GM Deathwatch

[427TJ]

[ QUOTE ]
Penske at the helm of Chevrolet would be a dream come true, but it is not to be

[/ QUOTE ]

Penske's not that stupid. He bought Saturn, which could turn out to be the car company of the future. Small (small-ish) cars that are fuel-efficient with a motivated workforce. He's one shrewd businessman who sees a potential profit from what is probably the wave of the future: small economy cars. Yes, most of us here like pickups and SUVs and can't see ourselves in a Prius, but oil will only get harder to extract and more expensive, especially as the emerging economies of India and China, etc., demand cars and air conditioned homes as they work themselves up out of third-world poverty. I wish it weren't so but I think Penske sees the future in small cars and thus wrote the check. I hope he succeeds.

Oh, and Wangers in charge of a new, independant, smaller, performance-with-economy-oriented Pontiac would make for a nice dream too!

[Salvatore]

Starting up overseas is what I am really afraid of. Sounds like 2 of the big 3 are on a mission to do just that. No Unions, no environment programs, no real benefits and especially very weak Human Rights and so forth. The USA really has no industry it seems anymore.

[92646]

I worked for Penske corporation for over 18 years and I know Roger will do everything in his power to make Saturn work but there will come a time that if it does not meet his expectations or make enough money he will pass it on to the next buyer. One thing I know for certain is that I will never buy another new GM or Chrysler product because what they did to their dealers is unforgivable. I work at a Toyota dealer and I expect more business because of all the customers that have a choice. They will not complain but they will just go somewhere else with their money. I would like to see how GM and Chrysler figured that in their recovery plan.
Mark Sheppard

[Xplantdad]

Mark...you work for a very well run dealership!

[92646]

Bruce no question I was blessed to end up at the store I am at now but I think you got the better gig by looking at all the pictures.
Mark Sheppard

[427TJ]

[ QUOTE ]
Starting up overseas is what I am really afraid of. Sounds like 2 of the big 3 are on a mission to do just that. No Unions, no environment programs, no real benefits and especially very weak Human Rights and so forth. The USA really has no industry it seems anymore.

[/ QUOTE ]

With the emergence of Communist China as a world manufacturing power and the ease of transporting goods made there to western consumers such as ourselves, we have essentially priced ourselves out of the world labor market. Those darn Chinese will work for a dollar an hour or less and do it seven days a week and 12 or more hours a day. If Chinese labor were to get uppity and start making demands (as American labor did decades ago) then the soldiers will be marched in to quash any discontent. Any pain-in-the-ass labor organizers will be arrested and imprisoned as enemies of the State (and perhaps killed) while hungry replacement workers outside the factory fence clamor to get in. You can bet that American corporations wish they could control their own production so efficiently. Yep, it's the wild, wild west over there and it's so cheap it hurts--that kind of cost control is the Holy Grail of every business school graduate. It's the race to the bottom and Chinese labor is basically the bottom at the moment. I've said it before: Communism was the scurge of the planet when we were kids but now American business has discovered the true value of the communist system and it is a completely captive, near-slave labor workforce.

Anyone think Hummers will be significantly cheaper when they're made in China? Probably not much, and the reduction in labor cost vs. American production will be pure profit for its Chinese owners. They'll be ramping-up GM production over there soon too. GM expansion in China is one of the factors in the bankruptcy reorganization.

If you are an American then look in the mirror and know this: You cost too much. That's what a majority of corporate cost control managers see when they look at you while you work.

Now I will step down off of my Saturday night soapbox.

[Schonyenko2]

And... if the main tenant of capitalism is profit, know that money will be invested in companies globally that will return the largest share holder/investor return without regard either intentionally or not, as to the effect it may have on the overall social/ economic wellfare of any country including this one. I'm not sure how you sustain the national security in the future especially as other countrys develop nuclear programs, and China moves ahead technologically. As they build their economy, and project their influence globally, it will be much harder to challenge their influence.
I believe in capitalism, but I wonder if there is no regard to the effect it may have when profits generated on a global scale, that really has no national allegence, will not be counter productive to we as a nation, and imperil our future national security. Will you send your children off to war to defend this country when the security issue is corporate, not national?
On dealer closings, All the agriculture co's been doing this for some time. John Deere told probably a third of it's dealers to consolidate last year. No choice. So now you may be 60 or more miles from your closest dealer.

[Chevy454]

[ QUOTE ]
On dealer closings, All the agriculture co's been doing this for some time. John Deere told probably a third of it's dealers to consolidate last year. No choice. So now you may be 60 or more miles from your closest dealer.

[/ QUOTE ]
They did that to our local John Deere dealer...told them that they either buy XXX amount of equipment, or they were pulling their license...was a family owned/operated dealership that was *very* successful, and was in business for a half century or more...sold to another JD dealer with locations all across the state, and they promptly closed it and took the license with it...

[Salvatore]

Capitalism is good but global capitalism........ will never be in our favor. I guess the Asians are going to build our high tech Hummers that we send over seas also. So when our Military rides in them, other enemy countries will know where to strategically shoot for easier penetration. And my wife and I have 2 sons in the Military?

[Kim_Howie]

The HumVees uses by the military was never built by GM. The hummers built by GM are way different.