Thread: GM going bust?

About what I said. But much prettier.

Originally Posted by peterpan

GM has survived or years on the back of its finance division, now as sales have tailed off even that hasn't generated enough cash to beak even.
Fukcem,the writing was on the wall years ago for the barges they build but they kept on building them anyway.

A couple of difficulties with this:

1. GM sold the majority of GMAC (the once-profitable finance arm) in 2007.
2. GMAC is, itself, is in even more danger of going bust. See:

https://teakdoor.com/business-finance...tml#post655922 (Thailand's Baht, Peso --- Decline)

Originally Posted by sabang

GM is performing best is in it's international operations

Which will prop up GM in the few years that the US market will be in the pooh.
Things will improve, but not till 2010.

Originally Posted by Spin

Which will prop up GM in the few years that the US market will be in the pooh. Things will improve, but not till 2010.

GM Corp is in need of a major restructure in the way it does business. Currently way too many decisions regarding major initiatives must be approved in Detroit. If GM can retool their thinking to give more autonomy to their global operations as have Toyota, they may remain a major player in the industry. GM must stop characterizing itself as a US company and think globally. Although GM has made some improvement in this regard, the big boys in Detroit seem reluctant to give up their power for the betterment of their shareholders and customers.

^ Ya, Norts. The mgmt strategies need help but the weak balance sheet restricts them big time.

^^ Kinda agree. Spin. Another downer for GM and the US automakers is the dam unions. More pay, benefits, huge pension plans. Fek, no wonder these cos can't focus on new ideas and products. The unions just demand $$ and can't see that the market is crumbling.
The company faces major competition, and sales are turning sour big time with bling-rate gas prices. Hybrid cars? They suck. Electric? OK, good for commuting to and from the subway station. Ethanol fuel-driven cars? 555 Biggest lame fuel alternative ever.

Originally Posted by bkkandrew

Originally Posted by peterpan

GM has survived or years on the back of its finance division, now as sales have tailed off even that hasn't generated enough cash to beak even.
Fukcem,the writing was on the wall years ago for the barges they build but they kept on building them anyway.

A couple of difficulties with this:

1. GM sold the majority of GMAC (the once-profitable finance arm) in 2007.
2. GMAC is, itself, is in even more danger of going bust. See:

https://teakdoor.com/business-finance...tml#post655922 (Thailand's Baht, Peso --- Decline)

Right, I had forgotten they had sold that div, right before they initiated their no interest financing.

Originally Posted by Jet Gorgon

Ya, Norts. The mgmt strategies need help but the weak balance sheet restricts them big time.

I agree. Financial weakness is certainly a limiting factor. Still not too late to right the ship though. Changing the corporate culture at GM is going to be painful but without change GM will become an also ran in the global auto industry.

I can remember many years ago there was a saying "as goes GM so goes the US economy". Jeez I hope this in no longer true.

Didn't they have one of their major investor pull out last year after a fall-out on the board of directors for not taking a better direction ? I guess management won and lost at the end,

Delphi went down, and had to be saved or else they couldn't feed their chain to build cars,

GM's Z score is 0.52. ie, headed for bankruptcy. The co needs new mgmt infused with making changes that lead the market, not meet it. Its got negative cash flow and is still paying a bladdy $1 dividend.

The Civic has never even been Honda's best-selling car before. It topped the Accord for the first time ever in May. Though the Civic is available as a fuel-sipping hybrid, gasoline-powered Civic still drove the sales trend. Kicking Tires reports, "Of the 53,299 Civics sold in May, 4,676 were hybrids." In further proof that Americans are now thinking small, the Corolla outsold the Camry for the first time last month as well.
As Autoblog comments, "Note to automakers: that would be the sound of the canary in your coal mine hitting the floor."

Great quote, this

Hybrids are a waste of time, batteries usually only last 3-4 years and to replace them well is extremely costly. If they could get the cost down below 500quid then they might have smth. However 5-10x as much makes it not worth it.

They are limited in use right now, but the point is they are getting better and prices will come down. High oil prices look like they're here to stay, so there is certainly a market waiting for a good hybrid or electric car.

I can well conceive a time when taxi's and delivery vehicles in places like NYC will only be hybrid or electric.

Hydrogen/Helium Cars would be nice

Originally Posted by britmaveric

Hybrids are a waste of time, batteries usually only last 3-4 years and to replace them well is extremely costly. If they could get the cost down below 500quid then they might have smth. However 5-10x as much makes it not worth it.

Well I was picked up at Heathrow by a Lexus limo hybrid. It was wonderful. Absolute silence in the car park and then the traffic (running on the battery) and then soon as we were on the motorway, fantastic power.

^ Don't have enough juice for long-haul jobbies. Electric would be good for commuters going a short way from rural home to the train station and back. Just need plug-ins in the parking stalls. Shouldn't be a prob; we've had those in Canada for eons coz you have to plug in the engine block heater during the winter.

^Er, no, the 3.5 Liter V8 kicked in on the motorway. Thats why its called a hybrid.

Originally Posted by bkkandrew

^Er, no, the 3.5 Liter V8 kicked in on the motorway. Thats why its called a hybrid.

Lexus is a bit different to the Prius though.

Lexus use their electric motor to give it some oomph on the motorway as well.

The Greens got a bit upset by it since it went against the idea of hybrids in their views

Toyota/ Lexus has a fully functioning hybrid.

GM's market strength is mainly with SUV's and V8's.

Who's Board deserves a pay rise?

In 2007 their overseas sales were profitable. If they could only rid themselves of domestic sales.

Originally Posted by attaboy

In 2007 their overseas sales were profitable. If they could only rid themselves of domestic sales.

Do they sell those models in the US?

I don't know. I heard they were to begin importing a Saturn model normally sold in Europe. It's called the Opel Astra.

I think the GM corporate bosses were offended by this TD thread and hurriedly put this together last night.

GM May Sell Mini-Cars to Fuel-Conscious U.S. Buyers

July 3 (Bloomberg) -- General Motors Corp., which popularized the 7,800-pound Hummer, may begin selling a mini-car more than a foot shorter than anything else it markets in the U.S. to win back buyers deterred by record fuel prices.

GM may bring the production version of the Chevrolet Beat to the U.S., people familiar with the plan said. The car, which would normally be reserved for markets such as Asia and Latin America, gets as much as 40 miles a gallon, a fuel efficiency topped in the U.S. only by hybrids.

The possible American introduction of the Beat would be one step in a fleet downsizing and shift away from fossil fuel-based vehicles that the people said is already under way at Detroit- based GM. Resigned to $4-a-gallon gasoline and stricter pollution rules, the largest U.S. automaker has recognized that its response must go beyond the mothballing of large truck plants, the people said.

``This is a very big change for GM,'' said John Wolkonowicz, an analyst at Global Insight Inc. in Lexington, Massachusetts. ``They have no choice. There's never been as rapid a shift in consumer demand in the history of the auto industry.''

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=aEJvUUe4iUlU&refer=worldwide

***

They better redesign to $6 a gallon fuel.

Originally Posted by attaboy

It's called the Opel Astra.

New Astra isn't a bad looking car.

220 VX turbo charged one is rather nice.