H-what

I just saw GM has stuck a fork into Hummer.

Where will that lead and what do you current owners know or expect.

Looks like Saturn is toast too.

2 pretty common toads simultainiously erased, no good Mr bus driver.

The orphaned cars of this country have never lacked for support.

I'd wager Oldsmobile owners can still get service and parts. Even owners of true orphans whose manufacturers do not exist at all such as American Motors can get their Pacers repaired if need be.

Personally I have no clue how either of those two brands managed to stay alive as long as they did. The Saturn never turned a profit. I don't know about Hummer, but it is a type of product that made no sense in the context of the fact that it was nothing more than a boxy, overweight Tahoe. In my business I stopped manufacturing products that failed to make money. In retrospect I am guessing GM may be wishing they had done so also.

If by some stroke of luck the GM management can keep the government out of its face I hope now it only produces the best cars it can in terms of quality, and that it drops any brand or model that does not bring huge profits into its piggy bank. To do anything else is criminal. This is not about producing products to keep plants open, or environmentally significant. It is about making money and the only way GM will make money is to get rid of the unprofitable products, retain those that have a demonstrated ability to provide a good return, and to never ever again manufacture lousy products because if they do their death should be required.

Don't get the shovel out, Joe. The Fat Lady ain't singing on the H. The rest of the story is still to come.

Can't get the link adder to work, but cut and paste for the story.

http://www.dailyfinance.com/2009/06/02/gm-in-mystery-deal-to-sell-gas-guzzling-hummer-brand/?icid=main|htmlws-main|dl4|link6|http%3A%2F%2Fwww.dailyfinance.com%2 F2009%2F06%2F02%2Fgm-in-mystery-deal-to-sell-gas-guzzling-hummer-brand%2F

The Chinese are going to build them:eek:

Then they will be banned from import for environmental reasons:rolleyes:

All of the reading I have done on the subject of GM eschewing themselves of not profitable items, I have not heard a thing on the complete duplication they are making in producing the GMC and Chevy Trucks. Yes, they are (or were) profitable, but a single line of one brand would certainly cut the costs.

There is absolutely no difference between the GMC and the Chevrolet truck, come on you loyalists, bring it on.

Lew,
The name plates are different.

Their whole fleet MPG average will have to go up to 35mpg by I forget when.

What is the best possible mileage they will get get out of a 1/2 ton truck or large SUV with a small v-8 and how many 50mpg scooters will it force them to build to reach that average. I do not believe they can replace the 1/2 ton p-u with anything drastically different. Downsizing p-u's would be a disaster.

As to GM, in spite of the president saying they want nothing to do with running it, the White House appointed 90% of the new board. Thus I am betting they will build electric go-carts, and when the public doesn't buy them, they will simply pass laws to ensure they are bought. Why worry about stinking economics when you can control everything.:rolleyes:

You don't have to look very far to see what works. Check out Nissan, Toyota, Subaru, Izusu, Honda, Kia, Hunde, Volkswagon..........need I say more.

While Gary makes a good point I think we all deal with perception. The 3 major US manufacturers produced junk relative to their foriegn competitors far longer than they should have due to an arrogance that slopped all the way down to the dealer network. They thought they were invincible, but the American public learned there were quality vehicles available elsewhere and started buying them in such significant numbers that the big 3 reached the point they are at today.

But they have learned how to produce good cars, unfortunately they are unable to change the perception a lot of people have about their products.
The camel got its nose in the tent and now our domestic auto producers are stuck with good competitors and we the buyers are the beneficiaries.

My last company brought goods previously manufactured in Korea and China back into our plant and we saved our customer a lot of money annually while improving the quality of the product and completely altering the way our customer distributed the products by producing and delivering them directly to the final customer, something no offshore supplier can do. My point is if US manufacturers really want to regain their position in the marketplace they can, but they will have to completely change their management model, including partnering with the employees all the way down to the lowest production worker. They won't, primarily because their problem is a mangement and employee structure unwilling to change. If they would look at how the domestic manufacturers of foreign brands have structured their personell with production workers being given a large role in decision making they would see how much more brain power they could harness in their fight against competitors.

This entire fiasco will be the subject of many business school courses in years to come.