MY GM PREDICTIONS:

[Stewart G Griffin]

OK, my newest prediction---and one that will come true:

GM FINISHED.


i wish you all good luck.

[choptop]

Stewart, you say that like you're leaving us. You cant do that, we need all the help we can get. GM may be done, but the trucks we love arent.

[Stewart G Griffin]

Well, spiritually part of me is leaving;  Look at the world.  We are going down the crapper.


2) i think what's going to happen is we will continue to operate/maintain our trucks as long as we are physically able;  And then, some of you/us have children and/or grandchildren and if they are interested will continue.  And/or we will continue to operate/maintain our trucks until aftermarket parts are no longer available.

Everyone laughed at me when i said Ross Perot should be the next president;  Well look at you now.  Ross Perot would have NEVER EVER allowed any of this BS to happen.  The american people have screwed themselves.

[ccz145a]

1. Change is the only constant.
2. Every generation comes to the conclusion that things are the worse they've ever been and we're going to he|| in a hand-basket.

Advice: Don't look back. Keep moving or you'll be covered up. Surround yourself with positive people.

Me, I am looking for ZZ454 crates to be sold at rock bottom prices

[eventhorizon66]

Me, I am looking for ZZ454 crates to be sold at rock bottom prices

I hadn't thought of that.  I need to start saving up.  When GM goes under, I'm gonna be able to snag a brand new GMPP LS7 crate for $3,000.

[Skunksmash]

I dont think GM will disappear. I mean look at Crysler. They simply filed bankruptcy and moved on. I think GM should do that. Maybe they will. Sure Fiat may take over crysler. At least they will still be around.

[Stewart G Griffin]

NO GM = NO LIFE

[frogman68]

Gm is getting very bad

http://money.cnn.com/2009/05/14/news/companies/gm_dealers/index.htm?postversion=2009051416

[Skunksmash]

Where is Ford in all this? I know they are hurting, but of the big three i think they are the best off in the current economy.

[Skunksmash]

NO GM = NO LIFE

Why do you work there or something?

[Stewart G Griffin]

i think the best thing to do at this point is to discuss how to save pontiac;  Because this really shouldn't be happening.  It is a supreme tragedy.  There is talk that gm may sell pontiac to a dealer in michigan.   The main thing is technically, as we speak, pontiac is not officially finished yet.


2) My next prediction is that GM will go out of business.

Therefore we should discuss:
a) what caused the mess.

b) what can be done about it.

i think the more we talk about it and brainstorm then eventually the idiots in charge may get wind of it.

i don't have time right now to get whole-hog into it, but hopefully you do?


P.S.  Here's a start---i need strict explaination why cutting a brand and/or cutting dealers saves money?

[1HI4x4]

P.S.  Here's a start---i need strict explaination why cutting a brand and/or cutting dealers saves money?

I'll play along, it takes support from the factory in parts, tooling, and ad budget to keep a dealership going. It also competes against the other brands at GM, there are only so many cars going to be sold, why compete against yourself? If the market is only supporting "X" number of cars then someone has to reduce the quantity that is being manufactured. What really chaps me is the method that determined whether a dealer got the ax or not, seems to be politically driven.


As far as what brought them down in the first place, you have to look at retired employee benefits. Somewhere around $1,100 per car in retired employee benefits that puts you in a pretty big disadvantage when it come to a price point on an automobile.

What will be interesting is how long the unions hold on to their share of the ownership(stocks), if the union starts to immediately dumping their stock, then I would say GM is done. The Unions are closer to this than any financial analyst.

[smitty77]

P.S.  Here's a start---i need strict explaination why cutting a brand and/or cutting dealers saves money?

As far as what brought them down in the first place, you have to look at retired employee benefits. Somewhere around $1,100 per car in retired employee benefits that puts you in a pretty big disadvantage when it come to a price point on an automobile.

