“If Buzz hasn’t traded them away I have bumping rights. The guy I displace goes to the line. Its not a good way to make friends,but you gotta do what you gotta do.It comes down to him or me.”

Wow…..

Any organization that rewards employees for seniority and not skill/production is doomed to fail over the long term. Steel, airlines, now transportation. What is next up, civil servant and teachers unions? Hopefully GM senior management gets their turn next.

Welcome to a brave new world. You get paid what you are worth.

The Hummer thing is especially agregious. I’m no fan of Hummer-mobiles. Outside of the actual mil-spec Hum-V, all they sell is a Suburban with a box on top and a (eew) Chevy Colorado with a box on top. They look like cartoonish versions of the mil-spec and frankly aren’t anything else. The fact they sold so well for so long indicates the kind of brand equity that exists with Hummer.

There is a good opportunity for an accomplished (at least in perception) off-road centric brand to crank out a truly interesting model that actually is a no-compromise off-roader that gets really good mileage. Diesel power, hybrid, exotic rear-difs and crankcases to get the gear ratios right for road or off-road, I don’t know what the tech in such a critter would be. But I do know there is a heck of a niche market waiting for a vehicle like that. I can even see the ads: “Save some trees by taking your family to see some trees – in the forest!” type schtick.

But that takes vision, engineering, work, math you can’t massage, planning for like, you know, THREE OR MORE business quarters in the future…that kind of thing. Nothing there that looks like Rick’s strong suit, so its time to punch-out! What a moron. Biggest difference GM could make by cutting something would be to ensure his Gulfstream jet develops “technical difficulties” over the Pacific while on one of his sell-out China tours.

Contrast this moron’s panic attack reaction to something everyone saw coming eighteen months ago with Mulally at Ford sticking to his guns with the F-150 because he knows there is more to this business than next quarter’s excuse paragraph in the financial disclosure statement. Ford is looking better everyday as a brand that will be here in a decade. GM, maybe not. How things change in one year!

HUMMER is one of those truly unique automotive brands and probably the only one GM makes that has any real value outside of GM to other automakers or selling it back to AM General.

HUMMER has the most profit per unit sold, the best customer retention numbers, and is one of the most desirable brands GM produces.

However it seems that GM never realised that HUMMER is a niche brand and that’s part of it’s appeal. It shouldn’t be mainstreamed or dumbed down or mass-produced. It should be selling premium, truly capable trucks and four-wheel drive vehicles. This niche will continue to sell to those who want it regardless of fuel prices.

I think the planned H4 Wrangler-competitor and diesel offerings could go a long way to keeping the brand viable but whether GM has the market savvy or resources to do so is questionable.

Perhaps if they weren’t producing 7 other worthless brands and selling cookie-cutter trucks, SUVs and pod-shaped crossovers through them then they wouldn’t have to worry about how to handle HUMMER.

Management structures in the U.S.:
It started out as a pyramid. Then went to an inverted pyramid.

Now it a coffee table.

And they’re starting to cut off the legs.

-Discontinue making the vehicles that aren’t selling. Replace those with other vehicles that aren’t going to sell.

-Develop “killers” that can’t kill anyone.

-Lose more customers.

-Blame the little people for everything, and fire some of them.

-Find someone else to blame for the problems. Well, other than the managers, of course.

The result is always the same. More mistakes, initiated at the top, with the consequences suffered by the stockholders and those stuck at the bottom. They would try to bottle it and sell it if they could, but they wouldn’t be able to sell that, either.

So the total picture hasn’t really begun to sink in , yet.

It’s like the people on the Titanic laughing at the one’s in the lifeboat with the hole.

This affects more than meets the eye . For now, it’s just sad.

The feeder industries will feel the pinch a bit later. Restaurants in the cities of the closures will go broke. Clothing and grocery stores next. Foreclosures will follow.

I still remember GM trying to persuade consumers that they didn’t need a smaller car, just a smarter engine.

ummm…yeah…about that…

Nobody should be gloating about the loss of so many jobs. I’m tied to the automotive industry, as well. However, nobody should be overly surprised, either. I’m making contingency plans so I’m not shown the door one of these days without a back-up plan. Kinda the frog in a slowly heating pot analogy. Anybody working for the 2.8 should be prepared for anything these days, including a sudden loss of employment. Best of luck to you and all of the crew over there. You surely don’t deserve the crap that your senior management has dealt you.

