Consumers have a different opinion as to the word “good” when applied to GM vehicles.

If Lutz said the Volt is “good”, general public should start worry about Volt is not the car they think it is. Lutz leads the GM to the current messes after all.

No doubt in my mind, if GM could lose the life-sucking UAW contracts, it would far excede Toyota and other Japanese manufacturers in quality and technology. This is a worn out topic, however GM is well aware its cars fall behind the standards set by Toyota, etc because it has to in order to make some sort of profit. I hope and pray for GM and other American manufacturers to file bankrupsty! Losing those UAW contracts will FINALLY give them a chance to build the car that they’ve always been able to build, but simple unable to do. Further, it warrants being said the only reason Democrats want a bailout is because the unions make up their base… they must have their support thus they must fight for their [un-american] cause.

This is good news, but I thought the same thing when reading Lutz use the word “good”.

I don’t think the Volt is what will save GM. GM needs a better mainstream product. They need a breakthrough somehow. The Malibu should have been that breakthrough, but it’s hard to make that break with the current stigma. If it’s platform mates were better suited, like the G6 and the Aura then that would help. They need all three vehicles selling at around where the Malibu currently is, if not better.

Oh yeah, and turning a profit.

I just pray GM goes bankrupt, and it seems like my prayers will come true. The worlds biggest builder of garbage has to come down. I am also happy to know that all those overpaid losers who just recently retired from GM (the ones who spent 30 years of their life working for GM building garbage) will no longer receive a pension from GM because once GM files for bankruptsy, all legacy costs (pension payments) are erased. GM no longer has to pay a pension to those high school drop out assembly line losers. Thats what you get for ripping off the public with sub par vehicles that the whole world laughs at. GM, and especially Ford are evil companies that only care about profits. They will fall, the thin ice they are on is cracking all around them, and all the retired GM, Ford, and Chrysler workers will be putting a gun to their heads when they find out that all those years of working were for nothing when they find out they no longer have a pension. USA #1 lol

^ **applause**

I won’t feel bad when these untalented pompus asshole all go down.

planet_drive, not one word of that had anything to do with the Volt.

what the hell is wrong with you people? What did GM or Ford ever do to you? Burn down your house and rape you daughter?! I don’t get that… That attitude is un-american, you should relocate to china. Whats wrong with making a decent wage and getting something out of it after working 30yrs? I will agree unions do bring down company’s but perhaps if all auto makers had to deal with them then it would be a fair fight against them and keeping them in check.

“What did GM or Ford ever do to you? Burn down your house and rape you daughter?!”————-Polluted the air with their dirty cars, fought CAFE for 30 years by buying politicians, kept us dependent on oil all the while profiteering from blood of us soldiers. Oh yeah, and now they want taxpayers money for private jets.

Even if the Volt is nice, it will be greeted by a dead economy with no one being able to buy any car with even GMAC not being able to finance most people.

Sorry elviososa, but Lutz is the only reason that GM discovered the Nurburgring for their Cobalt SS, CTV-V and Corvette. Without him, they still be happily content with using the 3800 series engine in all their cars.

Too late for him though. GM is still viewed as crap, and their current lineup hasn’t been around enough to turn public opinion. They now sell Daewoos, Opels and Holdens as Aveos, Cobalt, Astras, and G8s since they can’t make much of anything good themselves, save for their trucks and a car here and there.

The only reason GM built all of those polluting SUV’s was because people demanded them (and, because of high labor costs, these were the only products that could generate profits).

While I am not all for union and recognize that their contracts sometimes seem a little egregious, getting rid of them altogether is not the way to go, unless you want GM and Ford to be run like Walmart, which does NOT take care of its employees. Once one automaker does it, the other will follow, and it’s a slippery slope from there. I hope Chris C. and planet_drive are some high power execs so you are not affected.

