Comments on: GM CEO Wagoner to drive Volt prototype to Capitol Hill (Updated)

By: mikemacnn

mikemacnn — Fri, 05 Dec 2008 08:27:36 +0000

beemerdude – They need to put more energy in creating something better that can help American auto industry. They are wasting their energy in marketing/publicity stunts, rather they should be concentrating more on quality and production.

By: DrFill

DrFill — Fri, 05 Dec 2008 02:54:37 +0000

Yarddog

Don’t take your eye off the ball
Not for one second!

This economic issue is just a smoke screen
Domestics have been losing share for decades.
This is just an accelerant of what was happening naturally

GM sold 150k last month (that’s how many brands? 6? 7?)
‘Yota sold 130k out of 3 brands
The top 5 cars sold in the US
All Japanese
Domestics have about 45% share, and dropping.

You can give the domestics all the money you want.
Americans aren’t buying the domestics anymore
Nothing in the next few years will change that
It will take much more time than they have
DrFill

By: DrFill

DrFill — Fri, 05 Dec 2008 02:49:15 +0000

Z06
Prepare to be sleeping with JDPower then
I thought you might give me a hard question
Is it easier to maintain quality over 10,000 vehilces or 1,000,000 vehicles?

If you want to playa-hate Lexus, that’s cool.
Being #1 is definitely not for everybody

The rest of the country loves their Lexus vehicles
And you know this, man!
Welcome to America
The Land of Lexus!
Sweet!
DrFill

By: an american revolution

an american revolution — Fri, 05 Dec 2008 00:47:54 +0000

Ok, I have read a lot on here today and some of the crap just dont fly. A few people here have an idea of whats going on. If you work at a dealership like me, you hear this all day, every day. Without the auto industry you have a shit ton of people without jobs. THAT IS VERY SIMPLE TO UNDERSTAND. American made cars are the best out there by far. You can percieve quality by a foreign company but when the car breaks down you have nothing, sure they are all nice when they are new. When they age is when you see the value. They go to crap and there is no one to fall on because they don’t have the warranty coverage that GM has. They don’t even come close!. However I know that GM does we have the best car line up in the market. We have over 8 vehicles just in CHEVROLET that get better than 30 mpg hwy. Thats more than any other manufacturer. We have more HYBRID’S on the road right now than any other brand. We have a great product that is unparalled to any other. Ford has some great stuff as welI, I know because they are my competitors. So until some of you on here have any idea of what you are talking about just stick to doing the reading part and stop posting your mis-informed opinions. You will do yourself and all of us a favor. As for the people who understand keep on talking because we need more people like you to get the word out.

By: MBsam

MBsam — Thu, 04 Dec 2008 21:03:07 +0000

Okay so they flew the Volt mule out on a private cargo plane and then had the CEO drive out in a Malibu? That sounds just about as good a fix as their actual turnaround plan…

By: beemerdude

beemerdude — Thu, 04 Dec 2008 18:31:53 +0000

^^mikemacnn: And what is wrong with that?? All eyes are on the CEOs testifying in Washington. So tell me what is wrong with getting them to notice a critically important new vehicle (for GM, anyway), like the Volt?

Using this opportunity to get visibility for GM’s new technology vehicle isn’t a “stunt.” It’s SMART public relations.

This is the way media manipulation is done in the 21st century. GM is doing something that any other business needs to do these days.

By: mikemacnn

mikemacnn — Thu, 04 Dec 2008 17:52:23 +0000

Thats nothing more than a publicity stunt. Trying to get volt’s pictures in newspapers, magazines and online news websites.

By: yarddog82abn

yarddog82abn — Thu, 04 Dec 2008 16:09:56 +0000

The argument that AMERICAN’S DON’T WANT TO BUY AMERICAN name brand cars, is just stupid… The American buyer, always looks for stability, the country is BROKE! if you are unsure of keeping your job are you going to go out and buy a NEW CAR or TRUCK? Or are you going to save up for a rainy day, TOYOTA sales are down to, and so is Honda, and Nissan, EVERY ONE IS IN THE HOLE…

Unless you work at a New Car Dealer you have no idea why people buy a curtain brand, at the time it is the reputation of readability of the Japaneses automaker that is there selling point, AMERICAN’S LOOK FOR STABILITY! NOT because you pay $30.K for a Prias it will save you gas, buy a Yaris, they get over 30MPG, but NO….. the Prias is COOL…. Big Celebs. drive them, and it’s cool to be green, THAT”S what you pay $30.K for.

