This is real simple people, if the big three go under America will immediatly go into a full scale depression as bad or worse than the "Great Depression"
We are already on the brink of it and people will not admit it or open thier eyes. This is not just about GM or Ford this is America.
Yes the corporate management and union labor is way over paid for what they are worth. You must also consider the Chinese labor they are competing against gets paid less than 50 cents per hour and no benifits. So do not blame everything on the unions and management. Japan may have a fairly high pay scale now but most everything made in Japan is now actually built in the Phillipenes and Pacific rim countries by Japanese owned companies. And the reason for that is cheap labor.
The big three definatly got into the hybrid game late. We wanted nice cars and full size trucks right up until the gas price went to $4.00 per gallon then we all including myself started looking at more effecient vehicles.
All in all I think the big three are doing a pretty good job of building cars and competing with the high wages and HUGE costs required by OSHA, EPA, and all of the other things that the other countries do not have to deal with.

 

I just did my part... I dont care how they do it, GM needs to stay!!! I am 100% Chevy, and would hate to see them go under or go bankrupt... I really enjoy my HHR. I have owned many cars in my 29 years of being alive, I had a Honda, 2 Toyota's, a dodge Charger (Kcar), and Nissan, and many Chevy's... I don't know about you guys but the Chevys that I have owned have been the most fun cars to drive. Tell me that you get the same looks when driving your RAV4 or CAMRY, Accord than you do when you are driving your HHR... They may not be the most reliable cars but the big 3 are the only ones that still have a little flare and are not rolling boxes with windows. I honestly think that if you took all the badges off the camrys and accords etc you wouldn't be able to tell em apart... Think of it like motorcycles... I own a Honda VTX for pure reliability reasons... it looks like every other jap bike on the road.. Harleys are relatively not the most reliable motorcycles on the road but everyone who can afford one (and some that cant) will stick up for them without a doubt... I don't think that we should play the blame game... If you are all for Chevy's doors staying open then cast your vote. If not then sell your HHR to someone who will appreciate it for its beauty and quirks and buy a RAV4... Just my .02

 

Has there been any mention of letting the UAW go out on strike as a way to get through this credit crunch? Sitting idle while trying to sell what inventory they have has got to be cheaper than paying UAW wages while making cars that aren't selling (for credit reasons).

 

WOW! I really started one heck of a thread here.

There are some excellent posts here and they deserve worthy review.

I offered the original post for folks to get involved if they so desired. I for one don't want to see GM, Ford or Chrysler go under for if they do, the "dominoe effect" will be huge. As long as the money is a "loan", I am for it.

Many comments in this thread address upper management and the UAW, but there is a another challenge that is also contributing to problems and that is the way The Big Three treats their dealer network as compared to how other manufacturers (namely HONDA) treats their dealers.

The Big Three need to take a lesson from HONDA on Customer Satisfaction at the Dealer Level. The Big Three need to change the way they treat their dealers and incentivize their dealers on delivering customer satisfaction, not just "sell more units." Happy satisfied customers = return customers. Quality is no longer the issue; everyone is pretty equal now. It's time The Big Three takes a que from HONDA and emphasize Customer Satisfaction.

When I go into the HONDA dealership, I am assigned a service writer AND a lead technician. They both speak with me about any problem I am having and they both address the situation. Then, after the item is repaired, I receive a call from the service writer about three days later to make sure I am happy with the work. I also receive a call from an independent third party (usually a week or two later) to confirm I am happy with the work. Finally, the service manager sends a letter and specifically requests that I call him if I have any concerns. I assure you, I have NEVER received this kind of attention from any of the three different Chevy Dealers in the area that I have used in the past.

And even the sales people at Honda dealers are extremely knowledgable about each Honda product. Not so with FOUR Chevy dealers I just went to, to help a friend buy an HHR. The sales people couldn't answer 'jack' about the HHR and had to refer to a little book they carried around. This happened at each dealership. They didn't even know the difference between the different models. All they kept selling us on was "we have the best deal." It got real old very quickly.

Just for fun, we went to a HONDA Dealership and looked at a CRV. The sales person knew everything you could know about the CRV, the different models, the options, everything. No book either. The sales person told us that they aren't allowed on the floor until they can describe everything about every model. Then he gave us a tour of the service department and discussed having a relationship with the customer as buying the car is just the begining of the relationship. He never said anything about price or "the deal." We left the dealership and my friend was now seriously considering the CRV, which he never even thought about until we went there.

We went back to 2 different Chevy dealers and it was the same old thing, "We have the best deal." We even asked to take a tour of the service department and we were asked "why"? The bottom line is that the Chevy Dealerships KILLED the sale; my friend went back to the HONDA Dealer and bought the CRV, even though he liked the HHR, he didn't like any of the dealers in the area.

I will put my 2007 2LT HHR up against any product made in Japan, in fact my wife still drives a Honda and from a quality standpoint, my HHR is right up there. BUT, from a dealer service point of view I put HONDA 10 steps above GM. My neighbor said it perfectly last night, "If the local Chevy dealer treated me like the HONDA Dealer, I would go back to Chevy, but I have been spoiled by the local HONDA Dealer and they have won my business." My neighbor owns a Honda Accord and a Chevy Truck. He loves his truck but will be getting the Ridgeline when his truck lease is up. And this my friends brings me to my point...

