Comments on: Editorial: General Motors Death Watch 222: The Truth Will Out

By: rcguy

rcguy — Thu, 04 Dec 2008 03:06:07 +0000

As anyone familiar with the GM Canada operations will tell you, the cloak and dagger secrecy is common with GM. Financial reports are never made public, including profits/loses.
The CAW has to negotiate concessions but claim that GM has made profit every year in the past ten years (accept 2002) in Canada.

GM officials refuse to confirm.

By: 50merc

50merc — Wed, 03 Dec 2008 20:42:22 +0000

speedlaw: “will anyone ever admit what the true cost of producing a car is ????”

No one knows. No one, that is, who doesn’t know a particular vehicle’s direct labor hours and materials requirements, production volume (to calculate the amount of general overhead to be apportioned among a quantity of vehicles), and how a given production volume affects labor rates (does it require overtime?) and production expense (rate of wear on tools and machines, die replacement, etc.).

But in GM’s case, it appears the answer is “too much.”

By: GS650G

GS650G — Wed, 03 Dec 2008 14:12:34 +0000

Good thing our representatives will see through the BS and not give failing companies with failed business plans money they will piss away in months. Good thing they learned from the recent bailout of banks that giving money for nothing doesn’t work.

I’ll sleep better at night knowing our elected representatives truly have the public’s best interest at heart.

Sarcasm at it’s finest

By: jkross22

jkross22 — Wed, 03 Dec 2008 06:09:50 +0000

I’ll sleep better at night knowing our elected representatives truly have the public’s best interest at heart.

By: GS650G

GS650G — Wed, 03 Dec 2008 04:05:05 +0000

Too bad our elected leaders know next to nothing about running car companies. But they do know how to spend our money.

By: speedlaw

speedlaw — Wed, 03 Dec 2008 01:48:22 +0000

will anyone ever admit what the true cost of producing a car is ????

It would be easier to build a nuke ! The plans are probably more available.

By: speedlaw

speedlaw — Wed, 03 Dec 2008 01:37:09 +0000

WOW.

The last time I saw the “red books”, “black books” routine was at a proposed restaurant sale. I’m amazed to see that same scam for a major car company. For those who don’t know, the red books are the ones you show the government. The black books are the ones where the cash sales are recorded.

What gall.

By: Honda_Lover

Honda_Lover — Tue, 02 Dec 2008 23:02:21 +0000

BTW, Ford has some NICE vehicles in Europe. Too bad they don’t sell them here.

By: Engineer

Engineer — Tue, 02 Dec 2008 18:38:52 +0000

Here’s what I don’t understand: The cheerleaders faithfully keep repeating the party line: “GM was turning the cruise liner around, but then it ran into the iceberg of the financial disaster…” Somehow, nobody in the MSM thinks of asking: “Name one metric that proves GM was turning the ship around?” Journalism, eh?

Of course, the hardened cheerleaders would reply: “We have more models doing X, Y or Z than anyone else!”

Earth calling GM: too many models is part of the problem, not the solution…

By: Martin B

Martin B — Tue, 02 Dec 2008 18:35:33 +0000

They will pay Red Ink Rick 95 percent of salary on condition he does nothing.

By: pnnyj

pnnyj — Tue, 02 Dec 2008 18:29:37 +0000

Today’s news: Pontiac brand to be phased out, Buick/GMC dealers otherwise unchanged

Tomorrow’s news: General Motors proudly introduces the ALL NEW midsize Buick G6 sedan and hardtop-convertible, the fuel efficient Buick G5 sedan and coupe and the economical and fun Buick G3 sedan and GMC G3 5-door “crossover”

By: JeremyR

JeremyR — Tue, 02 Dec 2008 18:04:39 +0000

Buickman, you keep talking about “Return to Greatness,” and while many of the 20 steps seem to be good ideas, I don’t see how they address GM’s fundamental structural issues (e.g. too many brands, too many dealers).

By: gamper

gamper — Tue, 02 Dec 2008 16:41:41 +0000

Yeah, GM’s private plan will be private for as long as it takes for a congressman’s aide to scan it and hit send.

By: guyincognito

guyincognito — Tue, 02 Dec 2008 16:03:47 +0000

I would be amazed if the plan GM presents includes shutting down brands. I can see them showing SAAB and Hummer as being for sale, but I don’t think they will talk about shutting down Pontiac or GMC or Saturn.