American’s don’t want American name brand cars, SLAP YOUR SELF!… NO ONE IS BUYING!!!
THERE IS NO AUTO MARKET IN THE U.S.A. … ALL CARS IN ALL DEALERS ACROSS THE COUNTRY ARE GATHERING DUST, NO ONE IS BUYING, AND THE FEW THAT ARE ARE SHOPPING AROUND, FOR WHAT YOU ASK, STABILITY!!!… And I’m sorry to say that the JAP. automakers are the only one’s that look good at the moment, BMW, BENZ, INFINITY, all have dam good deals going on now, but there reputation of being expensive to own, is what are keeping most buyers away, and the reputation of the old American cars of the early 80′s still hunt us today… And not to say all the bad news that the media puts out of them going under, warranty is the next question on a buyers mind…

So like I said, unless you work at a New Car Dealer and you ask the customer, “what brings you in today” you just can’t say why people buy a curtain brand, you may have your own opinion, but trust me, what I just posted is what I hear form customer and other sales men all day long…

By: pzimet

pzimet — Thu, 04 Dec 2008 15:19:56 +0000

This is probably the first time Wagoner has piloted a car in the last 10 years, the snotty bastard.

By: Lawnchair88

Lawnchair88 — Thu, 04 Dec 2008 15:13:55 +0000

I think it would make a better statement to drive there in an EV-1

By: Z06ified

Z06ified — Thu, 04 Dec 2008 14:56:16 +0000

DrFIll – As soon as you can explain to me why Mercury has a much higher quality rating than Ford, when they are the same cars, built by the same people, at the same plants, with the same parts, then maybe I’ll believe that JD Powers study.

Until then, it’s largely subjective analysis with misguided statistics.

I also refer to real world experience. The previous president of my company LOVES Lexus – swears by them. That’s all he buys now. Yet, in the span of 8 years, his Lexus’ have left him stranded on the side of the road, broken down FOUR times, including one time a blown engine in his SC430 at only 22k miles. In that time I’ve driven Chevys and Fords more miles than he drove, and in much older vehicles, and have NEVER been broken down on the side of the road, and NEVER had an engine replaced.

I go with real world personal experience. I don’t need a survey and a bunch of statisticians who never leave their cubicles to tell me what the most reliable cars are.

By: tripleonefive

tripleonefive — Thu, 04 Dec 2008 14:51:38 +0000

Where did Wagoneer drive the “Volt” from ? I think he took a private jet to the nearest Chevy dealer and drove to Congress from around the corner
The guy in the car that was shown on CNN this morning was a double lol
Detroit 3 deserve to rot

By: oddglat

oddglat — Thu, 04 Dec 2008 14:26:21 +0000

Wagoner reminds me of the the Captain of s.s. ‘Titanic’ after hitting the iceberg.
“Let’s go and re-arrange the deck chairs” he says .

By: fan

fan — Thu, 04 Dec 2008 13:01:14 +0000

kinda stupid publicity stunt… whos he think hes actually fooling? would have worked had he done that in the 1st place, but now…

By: DrFill

DrFill — Thu, 04 Dec 2008 12:40:37 +0000

Sequioa
You like to back up my arguments, don’t ya?
Look who makes the Top 5 selling cars in America?
If you go back 5-6 years, the Silvy and F-150 had almost TWICE the sales
Now Camry is ready to pass the Silverado

The best selling cars made by a Domestic?
Impala and Focus
Not exactly Legends in the field
Leaders by default

CR-Vs and Prius’ are only going to gain share
Tacoma took over the midsize truck market

Go back 15 years, Ford had Exploder, Escort, Ranger, F-150, and Taurus in the top 10
Ford!