Also, you can’t blame the quality of the car on the assembly line worker alone. They don’t make that decision. It starts in a Conference room, then a lab. So if you want to point blame, you must include your lovely Lutz and Wagner and Fields and the Ford family. Their R&D has been lagging with a misguided focus for a long time. It is all the more insulting that their European and even Australian counterparts are able to give what consumers want and stay competitive. So this is more a failure of the management, not the union labor. And if you want to talk about cut, how about cutting those bonuses and golden parachute first and set an example for the union?

And the Volt still looks like a Civic. There is my Volt comment

wtf did elvisosa say
and i like the volt… whats with all the bashing about everything else? talk about the damn car we get it that everyone is sick of the automakers financial ways. stick to the damn cars unless its a post about the finances themselves.

Things must be really bad at GM if Lutz is having to do car testing.

And I don’t trust anything Lutz says is good.

Well said DetroitWatcher….a little common sense goes a long way.

The general public wants to drive their living room.

planet_drive- Wow. That has got to be one of the most ridiculous, hateful posts I have ever read on LLN. And there’s quite a few ridiculous ones, so yours exceeds.

The worlds biggest builder of garbage? We’ve gone over this thousands of times here on LLN. Not one of their current products is garbage. Maybe twenty years ago.

But who the hell DIDN’T make garbage back then? How about you all ponder on that question. Who the hell made GREAT cars just 10 years ago in the states? Not anybody I can think of. You guys are stuck on thinking about the past. Well, how about thinking about the disgustingly horrible 80’s Toyota Tercel, with it’s Tupperware interior and 75 horsepower blender motor? Or how about the slew of German sedan copies, many of which we fortunately don’t get in the states (Toyota Progres, Mark ll, etc.). How about ball joints failing in Honda’s? How about sludge in Toyota’s, and then not taking initial responsibility for it! How about HUGE rust problems in nearly all Japanese foreign vehicles in the 80’s and 90’s, that were never addressed… until Toyota found out that their RECENT Tacoma’s were rusting out at ridiculous rates. How about Toyota never taking the blame for one of their problems? It’s always a supplier, or maybe the workers are even trying to sabotage them! How about the Camry being taken off of most top reliable lists, or being recalled in Japan because the V-6 supercharged motors BLOW UP? How about the Tundra, with its drivetrain, engine, body and structural problems? How about Tundras vibrating so bad exterior mirrors are unusable? How about inherently “suicidal” engines in early Tundras that Toyota never fixed? They ignored the problem until 2004, when they finally admitted they had knowledge of the problem for a few years now. Or faulty ball joints in Tundras? Toyota recalled half a million trucks just because of that. And they’ve been DENYING that problem for years. Or the camshafts going bad in new Tundras. Or how about instead of installing latch systems in the seats of new Tundras, their just turning off the airbag disable switch? Costs Toyota less, costs the consumer more.

How about all the rebadges, such as the Toyota Corolla/ Lexus ES, the Toyota Altezza/Lexus IS, Toyota Aristo/Lexus GS, Toyota Celsior/Lexus LS, Toyota Harrier/Lexus RX, Toyota 4Runner/Lexus GX, Toyota Land Cruiser/ Lexus LX, Honda NSX/Acura NSX, Acura Integra/Honda Civic, Acura TSX/Honda Accord Euro, Acura CSX/Honda Civic, Honda Inspire/Acura TL, Acura RL/ Honda Legend, Acura SLX/ Isuzu Trooper, Nissan Primera/Infiniti G, Nissan 350Z/Infiniti G35 coupe, Nissan Pathfinder/Infiniti QX4, Nissan Armada/Infiniti QX56, Nissan Cefiro/ Infiniti I, Toyota Auris/Toyota Blade/ Toyota Corolla, Daihatsu/Toyota Passo, Toyota Estima/Previa, Toyota Hilux/Tacoma, Toyota Limo/Vios/Corolla Altis, and even more throughout the 70’s and 80’s. And many of those ARE sold in the same market, compete with each other and are exactly the same, no worse and no better than GM, Ford or Chrysler.

