The one thing no contract or labor agreement can ever address is the customer and his money. It is the oil the engine runs on and they are 2 quarts low at least. This requires a total attitude adjustment from the top down, and that is not forthcoming.

absolutely
the 2-mode hybrid was invented at Allison in Indianapolis
check the patents

Must be the new math. Using today’s figures from Automotive News, GM’s sales to date in ‘07 versus the industry are 2,934,093/12,351,475 or a 23.8% share.

For September (and yes, we all know about incentives etc.), the numbers are 334,974/1,315,357 or 25.5%. In its press release, GM claims to have had a 25 plus % share for the third quarter.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071002/ap_on_bi_ge/auto_sales_17;_ylt=Amv.IJDkUUm1fnhwAIZK1XUE1vAI

I like the idea of a Toyota Mediocrity Watch. Most of Toyota’s redesigns have in many ways taken their products backwards.

Toyota sales are down 4% in a month when Honda is up 9% and Nissan is up 7% and at a time when the new Tundra is selling much better than last year’s model. Prius availability is also excellent now compared to being a waiting list car last year.

Also, I’m seeing a whole lot of Camrys in the Hertz rental fleet and available as resales at hertzusedcars.com. Two years ago here in Northern California Hertz’ used car lot had 85% or more GM and Ford product, now it is over 50% Japanese and Korean stuff. Could Toyota be stuffing volume into the rental fleets at a time when GM and Ford are backing away from them?

1.most people enrolled in the jobs bank have been from northern Ohio or MI.The additional 100 mile radius-moving possible openings is 150 miles now.This equates to a blanket coverage for most,but not all of existing G.M. plants.

2.S.E.L. or secured employment levels has been removed.This program worked hand in hand with the old structure of the jobs bank.Any economic downturn that directly related to the amount of manpower needed at any facality never equated to a conventional lay-off.You simply entered into the “bank” and hoped that you would be needed for something other counting 12 x 12 windows.I guess!

3.G.I.S.= guaranteed income stream! O.K.I know a perk when I see it.God love it.My hats off to the UAW bargaineers that got that demand meet.However….that to is a perk of the past.

4.If an employee currently enters the jobs bank,that employee will have to relocate to another plant within 150 miles in 24 months,Provided openings exist.All openings corporate wide will however be offered to the employee.If this employee(s) doesn’t accept the new location then after the 24 months they will be giving the equavilent of the Special Attrition Package depending on their seniority.See S.A.P. of 2006.

My opionion is that with G.M. agreeing to hire all temporary workers currently at many locations,Anyone going into the jobs bank had better hope for an opening.Good luck Shrevesport and Arlington TX. assembly.Wilmington Delaware will lose its product of solstice and sky production.It’s new home will be along side the Corvette in Bowling Green KY.And the Moraine assembly plant in Dayton Ohio has no further product as of this date.Builders of the Envoy & Trailblazer.Plus that Saab SUV…I know it sucks.Trailblazer with an ignition on the consule:)

We insiders will or have been calling Dayton, Ohio the new Flint Michigan.G.M.’s still going to cut and cut deep.So to all my bro’s and sis’s make you plant or daily operation as profitable as possible.

And G.M. management….you really dont have labor to blame anymore.Lets see if you can actually get you’re crap together and begin to make good buisness decisions.IS IT POSSIBLE?That means from the front line supervisor to the ones in charge of design and enginneering/quality.We depend on you and you depend on us.Thats the change we on the floor of the factories want.Change you’re method of operations with the labor aspect and managements should also change.Because the current model of how they run a day to day operation is a failure.From top to bottom.I’m looking at you Wagner.The clocks ticking and I’m thinking- no I’m certain if managements current game plan is that of the past,there’s hell to pay come 2011.Right when the 2007 contract with the UAW expires.

As for the VEBA isnt it good news that GM already has the majority of money set away for this project? If its a case of wiping slate clean when all said and done, could this be a master stroke of hoodwinking everybody by RickW etc?

Next comes the debt crisis which radically slows the private equity market, but GM still pulls off the Allison deal at face value just before the market collapses. To top it all off, they survive a strike and sign a deal that is widely viewed as historic and game-changing.

An epic series of events, and I really am impressed that GM has achieved the one thing that matters above all others: survival.

Sorry, I couldn’t resist.

Sorry if I’m stating the obvious – but there’s accounting, and there’s management accounting.

And in Southwest Houston, I wouldn’t see a Cadillac/Buick/Pontiac/GMC dealer. Selling Caddies with G5s? You gotta be kidding me!!!

But I’m not, and the divisions need to be trimmed or consolidated consistently. Right now its a big ‘ol mess.

Pontiac-Buick-GMC is, for all intents and purposes, one brand now . . .

Except that they aren’t really. There’s still some product overlap (though some of that will end soon when the kill the Grand Prix), and they’re targeting three very different groups of people who just happen to be shopping at the same dealership. I mean, it’s not uncommon to see Chevrolet-Cadillac dealers, but that doesn’t make them one brand.

They have six. Pontiac-Buick-GMC is, for all intents and purposes, one brand now, a sort of Chevy-clone that is a micrometer more upscale. Most dealers of these three brands are combined. And GMC is doing well-sales are actually up for them so far this year. So, as long as GMC exists, Pontiac and Buick will also continue to exist, so GMC truck/SUV dealers will have some cars to sell on the side.

Now, it’s also obvious that Chevy and Caddy stay. So five brands are staying so far.

