GM may be "bought out"

Sorry, I accidently pulled the trigger before I even started - premature articulation?

I've had a lot of contact with GM engineers from both the Chevy division and the performance division over the past year. Every one of them has, basically, sung the same tune. They are being prevented from doing anything new and innovative by management which is, essentially, being dictated to by the bean counters.

The Impala, and the Malibu ( I'm using these models because I have been renting both for periods of up to 2 weeks for a year). Both are good cars. They need "pizazz" They need new interiors. What the GM engineers are allowed to do is look in the "parts bin" and select components from other divisions, domestic and overseas. As long as there are minimum R&D costs attached. What ends up happening is a warmed up mess of mediocore products. One engineer wanted to update the seating in the Malibu with a seat design taken from Saab. He wasn't allowed because it would have cost a few pennies more than the budget. GM does't have a single modern V6 or V8 engine block in the corporation. Even Corvette is still using the ancient Chevy "short block" - upgraded and powerful, but still a 50 year old design. Now they are stuck because they don't have the capitol to go to more modern, efficient designs. The short sightedness goes on and on!

Comments on my Prius were that GM would never do something like that, even though engineering would love to, because it would be a loser for at least 5 years before the design was perfected - no bean counter support for that! Well, guess who bit the bullet and did it?

Unless something drastic is done - GM will finally nickel and dime itself into the ground.