Sucks To Be Gm

[Phil Reed]

Talked with a friend who has a new Z28 Camaro on order from GM. Been on order for probably a year. When the bankruptcy went thru Mon., he called his GM contact in Detroit to see when he would get his car. His inside contact said never........Mon all the Big Wigs came in and cancelled all models like this and said they would be making "nothing but hybirds now".cry:evil:evilbangbang

With all the money spent to get it to this point...why don't you make some to recoup your money????????????????????????

 

[bobs409]

So they just came out with the new Camaro and it's done already?

Personally, GM and every other car manufacturer hasn't made anything I'd buy in the past 30 years so it doesn't affect me directly but this sounds like it's really the end now.

That Obama has a finger in everybody's pie doesn't he? I really hate to think where we will be by 2010. It's not looking good... This is just what he wanted. Now they have control over 2 of the big car makers. Hybrids doesn't surprise me in the least.

 

[petepedlar]

Interesting article that I found the other day.
Dave







Go Ask Alice About Plans to Save GM, Chrysler

By Jerry Flint
WardsAuto.com, May 27, 2009 8:00 AM



Commentary
“Curiouser and curiouser” is a phrase from “Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland,” but now also describes Washington’s direction of Detroit.

We know the Obama Admin. believes bigger government is better government. But when it comes to Detroit, it believes Detroit auto makers must get smaller and smaller to survive. Every action is aimed at shrinking Chrysler and General Motors, even though this is contrary to everything we know about the automotive business.

I cannot think of any auto company or brand that saved itself by getting smaller. American Motors under George Romney; Chrysler under Lee Iacocca and then again under Bob Lutz; Pontiac under Bunkie Knudsen, John DeLorean and Bill Hoglund;, Fiat under Sergio Marchionne; They all rescued themselves by adding new cars that caught the imagination of buyers, not by chopping their companies down.

AMC came up with the Rambler compact. Chrysler prospered with minivans and swoopy LH sedans. Pontiac wowed consumers with performance, wide-track Bonnevilles and GTOs. Nissan revived the Z cars. Fiat hit a home run with its little 500 minicar.

They survived by growing. Today’s best and brightest think they can save GM and Chrysler by whittling them down and handing them over to the United Auto Workers union.

I fear Chrysler and GM will turn into Alice’s Cheshire cat: It “vanished quite slowly, beginning with the end of the tail, and ending with the grin, which remained some time after the rest of it had gone.”

But it’s not just Washington. Detroit executives are focused on shrinking, too. GM’s European Opel unit engineered many of the new small cars it plans to build and sell in the U.S., yet it is making no fight to save its European operation.

Curiouser and curiouser!

Then there is Fiat’s deal with Chrysler. Get realistic. It could be three years before Fiat cars are built here in Chrysler factories, if it could happen at all. Melding Italian underbodies and engines with Chrysler’s U.S. body designs and factory production technology does not sound like a slam dunk.

What’s more, Fiat is supposed to help Chrysler sell its vehicles abroad, but Fiat is no great global seller. It’s strong in Italy and Brazil, period. Its China operation was a disaster. It has nothing in North America.

And as far as Fiat helping Chrysler sell Jeeps, Chrysler has been selling Jeeps overseas for half a century. Chrysler even built Jeeps in China and Brazil.

Fiat had better learn how to sell abroad, itself, before it talks about helping Chrysler.

Curiouser and Curiouser!

Then there is the story about “too many dealers.” Yes, there are too many retailers. But that’s not why GM and Chrysler are losing billions; it’s because too many Americans prefer Toyota, Honda and other foreign brands. The answer is to build better cars.

Cutting the number of dealers won’t help sales. In fact, right now fewer dealers might mean more frightened customers and fewer sales as consumers worry about service, parts and resale value.

I want GM and Chrysler to reorganize and come back stronger. But the way things are looking now, I keep thinking of that Cheshire cat vanishing quite slowly until all that’s left is the grin.

 

[raymar58409]

Something tells me there are going to be some sleepless nights in Ohio. I worked in a Buick, Pontiac, GMC dealer and thought I knew all their tricks to get out of backing what they sell . But I learned more when they refused to fix my oil burning ,knocking engine in my suburban. If you love GM you won't like the back window of my Suburban. I wouldn't buy another GM EVER!

::evil

RAY

 

[tripower]

Sure am glad the unions will know what to do....

 

[petepedlar]

................... What time is lunch ????

 

[tripower]

I hear that train a comen...Its rollen round the bend...So much for the unions...cause I'm looking for retrainen again......

 

[yellow wagon]

I have a friend that JUST ordered a 2010 Camaro SS....like last week! Wonder if he is SOL on that also?

 

[raymar58409]

those guys should be glad.........now they dont have to pay for them POS camaros

Now they can use the money to get a nice 409 car huh?

Ray

 

[Rockfish39]

Meet Brian Deese

Tuesday , June 02, 2009
By Glenn Beck

ADVERTISEMENTHere's the one thing and there's absolutely nothing funny about it: the wunderkind in charge of saving our auto industry is a 31-year-old with about as much experience as a summer intern.

