Article

2008-11-27 Home Front Economy

GM considers chopping some brands, including Pontiac

Archived material is restricted to Rantburg regulars and members. If you need access email fred.pruitt=at=gmail.com with your nick to be added to the members list. There is no charge to join Rantburg as a member.

Posted by Fred 2008-11-27 10:15|| || Front Page|| [1 views ] Top

#1 I'd suggest splitting them off into their own companies and letting them stand or fall on their own, but nobody listens to me because I'm an old crank.

I agree entirely, but I'm another Old Crank.
(ask my wife)

Posted by Redneck Jim 2008-11-27 10:33|| 2008-11-27 10:33|| Front Page Top

#2 Sell it to the Chincs.

Posted by bigjim-ky 2008-11-27 11:30|| 2008-11-27 11:30|| Front Page Top

#3 Hey bigjim, for them it would be a step up.

Posted by Procopius2k 2008-11-27 11:37|| 2008-11-27 11:37|| Front Page Top

#4 Does that include the Pontiac 2000SUX?

Posted by gorb 2008-11-27 11:46|| 2008-11-27 11:46|| Front Page Top

#5 I was a GM employee for 7 years and left several years ago becuase I didn't see a hopeful future. Their assembly operations are very good but tooled for products that have been rendered inappropriate. Their stamping plants provide poor quality that no customer would tolerate from a vendor ... other than themselves. Retooling plants to vehicles that are saleable will cost billions that they don't have. Unfortunately for GM the automotive market now has become a commodity type market where most offereings are similar and the buyer makes a purchase decision based on price. In order to be successful in the automotive market GM will have to hold down costs. Its Asian competitors now own brand new American plants that are non-union shops in Southern rural areas while GM owns aging facilities in dying Northern welfare states with employees that are socialist deadbeats. Other thatn that their future is rosy.

Posted by Super Hose 2008-11-27 13:52|| 2008-11-27 13:52|| Front Page Top

#6 How about doing this first: Go for bankruptcy, get rid of the present CEO and upper management, get rid of the board of directors and sue the sh*t out of all them for fiscal irresponsibility, and then figure out what is marketable to the public, makes economic sense, efficient, etc etc. Get the hell out of Michigan and away the unions and go to places where people have a work ethic and favorable tax laws. I mean the US.

Throwing money at the same methodology is insane, but what would expect of govt? One definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result.

Posted by Alaska Paul 2008-11-27 13:54|| 2008-11-27 13:54|| Front Page Top

#7 I wish GM would make a line of cars that doesn't change every year. Make a mid-sized 4-door family car that stays the same every year. Parts (and therefore repairs) would be inexpensive, GM wouldn't have to re-tool production lines every year, and they would become a favorite of tinkerers.

Posted by crosspatch 2008-11-27 16:02|| 2008-11-27 16:02|| Front Page Top

#8 Per your request Crosspatch.

Posted by Besoeker 2008-11-27 16:12|| 2008-11-27 16:12|| Front Page Top

#9 Until the 1980s the French made a car that was so easy to maintain and repair, you could fix the bodywork yourself.

2CV

It was also cheap. In the late 1970s a friend of mine bought one new for less than $2,000

Posted by phil_b 2008-11-27 18:07|| 2008-11-27 18:07|| Front Page Top

#10 Hummers will have to move to the back of the bus.

Posted by GolfBravoUSMC 2008-11-27 20:51|| 2008-11-27 20:51|| Front Page Top

23:54 OldSpook
23:35 Uleck Ghibelline9225
23:31 JosephMendiola
23:26 JosephMendiola
23:01 Thing From Snowy Mountain
21:26 USN, Ret.
21:12 JosephMendiola
21:10 GolfBravoUSMC
21:03 JosephMendiola
20:55 john frum
20:51 GolfBravoUSMC
20:41 JosephMendiola
20:28 JosephMendiola
20:25 JosephMendiola
20:23 OldSpook
20:19 ImaDinnerJacket
20:17 JosephMendiola
20:09 JosephMendiola
19:33 phil_b
19:16 Jolutch Mussolini7800
19:15 DMFD
19:08 Jolutch Mussolini7800
18:07 phil_b
18:02 Mike N.