Why would GM cut R & D, the source of its future growth, in order to show profits in the short run? Is something happening in, say, November, for which the 26%-government-owned entity might want its balance sheet to look artificially rosy?
Why would GM cut R & D, the source of its future growth, in order to show profits in the short run? Is something happening in, say, November, for which the 26%-government-owned entity might want its balance sheet to look artificially rosy?
The heavy hand of Fascist corporatism? Perish the thought! Surely you jest!
GM has a tired and unappealing product line. They need the R & D.
Can anyone tell me the name of any successful car company that has been taken over by any government anywhere?
Well, they have now proven electric cars work poorly and don’t sell, so they can abandon that particular avenue of research.
The rumor has been circulating for 10 years GM is looking to buy an federal absolution to allow it to put the majority of its production off shore – maybe BamBam cut a deal to get a second term – interesting how UAW brass will sacrifice the jobs of their members to buy political juice.
GM, the modern day Lada.
I certainly wouldn’t be foolish enough to call GM the modern day Lada. BUT I will say that the train has completely refused to leave the tracks it set in the 70’s. GM’s entire corporate culture is stuck in the mindset of superior product and 100% loyal customers. How else do we explain the cutting loose of a low cost (IE. no cost) sales force known as the rural isolated dealer? What exactly drove that insanity? They’ve practically handed Dodge & Ford those sales. In our area, with a whopping population of 5000, it literally represents 200 units to oilfield companies ALONE per year.
GM & the gov’t that controls it are stuck in their own little arrogant world that idealizes urbanization and clearly believes the rural population counts for nothing.
“Can anyone tell me the name of any successful car company that has been taken over by any government anywhere?”
We have this example where Top Gear tests “Communistical” cars to see how bad they were. Vintage Clarkson and Captain Slow.
http://www.topgear.com/uk/videos/communist-cars-1
Do Communist Czars drive Communist cars? Well, one of them behind the bamboo curtain didn’t.
Source: The Telegraph
Chairman Mao’s Mercedes 600
Price: £125,000
From: http://www.ClassicCarsForSale.co.uk.
One careful owner? Depends on your perspective. When it came to retaining his seat as chairman of the Chinese Communist Party’s Central Committee, Mao was a paragon of prudence – he stayed put from 1945 until his death in 1976. But he wasn’t quite so hot at ensuring that his people – or his opponents – benefited from longevity on that scale.
Towards the end of his reign, Mao wafted around in this long-wheelbase Mercedes 600 Pullman, built in 1973 and replete with all the extras a contemporary tyrant could wish for.
It is currently stored in Japan, but if you fancy a change from yet another S600 limousine (£112,500 by the time you’ve equipped it with all the essentials – fridge, separate climate control for the rear compartment, distance-sensitive cruise control, DVD pack so that you can watch Sweeney box sets), it is one of thousands of automotive bygones collected beneath the expansive umbrella of http://www.ClassicCarsForSale.co.uk.
I bought a new Lada..it gave me no problems and worked until the day I passed it on to someone else…almost ten years later
I bought a year-old cadillac…it spent more time in the shop than on the road and died completely 10 minutes after I traded it in less than 5 years later…it lasted longer than the other gm’s I’ve owned though.
until gm makes a car that won’t fall apart, at a price people want to pay, and begins to honour it’s warranties, then they’ll continue relying on government money and forced fleet purchases because they will never turn a profit from repeat consumer business.
GM is not Lada; it is British Leyland – a sorry story of ever increasing government control of the British car industry, each new involvement digging the hole a hole lot deeper.
Thanks for both vids “Cyclist”. Now I know that not only did the East German Trabant have the guts of a go-kart, its skin was made out of Soviet Central Asian COTTON!
the trabant was crap, yes, but the Lada I owned had the guts of a tractor and the skin of a T-70 tank…not bad for a Fiat…the soviets obviously made a few changes…and loosened up a few tolerances so it took a lot more abuse.
GM was a pos business long before it got the gubmint bailout.
And yes they have been fudging the finanical statements … going way back … and continue for the benefit of those who would benefit the most.
GM deserves to be broken up and sold off … period.