Despite having no formal business education, no business experience and no auto industry experience, 31-year-old Brian Deese is now in charge of dismantling General Motors.

So what does this guy's resume look like? It should be impressive, considering he's managing America's $458,000 per day involuntary investment.

Deese grew up in a Boston suburb, the son of a political science professor at Boston College. He moved to Vermont and attended Middlebury College, where he studied political science and also took time to host a campus radio show called "Bedknobs and Beatniks," described in one write-up as "a format of music, news, discussion and banter."
He graduated college in 2000 and then it was onto a pair of non-profit think tanks: the Center for Global Development and the Center for American Progress.

Eventually Deese went to Yale for a law degree, but a few credits short of graduating, he went "on leave" to work on Senator Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign, quickly becoming her top economic policy staffer.

Last summer, Deese moved to the Obama campaign as a deputy economic policy director and, just before this current gig, he served on Obama's transition team as an economic adviser.

He was apparently the only full-time member of the auto task force from election night until about Valentine's Day, which Deese says was, "a little scary."

What should be more than a little scary for GM, much less the American people, is that however smart Deese may be, he has literally no private sector experience; he is not formally trained in economics or business; and, according to The Times, he "never spent much time flipping through the endless studies about the nature of the American and Japanese auto industries."

In fact, until a few months ago, the closest Deese came to an automobile plant, was sleeping in a GM parking lot, where Pontiac G5s have been made since the plant's 1960s heyday.

By the way, thanks to Deese's plan, there won't be a Pontiac anymore.
So, this is what one of those "uniquely qualified" geniuses handpicked by President Obama look like.

Feeling good about your investment, America?

With only one out of five Americans supporting the auto bailout in the first place; I wonder what kind of support there is for the inexperienced Brian Deese to tinker with the auto industry and change capitalism? I'm not an economist, but, like Deese, I am "on leave" from Yale. So I guess that makes me "uniquely qualified" to take a guess at the number: zero.

Which, ironically, is just a hair less than what GM's stock is now worth.

 

[boxerdog]

It's kinda back on topic, but the Camaro is still in the latest ads where GM is reinventing itself. Might mean something, might not.

Don't really know what all of this scrappage legislation is going to do. There is plenty of junk that could/should be scrapped without getting into anything really desirable. The problem is our elected buffoons don't know the difference, and a lot of folks drive junk out of necessity. We will see which version makes the final cut, for sure one of them will.

 

[hotrod 409]

New Camaro

Not sure what is happening at G.M. (Government Motors) but to-day I was in Oshawa Ontario where the new Camaro is built. One lot at plant had line upon line of new Camaro's also Car haulers full of Camaro's leaving plant for shipment to dealers. Sorry didn't have my camera to take picture. Also a neighbour around corner just took delivery to-day of new Camaro (yellow w/black striping) from Logan Chev in Brampton Ontario. Brought it home showed his wife & kids car then put it in garage. Will try and get picture to post on weekend if I see him and he gives me OK to photo car.
regards to all
hotrod 409

 

[oil4kids]

Troy A. Clarke
Group Vice President
President, GM North America



First off, I'd like to thank you for being a GM customer. Your current and future business means a lot to us. Given all of the recent media coverage about GM, I am writing you today to address some questions you may have, and to assure you that we are here to stay and ready to serve you.

As you may know, GM is using an expedited, court-supervised process to accelerate the reinvention of our company. At the core of that reinvention is a commitment that we will put the customer first in all that we do — starting with great cars, trucks and crossovers, and the best sales and service experience possible. We want to earn your trust in several ways, including:

Your GM Dealers — They are very much open for business and ready to meet your sales and service needs. And even though we are seeking buyers for our Saturn and Saab brands, have just announced the selection of a buyer for the HUMMER brand, and have decided to eventually phase out Pontiac, those dealerships also remain open and ready for service. The bottom line is service for your vehicle will always be available through authorized GM retail and service facilities by GM-trained Goodwrench experts, with Genuine GM Parts on hand.

Your Next GM Vehicle — At this, the most important moment in the history of our company, our dedication to high-quality, fuel-efficient and outstanding-value vehicles has never been greater. Purchase a new GM product, and we stand behind it with a U.S. government-backed,1 comprehensive 100,000-Mile/5-Year Powertrain Limited Warranty.2 Combined with Roadside Assistance and Courtesy Transportation Programs, it is the Best Coverage in America. As I said before, our GM dealerships are very much open for business, and banks and credit unions are lending and continue to offer some of the best rates available to qualified buyers. To find information about GM dealerships in your area, please visit GM.com/vehicles/dealer.

Your General Motors — For over 100 years, GM has fueled America's passion for the automobile. Propelled by the spirit and commitment of our people, we will become the New GM, a company that makes Americans proud, and one that can compete successfully with anyone in the world. All of us at GM are confident that we will emerge a leaner, stronger company for you, offering the most compelling vehicles possible from our Chevrolet, Buick, GMC and Cadillac brands. I invite you to stay up to date on our promising new future by visiting GMreinvention.com.

