Driver's Seat: GM staring into abyss

Globalization and free trade will soon prove to be the biggest economic failures ever.

What i don't see is anyone discussing what caused the problems within the Detroit-3. This did not all begin with the failing economy and the rising gas prices that caused auto sales to drop dramatically.

The Detroit-3 are begging Congress to throw more money at them to fix their liquidity problems. How about fixing the mismangement of all 3 companies thatcaused this entire scenario in the first place.

If congress throws more money at the Detroit-3, without stipulations requiring major changes in business practices, all they are doing is wasting out tax dollars yet again as this will solve nothin other then keep 3 struggling mismangaged major corporations from going bankrupt for a few more months.

then they wil be back asking for more handouts.

being a retired auto worker 30.7 years at general motors,i would like you to know that our weekly pay supported your government to the likes of twenty eight percent.affecting many states ,and the economy of our united states.also general motors over the years has done many things for this country of ours.if you would just take the time to study your history.also with out a union the autoworker would not be in the middle class.they help build the united states auto company with there sweat and shorten years.for those who would rather buy foreign products,what about the new wave of INDIA,CHINA and other countrys taking new jobs from america that many never would have thought of. such as enginering,computer programmers ETC. america needs to keep all manufacturing jobs in the USA,so when in danger we will not have to put a order in to CHINA for F18 jets, or our future ABRAMS tank.please quit bashing the automakers and help these companies to become self reliant so we can have our hydrogen and electric cars and trucks made in the USA.for the better of all our communities and future  programs for all our citizens.galen rounds

HaHaHa you suck.

Stick a fork in GM they are done.  There is no way ever in hell I would spend a cent on there crap ever.

HaHaHa

I'm sorry Galen.  You may be right about the importance of the automotive industry to the U.S., but that still doesn't change the fact that these companies have performed abysmally.  In an effort to maximize profits, they have neglected critical R&D and savings for the future.  These companies were making money hand over fist a decade ago.  Where is that money now?  Now, of course our economy cannot afford the failure of these corporations.  As a nation, we need those jobs and that revenue, but unless the government takes some stake in the resolution of this problem instead of handing out cash for nothing, we all suffer more.  If the taxpayers are going to pay for these companies to stay alive and retool, then the taxpayers deserve some of the profits when they return.  The executives have gotten their share, now it's the people's turn.

And this is the company that wants to buy out Chrysler?! Why,

 so they can burn thru their cash reserves and then they can both go out of business. I say let them sink,and then Chrysler can buy them out for pennies on the dollar. Don't let their poor management destroy two companies.

As the son of a father who was a loyal GM customer most of his life, I bought my first car from GM. A Chevy Vega in 1972. It ran for about six months and started leaking oil. A lot of oil. I knew from a friend who was a GM worker that GM was aware they had a problem with the aluminum block engine in the Vega. So I took it to the dealership. But the dealership acted completely ignorant and had no interest in helping me solve my problem. That was my last GM and American car. And in my estimation, that attitude about quality was a cultural issue for GM that eventually rotted the company from within. They now deserve what they get. Except we taxpayers will be paying the price.

Galen I have two GM vehicles A 01 Silhouette (58k miles and a 04 Colorado 33K miles.) Both receive frequent oil changes and other recommended maintenance..  I spent $2200.00 in repairs to the 01 last spring. A thousand of which in repairs for which the Dextron class action case came up.  Unfortunately I was unaware of (the suit)  until too late! Loose, deteriorated  manifold etc. You may of heard of this.

 The Colorado sits in the shop awaiting a new cylinder head.  Already had a brake failure, pedal to the floor.  A  heater blower, hoses dangling precariously  underneath my vehicle. 33 thousand miles. My mom bought a new 2000  Chevy which suffered a fuel pump loss. At 18K miles. My 78 Buick had two cracked cylinder heads and permanently leaking gasket less exhaust manifolds prior to 50 thousand. Never overheated! Now the point of all this is:

 Can you figure out why I will never buy another GM product?

This is simple:  First, the automakers DO need to go bankrupt.  This might finally wake up America to the seriousness of the problem.  The automakers and dealers are no different than the dirty mortgage sellers contributing to the housing crisis.  GM insists on making HUGE gas-guzzling vehicles (Surburban, Tahoe, etc.) that about 90% of people don't really need. The public is no honest broker in this as well. I am sure 90% of gas-guzzling vehicles sold could easily be replaced by a fuel-efficient sedan.  They are mostly driven in the city and rarely see off-road use and almost are never used to tow anything.  And what about the introduction of hybrids.  Am I really supposed to feel good that a Escalade hybrid gets 20mpg highway versus 12 mpg?  20 mpg is still horrible, especially for a vehicle that is hardly ever used for its intended purpose. 

