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Author Topic: General Motors Death Watch: The End  (Read 2182 times)

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Offline Chris

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General Motors Death Watch: The End
« on: June 01, 2009, 11:16:41 PM »
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There’s no doubt in my mind that GM will not recover from its federal stewardship to emerge, as Dan Neil puts it, “smaller, leaner, smarter and hungrier.” Sure, I’ll spot Dan smaller (obviously). Leaner? An efficient government-funded company is an oxymoron to rival military intelligence. Speaking of which, smarter? GM is as far from smart as Steven Hawking is from professional wresting. In fact, listening to GM CEO Fritz Henderson bleat to the press today, it struck me that the automaker is pulling a Mark Mothersbaugh: it’s de-evolving. Less obscurely, the company is actually getting stupider.

To wit: when Bloomberg asked Fritz whether there would be any changes to post-C11 GM’s corporate culture (i.e. when would someone shit-can the overpaid yes men and women who’d run General Motors into the ground), Henderson said there was no need for an executive cull. “Natural attrition” would ensure fresh blood. Well, he would say that, wouldn’t he? After all, any such overdue housecleaning would start by sweeping Fritz Henderson out with the rest of the garbage hanging around RenCen (e.g. HUMMER).

Even so, it was a stunning admission that all that talk about GM’s preparations for a government-backed renaissance—trimming dealers, reigning-in the United Auto Workers, softening-up bond-holders, etc.— was complete and utter horseshit. More specifically, Henderson was spouting the same crap GM’s been foisting on shareholders since Nikita Khrushchev used shoe-leather to pound home a point.

The truth: GM’s management still doesn’t have the slightest idea how to right the sinking ship—sorry, raise the Titanic. Henderson point blank refused to specify a deadline for a return to profitability. No goals. No timelines. Nada. If I didn’t know better, I’d think Rick Wagoner’s hand-picked clone/successor was trying to give this GM Death Watch series closure, in that “here we are at the beginning again” way. But no; there is no plan.

(more...)

I like Robert Farago... I consider TTAC to be one of the more intelligent car sites on the internet.  They have managed to follow the disaster that is the Big Three since the beginning.  Follow the link for the post-game analysis.  And digging up Jack Baruth's columns at TTAC is worth it for the outrage.
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Offline rich_t

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Re: General Motors Death Watch: The End
« Reply #1 on: June 02, 2009, 03:13:28 PM »
IMO GM died the moment it took federal tax dollars for a bail out.
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Offline Wineslob

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Re: General Motors Death Watch: The End
« Reply #2 on: June 02, 2009, 04:06:20 PM »
Quote from: rich_t on June 02, 2009, 03:13:28 PM
IMO GM died the moment it took federal tax dollars for a bail out.



+1 and they were too stupid to see the "bailout" for what it was/is.

I think D6 had it right f*ckem.
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Offline Randy

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Re: General Motors Death Watch: The End
« Reply #3 on: July 26, 2009, 02:05:47 PM »
GM died back in the mid 80's. It's taken 25 years for the bloated carcass to roll to an almost stop. The gubbamint threw mega-dollars out to extend the hill farther.
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Offline Chris

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Re: General Motors Death Watch: The End
« Reply #4 on: July 26, 2009, 02:54:18 PM »
They used an exisintg platform to develop a small roadster and claim its too expensive to produce.  It gets the axe.  They used an existing platform and marketed a mid-sized sedan that is competitive to (and can whip the pants off of) the BMW 3-series.  It gets the axe.  Meanwhile, dealers are stuck trying to sell garbage like the Pontiac G6 and the Chevy Aveo.  No wonder these guys went bankrupt.
« Last Edit: July 26, 2009, 02:56:20 PM by Chris »
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Offline rich_t

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Re: General Motors Death Watch: The End
« Reply #5 on: July 26, 2009, 03:03:42 PM »
The increased costs due to union labor didn't help much either.
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Offline Gratiot

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Re: General Motors Death Watch: The End
« Reply #6 on: July 26, 2009, 07:04:01 PM »
Quote from: rich_t on July 26, 2009, 03:03:42 PM
The increased costs due to union labor didn't help much either.

:whatever:
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Offline Wineslob

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Re: General Motors Death Watch: The End
« Reply #7 on: August 05, 2009, 04:15:26 PM »
Hummm,Toyota "adder" for workers bennies per car....$200.00.........GM.............$2000..........no problem there.
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“The national budget must be balanced. The public debt must be reduced; the arrogance of the authorities must be moderated and controlled. Payments to foreign governments must be reduced, if the nation doesn't want to go bankrupt. People must again learn to work, instead of living on public assistance.”

        -- Marcus Tullius Cicero, 55 BC (106-43 BC)

The unobtainable is unknown at Zombo.com



"Practice random violence and senseless acts of brutality"

If you want a gender neutral bathroom, go pee in the forest.
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