By: miked

miked — Tue, 02 Dec 2008 16:00:03 +0000

@Jerome10 – Granted there are good strategic reasons for a company to want to keep some stuff secret; however, if they’re going for public money, then the entire plan should be made public.

By: MikeInCanada

MikeInCanada — Tue, 02 Dec 2008 15:48:25 +0000

Does anyone want to bet how long it will take before the “Private” plan get’s leaked and becomes the “Very Public, WTF Plan”?

I’m betting that we’ll be reading everything in this Friday’s edition Wall St Journal.

By: Conslaw

Conslaw — Tue, 02 Dec 2008 15:44:07 +0000

GM’s secret plans, from the blog of a close friend.

GM’s Top 10 Strategies for Using Your Taxpayer Bailout Money

I have an advance copy of GM’s plans to use the $25 Billion in bailout money to get out of its financial mess. Here they are:

10. Forex Trading
9. Canadian Lottery
8. “Come on Seven!”
7. Vega II
6. You see, there’s this oil minister in Nigeria . . .
5. Improve Hummer fuel economy 10%
4. Baseball cards
3. Short sell stock in Chrysler & Ford
2. Convert unused factories to ostrich farms
1. Everybody’s last resort, hire coach Larry Brown

By: Jerome10

Jerome10 — Tue, 02 Dec 2008 15:24:02 +0000

Yeah, I’m gonna have to disagree with you on this one. I can 100% understand keeping things under wraps. You can’t give out all kinds on internal information (perhaps there is info on upcoming vehicles, powertrains, asset sales, wages, etc) that you just can’t have out there in public, and for all your competitors to see. Same with financials. They want to make sure its clear they are in trouble, but they don’t want to spook the markets because the numbers are worse than everyone was thinking they were.

This is all fine with me. And I’m sure they do have a plan. Whether it will work is the real question.

By: Geo. Levecque

Geo. Levecque — Tue, 02 Dec 2008 15:18:58 +0000

It was just on the TV ie Ford’s Plan, it said by 2011 they would be selling 14 million vehicles! Glad to see they have a good Crystal Ball for the future?

By: Buickman

Buickman — Tue, 02 Dec 2008 14:38:00 +0000

this all could have been avoided had Wagoner given RTG a chance. he refused to listen or try any part of the plan.

tried and true ideas formatted and presented by GM’s top salesman are rejected as without merit by the CEO responsible for Tens of Billions in losses.

now might be the time to call your Congressional representatives and let them know there is a plan for GM and it’s called Return to Greatness. tell them to visit http://www.GeneralWatch.com and see for themselves.

By: dwford

dwford — Tue, 02 Dec 2008 14:32:24 +0000

It will be fun to compare GM’s bullshit plan, to Chrysler’s “we never intended to have a plan, so here’s some nonsense we threw together” plan to Ford’s actual plan.

Unfortunately Congress probably won’t be able to tell the difference.

By: Boston

Boston — Tue, 02 Dec 2008 14:26:13 +0000

I can understand why they would want to keep some things confidential. Future product plans and potential buyers for brands are 2 that I can thank of off the top of my head. I can’t believe that they don’t have a plan at all. I can believe that their plan sucks, is poorly thought out, and wouldn’t be executed well anyway.

By: BostonTeaParty

BostonTeaParty — Tue, 02 Dec 2008 14:21:30 +0000

Wheres the issue with 2 reports, if i remember rightly didnt all 3 CEO’s talk about business confidentiality at some point during the circus meeting? So wheres the issue if the future plans they want to show they want to keep secret from the other 2 but also the Japanese and Korean manufacturers. I guess today we call it business sense. Again a way overeaction. But i guess when banks can be given billions unquestionably with no recourse or payback made clear, then why should everything be crystal clear up on the hill?

By: jaje

jaje — Tue, 02 Dec 2008 13:43:56 +0000

The D2.8 and UAW will propose changes that should have been implemented back in the late 80’s / early 90’s.

The D2.8’s business model and the UAW’s perception are built on the premise that new car sales will never contract and GM would always maintain a certain number of sales. This paradigm is flawed from the outset and unsustainable – you always have to have flexibility and smart management – 2 things sorely missing from the D2.8 and the UAW.