GM Facts and Fiction

[x Baldwin Motion]

A similar post was shown to me yesterday at the local GM dealer;


This is an article found in the Detroit News
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Myth #1: Nobody buys their vehicles.

Reality: General Motors Corp., Ford Motor Co. and Chrysler LLC sold 8.5 Million vehicles in the United States last year and millions more around the world. GM outsold Toyota by about 1.2 million vehicles in the United States last year and holds a U.S. lead over Toyota of about 560,000 so far this year. Globally, GM in 2007 remained the world's largest automaker, selling 9,369,524 vehicles worldwide -- about 3,000 more than Toyota.

Ford outsold Honda by about 850,000 and Nissan by more than 1.3 Million vehicles in the United States last year

Chrysler sold more vehicles here than Nissan and Hyundai combined in 2007 and so far this year.



MYTH #2: They build unreliable junk.

Reality: The creaky, leaky vehicles of the 1980's and '90s are long gone. Consumer Reports recently found that "Ford's reliability is now on par with good Japanese automakers." The independent J.D. Power Initial Quality Study scored Buick, Cadillac, Chevrolet, Ford, GMC, Mercury, Pontiac and Lincoln brands' overall quality as high or higher than that of Acura, Audi, BMW, Honda, Nissan, Scion, Volkswagon and Volvo.

Power rated the Chevrolet Malibu the highest-quality midsize sedan. Both the Malibu and Ford Fusion scored better than the Honda Accord and Toyota Camery.


MYTH #3: They build gas-guzzlers.

Reality: All fo the Detriot Three build midsize sedans the Environmental Protection Agency rates at 29-33 miles per gallon on the highway. The most fuel-efficient Chevrolet Malibu gets 33 m.p.g. on the highway, 2 m.p.g. better than the best Honda Accord. The most fuel-efficient Ford Focus has the same highway fuel economy ratings as the most efficient Toyota Corolla. The most fuel-efficient Chevrolet Cobalt has the same city fuel economy and better highway fuel economy than the most efficient non-hybrid Honda Civic. A recent study by Edmunds.com found that the Chevrolet Aveo subcompact is the least expensive car to buy and operate.


MYTH #4: They already got a $25-billion bailout.

Reality: None of that money has been lent out and may not be for more than a year. In addition, it can, by law, be used only to invest in future vehicles and technology, so it has no effect on the shortage of operating cash the companies face because of the economic slowdown that's killing them now.


MYTH #5: GM, Ford and Chrysler are idiots for investing in pickups and SUVs.

Reality: The domestic companies' lineup has been truck-heavy, but Toyota, Nissan, Mercedes-Benz and BMW have all spent billions of dollars on pickups and SUVs because are a large and historically profitable part of the auto industry. The most fuel-efficient full-size pickups from GM, Ford and Chrysler all have highers EPA fuel economy ratings than Toyota and Nissan's full-size pickups.


MYTH #6: They don't build hybrids.

Reality: The Detroit Three got into the hybrid business late, but Ford and GM each now offers more hybrid models than Honda or Nissan, with several more due to hit the road in early 2009.


** They were still not giving cars away or offering the usual cut throat deals I am famous for getting. I think they will soon.

[Keith Tedford]

Back in the sixties a family member bought nothing without consulting her consumer reports. I started reading them too. Then the 70 series tires came out. The design was so bad that you couldn't get 10K miles out of them. Too much tire pressure, the centre wore. Too little and the outsides wore. When Consumer's Report gave these tires a rave review, I never read another one of these magazines. Still don't. Many magazine articles today appear to be nothing more than infomercials for products, just like the tv car shows. American magazines are starting to acknowledge that the American/Canadian cars are good. Up here the big three are still getting knocked. Reality doesn't seem to matter.

[Kim_Howie]

Most Jap cars have a 3yr 36,000 warrenty. Take alook at the GM,Ford & Chys warrenty.100,000 10 yr. Who backs there car!!!

[P.J.]

