Comments on: WSJ: GM and Ford should merge

By: Jordan

Jordan — Thu, 20 Jul 2006 18:14:18 +0000

GM and Hyundai should merge. They would make a good couple!

By: Darren

Darren — Thu, 20 Jul 2006 06:28:27 +0000

no way! 2 diff companies
GM now has chevy,pontiac,Buick,cadillac,GMC,SAAB,Hummer & saturn.
& they just decide to keep all 8 brands!?
pontiac & chevy/GMC – most cars/truck are same, only diff grille. Buick, they make this as Lexus competitors. cadillac competes lincoln/chrysler. SAAB & Hummer, only few dealers left. SAAB is improving, but Lexus,infiniti,acura is better choice & volvo/BMW/Benz/Audi/Jaguar/LandRover etc & saturn(american opel) so who will buy GM?

Ford just now advertising bold moves, but…
they still keep its 6yrs old focus & europe,HK & china has new one & 07 just new 3 bar grille, rumors said maybe 2009. I hope so!@
Fairlane replaces slow selling freestar, but looks like LandRover, even Ford owns LandRover.
Freestyle,500,Explorer etc not selling, other brands, better choices
Lincoln, retro luxury, but why spends more from Ford?
Ford/Lincoln can do the same things as Toyota/Lexus by offering products as them/Honda/Acura & nissan/Infiniti.

By: dan

dan — Wed, 19 Jul 2006 21:42:18 +0000

@flemming in tenn.

“american auto companies createad americas middle class”

hm since middle class is dissappearing i guess the american auto industry is going to disappear as well…. so i guess it makes sense

By: Fleming in Tennessee

Fleming in Tennessee — Wed, 19 Jul 2006 13:08:03 +0000

Two of the worlds largest railroads merged (New York Central and Pennsylvania RR) and became one of the largest corporate failures in history shortly thereafter. At one time, the PRR was the worlds largest corporation. Same thing here! Will never work. American auto companies created Americas middle class.

By: JohnnyBlazE

JohnnyBlazE — Wed, 19 Jul 2006 11:33:46 +0000

Ford and GM NEED to be seperate entities or they’d have died out long ago… competition with each other drives them… see australia!

By: BMW850

BMW850 — Wed, 19 Jul 2006 05:23:31 +0000

you start with crap and you add crap you will end up with crap

By: nist777

nist777 — Wed, 19 Jul 2006 02:40:10 +0000

GM + Ford = Microsoft of the auto industry = Huge antitrust battle

As an American, I want as much competition as possible (ie, breaking up GM) so that I know I am getting the best quality at the best prices.

Have communists infiltrated the Wall Street Journal?

By: your name (required)

your name (required) — Tue, 18 Jul 2006 22:01:21 +0000

Ford and GM are finally gettin along, lol. Meanwhile Dr.Z is standing on the sidelines laughing his ass off! LOL!!!!

By: Jason Parry

Jason Parry — Tue, 18 Jul 2006 21:42:35 +0000

no.

By: Justin

Justin — Tue, 18 Jul 2006 19:57:16 +0000

This will never happen!.. 2 of the biggest rivals coming together.. ya right!… whos the idiot who came up with this “birght” idea!?

By: Ahk-Med

Ahk-Med — Tue, 18 Jul 2006 19:42:05 +0000

“and the government should pick up some of the legacy costs as a sort of bail out.”

Not with my tax dollars.

By: stuart

stuart — Tue, 18 Jul 2006 19:18:50 +0000

Don’t forget to cut Hummer and Lincoln

Then sell Jaguar, Cadillac, Saab and Mazda

By: stuart

stuart — Tue, 18 Jul 2006 19:15:34 +0000

Its pointless ford will only benefit by gaining chevrolet

By: stuart

stuart — Tue, 18 Jul 2006 19:10:24 +0000

More like a pornstar lol

By: gonewiththewind

gonewiththewind — Tue, 18 Jul 2006 18:51:40 +0000

“General Ford” sounds very interesting.

By: Kaptain75329

Kaptain75329 — Tue, 18 Jul 2006 18:43:51 +0000

Jon’O (#15) : [I]They both need to streamline their offerings and shrink their infrastructure.[/i]
This is precisely what I was thinking – couldn’t have put it better myself. Both have too much of a problem where some of their brands are diluted because they are rebadged offerings. The market sees the shortcuts and it doesn’t like it. (More excusable on the imports because at least the cars and brands are different enough and clearly defined to their target audiences.) A merger between GM & Ford is the very worst thing that could happen to either of them.

Been a GM man here for a long time on account of Saturn, but the ION’s fit and finish (rather lack thereof – mismatched panels, squeaks and rattles before 500 miles) and exceedingly poor handling (entirely too much body roll, dangerous lack of grip in even moderate concerning) led me to get rid of it after only 3 months of ownership. Nothing else in GM’s lineup was worth my money. I would have switched to Ford directly had I been able to purchase a C1 (Euro) Focus in the states, but Ford’s incredibly brain-dead decision to sell it everywhere but here made that impossible. Ultimately, I selected a Mazda 3s Touring because it was the car that best met my needs and wants for looks, content, power, handling, and safety.

I wish the domestic auto execs would pay attention to these issues – the bulk of their customer base takes these same factors into account, so it’s no wonder GM and Ford are where they are now. Bad and unfair press is a factor too, but that doesn’t explain everything. For the most part, I think they’re getting the hint though, and I suspect we won’t recognize Ford & GM of the very near tomorrow, which can only be good for us, and ultimately, them.