And I guess 4 million+ citizens of America, and also many other jobs across the world will just have to fall down with it, right? Because it’s not like a multi-billion dollar, UAW and CAW imposed health care plan doesn’t affect vehicle development for GM. It’s not like strikes for weeks because the UAW can’t get what it wants doesn’t affect the quality and profits of Americas vehicles. Or that Gm, Ford and Chrysler pretty much have no say in the employees they can hire, because of the Union.

No, it doesn’t matter that our current employment rate is something like 4 million (correct me if I’m wrong). That would only double if GM, Ford or Chrysler goes down, right. It doesn’t matter about the many workers who have made an honest living at Ford, GM and Chrysler, many of them for more than 30 years. Everyone just assumes the union is horrible; many of the people working there are honest workers like you and me. A lot of the ones in the past 15 years though are untrained, unskilled and uncompetitive, and only because the union allows them to do so. And Gm, Chrysler and Ford can’t do a damn thing about it!

Personally, I see Gm and Ford shining, despite hard times. I see them coming out with some of the best vehicles that they’ve ever come out with, despite billions in UAW costs, retirement and huge, corrupt CEO’s paychecks. Despite the economy falling, credit going down the drain and American support at an all time low, their making huge strides. It’s nothing but disgusting to hear someone talk like you just did. Not only is it saddening for someone who truly loves cars, but seeing it just go down the drain because people are stuck thinking about cars produced twenty years ago when all cars were crap, and not thinking enough about the UAW and high up management that’s sucking the life out of the Big Three. Just a month ago I would have been less willing to stick up for the Big Three, but with the products I’ve seen in the past two weeks, the strides they’ve made in just a few short months, the restructuring even their high up management has made to their own salaries, despite the economy, and knowing what I know now about the UAW’s conditions and policies I feel now is one of the best times to stick up for Ford and Chrysler. It’s too sad I can’t say the same about Chrysler- but they have yet to show off their efforts, if they have any commendable ones.

Oh yeah, and fvck a couple billion dollars in pensions. Try $170 billion in costs in 2005.

And it’s not entirely GM’s fault either. They accepted to pay full pensions and a few other things in the 50’s, to workers that had been working at GM for more than 30 years. The workers of course agreed. Pretty much free lunch, right? And it’s not like they were bad workers either; this was a trend started by Ford, give back more to the workers. But now, with ballooning costs, and a lot of the UAW taking advantage of some of those options, as well as the UAW imposing more with less skilled workers, it’s blown the problem up to huge amounts.

So I’ll say that mouth dropping figure once more. $170 billion for 2005. Oh yeah….. More than $30 billion into just it’s pension funds- and it’s still $54 billion underwater.

My goodness kids, all the guy did was drive a prototype not start the holocaust. If you want to take pot shots at Bob Lutz then take better aim at the real problem. Like sprockkets points out, Bob Lutz is a car guy and you’d be hard pressed to argue against that, but he’s not a salesman. If I didn’t know those quotes were coming from Bob Lutz I would have thought they might have been the evaluation of some invisible corporate suit or project engineer. Sell it to us Bob! I want to get excited about the Volt as I’m sure do GM employees and the public. Dress it up so much that even the competition should be nervous. Don’t tell us how you were surprised you couldn’t hear the engine start, tell us the process was so smooth that we’ll be amazed by the experience. I hate to keep coming back to the greatest car salesman of our time, but Iacocca was the man. It’s too bad he couldn’t bottle that charisma and give every one of Detroit’s top dogs a dose. That’s what the industry needs right now, not a bunch of bean counters and lawyers trying to fend off the dragons with big words and begging like a bunch of street corner bums.

ill bet lutz and gang are so happy that gas is now 1.80 a gallon (i just paid that)…. i see HUGE lines waiting for the volt if prices stay under $2 a gallon……NOT!! ill bet the higher ups are sick to their stomche, especially if these prices hang around….who would want this car with no $4 gas issues??

