GM... Yikes

http://news.yahoo.com/fc/business/automobiles_and_driving

SAD!!

maybe if they made a quality product and stuff that people would repeatedly buy they wouldnt have to do that. i was wondering the other day who ok'ed the HHR and that other ugly truck a couple of years ago. that is some bad decision making.

hummer

'nough said

GM has nobody to blame but themselves. If they would have re-tooled and started thinking about alternative energy vehicles 10 years ago, they would be on top right now. Ford and Chrysler should take notice as well. GM's car quality rating went up a few years ago as well as other american car companies, however it may have been too late.
They lost a ton of customers in the late 80's throuh mid 90's because they were producing crap. People like me, who were long time GM loyalists had to go in another direction, which for me was Honda. I have been a Honda buyer since '82 had a lapse of judgment in 1990 and bought a Dodge Caravan that I owned for 6 months then had to bail on it. It was loaded with problems, typical american made car quirks, rattles, poor mpg etc., etc.
It's not too late, however, GM now has to push hard into coming up with creative plans for bio-diesel, gas/electric hybrids and fuel cell technology.
Perhaps this will be their wake up call.
I feel really bad for all those people that are going to loose their jobs a GM.
It wasn't their fault that their company has no vision.

It has so little to do with that honestly. What GMs problem is that it has for years caved too much to the unions and their unrealistic demands. The unions are the cause of the downfall of the automakers and airlines just as equally or IMHO more so than bad management and planning.

The unions of today are unrealistic in their demands and are relics of a time past. I'm not saying their irrelevant, just that if they don't change with the times then the union workers have no one to blame but themselves when their companies aren't competitive and they lose their jobs.

It had nothing to do with GMs lack of planning for alternative energies, etc. None of the automakers have seriously invested much in that. And no, Honda and Toyota's half-hearted attempts don't count.

schweb said:

It has so little to do with that honestly. What GMs problem is that it has for years caved too much to the unions and their unrealistic demands. The unions are the cause of the downfall of the automakers and airlines just as equally or IMHO more so than bad management and planning.

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Granted, the greedy unions are a problem. However, the unions have no say as to what comes out of the design room. As for Toyota, if I'm not mistaken, the Prius is still the #1 hybrid with ton's on buyers on waiting lists. That my friend is not a "half-hearted" attempt.

Just because it's the best selling doesn't mean it was not an after thought or half-hearted attempt.

For example, if a car company was truly thinking about alternative fuels, their entire line would be running as hybrids or more. Toyota only has the Prius. So yes, I would claim it to be a half-hearted attempt. Toyota only got lucky because of the recent oil crisis. I doubt they planned it that way.

Look, we're just going to have to agree to disagree on this one. Besides we're off topic. The post was about the sad fact that thousands of hardworking people will be loosing their jobs because GM doesn't know how to make cars that people will race to buy AND KEEP!. It's as simple as that.
I'll give Chrysler's design dept. a lot of credit for the thinking up a lot of creative and attractive looking vehicles in the last few years. They're union! and are not suffering! So it can't be all the unions fault.
I'm out.

GM has been riddled with chronic shortsightedness since the '60s.

It failed to notice Volkswagen's invasion in that decade, which exposed the big three's weakness: small cars. VW cracked it, and Toyota, Honda, and the rest squeezed in. Then they used statistical quality control to improve quality until they surpassed the big three.

The big three surrendered the small car market, and then the midsize market. Instead, they pursued big trucks, and developed an inspired scheme to sell cargo and utility vehicles to families. Which worked fine, generating big profits, until gas prices shot up.

schweb said:

For example, if a car company was truly thinking about alternative fuels, their entire line would be running as hybrids or more. Toyota only has the Prius. So yes, I would claim it to be a half-hearted attempt. Toyota only got lucky because of the recent oil crisis. I doubt they planned it that way.

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Prius, Highlander hybrid, Lexus RX400 hybrid, and the upcoming Camry hybrid, with plans for a hybrid option on every model within the decade...

Honda, meanwhile, has the Insight, Civic hybrid, Accord hybrid, with a natural gas Civic set to go into full production this year, and like (much larger) GM, has hydrogen prototypes on the road as a test.

But these are all recent decisions and alll auto makers are planning a full out hybrid assault now. What I'm saying is that neither Toyota or Honda have been looking into alternative fuels seriously since the '80's which was the proposed solution to GMs issues.

My main point is that the main problem of GM and the rest of the Big 3 auto makers is the unions are their ridiculous demands which companies like Honda and Toyota don't have to deal with. Look at Volkswagen and all its problems as well. Another company heavily controlled and hamstrung by unions.

It doesn't help that GM doesn't know how to advertise. Their strategy has basically been: "Hey, let's make one car in each or our companies that excels and we don't make much money off of, then overcharge for the rest, and provide no reason for buying them other than the fact that we are the makers of this one flagship car!"

Meyvn said:

It doesn't help that GM doesn't know how to advertise. Their strategy has basically been: "Hey, let's make one car in each or our companies that excels and we don't make much money off of, then overcharge for the rest, and provide no reason for buying them other than the fact that we are the makers of this one flagship car!"

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Pretty true. However I think most car manufacturers fall into that category. Most have one or maybe two hit cars that everyone thinks of right away but they probably can't name the rest.

I honestly can't even remember the last time I've seen a compelling car advertisement.