I feel that GM and others should start over.  IF THE GOVERNMENT bails them out, the tax payers (via the government), should have a say in stipulations governing the bailout.  No high salary setbacks for CEOs on the way out.  Also, the unions should be abolished.  Who needs $ to install a seat in a car?  The unions bill bankrupt every business and see everything they are supposed to stand for ruin.  They do not have the workers interest at heart, only their own.

Back in the spring, my wife and I traded our GM minivan in for an import sedan.  It gets better mileage and will retain its value far longer and is 100% more reliable than the minivan we traded in.  It was only three years old, but it was already starting to fall apart, with only 36K miles on it. 

Going bankrupt will finally force retooling of the plants to make fuel efficient vehicles (to the tune of 35-50 mpg).  It can be done, but I fear that the lower price of gasoline these past few weeks will cause people to forget just how bad they do not need their gas guzzler to navigatge through the surburban terrain.

Corrected Text

This is simple:  First, the automakers DO need to go bankrupt.  This might finally wake up America to the seriousness of the problem.  The automakers and dealers are no different than the dirty mortgage sellers contributing to the housing crisis.  GM insists on making HUGE gas-guzzling vehicles (Surburban, Tahoe, etc.) that about 90% of people don't really need. The public is no honest broker in this as well. I am sure 90% of gas-guzzling vehicles sold could easily be replaced by a fuel-efficient sedan.  They are mostly driven in the city and rarely see off-road use and almost are never used to tow anything.  And what about the introduction of hybrids.  Am I really supposed to feel good that a Escalade hybrid gets 20mpg highway versus 12 mpg?  20 mpg is still horrible, especially for a vehicle that is hardly ever used for its intended purpose. 

I feel that GM and others should start over.  IF THE GOVERNMENT bails them out, the tax payers (via the government), should have a say in stipulations governing the bailout.  No high salary setbacks for CEOs on the way out.  Also, the unions should be abolished.  Who needs $55.00 per hour to install a seat in a car?  The unions will bankrupt every business and see everything they are supposed to stand for ruin.  They do not have the workers interest at heart, only their own.

Back in the spring, my wife and I traded our GM minivan in for an import sedan.  It gets better mileage and will retain its value far longer and is 100% more reliable than the minivan we traded in.  It was only three years old, but it was already starting to fall apart, with only 36K miles on it. 

Going bankrupt will finally force retooling of the plants to make fuel efficient vehicles (to the tune of 35-50 mpg).  It can be done, but I fear that the lower price of gasoline these past few weeks will cause people to forget just how bad they do not need their gas guzzler to navigatge through the surburban terrain.

There's many glass houses in the automakers' neighborhoods.  Unions have helped build these companies into great pillars of our economy, but they've also helped bring them to their knees with out rageous demands.  Management has made necessary decisions to bring economies of scale so must of us can afford multiple vehicles, but they didn't stay ahead or even keep up with off-shore automakers (you think they'd have learned back in the '70s) and now they're behind the 8-ball.

Gov't stay out.  If GM goes under, it goes under.  Someone will pick up the pieces seeing a great deal.  Everyone (management, stockholders and unions) needs to do some serious team-work and belt tightening.  In short - there's no easy answer, and throwing money at it won't do it.

Since the 1970's they all knew this day was coming. Instead of having a back up plan to poor sales of SUV's etc, the excutives of the 3 have declided that profit NOW was more important. Oh well, right? Kinda like going to Disney World when you knew you were being laid off. You may have done it, but now you are broke. This is the auto industry. They don't have a clue how to build a car I want to buy, and I am NOT buying one, even if I did want to buy one! My own future is uncertain right now.

Stop giving money to GM and Ford, you're just throwing our money away as they both lose! Let one of them go bankrupt and then the other will have less competition and may actually make a profit! They both suck anyways, if the product sucks why do we keep investing in it? ..because it's American? They're starting to make America look average.

Energy Independence needs to be included in the realm of our economic issues. Our dependence on foreign oil impacts every aspect of our society and economy. This past year we were slammed by high prices at the pump that drained our wallets. The cost of food and every consumer product has risen because of increased production and shipping costs. The average family had no money left over to spend, save or invest. So we tighten our belts, we spend less because we have less and sadly that results in more job losses. We have so much available in the way of FREE energy, solar and wind that can be utilized to replace oil. Hybrid and electric plug in cars would replace another huge percentage of our dependence on foreign oil. The last stimulus checks cost our government 168 BILLION. It did zip for our economy.That money could have gone a long way towards getting America started on the path to energy independence.Jeff Wilson has a great new book out called The Manhattan Project of 2009 Energy Independence NOW. I highly recommend this book to anyone who is worried about our economy and interested in seeing our country become energy independent!  http://www.themanhattanprojectof2009.com  

i think obama is right, it is time to admit defeat and retreat, but not from there...from here

if you have spent most of you life building a successful business....you are now the enemy!

if you have spent your life providing for your family and their future...the new axis of evil!

there are still countries who appreciate your efforts...you still have 2 1/2 months.

america no longer has the back bone to be a reliable ally to the free world,  good luck and I'll miss you all.

