What's Right With General Motors

ukeright: They've got to be joking. Ignoring the
environmental ramifications of this vehicle for
a moment, the Hummer, no matter which incarnation,
is the fugliest thing on the planet.
For example, my friends and myself have given
the bird to every Hummer (all the varieties) that
we've seen. See F*** You and
your H2 for examples of people who despise the
Hummer.
In case you wonder if this vehicle deserves this
much vehemence, the answer is a resounding yes.

Esther

 

Thank you Rick Wagoner. :roll:

 

OMG... here we are in an energy crisis which is growing daily and we should applaud GM for their gas guzzling pickups and sports cars??

who gives a rats A** who makes the best performance car? its extremely difficult for me to see any good in a company that seems to ignore everything around them.

 

So the G6 doesn't show on the radar of Camray and Accord buyers. For a good reason. reliability of all GM's

 

First off, this is a great article. We are just throwing tomatos at you because this is like praising Bill Clinton at a George Bush rally (or visa-versa).

:tomato:

I can't rag on companies that make performance cars. I'd love to have a Ferrari, Porche or Corvette.

If GM wants to be known for that, God bless 'em.

But I remember 1973.

I remember my mother waiting in lines to buy gas on the odd days. We had a GM station wagon (an Oldsmobile, I believe) and it went through gas like Will Ferrell goes through beer.

What did they learn?

NOTHING.

I know it "takes time to turn a big ship" but GM isn't the U.S.S. Eisenhower, it is the Titanic.

They think they are invincible.

Go back in time to the early 90s. George Bush, Sr. got us tangled up in the middle east. Many believed that stopping on the borders of Baghdad left the issue unresolved. After the Clinton era, there was a pretty good chance that a Republican would be elected.

Bush, Jr. was a prime candidate to finish his father's war.

Would a war in the middle east increase the cost of gas or decrease it?

And not only did our own decissions effect prices, China started to buy more oil.

GM never saw the iceberg coming or they thought that they could "push on through."

As long as GM markets to the heart of the American Bell Curve and not just the performance end, they owe it to it's clients to make a car that is safe, fuel efficient and stylish.

I don't feel bad for GM. They are poor students and this is capitalism (Darwinism) at work.

Its too bad that GM has modeled their esistance after the ten-ton dinosaur instead of the aerodynamic and fuel efficient turtle.

:wave:

 

An animal that can't respond to its surroundings is pretty much going to DIE.

I sincerely hope the same is true for the car market. Except American car companies have the US government on their side.

Let's hope for Darwin's theory to work on GM....

 

In addition to what others have expressed, there is something else that highlights what is "not right with GM" (and, conversely, what is "right with Toyota and Honda"):

AP
Auto Suppliers Trust in GM at Low Level
By Dee-Ann Durbin, Associated Press Writer
Survey: Auto-Parts Suppliers' Trust in General Motors Corp. Is at Its Lowest Level in 15 Years

DETROIT (AP) -- Auto-parts suppliers' trust in General Motors Corp. is at its lowest level in 15 years, according to a survey by a Michigan consulting firm.

Eighty-five percent of the suppliers questioned who work with GM reported a poor working relationship and just 3 percent said they have a good or very good relationship. Fifty-three percent of suppliers said they prefer not to work with the world's largest automaker, saying the company has little regard for suppliers' financial stability.

....

Toyota Motor Corp. and Honda Motor Co. fared best in the survey. Sixty-three percent of suppliers have a good or very good relationship with Toyota and 53 percent say the same about Honda. Results for Nissan Motor Co. were mixed; 75 percent have a poor or adequate relationship and 25 percent have a good or very good relationship.

Just 3 percent of the suppliers who work with Toyota and Honda said they would prefer not to do business with those companies, compared to 36 percent of those who work with Ford and 29 percent of those who work with Chrysler.

Several auto suppliers have declared bankruptcy in recent months, hurt by high steel and oil prices and lack of business from GM and Ford, who have cut production as their market shares have fallen. Last week, Ford agreed to bail out its chief supplier, Visteon Corp., by taking back 24 unprofitable plants and paying hundreds of millions of dollars in restructuring costs.

Henke said all automakers pressure their suppliers to lower costs. But Toyota and Honda are better at working with suppliers to ensure that happens, he said.

Toyota sends its engineers to suppliers' plants to work together on ways to cut costs instead of threatening to use a cheaper supplier, Henke said. He also said Toyota doesn't punish suppliers for increasing their profit margin on a part as long as they're cutting costs. As a result, 73 percent of the suppliers who work with Toyota rate the company as one of their most preferred customers.

"One of the things that differentiates Honda and Toyota from everybody else is the fact that they have a philosophy of respect for the individual," Henke said. "It doesn't matter if its their employees, their customers, their dealers or their suppliers."

FULL STORY: http://biz.yahoo.com/ap/050531/automakers_...liers.html?.v=2

 

great article Tag!!

wow... i am constantly impressed with Toyota and more and more sure that i have done the right thing with this Prius in more ways than i can begin to know

 

I see everyone likes to knock GM., and American makers. They will change, it is called market changes.

 

THANKS AROYO...do have to hear BOTH sides

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(IALTMANN\";p=\"103335)</div>

Alrighty then....let's pull out the chart and.......D'Oh!

 

hEY TAG I'm a free market man, bought TOYOTA stock., and it is going down....Please fix this

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Arroyo\";p=\"86371)</div>

I'm as big a GM fan as can be! My grandmother drove a 68 Pontiac LeMans, my dad drove a 67 Pontiac Catalina (with a 421), and I own a 72 Pontiac GTO with a high compression 400. Up until recently, I was driving a 95 Firebird with a350 LT1, thus the name LT1bird. However, GM has changed and I don't really like the direction it's going. Instead of builing on the very popular Camaro/Firebird platform, GM (Bob Lutz) decided that those types of cars are too low-brow for today's consumers. I guess I have to thank him for pulling the plug on the F-body twins :x I agree that the GTO is a step in the right direction.... but it's ugly....butt ugly. I'm actually ashamed that the Australlian Monaro could actually be compared or even share in the rich heritage of the GTO. As far as I'm concerned I'd like to kick the "ol General in the NUTS!" Thank God they're still building Corvettes... or I'd have to dissown GM.

Sorry, I guess I just had to vent.

Just my .02

LT1bird

 

And Aroyo...if you look at your chart, the peak was during the "irrational exuberance" as the chairman of the SEC Mr Greenspan stated. The core value of this company is still there, you want to put charts up, show the dividends the company has paid out...Still though I want to make money now, so I got some Toyota Stock, so keep chatting up that stock baby and make me some money, thanks

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(IALTMANN\";p=\"103352)</div>

This is news. He was demoted? :lol:

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(IALTMANN\";p=\"103350)</div>

Here you go; fixed.......you're fine!

 

Thanks