Sooo, I heard that the Volt is going to be using NiCd batteries now? ummm, don’t those die very quickly? and you can’t really recycle them? ummm, please don’t try to just save money again GM, please go with the more expensive and better Li ion batteries. My RC car uses NiCd, and it dies incredibly quickly after a full charge. This would be a bad move for you even if you are trying to save the company, if you do this then once again you have made a sub-par vehicle that has not lived up to it’s potential.

planet_drive
sheesh!
what’s your education level? what do you do for a living? gm deny your job application? honestly, wtf!

zeeck, where did you hear about GM not using Li-ion in the Volt? Do you have a link? This is the first I’ve heard of it, and would be a strange move after spending so much on R&D for Li-ion so far.

Honestly, GM has some of the most exciting vehicles in their classes coming within the next year or two, if they’re not here already. The company’s products have every ability to be successful. If only the WSJ, and other publications that are riding the ‘death of the D3′ wave that’s been going on for the last three years, would report with the same venom the negatives and failures of other car makers with home offices abroad. That and the death of the UAW/CAW would make for a very different story in the market.

How many writers of the WSJ short stocks as they type the death of GM? Who will be left with enough money to invest in the reborn GM? It’s so obvious it hurts.

Lighten up people……it’s not call demand of SUV…it’s call MARKETING…..the real demand is GREEN AUTOS…and where were the GM’s GREEN AUTOS back then??? Most American were brain washed by the Marketing force especially those “RED NECK” live inside the city. If you go Asia and Europe, you won’t see those huge SUV often.

Elviososa- What points to that? The Honda Insight was an epic fail. Subcompacts were always one of the weakest markets, and only now are people showing the slightest interest in them. It was a gamble that Jeep took when they came out with the Wagoneer, and it paid off. It was only AFTER Ford was out of dire straights that it released one of the first soft SUVs, the Explorer.

GM have had cars like the Geo Metro and Aveo, Ford has produced and imported many small cars, and now has two hybrids, GM has the most hybrids of any automaker. Some people in Europe and Asia just don’t want/need an SUV. Not to say all Americans use their SUV’s for towing, it’s just a matter of choice buddy.

Marketing only works if someones willing to buy into it.

planet_drive is right in most of his assessment, except one. Congress will not let 2.6 to go down easy. The spectacle of producing congress designed automobiles will go into full swing.
If GM, Ford and Cerberus could produce autos that market wanted we would not have discussions in front of the congress. They cant, couldn’t and will not be able to produce anything of value.
All companies have deficient governance (no board of directors who oversees CEO and manages him), no CEO who can do the job and interested in doing it (basically hired guns who are there for the money and money only) and a labor force which is overpaid and under performing. The market reacts to their creations, well it doesn’t react.
We can cry how American jobs will be affected all we want, but if jobs are not needed folks need to learn new skills. This country was leader in production of steal, industrial equipment, durable goods and electronics. We used to wear shoes and pants made here. Can anyone enlighten me where computers are made we use to blog here? It is fact of life and economy. People who worked in steal mills are doing something else and their children as well. Same will happen to UAW, but congress will make an agony out of it. Wake up and smell the roses.

gas guzzling SUV’s like The Toyota Sequoia, Highlander, Honda Ridgeline, Nissan Armada and Titan should be outlawed! They are lackluster, lousy products anyway!These damn greedy Japanese pigs!

jayjc08, aside from your ridiculously long post, I can sum it up in one sentence: Quality problems for Toyota/Honda is the exception, not the rule. For Chrysler, the Neon’s is the very expression of what “quality” means to them, as in let’s save $5 here, which in turn causes $95 in repairs later.

Yeah, its funny because this car is never going to make it into production. Oh I know it keeps you busy, GM, but your going to go bankrupt before 2010..

Atleast GM is trying to clean up their own mess, you can give ‘em that.

don’t be ridiculous VWgrouP, if GM does go bankrupt it will probably continue to exist. If it does not, then as much of it as is possible will be sold off. Do you really think that the company’s most promising future product will not be of interest either to the new slimmed-down company or to potential buyers?

planet_drive,

I can understand you wanting to see the management out on their collective fat arses, but why are you so keen to see millions of retirees without any kind of financial support. Today’s pension loser will be tomorrows street corner begger, what else is a 60-year-old supposed to do for money? Only a complete c*nt would want to see the number of desperate old folks on the street growing.