It's not just GM Management; it's not just the UAW; it's also the Dealer Network. GM, to stay competitive, must change the way they treat their dealers and incentivize them to achieve outstanding customer service. That is what Honda does and they are winning, not only because they have a quality car but they have quality, customer centric service to back it up.

Thanks for reading.

I love my HHR.

 

We will not go into a depression for a number of reasons
1. There was no FDIC then so there was a run on the banks.
2. you could buy stock at a 10% margin in 1920's That means if your stock dropped 10% you were wiped out....if more the banks were wiped out
3. There was a Protectionist act Smoot-Hawley
4. Stock Prices reached a high plateau (hardly whats happening now)
5, they made things worse by contracting, not expanding, credit.
6. legalized protectionism of the U.S. economy in a vain attempt to maintain prices
7. governments are a lot bigger -- even post-Reagan than in the 1930s. "Automatic stabilizers" are therefore much more important. As the economy softens, taxes automatically fall and government spending automatically rises.
There are more but you need to research them.


This is not 1929 and the scare mongering is amazing. People are being scared into not spending yet loans are available at Toyota, Nissan, Honda. even Ford and GM. People are buying homes. The mall I work is full and although our sales are down 8% since last years thats hardly a reason to worry.

But they WON'T COLLAPSE.....Chapter 11 is not a bad thing. The UAW WILL COLLAPSE. We are already deep into a recession and will slowly come out in late 2009. 2002 was worse then this.

10 MILLION jobs were lost in 1979!! We are not near that even with the auto companies problems (so far only 1 million) 3 million jobs would be lost if the automakers failed......still less than 1/2 of 1980's. This "recession" is not nearly as bad as 1979 when interest rates were 20%...try buying ANY or Home of car then.. Inflation was 12%.........I was there bought the T shirt. We are not there yet and I doubt we will get there Provide Obama does the right thing and freezes all Government hiring and lowers taxes for everyone to pay for it/

The biggest problem of losing GM and Ford is not having an American builder of Military vehicles (unless Japan were to make them)

But there are thousands of autoworkers STILL employed in this country and those companies will hire MORE workers to make up for the lack of inventory should the US Automakers have to reorganize.

 

I would like to vote for Kingfrog for US Senator from Georgia.

The current Republican candidate, Saxby Chambliss, recently said that "We are getting into a recession, I don't know what that term means".

He is not qualified to be a Senator.

Here is my idea of what should happen:
The auto bailout should not occur.
GM would file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy.
A Receiver Committee consisting of creditors would be appointed to run the company.
A Federal Judge would cancel the union contract.
The Receivers would cut the pay of hourly workers so it would be competitive with the Japanese 3 running plants in the US.
Then GM would stop losing money, but build fewer cars.

GM would keep running at a reduced rate.
3 million people would not lose their jobs.
There would not be a depression.

This country is in a recession now. This is part of the normal business cycle, which is caused by the Federal Reserve raising interest rates to slow the economy. The Fed has moved more quickly in the past year to lower interest rates, but the economy should get better in the 3rd quarter of 2009. The Fed was created in 1913 to lessen the effects of financial panics, which lasted for years.

Mayor Franklin of Atlanta solved the city budget gap of $50 million last week. She reduced the pay of all city workers by 10%, and cut their work week to 36 hours. I predict that in 6 months, they will be working 40 hours a week again, but not get the 10% pay difference restored. This solution will catch on with every government or company with declining revenue.

 

My grandfather, raising five children during the depression, worked in the shoe industry. The plant kept everyone working using the GEORGIA technique mentioned.. All worked, but less hours. The kids worked, and there was a garden in the backyard, plus chickens and ducks running around. I can remember as a little child the chickens still running around although my grandfather no longer butchered them.

Let the oil industry bail out the auto industry.

 

That's funny. I go to foreign car forums and they blame ANY problems of their beloved Toyos or Hondas on the fact that they are made in America now. To them, an Asian car company made perfect gems that never had any issues UNTIL the dreaded Americans stared making some.
Funny how everyone thinks.

I figure pretty much all car will now have TSBs and recalls. We have too many modules and computers sitting in our driveway in all weather for them not to bugger up. Just some observations.......

 

Article in USA Today: http://www.usatoday.com/money/autos/...t-impact_N.htm

Worth a read.

 

We bought a Honda Minivan because GM dropped the ball there and stopped making any. But I knew much more than my Honda sales team about the car and others they were selling.
My Chevy sales people knew more about some of their cars, but I knew more about the HHR.
Typical repair dept though, they try to sell me back brakes whan mine are not even 1/3 gone.

Tried a Toyo too......
The Toyota sales guy seemed knowledgeable about his products, but his dealership finance force was trying to screw me, really screw me, so i fled. Came back a couple years later, same thing! They are predators at that Toyo dealer. I was willing to give them a look, since my cousin , a few states away has had great luck with his Toyo dealer. Anyway, I've been a Gm guy most my life. Owning 22 Corvairs makes me, uh , special!