By: 2006300C

2006300C — Tue, 18 Jul 2006 18:34:37 +0000

The bean counters got these companies into trouble and they will not get them out, only good product will save them, and the government should pick up some of the legacy costs as a sort of bail out.

By: mindas

mindas — Tue, 18 Jul 2006 18:28:44 +0000

it would be nonsense, two bad companies merge and you’ll get one big bad company

By: Piablo

Piablo — Tue, 18 Jul 2006 17:26:52 +0000

Anytime an investor says it’s a great idea, my ears perk up to attention. Because all that means is a greater return for them. And most of the time that means more $$$ out of our pockets, that is we the customers.

Basic law of economics, more choice is better.

Honestly, I would break GM up. That is my pie in the sky idea. If all of GM’s brands are relevant, then break them up. We’ll see which ones are relevant and which ones are not when some of them go out of business. The worse thing to ever happen to the automotive world is when Ford and GM went and bought up all of the world’s brands. All it did was diminish competition and make the marketplace less desireable for customers. breaking the companies up lets the marketplace operate in a more natural manner where the strong survive and the weak companies fail. What we have now is a market that is continually trying to self medicate which only gives us a broken down, almost bankrupt GM.

By: Peter

Peter — Tue, 18 Jul 2006 17:21:00 +0000

Never gonna happen, IMO. That would be a little wierd. And GMrules, you somehow continue to piss me off, even though I’m a GM fan too!

By: bingethinker

bingethinker — Tue, 18 Jul 2006 16:33:22 +0000

Back when GM and Ford vehicles were selling well, those pension and benefits costs weren’t a problem. They need to stop bean-counting and put out some vehicles that people want to buy.

Didn’t they read the contracts, and do the math before they signed them? They must have known they’d be paying out $2,000 a car for pension and benefits. I can only conclude they were planning to screw their employees out of that money in the name of staying “competitive.”

By: Madcapp

Madcapp — Tue, 18 Jul 2006 16:28:05 +0000

I want a Ford Camaro, or a Chevrolet Crown Victoria.

By: Jack

Jack — Tue, 18 Jul 2006 15:43:10 +0000

GM currently rolls about $2,000 into the price of every car they sell to pay the pensions and benefits of their current and former employees. Fold Ford into the mix and that number would rise dramatically given the number of people who wold lose their jobs in the merger. This would make two already weak competitors in the marketplace even weaker. And can you imagine the mind numbing mediocrity that would ensue?

By: Jon'O

Jon'O — Tue, 18 Jul 2006 15:03:07 +0000

I can’t think of a poorer solution to GM and Fords problems. They both need to streamline their offerings and shrink their infrastructure. That task will be even more difficult if they join forces. On a similar note, I think it’s very shortsighted of Chrysler to further overlap their Dodge, Jeep, and Chrysler offerings. They are doing exactly what GM and Ford are trying to undo. Is no one paying attention?

By: Heydn

Heydn — Tue, 18 Jul 2006 14:49:53 +0000

Anything is possible. But not everything is a good idea

By: GMrules

GMrules — Tue, 18 Jul 2006 14:28:46 +0000

Ford could stand to learn a thing or 2 (or a million) from the General

By: 1c3d0g

1c3d0g — Tue, 18 Jul 2006 14:26:13 +0000

Yeah, high health care costs is *the* problem that brought this whole market down. Damn insurance companies.

By: BAMF

BAMF — Tue, 18 Jul 2006 14:18:38 +0000

I like Andre’s thoughts on this.

By: Chris

Chris — Tue, 18 Jul 2006 14:13:50 +0000

I like how a UAW president has an opinion on this. Its not the General’s cars that are running it into the ground but the UAW and high health care costs.

By: Andre Neves

Andre Neves — Tue, 18 Jul 2006 14:02:18 +0000

Never say never because at the rate they’re both going, they might not be around to make that decision later on.

By: JD

JD — Tue, 18 Jul 2006 13:42:34 +0000

It would never happen.

By: Andre Neves

Andre Neves — Tue, 18 Jul 2006 13:33:23 +0000

…think outside the box.

^LOL

By: Andre Neves

Andre Neves — Tue, 18 Jul 2006 13:32:09 +0000

You guys act like the Americans should be competing with the Americans. There are bigger fish to fry and maybe it can be done with alittle help from this side of the shore. I think this is a great idea.
Or we can always have them merge with the japanese(nissan) so then everybody thinks that we can ONLY develop great cars with their help.

By: GMrules

GMrules — Tue, 18 Jul 2006 13:30:48 +0000

GM neds to run Ford out of business. They offer nothing to the General but more manpower and plant capacity. There is ont one vehicle that Ford could offer that GM doesn’t already excel in. BTW, I’d say the same about a merger with Nissan or Toyota.

By: Never work

Never work — Tue, 18 Jul 2006 13:26:27 +0000

Never work. They’re too different companies. Plus, you’ll piss off all of the red states (half are GM, half are Ford, all are loyal to only one). Of course, the blue states won’t mind seeing as they all have stopped buying from either company LONG ago.

By: Brian

Brian — Tue, 18 Jul 2006 13:20:17 +0000

That would be like blasphemy, or something. I’m a GM fan, not a Ford fan, so I don’t want to see this happen.

By: Renton

Renton — Tue, 18 Jul 2006 13:06:11 +0000

The blind leading the blind, a selling to the retarded.

By: 6ix

6ix — Tue, 18 Jul 2006 12:56:25 +0000

Having been in a company that was Number 1 in the industry (major sports good company), that then bought Number 2 (the major competitor,) I can tell ya that 1 + 1 does NOT equal 2. More like 0.7.

Bad idea.