Guess what, it’s all on the hands of North American CAR BUYERS! It’s time to take some bloody responsibility for the fact that we asked for SUVs. We never wanted subcompacts. Do you think anyone buying a Civic isn’t compromising? My Dad is a repeat Corolla (third one) buyer, but what he really wants is an Avalon. We wanted big, and as long as it was cheap to get around it was the best answer.

Take some damn blame, people. We created this blunder. The state, and fate, of the market is entirely in our hands.

Hey…as I said before…it’s not the people doesn’t want to get sub-compact…it’s the the Big 3’s wrong marketing and poor quality that turn people off. Honda’s Insight failed was partly because the whole auto ind. put billions $$ into the SUV’s marketing instead of puting those fund to develope a better “Insight”. If Big 3 has the vision to the future, they would had had the Insight competitors when the Insight came out. Why waste the ad. money on Superbowl??? Why waste money on Indy 500 or something simular??? Why paid millions to the idoits who run the company. They need to go bankcrupt.

Jayjc08, That was well said!

Wait for a second Elviososa… so your saying, that even though the people wanted small cars and there were vehicles like the Insight, which had a big, although short lived marketing force behind it, they still went for SUV’s because they were marketed more?

That just doesn’t make sense. Ask most Americans, and they’ll say they’d rather have an SUV over what they have in Europe. I would say “what we have here”, but once again, it’s not as big of a market as in Europe.

Because the Superbowl, Indy 500, etc. attract more viewers. Honda also invests in sports events.

And nobody has had a true insight competitor since. Not the Japanese, not the Europeans, not us. And now Detroit has more hybrids marketed in America than the Japanese. The only remotely successful ones being the Escape and possibly GM’s mid-sized sedans.

Also, with your logic… the Escape hybrid should be selling in huge numbers. But their not.

sprockkets- It’s not just a select “few” Japanese cars. I don’t know many that haven’t had horrible rust problems from the 80’s. It was just a failure to recognize what had happened to a lot of Gm, Ford and Chrysler products in the late 70’s, when most of Detroits sub-compacts were rusting out. Difference was, the Detroit 3 fixed it in two or so years, while imports from Japan took about 10 years to truly fix the problem.

And why do you think they sliced $5 off here and there on their vehicles?

Two words: High Costs

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A64599-2005Apr18.html

@Jayjc08’s long rant –

Your knowledge of Japanese cars is impressive, but your one-sided approach undercuts your argument. What were the Big 3 building, while Japan was making those horrible Tercel models? We had awesome innovation in the US in the form of the Pacer, Gremlin, El Camino, 4-cylinder Mustangs, the Grand Am, anything Oldsmobile, so many other garbage American cars from that time — not to mention that in the ’80s US carmakers began to shift to Japanese and overseas steel, undercutting our own steel industry. And you are wrong about the marketing vs. demand issue when it comes to compact cars; if you look at American car advertising all the way back to the ’50s, US carmakers have always emphasized bigger, more powerful, seats more, has more room, etc — always. If you set foot in a dealership for the Big 3 anytime in the past 30 years and mentioned Honda or Toyota, the first words out of the salesman’s mouth would be “Oh, you don’t want one of those little tin can ****boxes” — only now are they using MPG and cost of ownership in their ads, the previous marketing was purely about image. Like it or not, US R&D and innovation has been totally stagnant and reliant on repackaging the pickup truck for the last 20 years, and now they get to crash after being asleep at the wheel. Are you aware that almost 80% of what a US worker does in a US auto plant has been automated in Japan and Europe? Their workers often have full Engineering degrees, and their role is to do quality control and tune up the robots, not to turn a wrench or glue in a windshield for $47.00 an hour. US automakers literally sat in the back seat for the last 30 years, and now you want them to take the wheel?