I think the people have figured out the emporer’s drawers are dirty
DrFill

By: wagon

wagon — Thu, 04 Dec 2008 10:13:36 +0000

These 3 companies have proven nothing to me. They say that they are restructuring, and advancing technology, but they have little available on the market. Why doesn’t Chysler and Ford have a subcompact cars? All the other automakers have one. Chevrolet Malibu Hybrid is so mild it shouldn’t even be aloud to be labelled a hybrid. They made that car for good public relations. Look we built a mid-size sedan hybrid so when you purchase this car you can get tax incentives. Ford always restyles the same designed vehicles and calls them new, example 2010 Mustang. Lets change the way the outside and interior looks but keep everything else the same. How is that “new Mustang” going to compete with the Camaro (if it ever gets built)? Other automakers like Honda, Toyota even Hyundai totally redesign their vehicles every four or five years. These 3 companies have Diesel engines in Europe, they should bring them here. That would cost too much money to try and fit those engines in the American cars. Also people say Americans aren’t ready for diesel’s yet. How about not giving the Americans the choice. Just like some cars only come with sunroofs, ABS, stability control, even the lack of a manual transmission. There is no choice this was how the car was built deal with it or don’t buy it. What? Americans won’t buy the cars anymore because they are hybrids, have diesel engines or they are not massive floating boats. Brand loyalists will stay, whatever direction the company decides to go. If Dodge made a diesel Challenger, everyone knows the Mopar heads will say it is the best diesel pony car on the market. If GM made a diesel Camaro, they Chev boys would say it was the best. These companies are wasting money trying to give the Americans choices by building the same car and rebranding it. Unnecessary waste of money.

By: wagon

wagon — Thu, 04 Dec 2008 09:28:01 +0000

Domestic cars sell because they are inexpensive. Incentives like 0% financing, employee discount pricing, year end clearance sales (because “the 3″ care about quantity not quality), usually lower sticker prices than imports, replacement parts are usually cheaper and domestic cars are cheaper to insure, throw in some American pride and these are the reasons why Domestic cars sell. People who are not auto enthusiasts (who are probably the majority of Americans) just need or want a new car to get them from point a to point b and back will most likely buy the inexpensive domestic car. What would Americans do if there were no American branded cars? Take the bus? I don’t think so. If the government gives “the 3″ this money I don’t think anything will change. These companies need to go backrupt. They have to start off fresh with no union but that won’t happen either. I don’t think anyone wants to buy these companies and deal with these problems that they can’t get rid of. I wish they die. Tax payers should not be paying for companies who don’t know how to run a business.

By: DaffyDuck

DaffyDuck — Thu, 04 Dec 2008 09:05:07 +0000

LOOK HERE

HEOLL I JUST MADE THIS ACCOUNT SOLEY TO TELL idrinorbarsaku THAT YOU ARE A CUNT

By: Ramatai

Ramatai — Thu, 04 Dec 2008 08:33:58 +0000

If you look at the banks and take into account that they on average have 10% cash to back up their loans, what do you think will happen to your houses and evry other form of credit you have if a bank goes bust? Are you all in a position to repay all your loans, leases, credit cards and mortgages? Your goverment doesn’t think so which why the banks got the money, it’s that simple. If a bank goes down so does everyone connected with it and that usually means several other banks, you pension fund, companies, home owner and ths list continues.

Noone said the banks weren’t stupid, but they are paying for it Citi have laid off 33% of their staff, how are the job cuts in Detroit are we up to 30% yet?

By: global_lightning

global_lightning — Thu, 04 Dec 2008 07:27:20 +0000

This is a prototype. Under the hood you’ll find an Iron Duke 4-banger from a 1986 Fiero.

By: cereal

cereal — Thu, 04 Dec 2008 07:16:00 +0000

Well, I’d advise Mr. Wagoner not to crash, and to make sure that is bullet-proofed. Just to make sure..

-eat your cereal

By: sequoiatrader

sequoiatrader — Thu, 04 Dec 2008 06:42:12 +0000

DrFill.. What evidence do you have that Americans dont want American cars?

1 Ford F-Series P/U 436,022 588,952 1 -26.0 … American
2 Chevy Silverado-C/K P/U 402,191 526,575 2 -23.6 … American
3 Toyota Camry 386,118 398,868 3 -3.2
4 Honda Accord 333,011 332,815 6 +0.1
5 Toyota Corolla 307,071 317,796 4 -3.4
6 Honda Civic 304,297 278,764 8 +9.2
7 Nissan Altima 241,529 239,800 9 +0.7
8 Chevrolet Impala 231,841 270,504 7 -14.3 … American
9 Dodge Ram P/U 213,684 301,689 5 -29.2 … American
10 Ford Focus 175,958 145,977 15 +20.5 … American
11 Honda CR-V 171,193 184,003 11 -7.0
12 Chevrolet Cobalt 168,940 169,400 14 -0.3 … American
13 Chevrolet Malibu 151,429 108,930 26 +39.0 … American
14 GMC Sierra P/U 145,067 174,621 12 -16.9 … American
15 Toyota Prius 142,365 150,572 16 -5.5
16 Ford Escape 135,558 139,911 17 -3.1 … American
17 Ford Fusion 128,381 123,729 20 +3.8 … American
18 GM Pontiac G6 126,494 121,278 28 +4.3 … American
19 Toyota Tundra 121,451 162,348 23 -25.2
20 Honda Odyssey 121,249 144,718 21 -16.2

I think that Americans do want to buy American. They just need to be assured that it is the right decision (which it is). With the strides in quality Ford & GM have made I think that sooner than later we will see domestics gaining even more ground especially in the car segment. Not too long ago 5 of the top ten selling models on the US were Fords. American automakers can certianly get there again.