The three left over ones are Hummer, Saab, and Saturn. Saab’s sales in the US are microscopic (three or four thousand vehciles a month)-but they always have been, so, unless they drop further (which they might), it’ll probably limp along. Hummer’s down a bit, but that’s not really surprising, and it’s also a niche brand.

So, that leaves Saturn. Of all of GM’s brands, it’s been the best treated recently, getting an expanded line up of all-new product-almost all of which has been a dud. Sales are up so far this year, but just barely, and they’ve gotten so much new stuff, it would be hard for them not to be. I predict sales for Saturn will be down-a lot-next year.

This may be the last gasp for Saturn. It was a dumb idea when it was first created (basically, an entire brand and dealer network to sell only Corolla-clones), and the attempt to move it upscale is also failing, for many reasons (for one, people don’t want to pay thirty or forty grand for a Saturn, especially if you can’t haggle). It has never made GM money, and it never will.

It probably would make sense to kill Saturn when the lifespan of it’s current product is over (say, three or four years from now). Of course, Oldsmobile shows that killing a brand costs you money in the short term, and you lose those sales for good. But if there’s no profit there (and there isn’t), only red ink, there’s no point in continuing.

Anyone else recall the Business Week cover with pictures of GM brass and the headline “Driving for 55″? (Referring to the General’s confident plan for taking a fifty-five percent market share.) Not since the Ford T’s epic decline in the 20’s has a US auto maker lost thirty-plus points of market share. Not so long ago, the Big 3 fought furiously over gains and losses of a mere fraction of a point.

We need to see what Business Week says about Detroit’s future. It also had a cover story, “The Death of Equities,” shortly before the Dow began its climb from well under 1,000 to over 14,000. BW can be a good negative indicator.

Do you also have a “40″ pin they handed out before that (referring to managements pledge to get GMNA market share back up to 40%.) Certainly would be worth some money on EBay.

If I understand correctly, the new agreement also allows them to force surplus labor (think Jobs Bank) to go to plants farther from home. Before it was 50 miles radius, now it’s reputed to be much larger. This allows them manufacturing flexibility – ie. cancel a shift at this car plant and move that whole shift to a truck plant 250 miles away.

In the end though it still doesn’t mean much in the big picure.

Me too. I would love to see backup documentation for it.

I guess we will just have to see what they do. I really don’t think they are going to cut production enough to make a meaningful difference and we will still see substantial fleet sales. The company as a whole really hasn’t changed, if the thinking is the same the end results wont be much different.

The answers are none, and no.

These questions get to the heart of the matter. While cost cutting is an essential component of most turnaround plans, a turnaround plan for a company this troubled that doesn’t remedy core problems is doomed to fail.

GM’s most glaring problems can be distilled into two basic points: Lack of customer focus, and too immense of an bureaucracy to provide that focus.

GM needs to stop producing 70+ cars for the North American market, and cut that amount by perhaps two-thirds. The only reason GM produces 70+ cars (or about 50 too many) is because it is supporting these eight North American badges.

Here’s a basic factoid for you: Globally, GM and Toyota tend to spend the same amount on R&D each year. If GM is assembling perhaps 40-50 more nameplates than is Toyota with the same R&D money, is it any surprise which automakers spends more on development on a per-vehicle basis? Is it any more surprising that the company that spends less per vehicle gets a lesser result?

It seems that Wagoner doesn’t want to make the obvious hard choices that a CEO skilled in crisis management would make. That’s why he needs to go, because he is trying to manage GM as if it is going through some temporary doldrums that can be patched up with some quick cost cutting. That is nearly not enough, and unless the Board finally realizes this and makes a move, this Titanic is headed straight for the ice. Bring your lifeboats…

Redbarchetta :

Also where is the money for the VEBA coming from, thin air? They still have to pay, so the obligation and cash still leave their coffers no matter how they mask the paperwork.

At the end of June ‘07, GM had about $20b in an existing health care VEBA, plus $3b in the “historic health care giveback” VEBA. They’re set to kick-in another $4b – $5b (as stated in the article), plus guarantee another $1.6b.

Put it all together, send it over to the UAW and they’re done. The markets love this stuff, so it should raise GM’s credit ratings and make it easier to borrow the money.

I guess I am confused as how they can scale back production now. If all the jobs are still there and the job bank didn’t really disappear why can they now make less cars.

Under the terms of the new agreement, roughly 30 percent of GM’s workforce can be replaced with lower-paid workers (who probably pay the same union dues, but that’s another story). By and large, these are the infamous UAW janitors and greens keepers. In all probability, GM will offer these non-assembly types a buyout package to accelerate the process of reducing their overheads.

The jobs bank hasn’t disappeared, but the contract draws a line under it (no more in) AND forces workers in the bank to get their asses over to more distant factories, should there be work for them.

The main point: with lower fixed costs, GM doesn’t have to keep the factories churning-out product to generate the cash flow needed to pay for those overheads.

That doesn’t necessarily mean they will throttle back, but they can do so without huge consequences. At least initially.

The other question is have they even scaled back a little since the strike, I thought they were still churning out cars just like before the 2 day vacation.

Also where is the money for the VEBA coming from, thin air? They still have to pay, so the obligation and cash still leave their coffers no matter how they mask the paperwork. So does this mean they slice off a portion of there much needed assets to somehow create cash or they dive deeper into debt, same problem just moved to ao different office.

I guess I don’t see any change or rosey future for them.