and so is gas and utilities. I think he was making $45k a year here as an IT person.
#947 of 3958
Re: Uncle, can you spare a dime? [cooterbfd] by tlong
Nov 27, 2008 (6:38 pm)
Reply

Replying to: cooterbfd (Nov 27, 2008 6:21 pm)

Nevertheless, the amount of cars imported to Japan is miniscule.
 
So you complain that the Japanese market is closed, but then you say why bother designing for it? That's no way to get into a market if there is really some interest. Which there isn't. It's just a smokescreen by the UAW to hide from all the mistakes made in this country.
 
What ever happened to accountability? Let the D3 fail if they cannot be competitive, or better yet, downsize to a competitive position and then they might get serious about making world-class products. That's why a loan to the D3 is a huge mistake. Dump the lousy vehicles (perhaps 50% of the total) that are just propping up all the underutilized facilities and perhaps they can focus on excellent products again.
 
I'd rather see a 15% market share of the D3 which is climbing, with a position of strength brought on by excellent vehicles, than a 30% market share where the patients are gasping for air and digging into our wallets for our money while they ride on corporate jets.
#948 of 3958
Re: Car Pool to Washington [kernick] by gagrice
Nov 27, 2008 (6:48 pm)
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Replying to: kernick (Nov 27, 2008 1:27 pm)

having to give large incentives because of years-past quality issues that linger with the consumer
 
I would say GM should do what Hyundai did to build confidence. Give 10 year 100k mile warranty on the cars they think will last that long. If GM does not have as much confidence in their cars longevity as Hyundai, why should the consumer?
#949 of 3958
Re: Car Pool to Washington [tlong] by cooterbfd
Nov 27, 2008 (6:48 pm)
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Replying to: tlong (Nov 27, 2008 6:24 pm)

Oh no. I do believe that there must be some philosophical changes in that they must be more willing and flexible with their rules and allow a car like the Chevy Beat to be brought here, bigger use of their diesels from other countries, etc. In other words engineer your cars so that they need little to no modifications to sell them worldwide. Maybe they should get the negotiated changes to take effect TODAY.
 
Wagoner may actually be more correct than we think. Remember, the Jap big 3's profits are all way down, as they are selling less cars as well, and what they are selling are their smaller, less profitable cars. So aren't the Big 3. It's just that their losses go from being manageable to out of control.
 
Take this paragraph from Sebastian Mallaby of the Wash. Post as an example:
 
"The financial crisis has morphed into several simultaneous crises that feed upon each other. The real-estate bust crippled the banks. Crippled banks starved companies of credit. Starved companies laid off workers. Laid-off workers defaulted on mortgages, deepening the bust in real estate. By a similar process, crippled financial institutions stopped making auto loans, which caused people to stop buying cars, which pushed the carmakers to the brink. If the carmakers go down, a whole new round of job losses and mortgage defaults will slam into the financial system."
 
It may sound arrogant, and I STILL do believe that more needs to be done than just a "bridge loan", but Wagoner may be closer to the truth that we think.

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