Congress under pressure as GM bankruptcy possible
Registered User
Joined: Dec 2005
Posts: 1,502
Most of the population of the country was against all the government bailouts including the money given to Chrysler and GM. With Chrysler in bankruptcy and GM two weeks from filing it's pretty clear that the public was right and the politicians were wrong all along. All those billions spent so far could have been saved had Chrysler and GM gone into bankruptcy in the first place. They could have entered a prearranged, structured bankruptcy in December or January and might even be getting close to being out of bankruptcy by now.
Registered User
Joined: Apr 2001
Posts: 3,698
From: USA
I think the main issue is everything happened so fast. If we go back to a year ago today, amd I told you that within 3 months, GM's sales would be down 50% and stay there for several months, I would be laughed out the room. The last 6-9 months have been nothing but an absolute doomesday come true for automakers. I remember last September GM wanted to merge with Chrysler because they supposedly had $10 Billion in cash. In the two months it took to 86 the idea, Chrysler burned through that cash.
With GM I really believe they are in the mess they are now because of two issues. First off, when GMAC could not finance loans for anyone under 700 for 1-2 months, that was absolutly crippling. Cerebeus was using GMAC as a tool to push GM to buy Chrysler, but in reality it just crippled everything. No one wants to attempt to buy a car and then get turned down for a loan, so this kept a lot of buyers out the showroom. The other thing is the media circus that was created and has continued since Wagoner left. I mean honestly..if you were a consumer, would you feel better spending your $30K on a Toyota or GM vehicle after all the bad press GM has been getting?
With GM I really believe they are in the mess they are now because of two issues. First off, when GMAC could not finance loans for anyone under 700 for 1-2 months, that was absolutly crippling. Cerebeus was using GMAC as a tool to push GM to buy Chrysler, but in reality it just crippled everything. No one wants to attempt to buy a car and then get turned down for a loan, so this kept a lot of buyers out the showroom. The other thing is the media circus that was created and has continued since Wagoner left. I mean honestly..if you were a consumer, would you feel better spending your $30K on a Toyota or GM vehicle after all the bad press GM has been getting?
Registered User
Joined: Dec 2005
Posts: 1,502
I think the main issue is everything happened so fast. If we go back to a year ago today, amd I told you that within 3 months, GM's sales would be down 50% and stay there for several months, I would be laughed out the room. The last 6-9 months have been nothing but an absolute doomesday come true for automakers.
And, a member here did predict a 11-12M/year market, and unfortunately he supposedly really was laughed out of the room.
The other thing is the media circus that was created and has continued since Wagoner left. I mean honestly..if you were a consumer, would you feel better spending your $30K on a Toyota or GM vehicle after all the bad press GM has been getting?
Registered User
Joined: Mar 2005
Posts: 3,123
From: Melbourne, Australia
"Even bankruptcy can't save this bunch" according to Buickman.
The more I read of Buickman's rants, the more I start believing in his rhetoric. There must be a layer of bureaucracy that impedes progress at GM. Wagoner and the board cannot be solely responsible for the mess of the past 30 years. There has to be something more endemic. There's been more than a passing hint that GM's management structure is to blame... it might be a good time for a wholesale cleanout, methinks.
Henderson will not lead GM for much longer
Automotive News
The trouble with GM is its management
May 11, 2009 - 12:01 am ET
To the Editor:
After years of watching General Motors decline, I am convinced that the troubles at GM lie squarely at the feet of management.
It is customary to hear every excuse under the sun; i.e., wages, health care, pensions, exchange rates, material costs, government regulations, the weather, fuel prices, the economy, credit crisis and on and on.
Never is the blame pointed out as failed leadership.
GM has cut thousands of employees, closed plants across America, taken away benefits from retirees, sold assets with reckless abandon and borrowed to the hilt.
Now the solution of the day is eliminating dealers. How tragically wrong is that?