As I said at the outset, we are genuinely grateful for your business, and we hope that you'll stay with us. If you are considering buying a new vehicle, please review a special offer for our owners. Then, visit GM.com/owner to see how this can be combined with other current incentives — it's our way of saying "Thank You" for your ongoing support.

Sincerely,

Troy A. Clarke
Group Vice President
President, GM North America

 

[dq409]

Troy Clarke ain`t got a clue!!! Neither does anyone who works in the top floors of GM!!
How do you think they got in this mess?

You have to produce cars people want and look at how long it took them to come out with the Camaro again!!??

Got their butts spanked by the Mustangs for how many years now???

I really don`t think the quality of their products are sub-par to Toyota's or any other import. That might have been try a few years ago but that also is the problem.
GM, Ford and MoPar let that be true for far too many years and they can`t shake that view even now that they do make a reliable car.

The perception of the buying public is that they don`t have quality but I say they do.

It's a sad day for America,,,,

 

[Rockfish39]

What did he say???

... we stand behind it with a U.S. government-backed,1 comprehensive 100,000-Mile/5-Year Powertrain Limited Warranty.2 Combined with Roadside Assistance and Courtesy Transportation Programs, it is the Best Coverage in America. As I said before, our GM dealerships are very much open for business...

Central Florida just got completely hammered by a number of dealers, like Holler Chevrolet in downtown Orlando, all loosing their francise licenses. Holler Chevy has been selling GM cars in FLA for 70 years. The old man was even a VP in GM marketing from 1927-1942. No warning, just an overnight letter from Detroit.

The idea behind this is that all of these dealerships invites too much competition and drives sales prices down therefore reducing profits.

OH, OK People in Orlando are having a hard time scraping together $60K for a new Vette here, so now they will be willing to pay $75K to get one and have to go to Bolling Green, KY to boot for the privelege. Yeah, got it!!!!!!!!

These fanchises cost GM nothing. The franchisees pay the freight
Where did these people go to business school???

Oh yeah, I forgot...Brian is a poly-sci major

and my personal favorite: "US Government backed" ?????? :eek:
In a free market economy? ????

Can anyone say Tatra, or Yugo, or British Leyland???

Socialist, Marxist PIGS!

 

[dq409]

Can anyone say Tatra, or Yugo, or British Leyland???

Socialist, Marxist PIGS!

How do you really feel???


:ROFL:ROFL

In todays paper,,, Camaro convertible due out next year,,,,,

 

[raymar58409]

11 most feared words, "hello, I'm from the government and I'm here to help you"



Ray

 

[skipxt4]

A local Chevy dealership, announced today, that the new 2010 Camaro's are here. I guess that's a good sign.

 

[65FO-OH-9]

The People's Car...

Only good rumor I have heard recently is that the Pontiac G8 "may"
become a Chevrolet ??(kinda backwards!!?? ) They want to get back the Police/Taxi business from the Crown Victoria!
I will keep my fingers crossed. The G8 is a BA mosheen!

-Mark.:eek:

 

[Richard/SIA]

The "Messiah" can fix it all with legislation!

Got this in my e-mail this morning.
I think I recognize some of these names, this illustrates why Gov. political hacks and congress should never have any say in the management of any company.

Gear-heads of the world unite!

Ah, the automobile industry is now "In good hands." This is directed particularly to you engineers.

Subject: Automotive Industry Challenge... David Cole

(From a senior level Chrysler person)

Monday morning I attended a breakfast meeting where the speaker/guest was David E. Cole, Chairman, Center for Automotive Research (CAR and Professor at the Univ. of Michigan .
You have all likely heard CAR quoted, or referred to in the auto industry news lately.

Mr. Cole, who is an engineer by training, told many stories of the difficulty of working with the folks that the Obama administration has sent to save the auto industry. There have been many meetings where a 30+ year experience automotive expert has to listen to a newcomer to the industry, someone with zero manufacturing experience, zero auto industry experience, zero business experience, zero finance experience, and zero engineering experience, tell them how to run their business.

Mr. Cole's favorite story is as follows;

There was a team of Obama people speaking to Mr. Cole (Engineer, automotive experience 40+ years, Chairman of CAR).
They were explaining to Mr. Cole that the auto companies needed to make a car that was electric and liquid natural gas (LNG) with enough combined fuel to go 500 miles so we wouldn't "need" so many gas stations (A whole other topic).
They were quoting BTUs of LNG and battery life that they had looked up on some website.

Mr. Cole explained that to do this you would need a trunk FULL of batteries and a LNG tank at big as a car to make that happen and that there were problems related to the laws of physics that prevented them from...

The Obama person interrupted and said (and I am quoting here) "These laws of physics? Whose rules are those, we need to change that.
[Some of the others wrote down the law name so they could look it up]
We have the congress and the administration. We can repeal that law, amend it, or use an executive order to get rid of that problem.
That's why we are here, to fix these sorts of issues". :stooges