Mark-
Maybe this is where I sound like a prick; and I apologize if I do, but....
Produce something, other than trucks, and a Corvette, that's worth $20K+. The last few GM's I owned were horrible; and they were late 90's vehicles; not ancient history. Think a '96 Cavalier (Bought new, on my urging, beacuse Chevy's were good cars) that had a tranny R&R'd 9 times in it's 100K miles with me; 6 times in warranty, to solve a service engine soon light. (Tranny ended up a broken harness, causing a poor voltage/signal; causing tranny pressure solenoid to burn out after a few K miles)
Add 2 fuel pumps; a gas tank, 3 or 4 water pumps, 2 A/C compressors, an alternator, a starter, an ECU, and shoddy fit/finish (Like door panels sooo thin, they crack when it gets Buffalo cold), all in 105K miles, and you get an unhappy owner... Most of this hasn't happened to my '63 Impala, or '71 K-10.
Then to add insult to injury, the General made us feel like trolls whenever we brought it in for warranty service. Actually lied to my wife about the ECU being covered under warranty...
You wonder why she bought a VW in 2002 instead? And is negotiating on an '07 now?
I had an '03 DTS (Bought a year old). The Northstar weeped at the block seam from 10K miles on, 2 A/C Compressors, an alternator, electrical glitches galore, a window that dropped out of it's track, and exploded in the door... The interior was beautiful; the exterior was beautiful...
Like Yogi Bera said.. Dejavu all over again... At least Cadillac was nice; but still... $60K cars shouldn't do that stuff....
I sold that earlier this year; and narrowed my purchase decisions to an SRT/8 Magnum, and a Volvo Cross Country before buying the Volvo.
Wanna ask me about a buddy who walked in with he keys to his '06 GMC 2500/HD, and his wife's '05 Envoy, and walked out with a Tundra and a Highlander? And his old man is a GM retiree? Lifelong GM guy... Still wrenches on his '66 Tempest on weekends...
Or, my Father's Aurora. Both of them. (Also, lifelong GM guy, no longer a GM buyer. Now, Mopar)
Call me and my buddies yuppies, traitors, whatever...
I love American cars; but we stopped making those years ago, and have been hell-bent on making poor replicas of Japanese Cars...
We need to get back to making what we do best; Front-Engine, Rear Drive, attractive, reliable cars... Period.
Remember the 300's when they came out a few years back? People lined up to buy an AMERICAN car. The first one this country produced in probably 2 decades.
Profits will fall in line after that...
Everytime I hear this, it makes my blood boil. Step out and buy an overpriced, under-quality product, because it's patriotic... People forget the root cause for American car manufacturers demise; We made bad products for 25+ years, apathetically, and we're paying for it now... Like a lot of other US industry...
Sorry for my disorganized rant; I know it'll draw ire, and I apologize, but this boils my blood everytime I hear it..
GM screwed me, repeatedly, for lots of $$, and now they want me to bail them out, all warm and fuzzy, by buying more of their cars? Doubt that's gonna happen... They can give me the "But things have changed" line a million times...
I doubt GM will go under; but this major, major restructuring will cause them to remember their product, and their customers. If so, maybe we can get back to the GM we knew and loved from decades past....
-Andy/Oldimpala