The issue with the unions is very real and very serious, and yes, the automakers did make ridiculous, sweetheart deals with the unions at a time when the domestic auto industry was flush with cash and didn’t see $4.00 (or even $2.00) gas on the horizon. They can not be allowed to shirk their commitments on pensions that they have already granted, but UAW has to re-negotiate everything else (and kick out their own Mafia-bred leadership) in order to make any lasting change in the US industry.

Oh, and who was building reliable, high-quality cars in the US in the last 10 years? That would be Honda, Toyota and Subaru, all of whom had US plants turning out Accords, Camrys and Legacys.

02WRXPSM- “What were the Big 3 building, while Japan was making those horrible Tercel models?”

That’s why I said everyone, not just the Japanese made horrible cars in the 80’s.

“And you are wrong about the marketing vs. demand issue when it comes to compact cars”

I don’t believe I was. It’s simply what people want, that’s all there is too it. There isn’t anything wrong with being big, more chrome or being more flashy, it’s just a matter of taste. If that’s what people think is classy, then let them buy it. But maybe to your surprise there were quite a few small cars marketed in the 50’s, a slew of European small cars (roadsters most well known), and quite a few domestic automakers (Nash).

You may want to dig into it a bit further why large cars were marketed. Do you know why large cars were marketed in the states originally?

Yes, I do. It was to support the American steel industry, ramped up during WWII, and to celebrate those new highways put in as part of the post-war ramp-up to the Cold War. This was also the time period when Americans were told to buy more meat and butter, have more children, smoke more cigarettes and buy a bigger house (families on TV went from two kids to six) so that the war profiteers who had used US Gov. bonds and support to expand their manufacturing during WWII could keep their gains and continue to expand. You’re being a bit naive about the power and role of advertising in shaping culture and demands, and doubly so about the power of the industry barons who ate at Uncle Sam’s table during that time.

You’re ignoring the fundamental mantra of advertising: “Create a need, then fill it.” If you can’t see the outrageous amount of propaganda from the US industry trying to convince US customers that they needed big, powerful gas-guzzling cars, you’re being willfully blind here. Did the Chevy truck commercial from 5 years ago say “great value for your money, 22 MPG, really safe”? No, it said “LIKE A ROCK” with guitars in the background while the truck ramped off some rocks in the middle of a protected national forest. When I was shopping around for a car in 2001, before I bought my Subaru, every domestic dealership I went to tried to sell me a pickup truck or an SUV; they were treating their smaller cars (like the Neon) as loss leaders they sell to little old ladies, and only carried a few on the lot at a time. Remember the Simpsons ad parody for the “Canyonero?” (I’m sure it is on YouTube somewhere) — that was a parody of US car advertising in the 1990s. You can’t parody something without a grain of truth. We were sold a bill of goods, at a time when gas was $.89 a gallon and the US economy was almost deficit-free, and the Big Three just put away the crystal ball and acted like this would continue indefinitely. Let’s see if the Volt can repair some of that damage.

http://simpsons.wikia.com/wiki/Canyonero (1998)

And….don’t even let me start talking about what’s really behind the 911 and the war to Iraqi. Most American were told and brain whashed by the “MEDIUM” although there are few still have clear minds.

I’m not all to sure about large cars to support the steel industry. There were plenty of projects going on- much of that steel also went to the rebuilding of Germany and Japan, and building production in the United States using steel skyrocketed. Building large cars with steel would have a relatively small impact compared to other projects that were going on then.

But I think your a little bit naive about a point that you may have made that although doesn’t seem to relate much to this, is part of the big picture. When you mentioned that families went from two kids to six on television…

Part of the reason for the huge cars from American car manufacturers were to JUST transport families. Europe didn’t have huge families of five or six as the norm, and Euro cars evolved around personal transportation (an obvious result visible today). American’s did. We ended up with huge 18 foot land yachts, that could tow all the family goodies and navigate some rough terrain. That’s the reason why American cars only recently changed from bench seating in the front to buckets. It’s been in European cars for a long time now. That’s why Americans loved their station wagons throughout the 50’s, 60’s and 70’s, and then moved onto sport utility vehicles and minivans in the 80’s. Frankly you’d be surprised by how similar the requirements and guidelines for Fords new SUV, the Explorer, when they were designing it was similar to their earlier station wagons which were the earliest form of people transport.

