[Roanoke]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/7715896.stm

It's been coming for years and it shouldn't be a surprise but woah...

[KappaWing]

My dads an electrical engineer at GM who implemented antilock brakes on large trucks, and is now implementing electronic stability control on them. He then saved the company millions by acting as an expert witness in lawsuits. Hes 55, looks like he'll need to stay around for at least 5 more years, and then he'll be lucky if he gets pension.

[BloodEagle]

"We're so screwed!"

[Charismatic]

Its a shame, a all american made company took a ****.

[Mobius]

*thinks about the fact that a few years ago GM should have bought FIAT, then laughs

[Rick James]

I see a merger on the horizon.

[KappaWing]

Chrysler USA is just going to die and fold into GM. Not much of a merger. 

[Topgun]

GM should merge with Buick, Cadillac, Chevrolet, GMC, Daewoo, Holden, HUMMER, Oldsmobile, Opel, Pontiac, Saab, Saturn and Vauxhall.
you would think 14 companies should be able to keep each other funded, no?

[Rick James]

GM should merge with Buick, Cadillac, Chevrolet, GMC, Daewoo, Holden, HUMMER, Oldsmobile, Opel, Pontiac, Saab, Saturn and Vauxhall.
you would think 14 companies should be able to keep each other funded, no?

You assume that 14 company CEOs are perfectly willing to let one another grab an equal slice of the pie.

[Topgun]

GM should merge with Buick, Cadillac, Chevrolet, GMC, Daewoo, Holden, HUMMER, Oldsmobile, Opel, Pontiac, Saab, Saturn and Vauxhall.
you would think 14 companies should be able to keep each other funded, no?

You assume that 14 company CEOs are perfectly willing to let one another grab an equal slice of the pie.

LOL

[IceFire]

GM should merge with Buick, Cadillac, Chevrolet, GMC, Daewoo, Holden, HUMMER, Oldsmobile, Opel, Pontiac, Saab, Saturn and Vauxhall.
you would think 14 companies should be able to keep each other funded, no?

This is the problem...they have far too many brands.  Vauxhall and Opel aren't too much of a problem as all I see that as being is some regionalization and change of badge...but take GM's 7 seat people mover CUV and you have the Buick Enclave, Saturn Outlook, Chevy Traverse, and GMC Acadia.  They should have two.  The Buick and the Chevy.  The others are irrelevant.

They need to roll dealers into combination packages like they do here in Canada.  Buick and Cadillac can still exist but only a few cars apiece...not full lineups.  They can compliment each other.  Either Pontiac or Chevy have to go since aside from the G8 they have the same cars.  GMC for trucks only.  And ultimately they need to stop badge engineering half a new vehicle just because Chevy or Pontiac need that car.  Heck...maybe Pontiac should be a performance tweaker like Mugen rather than the way they are stuck copying most of their cars.  The Vibe can just as easily be a Chevy.

They have to do something and it seems to me that they waste allot of time building the same car over and over and over again for their different brands.  A case can be made for something like the Buick Enclave and the Chevy Traverse but the Outlook and Acadia mean what exactly?  Same with the G5 and the Cobalt.

Anyways thats just how I see it.  I hope they stick around...GM is responsible for many thousands of jobs and so is Ford.

[CKid]

GM should merge with Buick, Cadillac, Chevrolet, GMC, Daewoo, Holden, HUMMER, Oldsmobile, Opel, Pontiac, Saab, Saturn and Vauxhall.
you would think 14 companies should be able to keep each other funded, no?

All of the companies are taking a beating. 3 weeks ago, I got a 2008 GMC truck that had a manufactured built price of $36,000 but because of their hard times, I was able to knock it down to $25,500, and that's including getting some pretty sweet accessories for it.

[Charismatic]

GM should merge with Buick, Cadillac, Chevrolet, GMC, Daewoo, Holden, HUMMER, Oldsmobile, Opel, Pontiac, Saab, Saturn and Vauxhall.
you would think 14 companies should be able to keep each other funded, no?

You assume that 14 company CEOs are perfectly willing to let one another grab an equal slice of the pie.

No pie for you!!!!

[Mars]

Um... a lot of those aren't individual companies. Buick and Hummer are both GM brands.

[NGTM-1R]

GM's been in trouble for the last three years.

[Kosh]

GM's been in trouble for the last three years.

As a result of bad decisions being made the last 20 years.


Now since AIG has somehow managed to lose $24.5 billion last quarter and has gotten bailed out twice, GM is lobbying hard to get taxpayer dollars to pay for their ****ups. Corporate welfare @ work.

[Mars]

"Socialism for the rich, capitalism for the rest of us."

[Roanoke]

GM should merge with Buick, Cadillac, Chevrolet, GMC, Daewoo, Holden, HUMMER, Oldsmobile, Opel, Pontiac, Saab, Saturn and Vauxhall.
you would think 14 companies should be able to keep each other funded, no?

This is the problem...they have far too many brands.  Vauxhall and Opel aren't too much of a problem as all I see that as being is some regionalization and change of badge...but take GM's 7 seat people mover CUV and you have the Buick Enclave, Saturn Outlook, Chevy Traverse, and GMC Acadia.  They should have two.  The Buick and the Chevy.  The others are irrelevant.

They need to roll dealers into combination packages like they do here in Canada.  Buick and Cadillac can still exist but only a few cars apiece...not full lineups.  They can compliment each other.  Either Pontiac or Chevy have to go since aside from the G8 they have the same cars.  GMC for trucks only.  And ultimately they need to stop badge engineering half a new vehicle just because Chevy or Pontiac need that car.  Heck...maybe Pontiac should be a performance tweaker like Mugen rather than the way they are stuck copying most of their cars.  The Vibe can just as easily be a Chevy.

They have to do something and it seems to me that they waste allot of time building the same car over and over and over again for their different brands.  A case can be made for something like the Buick Enclave and the Chevy Traverse but the Outlook and Acadia mean what exactly?  Same with the G5 and the Cobalt.

Anyways thats just how I see it.  I hope they stick around...GM is responsible for many thousands of jobs and so is Ford.

I don't know about the American brands but every few years they float the idea of dropping the Vauxhall brand in favour of Opel but never actually go ahead. I think the other non-domestic brands have they're own demographic. A Saab buyer would never consider a Vauxhall or post-Daewoo Chevy, for example.

GM's been in trouble for the last three years.

The US Domestic Auto industry has been on the backfoot since the early 1970s.

Looks like Toyota are a safe bet to take the "Worlds Biggest" title, if they haven't done so already.

[Topgun]

Um... a lot of those aren't individual companies. Buick and Hummer are both GM brands.

those are all gm brands. I was joking.

[Scuddie]

GM should cut down everything they have to two, maybe three divisions at the most.  Toyota has Lexus and Scion, both of which have their own market segment.  GMC make the best American made SUVs, and share the same trucks as Chevrolet, just as different names.  Pontiac is now also effectively a leech off Chevrolet.  Buick makes a damn fine luxury vehicle segment, we don't need another.  Drop Cadillac.  Saturn doesn't even deserve to exist.  Rubbish plastic cars are rubbish.

If GM would only be made up of GMC, Buick, and Chevrolet, it would eliminate most of the problems with GM always seeming to compete with itself.