all things considered, thats actually not too bad… its alot better than all the earlier rumors… the best news is that the Cruze wont be pushed back… well that and the Volt, but i dont think there was ever question about the Volt being pushed back.

My worry is that government aid will have to be repaid with corporate profits, and GM doesn’t know how to make a profit on the cars it has to build now. Neither Cruze nor Volt are profit centers. They were intended to be subsidized by Yukon / Suburban / etc. sales.

I just don’t know how GM gets out of this mess without becoming a government agency… at which point competitors that have managed to do well in this market without needing to be propped up, like Toyota, might have something to say about fairness.

i thought the Cruze was supposed to come to the US the beginning of next year, & how can the Daewoo version be on sale now and the Chevy version is delayed until 2010? thats stupid. they should work towards THAT car rather than the CUVs coming out first. the current equinox is way better than the cobalt. the Volt has been pushed back a bit already so that’s not surprising. WTF!

Might be good to introduce the Daewoo first… lessons learned during production can be applied to the Chevy version, resulting in a better product for North American.

Cobalt is selling well, and since it’s been around forever, its tooling is probably paid… so it’s probably a high profit margin product. Might be a good idea to squeeze as much as possible out of it, given GM’s financial straights.

The Equinox is far and away the worst CUV on the market today, considering the improvements made to the Ford Escape and the new Journey where the Cobalt is still somewhat competitive compared to the Focus and really no Chrysler competition.
GM needs the new Equinox as soon as it can get it. That chinese built 3.5L V6 on the base models is pretty weak offering if you ask me.
Buick needs the midsize sedan to even be considered competitive against the competition, and create foot traffic in the GMC/Buick/Pontiac dealerships where the old tired G6, sucky when new Grand Prix/Lacrosse twins, and too expensive G8 sits collecting dust.
Saab is probably a dead duck, I’m a fan of the brand, but it’s not going to last long enough for the 9-4x to see the light of day.
The Camaro convertible is at least going to be produced, but not sell well no matter what, it will still lose out to the cheaper to buy Mustang. Many who want the new Camaro will wait and buy the coupe anyway, so its a mute point. My prediction is that the Z28 will come out at the same time as the convertible with a Z06 engine in bay and a facelift for the entire lineup.

Who will be the first dickhead to blame the union for this.

400horseSS – This is partly the union’s doing, but they’re certainly not the only problem.

Under the new union rates cars like the Cruze probabl will be profitable. That is the whole point of getting concessions from the UAW. Starting in 2010 GM will be able to make money on cars and wont need to rely on Tahoes. Besides, the Tahoe/Yukon are on borrowed time and will not be replaced with all new models. In the future GM will have the lambdas and the thetas, no more BOF SUVs,

Here’s the thing
Ford, and GM, will not release their best products until mid to late 2010.
So GM will not make any profit on these products (Fiesta, Exploder, Cruze, Volt, Equinox) for 2 years from now.
What is GM gonna do until then?
If they are losing $2B a month, how much will it take for them to see the other side of this downturn?
If the Suburbans and Tahoes don’t sell, or aren’t produced, where is the revenue coming from?

Chances are this is not the first time GM will need a handout in the next couple of years.
2009 isn’t expected to be much better than this year
The chances of GM making it another 2 years, in this market, has to be considerably less than 50%
DrFill

It’s a good thing GM’s on its knees. It’s obvious they’ve already blown it, and with the number of others suckling off the Feds tit ahead of them they shouldn’t have far to reach that either.

Ok…lets say they get the $25B..then what?

WHO is going to buy a car from them…who??? I heard 80% of potential buyers said they wouldn’t buy a car from a co. in bankcruptcy…think the numbers are better for post-bailout GM..unlikely.

My friend sells Toyotas & is doing very well..WHY..because his customers say they won’t buy a GM/Ford/Chrysler because…they believe the DEALERS are toast and they won’t get service. The public’s general perception of domestic DEALERS is fatalistic…THAT’S what makes the bail-out a waste of $$$$

The bailout is the band-aid
The brand equity of the domestics is the festering boil of a wound
You can’t work 5 years out of 25 and expect a happy ending
When you take 20 years off, this is the result
I’d write a book about it
But I don’t really want any association with the deceased
DrFill

Too late 400SS. Where do you think the 2 billion a month is going? Cookies and milk before naptime? It’s going to totally disproportional salaries and health care for the 5 million people affiliated with the UAW.

No mention of CTS Coupe? I thought that was delayed, too. Personally, I hope GM and Ford (who needs Chrysler?) survive even if it means the demise of UAW.

The only way GM and Ford can go forward is if the UAW ’s power is substantially diluted.

damm……

Funny how NMOFGM has nothing to say on this article…

you guys realize that AFTER filing bankruptcy, there will be soo much public pressure on the government that GM would be back up and running within a week. During this 1 week, there will be massive falls in the Nasdaq and other world exchanges.

GM will re-employ most of its workforce incl. engineers, blue collars, etc.. BUT at lower salaries. The union will also exist but its power will be reallly limited. GM will still be producing the same cars except they wont be having insane overheads anymore!!!