Even now, most American families are larger. For that matter, Americans are larger, and if you’ve ever traveled far and wide you’d know that’s almost an understatement!

And yes, I understand well the power of advertising. But advertising wasn’t predominant until the 60’s, and even then it was limited to brochures, billboards and minor commercial advertising (nothing like we have today). My point is, it was avoidable, unlike today at the flick of a switch commercials on tv are unavoidable, and web pages are cluttered with them. As American families evolved smaller and smaller, just like American jobs are becoming more specialized, less laborious and less centered on agriculture (as well as machines able to do the work of that family of six that may have done it before), there’s no need for these large cars or SUV’s. Automobiles came into play between this transition, and Detroit should have recognized it in the 80’s and 90’s, but individuals continued to purchase large vehicles. With the recent economic growth (till now, of course), individuals are still purchasing large vehicles- similar to why there are more BMW 3 series sold in Germany than Ford Mondeos. It’s what they can afford… or perceive they can afford.

And thanks for brightening up my day with the Canyonero! I’ll have to look it up on youtube…

And hey, I also agree with you on Iraq and 911. It’s one of the biggest frauds- *ehem* proclamations- of our time.

Okay, so here is the plan for reorganization while in bankruptcy. GM will be reorganized into the following units for the North American market:

(1) Saturn, GMC (2) Chevrolet, Cadillac

Buick, Pontiac, Hummer and Saab (maybe a reprieve for Saab?) will cease to exist. ALL UNION CONTRACTS ABROGATED. Result; GM’s $2000 per vehicle cost disadvantage removed and will now pay same scale as domestically produced imports saving another $2Billion per year. Company now sized for operations at approximately 20% North American market share. Saturn will market the best of GM worldwide, e.g., Holden and Opel products.

Furthermore, Lutz stays and Wagoner gone. Camaro gone – after the first year — sales will slide – watch and see! The Volt; who cares, to expensive, and not much of a market for a plug in hybrid from any manufacturer – niche vehicle – that’s all they ever will be.

Drastic times call for drastic action! Time to do what should’ve been done long ago. It may turn out that bankruptcy is the way to save GM – yes it will hurt! If not you are looking at a Stage IV Cancer patient r.i.p.

DB9

p.s. posted twice

^^Sorry, forgot to add… a new Impala based on the Current G8/Holden commodore. Saturn’s version similar to the Vauxhall V8… Some badge engineering allowed;-)

DB9

^^ One more;-) The new GM:-)Saturn: Aura (Opel Insignia – new EpsilonII platform), Astra (Opel Astra – new DeltaII platform), Sky (Kappa platform), Vue (new Theta platform), Outlook (Lambda platform), Mid/Large RWD sedan (Zeta platform or SigmaII platform).

GMC: Acadia (lambda platform), mid/small SUV(new Theta platform), GMT360 (envoy) cancelled, GMT900 platform – full-size trucks and SUVs

Cadillac: CTS (SigmaII platform), STS & DTS replaced by one car on the Zeta or stretched SigmaII platform, XLR (second Y-platform), SRX (new Theta premium platform), Escalade (new Lambda platform).

Chevrolet: Traverse (lambda platform), Equinox (new Theta platform), GMT360 (trailblazer) cancelled, GMT900 platform – full-size trucks and SUVs, HHR (new DeltaII platform), Cruze (new DeltaII platform), Malibu (EpsilonII platform), Impala (Zeta or Sigma II platform); if kept Fwd the canceled 2010 Buick lacrosse EpsilonII platform; if Zeta, new El Camino is added, Corvette (second Y-platform), Volt (DeltaII/Eflex platform).