Did you know that the big three wages account for only 7% of the cars value. So how could the wages of the union members be the problem.The theiving bast---s who were allowed to create this financial melt down,and the oil price gouging and the white house all conspired in the name of capitalism at its worst.
Do some of you remember the 70s when we had to line up for 5 gallons of gas!! The world was running out of gas, the sky is falling, the sky is falling. well we all fell for it
gas prices went through the roof and shortly there after
we had a recession thanks to the oil manopoly and the white house who let it happen. So all of us workers then want to blame the union member for creating this problem for the car companies???????
Dont let them get away with it this time
blame the people who did it and put them in jail. If a union member had created this meltdown what do you think they would do to him or her EH
PJ

[Salvatore]

WOW Keith, we must be neighbors. I used to always read consumer reports. It seems to be they do alot of bashing of American goods. I know what they said about my Chevy Astro van of the eighties but we got 136,000 out of my 1986 and 134,000 out of my 1994 Astro van, carting 4 boys around too. I am sure CR does not really care for my 1998 GMC pickup but after 178,000 miles I changed the motor because I did not think a leaky head gasket was worth doing with that many miles. Other than that NO problems. But I bet that got a bad write-up because maybe the lighter did not work or the door pins needed to be replaced. No matter what you have you have to take care of things. There are some really junkie products out there but not just from the USA.

[Late BrakeU2]

[ QUOTE ]
WOW Keith, we must be neighbors. I used to always read consumer reports. It seems to be they do alot of bashing of American goods. I know what they said about my Chevy Astro van of the eighties but we got 136,000 out of my 1986 and 134,000 out of my 1994 Astro van, carting 4 boys around too. I am sure CR does not really care for my 1998 GMC pickup but after 178,000 miles I changed the motor because I did not think a leaky head gasket was worth doing with that many miles. Other than that NO problems. But I bet that got a bad write-up because maybe the lighter did not work or the door pins needed to be replaced. No matter what you have you have to take care of things. There are some really junkie products out there but not just from the USA.

[/ QUOTE ]

I had a 1990 GMC 4X4 that went 500k with pretty much zero failures.. couple of trans rebuilds never took a valve cover off in sixteen years.. didn't burn any oil!. We make good powertrains,fit and finish is another story but bottom line our products have been built well for quite some time but the stigma remains.

We didn't catch the memo about plant modernization. Robotics have been around for decades,domestic mfgs were nappin on those same as the looming CAFE standards that are coming due.

There's one word that can sum up this whole deal-from the auto execs ,mortgage industry,hedge funds,UAW and UAE. It's called greed,and it's killed this country in the short term. When these SOB CEO's are effectively sucking their golden parachute funds from retired people's 401k's it's no wonder we are at this point. Do unto others than split.

[ORIGLS6]

If you believe everything the "Media" tells you, you're a fool. All facets of media, be it TV, radio, newspapers, magazines (even CR), are businesses. Businesses compete for customers. To get customers, they tell you what you want to hear.

Hiding in the bait is a hook!

And BTW Keith, this IS NOT directed toward you, or any ONE person in particular.

[Chevy454]

Our rural mail carriers went through an "Asian" phase for a while...if it didn't say Toyota or Nissan on it, then they wouldn't own it. But, they all learned after having to do the same maintenance and fix the same trouble spots on the foreign trucks that *just maybe* it was the 6-days a week, 100+ miles per/day, backwoods, gravel road, start/stop mail routes that was the problem and not the "crap domestic vehicles" as they'd originally thought! I think they're all driving S10s/Rangers, and a few of them drive '80s model Caprice/Impalas/LTDs...

BTW: isn't it *funny* that Congress cut a check to the banking industry for $750 BILLION without even so much as a whimper, and yet they're beating up the reps from the Big3 on Capitol Hill, talking about stipulations/strings attached/restructuring/etc, all over $25 billion?

[ANDY M]

Rob, maybe this will help explain why the Big 3 is getting beat up on: http://www.breitbart.tv/?p=224543

Corporate jets are a perq, not a must have item. When a CEO making $25 Million a year flys to DC in a corporate jet that runs $3000/hr to fly, plus what they pay to staff and service it, this does not make good press. Ford could easily find four guys at $2 million a year to do a better job, and save the difference.

[Chevy454]

[ QUOTE ]
Corporate jets are a perq, not a must have item. When a CEO making $25 Million a year flys to DC in a corporate jet that runs $3000/hr to fly, plus what they pay to staff and service it, this does not make good press. Ford could easily find four guys at $2 million a year to do a better job, and save the difference.

[/ QUOTE ]
Hey, I'm in full agreement with that...but we're talking about 3 companies asking for a combined $25 billion...while the jokers who asked for *and recieved* the $750 billion are on what, lavish party/vacation number 3 now? Don't get me wrong, the Big3 could use a big dose of fat trimming, but it's looking to me like Congress couldn't care less about them going under, but were all about helping out their banking buddies...kinda makes a guy wonder in *whose* bank account is that $750 BILLION actually gonna end up in, huh?