Memo To Washington: Let GM Fail

Interesting. I was not aware of the "help" the Big 3 has been getting all along.

 

I second the motion; however, I would extend it to let Detroit fall.

 

I have been waiting for this moment for a long time now. I have a friend that is from Michigan and she claims it would be tragic to the people that live in Detroit. I don't care because any company that makes a bad product deserves to be shut down.

 

GM closing up shop? Never happen. Obama, McCain, Nader himself gets elected, doesn't matter. May as well spend your intertube credits on how to do it without messing up the rest of the country.

My vote for worst solution: quasi-government a la Amtrak or the post office. Shiver.

 

Here's a nice perspective.

All those auto plants closing down... er correction, all the ones who haven't been closed down and shipped to Mexico close down. Yeah it'll be bad for the people working there, the local economy, and all that will be pretty bad. How many people are we talking? And places like Detroit become pretty ho hum. The government should somehow bail them out right? Errr.. ok, they run a business model that is very fragile (the majority of their product requires a cheap fuel source to run), i.e. it's not very sustainable.

Ok, not too many years ago, there was a wonderful land called California. It had the 6th largest economy in the whole WORLD, money was plentiful, jobs were many. Then the dot-com bubble burst, and that unsustainable business model was no more. Where are the bail outs for that? They didn't come.

So I don't get it, why does the government feel the need to bail out all these unsustainable busines models? Well the ones they want. Airline industry? Pulleeze! Let United die! Southwest, Jet Blue and any one of the few airlines that actually know how to turn a profit will fill the shoes.

 

It's a tough call either way. You already have the government bailing out Chrysler, Amtrak, Savings and Loan Industry, and Airlines. If say a GM were to fall, it has an effect on every industry that supports GM and every city that does the same. Look at the mortgage crisis. It doesn't just affect lenders. It builders, contracters, plumbers, electricians, landscapers, gardeners, loggers and many other industries.

My feeling is that GM (if left alone) will self-correct and become a leaner, meaner company. There will still be pain. The questions is whether the government will leave GM alone? The other option would be to go back to days of high import duties for foreign goods. It would spur US industry, but also limit our access to outside markets.

Alot of pain now vs. nagging and lingering pain over a long period of time. It's damned if you do and damned if you don't.

 

No, I don't want to see the Big Three fail, anymore than I want to see America fail. As far as trade restrictions limiting our export markets, so much of our manufacturing ability has been lost to overseas mfrs. already that bringing it back here could only be a good thing. I lived in Japan and Germany, made it a point to walk around and see the stuff not in the travel brochures, and thank God everyday that I live in the USA. Long ago I learned that what is good for General Motors is good for America, I still think so. Let's see the Chevy Volt!

 

Excuse me, but what happened to the free market? Why are my tax dollars being wasted on failed businesses? Hey, that's the way capitalism works, right?

Let them drown.

 

GM is going to do very badly in the next year but unless the downturn gets much worse they won't go bankrupt. GM is making money overseas and is adjusting <very slowly> to the new reality. They are going to sting and sting bad until they start making good small cars and improve overall fuel economy.

I don't trust GM to make the right decisions but if they do they have a good chance.

1 ) six speed auto trans replacing all of the four speeds, ESPECIALLY in the Malibu hybrid.

2 ) engine downsizing, across the board.

3 ) sell the dual mode hybrid in the big cars with a six cyl, its big enough for the base models, why should it not be big enough for the hybrid with electric boost??

4 ) make the volt on time

5 ) bring in some of its overseas models with 3cyl

6 ) bring back the EV1 even with lead acid if thats all that can be done. sell it for $40k, as many people wanted to buy it at that price even with its limits

 

I didnt trust GM 30 years ago and I dont trust GM now. This "volt" is a pipe dream and I doubt they can make it work. GM has too many years of union retirements to pay to ever be profitable again. An inlaw worked there as a new forklift driver and was making $50K his first week on the job! Thats like 25 an hour! Imagine what the skilled labor is making!

Take the supports out from under GM and let it work for it's cash like all othre car makers in the world. Was it GM who built the Prius? No! It should have been.

Mediocrity deserves to fail.

 

Washington will not let GM or Ford die. They would let Chrysler die though. I'm sure that Honda or Toyota would buy GM anyway. Imagine what Toyota could do with all of GM factories. Thats a lot of Prius.

 

This is the most biased article that I've ever read from a major media company. The author needs to research the Japanese policies for imports to Japan.

 

But what would they do with all those dealerships that are protected by individual state laws?

 

If by "help" you mean our government giving away more of our tax dollars to big business .... well, you are correct.

... Brad

 

A lot of clueless posts in this thread. If a company like GM were to fail, there would be DRASTIC consequences for the US economy.

Even Toyota is scaling back production of its gas hogs:

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/11/b...a.html?_r=2&th&emc=th&oref=slogin&oref=slogin

 

Burn em? Or turn em into Sushi bars? Japanese Steak houses are awesome!
I would think that the HSD could be put into the Malibu and the Outlook for starters. Probably scrap the large SUV line for the time being. Bring back the EV1? That would give the dealers some ammo.

 

...it could realistically be said that GM suffers most from a lack of executive talent. It will never happen, but it is said that GM's saving grace would involve it moving its headquarters to either New York or San Francisco, two cities where there's human capital that would never live in the economic mistake that is Detroit.

I wouldn't want to live anywhere near Detroit, and I agree that GM suffers most from really bad management.

Harry