[DMCForum] Re: Ford and GM

["Joe OBrien" <joeyoseppijoe@xxxxxxxxx>]

GM bought out the designer for the PT Cruiser from Chrysler.

Makes the designer look like a sellout, and makes him look like a 
one hit wonder of designs.

And makes GM reeeealy look cheap by almost directly copying another 
company. Of the two, Chrysler still has the better version.

Besides having stodgy designs and boring cars, GM's major hurdle is 
gas mileage.

I guarantee if a car company created a god awful looking car that 
got 70+mpg or even another electric car, people would wait months to 
buy one.

I can't wait for Subaru to release the RE1 in 2008. AN all electric 
car with 250 miles of range, solar charging, regular wall charging, 
and with Subaru's installed home charger, a full charge in 2 1/2 
hours. All on about $3 of electricity.

If GM wanted to grab the auto industry by the proverbial balls, they 
should swallow their dumb pride, and re-release the electric car in 
mass production.

The last time they tried to make one they only made 850 cars, sold 
them only in CA & AZ. And unleaded gas was only $0.98 a gallon.

No wonder GM called it a "failure". But GM forced it to fail because 
they were forced by C.A.R.B to make these cars to meet the 0% 
pollution standards for CA at the time.

A certain president swiftly removed these mandates saying it was too 
costly to meet shortly after taking office. Therefore all auto 
maufacturers scrapped electric vehicle programs.

Maybe in the era of $3+ gasoline, auto companies might realize there 
is a market for a vehicle that doesn't rely on oil for power.

Hopefully they will wake up, but I very much doubt it.

-Joe






--- In DMCForum@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx, "timnagin" <timnagin@xxxx> wrote:
>
> I agree with a lot of this.  I also think GM laying off those 
people and
> closing those plants is a really bad idea.  
> 
> When Henry Ford wanted to grow his business he increased the 
salaries of his
> employees so they could afford what they built.  GM is alienating 
30,000
> plus people and their families who will more than likely never buy 
another
> car from them.
> 
> When I bought my new truck last year I tried really, really hard 
to buy
> American but nothing I saw was exciting.  The only vehicle GM 
makes that
> even gets my attention is the Corvette.  
> 
> What the hell were they thinking when they built the PT Cruiser 
clone?  Did
> they borrow the stamping dies for that thing?  Either way, they 
won't go out
> of business.  They will be bailed out if necessary.
> 
> AMC built the Neon?
> 
> Greg
> 
> 
> 
> -----Original Message-----
> From: DMCForum@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:DMCForum@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx] 
On Behalf
> Of therealdmcvegas
> Sent: Friday, November 25, 2005 4:26 PM
> To: DMCForum@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
> Subject: [DMCForum] Re: Ford and GM
> 
> --- In DMCForum@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx, "Jack Stiefel" <jackstiefel@xxxx> 
wrote:
> >
> > You are forgetting that just because one files for bankruptcy 
does
> not mean
> > they are gone, just a giant restructuring.  Many companied 
emerge from
> > bankruptcy and do better than ever.  
> > 
> > If GM does it right they can come out of bankruptcy a better, 
well
> oiled,
> > streamlined machine.  Same goes with Ford.
> <SNIP>
> 
> That's true, Jack. But there is an even more important detail here
> that even you forgot about. And that is GM's management. There are
> many companies out there who do file for bankruptcy, restructure
> themselves, and do come out ahead. The idea here is that the 
company
> hit hard times for one reason or another. AMC & Chrysler are great
> examples. They, unlike Ford & GM couldn't get their economy cars 
out
> there onto the market quick enough. Ford had the Escort/Topaz, and 
GM
> had their J-Body line. Chrysler was rather late with the K-cars, 
and
> AMC didn't debut their new Neon until they themselves were 
acquired by
> Chrysler, and the car's moniker was changed over to it's new parent
> company.
> 
> AMC & Chrysler were two companies that were on the verge of dying, 
and
> then came back (until Renault's CEO was murdered, and the 
shareholders
> agreed to turn over AMC to Chrysler for the Jeep line). Both 
company's
> shed themselves of their previous, incompetent management, and
> acquired new leadership. Even Ford has done the same thing. And 
while
> Ford is laying off 3,000 employees, it's important to note that 
these
> are mostly "white-collar" managers, and not assembly line workers. 
GM
> on the other hand is shutting down a MASSIVE amount of actual
> automobile plants with 30,000 workers being laid-off.
> 
> GM still retains it's same management, with the same people who are
> complete idiots. Just like the book "On a Clear Day..." summarized,
> these people are NOT going to fight the very system that empowers
> them. After all, if the system dies, it could very well turn 
against
> them, and they could lose their jobs.
> 
> In order for GM to survive, it needs to kill off it's entire upper
> management. Not nessisarrily because these are untalented people, 
but
> because they're mindset holds a certain type of work ethic that 
would
> be incompatable with any new successful strategy that the company
> would need to embrace, in order to survive.
> 
> There is hope for GM, but not where you might think... Kirk 
Kerkorian
> has since purchased 9% of GM Common Stock, and has installed his 
own
> right-hand man onto GM's board of directors. The same guy who 
nursed
> Chrysler through their financial woes back in the 1980's. His only
> problem is that because he's an outsider, and his corporate 
strategies
> are so radically different, he's getting allot of push-back from 
GM's
> current employees.
> 
> If Kerkorian can pull a "Roy Disney" and get the other stakeholders
> riled up enough to cause a mutany against the current CEO and board
> members, he could amputate them, and their influence from the 
company.
> That would give GM a truely fresh start. Because their car products
> right now are in the toilet. You've got retro muscle cars from 
Ford &
> Chrysler, and GM isn't even entering into this foray. In about 6-8
> years, baby boomers are gonna start dying off, and lots of this
> spending on retro vehicles is gonna really slow down.
> 
> -Robert
>

---

YAHOO! GROUPS LINKS

•  Visit your group "DMCForum" on the web.
   
•  To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:
   DMCForum-unsubscribe@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
   
•  Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to the Yahoo! Terms of Service.

---