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Automotive News & Views What if you were in charge of GM?
874 messages, Last post on Oct 28, 2009 at 10:20 AM
You are in the Automotive News & Views Forum. Your Hosts are steve_ & claires
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Replying to: bpizzuti (Sep 07, 2009 10:54 am) In case you guys haven't noticed, we're fighting for our economic existence here. Our economy is a shambles and our major industries are failing. The automobile industry used to be one of pillars of our economy. Now, it's half what it was. 40% of the B3 is owned by foreigners (all of Chrysler and part of GM). The defense industry is a mess too. We're buying foreign planes over suitable American aircraft--with American stooges leading the way. Our real estate market in in the crapper and the Chinese are buying up cheap land and companies. Heck, Anheuser-Busch is owned by foreigners now. That's right, your Budweiser is a foreign beer! The least we could do is try to keep a few more Americans off the unemployment and welfare rolls. |
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Replying to: vinnyny (Sep 07, 2009 4:54 pm) No. It allows cars made in US, e.g., Camrys, Civics, Tundra, etc., to be sold here along with all products of the US companies such as Focus which is made in Mexico. In the discussion of other counties' helping their auto industry do they restrict their imports? do they help only the domestic makers? Is Buick of China (which has to cooperate with a Chinese maker to produce there IIRC) getting help from China? |
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Replying to: vinnyny (Sep 07, 2009 5:08 pm) Serves 'em right for stealing the name of a Czech beer.  Did you go on vacation this summer? I did, and for an economy in shambles, it sure doesn't look like there are breadlines on every corner. In GM news, GM is dropping the franchises of 70 percent of Cadillac dealerships nationwide. I guess that's one way to insure exclusivity of a brand. GM cutting most Cadillac dealers (Business Journal of Milwaukee)
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Replying to: steve_ (Sep 07, 2009 6:16 pm)
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Replying to: vinnyny (Sep 07, 2009 5:08 pm) 1,4, or 5 for the US. 2 is Canada, 3 is Mexico, and 6-9 are various factories in South America.
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Replying to: bumpy (Sep 08, 2009 7:22 am)
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Replying to: Mr_Shiftright (Sep 07, 2009 7:38 pm) |
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Replying to: vinnyny (Sep 08, 2009 2:10 pm) |
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Replying to: bumpy (Sep 08, 2009 7:22 am) |
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It was time to trade in the 07 Odyssey, so I went through my biennial ritual of visiting all the domestic car dealers first. I went to Ford, Buick, GMC, Lincoln and Chevy. (Chrysler just doesn't sell a competitive CUV/SUV) anymore. After considering the Flex, Enclave, Acadia, Yukon, MKX, Tahoe, and Traverse, we decided to get serious about the Tahoe and Traverse. Comparing the Tahoe and Traverse side-by-side, it was clear that the Traverse was more versatile and offered better value. This is especially true since the Tahoe's price (after rebates) has gone up so much since we last looked at it in 07. The Traverse was fairly well equipped at $40K. After some negotiation the dealer was firm on $36K while offering about $1K less than we realistically figured our trade was worth. We walked out, but left our contact information in case they found some additional money. The Traverse was their last 09 so we hoped new incentives would pop up. While we were there, I looked at their last 09 Corvette (selling my '05 C6 was the worst thing I've ever done). The MSRP was almost $10K higher than the 07 I considered buying two years ago. More power, added features, yup. $10K--no way. Our next stop was at the Mazda dealer. I have liked the CX-9 since it came out in 07 but it wasn't roomy enough for our family of six. Now that one daughter is away at college, I figured it might work this time. We found a loaded 09 that stickered about $200 less than the Traverse. In short order, we negotiated the price down to $32K with $1K more for our trade. In essence, the Mazda would be $5K cheaper than the Chevy. I called the Chevy dealer back to give him one more chance to "earn my business". I again emphasized that I really wanted to buy American and was willing to accept less and pay a little more to do so. He found another $500 but couldn't move any lower. I thanked him for his time and bought the Mazda. Every time I go to buy a new car, I give the American car dealers the first shot at my American dollars. When they come close to the foreign competition, I buy American (07 Pontiac G6 and 08 Saturn Astra). Usually, the domestic product is priced 10-15% higher and I end up buying foreign (07 Mercedes vs. 07 Cadillac CTS, 07 Odyssey vs. 07 Chrysler T&C, etc). Throw in ridiculously low resale values and there's no way to make the math work for most American cars. Furthermore, when I try to buy American, I can rarely find a car that's actually MADE IN AMERICA. In fact, more of the "foreign" cars I looked at were made in the US than their so-called "American" counterparts. (Mexico and Canada will never be part of the US--although the US may become part of Mexico at some point). My next purchase is likely to be a sports car or sedan. I'll look at the US makes again, but it's highly unlikely that I'll buy a $50K Cadillac CTS when I can have a BMW or Mercedes for less. I would consider a Pontiac G8, but the geniuses killed off that outstanding vehicle. I'll look at the Corvette, but considering the fact that a coupe will cost me almost what I paid for my convertible four years ago, it's unlikely that I'll buy another. Speaking of convertibles, I wouldn't mind having a toy like the Solstice or Sky, but they killed those off as well. I guess it really wouldn't matter anyway because they both cost $4-5K more than a comparable Miata and aren't much cheaper than a 370Z. In short: 1) American cars should be MADE IN AMERICA if you want to capture patriotic buyers; 2) I'll pay more for a truly American car, but not 10-15% more; 3) When I'm paying more for my American car, I don't want to give up content or quality (so lose the Rubbermaid interiors). Sorry for the long diatribe...
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