And then look at them being the aging dinosaur that they are - too big and too slow to react quick enough to shifting market demand.  And it's still happening.  I saw a Cadillac ad the other day for an all-new Escalade Hybrid...  WHAT??  Have you learned nothing in the last 18 months.  Big SUVs are out, fuel savings and penny-pinching and reduction in overall comsumption of raw goods are in.  Oh wait, it's a hybrid that delivers unparalleled fuel economy of 20mpg city and 21 mpg highway (straight from the Cadillac website).  At a reasonable cost of $71,000, I'm going to put an order on one today.     They just don't get it.

And they bring Bob Lutz back out of retirement to drive the final nail in the coffin.  He's the one behind the disgrace-to-engineering and poorly designed vehicles of the 2000s, and he's back in charge.

According to Wikipedia (consider the source...):
"While at General Motors, Lutz championed the import of the Holden Monaro to the United States as the Pontiac GTO. Other cars such as the Cadillac Sixteen Concept; Saturn Sky and Pontiac Solstice; Pontiac G8; Chevrolet Malibu; Cadillac CTS; Buick Enclave; Cadillac Converj Concept; Cadillac CTS Coupe Concept; Chevrolet Camaro Concept; Chevrolet Camaro (production version); Chevy Beat, Groove and Trax Concept Studies; and 2010 Buick Lacrosse, Chevrolet Equinox, and Cadillac SRX are said to be Lutz initiatives."

He's also the genius behind the Ford import brand Merkur in the 80s, which was a fast 4-year flop.

"the automaker's marketing, advertising, and communications teams will report to Lutz in an effort to develop a more consistent message and results".  The Buick Lacrosse was marketed heavily in Canada despite it's very name being Canadian-slang for "playing with yourself".  They have a consistent message alright - Lutz drove GM to the brink of the abyss, over the edge, and now has his foot on the accelerator all the way to the bottom.  I guess he figures if he drives GM into the ground hard enough, the pieces will be too small to bother picking up.

I had hope for GM rebuilding into a successful company until I heard they put him back in charge.

[HAULIN IT]

Stewart, I agree with you on this:

Everyone laughed at me when i said Ross Perot should be the next president;  Well look at you now.  Ross Perot would have NEVER EVER allowed any of this BS to happen. 

This is the problem, Ross Perot wouldn't get elected in the US under "our" new way of thinking, yes he would get many votes from the average Blue collar worker, but there are too many "along for the ride" people that would nudge him out...look where we're at & where we've been in the last 20 years. He will go down in history as the "crack pot" that ran for president, but he never really had a chance to win, which leads us to your second part:

The american people have screwed themselves.

This is the reason he wouldn't be elected, generally Americans don't want hold a job & be responsible for what they do, Period! I don't like to look at it that way or generalize like that, but it is reality.
 After another 10 years or so going downhill, more MANUFACTURING jobs gone overseas, crime rate up even higher than now, more foreclosers & repos, then & only then will the general population start to see the need for a Radical Change (Ross Perot) however just when almost enough people see it this way...just enough "new voters" will show up at the poles to keep the us in the muck, look what happened in the last election. That's all, Lorne     

[Stewart G Griffin]

1) But the vast majority of pontiac dealers are, and have been for quite a while, combined with buick/gmc.   How does eliminating the brand from a pre-existing setup save money?   To me, it seems like eliminating the Big Mac from the McDonalds's menu-----it's already there along with 11 other menu items, so how does it save money?

a) Yes, i agree about the ad budget---that would save money.   But, since pontiac is going to be canned why do they keep advertising?   Along with Saturn;  i went to Roosevelt field mall last week and there were saturns parked inside and at the food court there were Saturn flyers.

b) Pontiac sold at least 250,000 units the last model yr with signs of increasing sales demand.  Not decreasing sales demand.   


2) i don't think too big and slow is/was the problem;  i feel stupidity is the problem.

a) lutz needs to go permanently.

b) RE: lacrosse.   i didn't think canadian people even had sex.   Seriously.

c) welburn needs to go too;  i don't like him, although some cadillac rear end styling is ok.  But he still needs to go---NOW.


My next prediction as of july 09 is that GMPP will be cancelled and the small block chevy will cease to be produced.

3) But i think right now the best thing to do is to try to find out how to save pontiac.
a) i know there is a petition out there;  Will try to provide the link.