GM Says the Impossible is Possible

If GM gets their aid ? It means the oil cartel has found means to persist more petro boxes on the road. GM will. And no way will oil give up reign on this globe. Indoor ski resorts in the desert anyone ?

Brian, The old business model that GM, the federal government and the investing community have clung to is not working. The best and biggest "game-changing" approach is to develop a combustion engine that will at least double fuel efficiency without sacrificing performance. If this technology can be developed it would necessarily cut emissions in half and reduce our dependency on foreign oil. Further, reducing our importation of foreign oil will hurt our oil funded enemies and strengthen our diplomatic position. So, this one innnovation can have far reaching benefits for this nation. If the auto industry succeeds in feeding out of the public trough then our government should demand the auto makers double fuel efficiency. Let's see our vaunted technology put to good use. Don't think to the edge of the box, but go beyond it. Come on Detroit. Get off your lazy duffs and get 'er done.

I just don't understand how companies that make vehicles the consumers do not want to buy, have a union contract that includes things like: the job banks(JSP), promotion or dismissal(layoff) of hourly employees solely on years of service excluding merit/ability, and hiring new employees based on a lottery formula instead of hiring the best qualified public candidates think they should survive with my tax dollar. Before GM Ford or Chrysler get ANY government aid i hope that someone in the congress has enough courage to publicly go through the existing uaw national contracts line by line and debate which of the "hard earned" perks are needed in ANY industry. If they are deemed necessary and justifiable then I hope said congressman would argue the perks and ridiculous metrics be mandated to apply to the financial sector, the housing sector, and all the other industries needing a "bridge to profitability" . I guarantee you that every American business would be bankrupt within 6 months. Jim

GM needs new blood in management.They have some of the best products, but lack marketing skills.I will expound on one example, they have one of the best 4 cyl engine families on the market(almost as good as Fords 4 cyl engine family)yet I,ve never heard them "selling"the product.Nissan has a 4 cyl engine that for years was causing cars to catch fire/self destructing through engineering defects, Toyota had engines self destructing because of sludge and the people continue to buy these vehicles.Whats the difference... marketing !! tell the people how great your cars are...

Great.....another handout. The Unions drove their business model to the ground, and now the Union wants my money and for the govt to print money to shore up their salaries, bonuses, and retirement plans. Man, living in the USA is getting real expensive these days. With all the dollar printing that is going on, could ya print me up a few of those dollars for my fireplace so I can keep warm in the winter.....please. My fear is that all this printing is going to make Carter's years of inflation look like a walk in the park. The only thing that has been saving us currently from a gallon of milk costing 25.00 is for years we could offshore our jobs for cheaper labor and increase productivity via computer to make our stuff cheaper hence keeping inflation in check. Well, were running out of jobs to offshore and we have reached high levels of productivity. What do we have next to keep inflation in check? I hope I wrong............

This all to well reminds me of "Big Steel" when they went away. Poor business practices along with huge salaries for both management (Thanks GM Board of Directors) and represented hourly workers (Thanks UAW). Remember when the USW wanted their represented workers to be the highest paid in the country (UAW strike of 1959). Foreign competition ate the big three's lunch and they still looked down from above and said "The Consumer wand’s this kind of vehicle" the industry refused to face the realities. Getting a car loan was a joke. If you could walk into a dealership, you drove out. Now the government will step in again and give them more loans (like the taxpayer can afford it), which will put off their demise. I am sure some economics class will look back on this as a prime example of how not to do it.

These folks at GM are living in a fantasy world. They can't sell cars and trucks,yet they are rolling them out the production line. Wake-up and smell the coffee. What should happen is file chapter 11 and start with a new game plan. The UAW will be the death of GM if it is allowed to continue in this same format. They say they can't sell cars if they go bankrupt,BS. We have a Chevy truck and a Pontiac G6 both are great products. We would buy Chevy again and I'm sure a bunch of other folks would as well. People fly on bankrupt airlines and seem to do ok even if they might be skimping on the maintenance of the planes.

