Budget Cuts - Chevy Volt Blues??

problem is not just sales -GM is bleeding billions... Toyota is still making billions .

 

No facts, just my speculation follows. Of course the Volt is going to be delayed or scrapped. Many have stated as much since the concept was announced. The latest excuse will be the economy. AFAIK a working Volt doesn't exist. All they have is a body with a small electric motor so it will roll onto a stage.

While automotive sales are down across the industry Toyota's has dropped less than the average.

There are still many corporations with money to spend and they are spending it. I've got the ball game on and saw that GM still has money to advertize the Volt.

 

I'm not quite sure why you take so much happiness away from an American company doing so badly and a foreign one doing so well in our back yard... Seems nice person backwards to me, unless you live in Japan.

 

Steviet, he is in Eastern Europe

 

I would guess (not to put words in anyone's mouth) that he's a big fan of competition, as it generally brings forth the best products/services from the entire industry. You either compete, or you go away.

GM (and Ford / Chrysler) have made substandard autos relative to most of the competition overseas - that's why they are in such dire straights now. They (domestic auto makers) need to begin making autos that can compete with the best from overseas. If they are unwilling or unable to do that, they WILL crash and burn ..... even with the most recent $25 Billion bailout (read: your tax dollars) our government has chosen to bestow upon them:

A $25 Billion Lifeline for GM, Ford, and Chrysler - FlowChart (usnews.com)

Make great autos, and people will buy them. It's really as simple as that.

... Brad

 

with the current global economic situation that we are currently in, it would make one think that thinking locally will get you in trouble. Toyota may be a company based in Japan but they spend a TON of money here. they employ a lot of people and that number is growing.

if i were working, i would rather work for a company that can keep me busy working and making money. i dont really care who they are. the company i work for has 200,000+ employees based in 40 different countries. that includes 75,000 in the US... so exactly where should the loyalty lie?

look at your "American" companies... gm....used to be different, but right now nearly half their business is overseas. several models they offer are completely built overseas by foreign workers...

so global reach is almost a necessity in today's business world to survive.

 

My speculation is that development on the Volt will continue. There actually is a working model on the testing grounds (there was a report about the GM cair driving it).

My theory is that GM is betting the company on the Volt. It's success, and that of future electric cars, may be the only thing that can save the company.

This assumes that GM has FINALLY gotten the message. I suspect it has: the Market speaks loudly.

 

GM and Ford will come in dead last when it comes to innovation in electric/hybrid
vehicles. Their track record shows their way of thinking.

They have these huge companies with poor communication among the groups who
design and build vehicles. Anything designed by a committee spread across a large region
is bound to flop. The people in charge are more concerned with making easy short term
profits instead of a long range vision that should have been developed a decade ago.
They are slow to see trends and take the easy way out every time.

Simply put, something better needs to be born from the ashes of GM and Ford for the
most part. Innovate or die.

And getting into a big mess is what they specialize in for the last 20 years.

 

Don't forget, GM also has a hybrid Escalade up their sleeve. That'll quiet their critics...

 

"Bad money drives out good money." Too many times in America high quality doesn't sell as people buy "cheap and good enough". Duesenberg produced high quality built to order cars. Packard's reputation for precision earned it the license to build Rolls Royce's Merlin engine. But Chevy & Ford were cheaper & good enough. Furniture was made of wood not fiberboard. Porcelin wasn't made of dust & resin.

 

Oil is down to $50 a barrel in just a couple of months.Either the demand is down, or the demand for oil futures is down. More likely, the oil futures speculation bubble has been broken with the stock market crash.

Will the soccer moms start buying SUVs again? I say yes, as long as gas prices stay below $3 a gallon or thereabouts. As soon as they come out from under their beds, that is, where they have hid all their money. If the price of oil stays down, the car companies will recover some. It will be up to the Congress to mandate more fuel efficiency and lower carbon emissions. Car companies won't do it on their own if gas stays cheaper.

 

dont get so high and mighty, every car company is going down in flames. the fact that toyota is going down in smaller flames doesn't change anything.

 

At least Toyota is not wasting money like GM on the obnoxious hybrid Escalade. No wonder investors don't have too much confidence in GM's future...

 

I think lower oil prices are short term due to collapse of speculative investors into oil futures. Reality is, that oil demand has not collapsed in same way as oil future prices did. So I think it is just a matter of time, when oil prices will again go up. And moms replacing their hybrids with SUVs will help oil prices go up even faster.

Let just remind ourselves that oil is non renewable and quite limited resource, so on long term oil prices can only go up. At least until either demand totally collapses, usually by humanity blowing itself off the face of the world or oil being replaced by alternative energy source on the grander scale all around the world.

 

I think that lower oil prices will not last long as they are due to collapse of speculative investors into oil futures, which are being damaged by financial crisis.
Reality is, that long term oil demand has not collapsed in same way as oil future prices did. So I think it is just a matter of time, when oil prices will again go up. And moms replacing their hybrids with SUVs will help oil prices go up even faster.

Let just remind ourselves that oil is non renewable and quite limited resource, so on long term oil prices can only go up. At least until either demand totally collapses, usually by humanity blowing itself off the face of the world or oil being replaced by alternative energy source on the grander scale all around the world.

 

FCC, you got it right, except I'd say that GM/Ford/Chrysler have wasted the last 50 years in pursuit of "the fast buck." They focused on style over technological development for decades. Bigger fins, shinier hubcaps, more chrome. Their answer to the VW Bug was the Falcon & Corvair. Their answer to the luxury of Mercedes Benz was the Ford Granada ( www.AmericanGranada.com: Ford Granada, Mercury Monarch and Lincoln Versailles Owners Club ).

Meanwhile, Toyota kept turning out small, affordable, reliable, economical cars that were rather homely. Honda joined in with the Civic. Everyone laughed at the foreign cars, but some folks started to take note when they realized the foreign cars kept running.

GM & Ford & Chrysler should be ashamed that they squandered opportunities and mismanaged the fortunes of once proud companies.

 

Ashamed? Why? They just got a $25B loan from us taxpayers. We all should feel ashamed for lending them that money.

 

Have to agree with that. If GM had debuted the two mode in a $<30k pickup truck, they could have helped small businesses cope with the high price of fuel. Instead they chose a $50k SUV, that only helps the upper middle class save a few bucks towing their boat to the lake. Then they follow that up with a $70k+ version thats good for nothing except looking like a eco-poseur with more money than braincells. Now finally the pickup is on horizon, and they are thinking about a family hybrid. Of course what should have been an affordable fuel efficient family car, is now a $40k civic.

When a company repeatedly shows that it has no regard for the welfare of the American Economy or the American People, I am puzzled why so many chose to maintain their loyalties to that company. Its ironic to me that the same people who claim we should let all the banks close down, and let home buyers lose their houses for making dumb choices claim to be all concerned about the impact letting GM fail would have on the poor US auto workers and economy. More US employees have already lost their jobs in the banking sector this year (~150,000) than the entire US staff of GM (somewhere under 100,000 now). For some reason bailing out corrupt bankers is not ok, but bailing out corrupt automakers is just fine.

Apologies in advance, I have a cold and am crabby

Rob