GM has too many damn brands. Chevy, Cadillac, Buick, Hummer, Saturn, GMC, Pontiac. Each brand has too many models. I say they need to file chap 11, consolidate brands, and simplify their offerigs. Offer 3 brands with 4-5 models each. Done. The hell with the union. Cut 50% of jobs. They could learn something from other manufacturers. Toyota has just Toyota and Lexus. BMW has BMW. etc. GM has a whole buttload of brands. We are a country of excess and greed. It’s unecessary.
>>>“Chevy” and “Cadillac” are worth a lot… I don’t think this is true. I’ve heard about market research surveys that compare new cars from various manufacturers with no name badges. The American cars get decent ratings until people find out they’re American. Imagine that–a brand with negative value.
nolabird032 Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > If GM does go out of business, does that really > mean that there won’t be anyone making parts? I > thought other companies actually built a lot of > the parts and GM would just put them together? > Just because GM goes out of business, doesn’t mean > that production of parts will cease (there will > still be a demand for them if there are still cars > on the road). When I was in HS, I had an ’87 chevy > nova. When you opened the hood, you would see a > Toyota engine. > > Of course, people would stop buying “new” cars… > any new cars would be under a new name which would > happen with restructuring. no? > > my “to big to fail” question was actually for JDV I think that they would like everyone to believe they are too big too fail. In this case, I think they might be too big too save.
I think the flair of owning an Escalade wears off when you realize it’s just a re-badged Chevy Tahoe.
I would agree with JDV, market share contraction can - temporarily - be supported in the name of increased operating profits. OR. As was the case for RIM when they decided to price battle with the apple iphone, you can have increasing market share at the expense of operating profits for long-term growth. GM/Ford/Chyrsler have systematically cannabilized their own market share AND profitability and it is very likely that in 2010 there will no longer be a US automaker. I personally find that sad as I have for years now been a huge fan of the traditional Lincoln Town car. V-8 engine in the front, rear wheel drive in the back, an interior like the finest lounge and even a full sized ash tray for us Cigar smokers. I’m sorry to say but the Town Car has got to be the automotive deal of the century when you place it up against things like the BMW 745 or Mercedes S class, both of which can cost dam near triple what a brand new Town Car goes for. Willy
“American car companies are at an automatic $2,500 per unit disadvantage compared to foreign competition due to labor unions.” That is the root cause. However, call me a pessimist, but a president whose foundation lay in organizing unions, will not be take thinking about shareholders before labour. I’m not particularly against a bail-out. However, as discussed before the structure of this bailout is paramount to success. If the govt can find a way to relieve the company of long-term pension costs and finance that through govt. backed securities, that would relieve that company of a big burden, and give them a chance at being competitive.
While people like to rip the Big 3, many fail to realize that now that Toyota is in that league of volume, they are having a ton of problems. However, they have plenty of cash to sit on, and I’m sure the Japanese government would secretly intervene if they ever had serious financial trouble.
According to this source, the average hourly compensation for the Big Three is $73.20, versus Toyota ($48.00), compared to average hourly compensation for Management and Professional Workers ($47.57), Manufacturing/Goods Producing ($31.59) and all workers ($28.48)!!! What kind of a bailout are we really talking about? http://seekingalpha.com/article/105061-should-we-really-bail-out-the-big-three-automakers-with-73-20-per-hour-labor?source=article_sb_popular
JoeyDVivre Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > 9) CDS - I’ve posted about this before, but the > outstanding CDS on US automakers is > mind-bogglingly huge. There are some people out > there sweating bullets about GM CDS defaults > because they don’t have the cash to pay. The > economics about Chapter 11/Chapter 7 means that GM > and company will do everything they can to avoid > default, but this will burn all the recovery > value. The amount of cash exchanged hands in that > default will be enormous. This is a serious > source of contagion. Just to pick up on this - I think that the LEH, WaMu, Landsbanki & Kaupthing credit events have proved that the CDS market is pretty resilient to credit events. These companies had all been recently rated A or above - and yet even with tiny recoveries the markets have coped. GM hasn’t been investment grade for a LONG time. Now General Motors is obviously a massive reference entity, but the DTCC figures suggest that although there is about $65bn of contracts written on GM, there is only $4bn net. GMAC has over $100bn written on it, but less than $4.5bn net. These are manageable figures - LEH was much worse. Spreads on GM have already kicked out to big levels, so due to the wonders of collateralisation, the cash call has all ready happened and people are still standing. Except of course for the writers of naked protection. Like AIG, who coincidentally just made a big call on the fed. Wonder what caused that?
Yeah, I didn’t believe those DTCC figures about LEH and maybe I was wrong about that. It seemed to happen in a more orderly way than I had thought it would. I’m still a skeptic, but maybe coming around. I promise that when we settle all the GM CDS next summer, if it’s all orderly I will start believing those kinds of figures.
The CDS are trading with premium upfront. If anyone is going to go bust from GM CDS, they already have. (waits 10 months to be forced to eat words)
I think they will get bailed out because Obama strongly supports it.
chrismaths Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > The CDS are trading with premium upfront. If > anyone is going to go bust from GM CDS, they > already have. > > (waits 10 months to be forced to eat words) Good points. I hope you are right.
Anyone thinks GM stands a chance if these type of cars hit the road ? They will just burn up more cash . ( compare to Chinas stimulus package, which goes into solid investments ) http://www.popularmechanics.com/automotive/new_cars/4217016.html
I would feel completely emasculated driving one of those. In fact, if I see one of those while I am riding my bike, I will do everything possible to blow its doors off. I think GM has absolutely nothing to fear from vehicles like that because America would (and should) rather walk than drive them.
^^ truth
classic: " Of course, the Air Car will likely never hit American shores, especially considering its all-glue construction." “can hit 68 mph and has a range of 125 miles.”
I love cars assembled with glue. I can imagine it exploding on impact, like a fat kid hitting a brick wall.
If I could ride my bike at 68mph for 125 miles, that would be really cool. I could do the mother of all solo breakaways at the Tour, absolutely crush the hour record, etc…