The people running GM have no clue what to do and take ill-advised actions in the name of "reorganizing" and "turning around." Their strategies don't work, and yet they are still in charge. Nonsense.
Where would GM be today had the company heeded the advice of John DeLorean, Ross Perot, and Jerry York?
Even bankruptcy can't save this bunch.
All that will happen is a lessened liability structure, then back to business as usual with Mark LaNeve and company continuing the most methodically mundane marketing. Wait, make that asinine merchandising.
It's time for people to wake up and realize that what needs to happen is a complete restructuring of GM management. By that I mean a housecleaning in the executive suites.
That's where the trouble lies, not with tens of thousands of loyal employees, retirees, suppliers, dealers and salespeople.
That is the bottom line and our only hope.
JAMES M. DOLLINGER
Chairman
Dollinger Motors
Flint, Mich.
The writer, a retail automotive marketing consultant, also is a salesman at a Buick dealership and a GM shareholder.
http://www.gminsidenews.com/forums/1738912-post5.html
Automotive News
The trouble with GM is its management
May 11, 2009 - 12:01 am ET
To the Editor:
After years of watching General Motors decline, I am convinced that the troubles at GM lie squarely at the feet of management.
It is customary to hear every excuse under the sun; i.e., wages, health care, pensions, exchange rates, material costs, government regulations, the weather, fuel prices, the economy, credit crisis and on and on.
Never is the blame pointed out as failed leadership.
GM has cut thousands of employees, closed plants across America, taken away benefits from retirees, sold assets with reckless abandon and borrowed to the hilt.
Now the solution of the day is eliminating dealers. How tragically wrong is that?
The people running GM have no clue what to do and take ill-advised actions in the name of "reorganizing" and "turning around." Their strategies don't work, and yet they are still in charge. Nonsense.
Where would GM be today had the company heeded the advice of John DeLorean, Ross Perot, and Jerry York?
Even bankruptcy can't save this bunch.
All that will happen is a lessened liability structure, then back to business as usual with Mark LaNeve and company continuing the most methodically mundane marketing. Wait, make that asinine merchandising.
It's time for people to wake up and realize that what needs to happen is a complete restructuring of GM management. By that I mean a housecleaning in the executive suites.
That's where the trouble lies, not with tens of thousands of loyal employees, retirees, suppliers, dealers and salespeople.
That is the bottom line and our only hope.
JAMES M. DOLLINGER
Chairman
Dollinger Motors
Flint, Mich.
The writer, a retail automotive marketing consultant, also is a salesman at a Buick dealership and a GM shareholder.
http://www.gminsidenews.com/forums/1738912-post5.html
Registered User
Joined: May 2000
Posts: 210
From: Cincinnati, OH
If GM purposely provided false or misleading financial information in published reports, filings or testimony that could be a criminal matter (Sarbanes Oxley not required). However, neither the SEC nor Sarbanes Oxley make it criminal for a CEO to give his "opinion".
So long as the numbers provided were accurate and no matter how much the numbers may have or should have led most people to believe GM was un-salvageable; it does not mean Wagner can be charged with a crime for saying Gm could be saved.
Most people knew the picture GM's management was a pipe dream; they just didn't want to believe it.
Most still don't although the truth is getting more and more difficult to ignore.
So long as the numbers provided were accurate and no matter how much the numbers may have or should have led most people to believe GM was un-salvageable; it does not mean Wagner can be charged with a crime for saying Gm could be saved.
Most people knew the picture GM's management was a pipe dream; they just didn't want to believe it.
Most still don't although the truth is getting more and more difficult to ignore.
Registered User
Joined: Dec 2008
Posts: 203
From: U.S.A.
If you really want to prove your point to me then feel free to send me the specific citation that you believe proves your point and I'll be happy to read it. Otherwise, I don't believe it's worth arguing about in an open thread.
Meanwhile, if I see Wagoner on the news being perp-walked into a jail cell and charged with a crime then I'll come back to this thread a apoligize to you.
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