By: A4

A4 — Thu, 04 Dec 2008 05:57:07 +0000

probably would figure out how to get the loan if he stayed in a holiday inn express the night before though.

By: A4

A4 — Thu, 04 Dec 2008 05:56:32 +0000

hope he stayed in a motel 6 before he gets criticized about that too

By: olds307

olds307 — Thu, 04 Dec 2008 05:35:39 +0000

lol stupid comments

By: johnnycanuck

johnnycanuck — Thu, 04 Dec 2008 04:40:42 +0000

Sorry idrinorbarsaku, you’re right. You still need time to wipe?

By: yarddog82abn

yarddog82abn — Thu, 04 Dec 2008 04:05:26 +0000

teahead…
You have the most valid point here, it’s a big blow job to get $30.Billion
And yes the banks, AIG, Citigroup, Chase, Bear STearns has to do NOTHING to get $700.Billion buy cry,

AND..Lau …
Your point is also valid, but the command folk, dose not see where the money went, and the banks are still laying off people, and homes are still being lost, we don’t see the good of the $700 Billion for the banks,

And to here on the news what a Union member get’s paid per hr. on or off the job, and the Big 3 Automaker heads, GIVEN that FORD’S top CEO BIG PAYDAY is part from selling off ASTON, JAG, and RANGE ROVER, but still, the amount they got paid and the reports of company lost, just don’t add up.

But I guess we’ll see what happen’s, and ya it’ will be funny if the Volt did not make it to D.C.

By: idrinorbarsaku

idrinorbarsaku — Thu, 04 Dec 2008 03:42:07 +0000

wow you’re going to have a hissy fit over break! get a life! your wasting time by posting that

By: DrFill

DrFill — Thu, 04 Dec 2008 03:35:35 +0000

No.
You compare apples to apples
Chevy, Ford, Chrysler to Toyota and Honda
Cadillac and Lincoln to Lexus and Acura (I don’t really consider Acura a top luxury marque. Same goes for Lincoln, so pair them up)
Are the domestics improving? Yes
Same breathe as Honda and Toyota? Slow down with the pipe! Puff, Puff, give!

Back to the bailout
You can give the domestics 100Billion dollars
It won’t solve the real problem
Americans DON’T WANT AMERICAN CARS
How much money do you need to change the public’s mind?
Hard times, unions, fuel economy, even management
These are small issues compared to the people wanting, and getting, what they want/need from other companies.
People in Accords, Camrys, Civics
They’re not coming back
Chew on that situation
DrFill

By: tyler_is_aero_tt

tyler_is_aero_tt — Thu, 04 Dec 2008 03:23:46 +0000

DrFill did you exclude Mercury, Cadillac, Buick, Lincoln, and Ford?

By: johnnycanuck

johnnycanuck — Thu, 04 Dec 2008 03:08:27 +0000

drinorbarsaku, for starters it’s break, not brake. There’s one brake per wheel on a vehicle and they help it stop. Please give the rest of us a break and stop posting garbage.

By: idrinorbarsaku

idrinorbarsaku — Thu, 04 Dec 2008 02:50:33 +0000

johnnyc
your comment is stupid! and i do know what to do next, party, then laugh at the big three for fucking up and watching them beg for money so they can breath! this is a prototype!!!! like you actually know anything about this car to make a good judgment call on it having good reliability when in fact gm prototypes has POOR reliability! its new technology on a prototype which gm and others are known for having problems!!!! you don’t have to be smart to guess that its probably going to have problems getting to its destination point! i don’t know whats wrong with you but it seems like someone just punched you in the nuts and you wanna get pissed at someone for it. as for reliability test against ford/gm/toyota/honda, you have to be a fucking idiot to believe that ford is tied with toyota and that gm is close behind. it sure doesn’t seem like that once you actually purchase their cars! i hate it when people back up a car company as if its their life. they would do nothing for you, so why care so much about them? and if you are so worried about the big 3 hurting jobs then its your fault, their are plenty of better career options that have nothing to do with the automotive industry.