Apparently GM may have to refund some taxpayers’ donations, although I’m not holding my breath. There’s a silver lining; i’m not getting totally screwed by the autoworkers.

If I learned anything in the last 18 months,its to not plan too far ahead.The news changes daily.

Thanks everybody and thanks Robert and Frank for deleting all the gloaters.

Michael

I’d really hoped that GM was going to pick something _other_ than the Camaro to build at Oshawa. I have family that works at the truck plant and I really hoped that Oshawa’s stellar quality and workmanship would earn them a shot at building something important and widely adopted. When I heard we were getting the Camaro I winced because, good as it is, I knew it was a small-volume halo car that wasn’t going to keep people working once the shine had worn off (and being so overexposed, that shine won’t last long at all).

I’m having real trouble seeing GM relocating production of the G8, and with the Grand Prix going away and the market for the GMTs drying up, it will be tough times ahead.

I’m originally from St. Catharines and saw what happened as Glendale Ave. was scaled back. I don’t envy your situation at all. Heck, I work for a company that supplies Oshawa and dramatic cuts aren’t going to help us one bit.

Right now, I’m going to be replacing the Saab in a few years and the likely local candidate will be either the Oakville-based Flex or Edge. I’m a firm believer in supporting local industry, but it’s the “Buying Bananas in Canada” paradox: if you want a banana, you’re not getting one locally grown in Canada.

Good luck, eh?

Perhaps a miracle will happen and a company will look at the quality workforce and record of what went on in Oshawa, and will buy up the plant.

But honestly, I have to think instead that the only GM factory on the close-it-down-list which is saleable is the Toluca, Mexico plant (depending upon it’s age).

I know Hyundai was looking for a Mexican plant, but possibly not now, since they’ve dumped the pickup from their new Georgia USA plant and are going to move their Kia Spectra and probably Hyundai Elantra production there.

Maybe FIAT would be interested in Toluca? That would be kind of ironic, given the cash that GM dumped into FIAT to “break off the engagement” a few years ago.

Another high irony would be the fact that the last tiny vestage of Studebaker, Kaiser and American Motors are tied up in the real Hummer factory in Mishawaka, Indiana. (The factory built Studebaker duece-and-a-half trucks for the US Army during the Vietnam era, was bought by Kaiser, and sold to American Motors with Jeep; then AMC allowed it to be separated from the parent company as a wholly owned subsidiary called AM General, added some bus and motor home chassis production in the early 1970’s, then when Renault bought into AMC, AMC had to sell off AM General since foreign companies could not own US military suppliers).

The only thing GM has for sale is the Hummer BRAND and dealers.

I’ve got $87.80 on my person right now, Rick, that’s my final offer for Hummer. Contact me via Robert Farago.

The one certainty in all this is the death of suppliers to the truck plants. They go from the ICU to the morgue I’m afraid. Adding a 3rd shift at various car plants will certainly produce more of these cars, but can they be sold at profit? Laying off the workers at the truck plants will save some money compared to not laying them off, but, assuming these vehicles were profitable, the net will be greater losses for GM.

So Wagoner buys some more time while this iteration of his turnaround plan proves a failure.

I don’t know what the typical time for a GM vehicle is, but if the Camaro is any indication, a long time.

—

I’ve got a general question that I hope someone can answer… I noticed this in the press release:

“The Chevy Volt took a major step toward the showroom with formal approval by the GM board of funding for production of the extended-range electric vehicle. This approval, which includes funding for production development and tooling, indicates that GM leadership believes that the technology for the Volt, including its lithium-ion batteries, will be ready for volume production on schedule.”

From this milestone, does anyone happen to know, what’s the typical time to market for a GM vehicle?

I’m really sorry to hear this. I hope you’re not one of those affected.

For what’s it’s worth, I think this is all “too little, too late”. GM are forever harping on about the great cars and plans they have for the future….without dealing with the present.

At a cash burn rate of $1 billion per month, plus falling sales, I really doubt GM will go the distance.

Another reason why I think this is too little, too late is because depsite these heavy cuts, Red Ink Rick, STILL won’t issue a turnround timetable!

Make you wonder if he’s making this plan up on hoof……?