The Conservative Cave
Interests => Around the House & In the Garage => Topic started by: Chris 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.†(http://www.thetruthaboutcars.com/dan-nel-is-insane/) 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...) (http://www.thetruthaboutcars.com/general-motors-death-watch-260-the-end/)
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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IMO GM died the moment it took federal tax dollars for a bail out.
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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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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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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.
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The increased costs due to union labor didn't help much either.
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The increased costs due to union labor didn't help much either.
:whatever:
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Hummm,Toyota "adder" for workers bennies per car....$200.00.........GM.............$2000..........no problem there.