All With the latest High Feature power trains.

DB9

Mitchell, Harly and Duntov would be proud

I don’t know why you think bankruptcy is such a big deal! Do you think GM will fire everyone and shut down all their plants which will eventually become post-apocalyptic-type ruins ran by savage unemployed workers!?
If any of you would know anything about economy, they will realize that someone will buy GM at a dirt-low price and continue to build sh1tty cars. The company might be worth nothing right now, but the research facilities and factories are still there, still work and can still build stuff. It’s not a financial institution that lives off other people’s success and dies at the first sign of economic depression. This is a gigantic production facility.
The only people that are going to get fired are the worthless employees: from factory line workers who are there just because “daddy worked here for 20 yeeers tightening bolts” to lazy CEOs who spend the company’s money on private jets and vacation homes on remote islands. Whoever will buy GM will first lay off some people to make the company more economically efficient.
On subject: I like the Volt, it’s the first hybrid worthy of mentioning, as the previous hybrids like Prius struggled to get better economy than a similar powered diesel…

“And….don’t even let me start talking about what’s really behind the 911 and the war to Iraqi.”

Please don’t.

DB9, I don’t actually mind your vision for the future, apart from killing off Buick and Pontiac. Buick is still a money maker, just not so much in NA. Killing them would be painfully stupid. And Pontiac, if it stayed with the ‘American BMW’ and all RWD/AWD plans could become relevant again. But sell Saab and try to sell Hummer. There’s nothing ‘Saab’ at Saab now anyway.

(1) Saturn/Buick/GMC with a Geo model (not brand… think Smart…. or Th1nk. A purely bare bones economy car. Chevrolet can have the high tech greeen cars that come at a premium.)

(2) Chevrolet/Pontiac/Cadillac. Just don’t have anything redundant on one lot.

Marketing
Saturn – Like you said, a brand that acts like a worldwide showcase. The best from Europe and Asia.
Buick – Mid-level luxury. Affordable, comfortable, up scale, very design oriented. Smooth and refined engineering, not about power. A budget Lexus, I guess you could say.
GMC – Duh. Just as they are, just get rid of GMT-900 SUV’s altogether and switch to Lambda. They should also be up scale trucks, to differentiate themselves from Chev’s trucks.

Chevrolet – The Green car company. Fuel efficiency and affordability. Keep the Camaro, but definitely give it an LNF. The Corvette shouldn’t be touched. They’re seen as their own brand over most of the world anyway, so it shouldn’t hurt Chevrolet’s Green image. Seeing the Corvette brand, like Viper will end up, would probably be an even better idea. All about the technology.
Pontiac – Affordable performance. Only a performance brand. Even the Vibe has to go. This way it can exist beside Chevy on the same lot. Like Buick, it should be high on style with the highest performance possible in the price range.
Cadillac – Keep on keepin’ on, Caddy. Switch the Escalade to Lambda, as planned, and like someone said above, merge the DTS/STS as on model on a stretched Sigma (does anyone even know what a De’Ville and a Se’Ville is anymore?). GM’s top of the range cars to compete with Mercedes and BMW.

Hummer is too far gone to be saved, and Saab never fit to begin with.

Too little too late GM! You’ve mismanaged yourselves for far too long without consequences and now it is finally biting you in the ass.

Kid Icarus, it’s been biting them in the ass since 2004. They’re not the same company they were then.

All the unAmerican GM haters need to move to China or die. This is GM country.

^^^ That’s very mature of you to tell people that they should die because they want to spend their hard earned money on a quality vehicle. Last time I checked, GM builds cars in Mexico and Canada which means GM isn’t as American as you make them out to be.

Oh, and I don’t even think you can call this GM country. If it were, they wouldn’t be going down the crapper right now.

mShu7, NMOFGM is a troll. Don’t pay any attention to him. He’s pretending to be the ultimate redneck to make all D3 supporters look like tools, and he’s been doing it for months.