Between the powerfull unions demanding outrageous pay and benefits for generally low-skilled work, while demanding that the companies remain inefficient to keep these low-skilled workers paying union dues, I don't have much sympathy for the American auto industry. I find it interesting that I haven't been hearing about the American factories of foreign-branded vehicles suffering the same quality and profitability problems. It's too bad that GM, Ford and Chrysler never seemed to learn how to compete effectively with Toyota, Honda and Nissan vehicles that are also built in this country.

I strongly believe that unions are generally like a cancer to our national economy, sucking the life right out of our economy until it kills the host. Maybe the unions should use some of their massive funds to bailout the very companies that they are killing!

the death of almost 5000 brave American soldiers in 5 years doing the job they signed up for:   a bush war crime

the murder of 2,000,000 babies a year (mostly for convienience):  my right

why does this not make sense to me

I once read the average hourly rate for a GM worker with everything taken into account was around $73. Many will disagree, especially ones who worked/work in the auto industry, but I can't comprehend the sanity of such compensation. Individuals with Masters and Doctorates do not make this kind of money. How can anyone substantiate an assembly line worker with simple labor skills earn this type of money? Yes, a lot of it is loaded on the back end but it still has to be paid. Unions WERE great, unfortuantely they're driving many American company's out of business. It's also very easy to say overseas workers, businesses, governments, blah blah blah create unfair conditions which are the main problems but reality is labor costs are just too high for these types of jobs. The fight for middle class, which I feel is far beyond middle class wages, is starting to create a new "once employed" class. Don't blame others, look in the mirror. This is not the only reason but certainly a big contributor.

i haven't got it yet, but i just went from have a pack a day to three packs a day so you anti-smoking nazi's can pay for my cancer treatments. i just wish i was a drinker

if gm files chapter 11 the judge can start looking at union contracts including pension and medical,they did this to the coal mines in southern illinois some years ago,they claimed they couldn't sell the mines to satisfy their creditors with the union contracts and pension,medical benifits to retirees,so poof! no more medical and pensions were shifted to the feds,the uaw went for obama in a big way and now it's payback time...the bailout will go through

the right and opportunity to succeed goes hand in hand with the right and opportunity to fail.  survival of the fittest

Chrysler was already bailed out twenty years ago.  I remember the government servants driving around all these crappy K-cars as part of the bailout.  The Big Three already were given government money to make 80 MPG sedans back in the 90s and squandered that and focused on the good times a-rollin SUVs and huge pick-em-up trucks. I  bought two God-awful Dodge Caravans, both of which dropped their transmissions...now I own Mazdas and Hondas.

Let the so-called 'Big 3' go the way of American Motors Corporation.

The government should provide venture capital to help small upstarts like Tesla and Aptera and Miles Motors make the new generation of electric and hybrid elecric vehicles. GM could sell its Volt design to help pay its creditors.

If Uncle Sugar does step in, it should impose strict conditions that the companies it saves make cars with at least 40 MPG and trucks with at least 28 mpg.  Impose these restrictions on imports as well to level the playing field.

I don't think the unions alone are causing the failure at GM. I do think unions served a useful, and wonderful purpose during the days of John L Lewis.  In the mines.

Today? The "union" is a cash skimmer. Nothing else. Get your hand out of my pocket!

the biggest reason for not bailing out these or any other company....

if a tree falls in a forest it creates a hole in the canopy that allows the next generation of flora to flourish...propping up these companies prevents the next generation of innovators from getting started.

the biggest reason to keep government out of the business of green tech...

government funded science has an insurmountable advantage over the next great discovery

What I find ironic is that many Japanese auto makers like Toyota have built plants in Fremont, CA and Kentucky and are churning out "Japanese" cars with American skilled labor. Why can't GM do that? Find out why and change it. I think everything needs to be overhauled. Why would things be so inefficient at GM? Maybe they should go bankrupt. This would give them an opportunity to shutter the most inefficient factories and when the economy turns around they can produce newer more efficient factories. At NUMMI, which is a coordinated effort between GM and Toyota to produce cars in Fremont, California, they employ this idea called "Kaizen" which means "continuous improvement". When workers see a way to do things better, safer, or more efficiently, they get rewarded. Does GM do this with all their plants? If not, why not. The answer is easy, take a page out of the Japanese book of doing things. Just copy them, it obviously works. You're already churning out cars side by side with them, so you're pretty much copying anyways.