Why in the world would are wonderful government bail out credit card companies who target bad credit people who they know can not pay back there dept, and not companies (MAJOR)companies that have employed this nation for years, and now need help.

no bail for GM OR GMAC_______________________ NO BAIL OUT FOR ANY OF THESE WALL STREET FOOLS\\ BAIL OUT THE TAX PAYER BOYCOTT GM AND GMAC

NO BAIL OUT FOR GM

CAN WAIT TILL WE CAN BOOT PELOSI OUT OF OFFICER WHAT A LOSER

Bail Out GM because they are running out of Cash???? GM is paying current line workers 30K to transfer to another plant if the worker has enough seniority to "bump" a worker with less seniority out of a similar job. If the workers can do this after their current job ends at a plant that is shut down, they get between $75,000 and $90,000 just for moving to a plant where they can work. The UAW could buy all the outstanding common stock for less than 20% of the gm workers pension fund if they think the company should be saved. Why not let the union workers buy the company, fire Wagner and anyone else they don't care for. If the UAW bought the company they would figure out real soon that ALL labor at the company is WAY overpaid. I as a tax payer don't care to "save" them.... let them do it on their own.

Looks like we'll have an Amtrak organization building cars forever that nobody wants to buy. Say hello to AMCAR?

Instead of blaming the UAW workers for the plight of General Motors look to the GM Management. While I agree the Auto Worker has had wonderful benefits in the past, they have lost, or given up a great deal over the years. They do not have an outrageous amount of time off or sick time as do some other employees, and their wages have not increased as they had in many years past. New employees do not have a structured pension plan, and their starting wages are less than many workers. After UAW workers have given up raises and other benefits during union negotiations GM management has turned around and awarded millions of dollars to its executives as bonus payments and awards. Do not place this on the backs of working men and women, or retirees. If we allow GM to go bankrupt we will be in trouble. Do not think that it will be less costly to taxpayers if we refuse to loan money to GM. If every retiree that currently receives a pension and health benefits from GM has to go the government for help it will cost us a great deal more, and many other Americans not just auto workers will lose their jobs. By the way while we are arguing as "taxpayers" remember that UAW auto workers are and have always been taxpayers.

I shouldn't be saying this -- after all, friends, family, neighbors, all will get some benefit out of the government further bailing out the automakers -- Brian, you're 100% right on target when it comes to trusting, or rather not trusting any of the big 3, and add the union in there too. For one thing there's history... If we hadn't bailed out Chrysler all those years ago, you think they didn't have a back-up plan? They had already been engaging in serious talks with German automakers, with meetings in South America to stay off the radar [according to sources with direct, peripheral involvement inside Chrysler that I talked to]. For another, the big 3 have been in trouble for almost 4 decades, and while they've made improvements, their leadership obviously has lacked the will to make the substantive changes necessary. Maybe their biggest attempt at emulating successful automakers outside the US, Saturn, hasn't been a roaring success itself after decades of trying. It's only prudent to ask why anyone could or should expect anything different from corporate structures that have institutionalized failure? Third, while automotive suppliers are always mentioned, usually in support of threats of disaster, this brings up another issue too... Just as not all auto plants in the US are owned by American companies, suppliers are based around the world. The days of the 60's are long gone, when the majority of business in the Detroit Metro area supplied the automakers. If our economy in the Detroit area suffers further disaster, it won't be because area businesses lost sales to the big 3 -- it'll be because aside from the automakers & gambling, there just aren't many sources of revenue. Which brings up the question: If the big 3, Detroit, and the state itself have failed to leave the 60's behind, suffering continually for 4 decades, where is the best place to look for a solution? If you're going to inject funding, & hopefully reform, do you target just one, a combination, or all 3? What is the popular saying?... Insanity is doing the same thing over & over, expecting the different results *this* time?

The Chevrolet car line is one of the strongest and most attractive in the industry. It is too bad that Chevrolet would not become a stand alone company and not be dragged down by the rest of the corporation.