By: elviososa

elviososa — Thu, 04 Dec 2008 02:27:01 +0000

j-power is running by a bunch of morns and blood suckers!

By: DrFill

DrFill — Thu, 04 Dec 2008 02:15:42 +0000

Let’s not let the facts get in the way of a good story, huh?
The facts, now showing:
http://www.jdpower.com/corporate/news/releases/pressrelease.aspx?ID=2008115
Not seeing any of the Big 3 on par with ‘Yota or Honda

Now back to the regularly scheduled monkey crap
DrFill

By: Mutant@DCX

Mutant@DCX — Thu, 04 Dec 2008 02:03:41 +0000

What a dog and pony show this has turned out to be!

I’d take the jet down there again, cause this loan is already stamped ‘DENIED’

By: inline6

inline6 — Thu, 04 Dec 2008 01:51:56 +0000

Right…because new GM cars are SOOO unreliable. Oh wait.

No they aren’t. In reliability, GM and Ford vehicles have been doing pretty well. Ford is statistically tied with Toyota and Honda, and GM isn’t far behind at all.

They’re using Cruze bodywork because the Volt is based on that platform. If it were ready for production now, they’d use the Volt’s bodywork. But before any of this bailout stuff happened, the Volt was set at a Nov 2010 release date. So it makes sense that they’re not ready yet to drive the finished product to DC. It’s not finished yet. The best they can do is a Cruze body.

AIG’s been back to the public well 3 times now. They’ve picked up 4x the cash that GM, Ford, and Chrysler have to beg for collectively. Citigroup’s back for a second round, as well…this time for $20B, making $45B total now. And $307B additional has been earmarked to underwrite their bad debt. And that’s just to ONE company! And no Citigroup official has been brought to DC in their jet to stroll the Mall, much less testify before Congress.

If the Big 3 came before Congress every year for $34B, it’d take them 11 years, collectively, to have requested the same amount of money we’re using to back Citigroup, sight unseen, alone.

So yeah…go ahead…break up the furniture, set fire to the drapes, because the Big 3 need help. All the while, Uncle Sam will shell out 217x the $34B they’re requesting, sight unseen, to Wall Street, and with zero accountability.

By: CP92804

CP92804 — Thu, 04 Dec 2008 00:37:52 +0000

Who cares about the Volt. With the downward spiral in jobs and wages who will be able to afford a 40,000 Chevy? I am positive the factory has sent out ETM’s and shop manuals to all of the dealers along the route he takes, I am positive they will need them being that this is a GM car.

By: hangonbig3

hangonbig3 — Thu, 04 Dec 2008 00:24:37 +0000

once again…Well said Johnny C… Well said.

By: howsmydriving

howsmydriving — Thu, 04 Dec 2008 00:22:24 +0000

Who the hell cares. That corporate jet flap was so stupid anyway.

By: lou3000

lou3000 — Thu, 04 Dec 2008 00:14:48 +0000

Next week’s LLN Headline:

“Rick Wagoner Dies in Horrific Electric Car Battery Fire”

By: johnnycanuck

johnnycanuck — Thu, 04 Dec 2008 00:01:39 +0000

idrinorbarsaku, I’m betting you just sh*t yourself and have no idea what to do next.

By: idrinorbarsaku

idrinorbarsaku — Wed, 03 Dec 2008 23:40:23 +0000

anyone wanna make a bet that its gonna brake down before it gets there?? i’m guessing there’s a 99.99% chance of it braking down before it gets there!

By: A4

A4 — Wed, 03 Dec 2008 23:25:12 +0000

Lau, i bet theyre going to use the Cruze bodywork to show what COULD BE finished if congress gives them the money, and what could represent our green technologies – granted the money comes through.

By: A4

A4 — Wed, 03 Dec 2008 23:23:35 +0000

and congress will all go home in a convoy of cadillacs and tahoes

By: Lau

Lau — Wed, 03 Dec 2008 23:17:04 +0000

^ teahead

Man, you love reading in betwee the lines! You make a valid point, but I guess you’d have to consider the substantial amount of money that goes into the stock market, and the amount of money those companies may have put in.

Plus, why do they use the Cruze bodywork? Sure, the engineering is still good, but what they are doing by using an UNFINISHED product is telling Congress that the hype surrounding their electric car is just that, hype. It still takes unreasonable amounts of time to get things done.