RF — why did you omit them?

The big loony was that Ford must cancel the 2010 Mustang if they want any bailout money.

Seriously, how is being against that “Insane?”

-weird, eh?

As for armchair quarterbacking, I studied very similar stuff to what the big 2.4 do, at university. So, if I do qb from an armchair, it’s a goddamn Herman Miller Aeron or Steelcase LEAP, dammit! :P

I would add something in here about what AB and their Three Card Monty “OPINION” Column (authors of This BS: http://www.autoblog.com/2008/11/23/opinion-the-real-cost-of-unionized-auto-workers-70-hour-try/ ) can go do.
-probably involving explosives, flamethrowers, the human GI tract, interstellar nuclear fusion, etc. but Teh Farago would just delete it, so this is me not saying that ** ** * ***** * ****** **** ***********.

Neff insane == Y.

The international ocean freight trade is hurting, badly. Not just because people have stopped buying things in stores (even if they wanted to, their banks don’t.)

No, the shipping lines are hurting because no one is moving anything; whatever cars are shipped end up parked on the pier of their destination, not providing incentive for shipping more. Which likewise does not provide incentive for shipping ore, processed metal, or any of the other stuff required to manufacture excellent cup holders.

In fact, shipping companies are talking of “the perfect one hundred year wave” flushing them all away.
Dry bulk rates have gone from 285.000 US/day to – and brace yourselves: 860 US/day. Yes, you read that right. And while the industry just a little over a year ago was confident enough to be contracting new ships, everyone is now desperate (and unable) to cancel those contracts.

No wonder, a 99,6% drop in contracting rates is 100% Proof.

Hmmm – financial Tsunami, I guess.

GM mentality
1. same old complaints, damn they stole our customers by competing with us and made better products
2. engineering? Damn too expensive, lets re-engineer something else and see if it sticks together (x-cars), Olds diesel, etc.
3. Damn Unions will kill us, lets buy them off with great SUV profits.
4. Unions sucking us on one end, Japanese an other, and white collars guys want big bonuses and corporate jets, heck, now the Koreans are coming on strong, we need help Uncle Sam. We lost so much market share and have nearly 810,000 cars sitting on nearly 7,000 dealer lots. nearly a year supply of cars… no one can buy a car since banks won’t lend, what to do….

there is this mentality of stabilizing prices and assuring a constant stream of income without wanting to compete. Gm/Ford/Chrysler have been working together, remember the Justice Dept has sued GM a few times for their anti-competitive practices.

Twenty years ago, the D3 said “look, our cars always suck, and make no money. Screw it, let the Japanese have em, full-size SUVs and pickups are where the MONEY is. No one will ever stop buying Tahoes and Explorers, so to hell with cars. We’re rolling in cash. Should we invest in a serious program to compete with Corolla/Camry and Civic/Accord? Hell no! Let’s go on a buying spree! I call Jaguar! I call Saab! Oh yeah? Well I call Volvo, take that Mr. Feugehergen!”

Toyota and Nissan are taking just as much of a bath on the Tundra and Titan as the D3 are with their trucks. So why aren’t Toyota and Nissan days away from bankruptcy? People are still buying Camrys and Altimas. Toyota and Nissan can shift production away from trucks and to cars easily. They are, what’s the word, competently managed.

People writing on the op ed page of major newspapers have absolutely no clue what is wrong with the auto industry. The Mustang program is not why Ford is screwed. A lack of hybrid cars is not why GM is screwed. They need to shut the hell up.

On the other hand, there are valid debates and commentary amongst those that do know what is going on. That includes what goes on here at TTAC.

Yes, Neff looks like a hypocrite for armchair QBing about those who armchair QB. Who cares? If I hear from one more generic pundit on the idiot box about how GM tried to build hybrids with the Tahoe, I’m going to go postal.

If any real auto executive was smart, they’d bum around auto enthusiast sites for free brainstorming. There has to be at least one good idea somewhere in the mix.

@RF
It’s inevitable that a certain percentage, like the aforementioned John, are going to be insane. On the other hand, there are only 504 Faragos.
source: http://names.mongabay.com/data/surnames

There is no real damage that comes out of armchair philosophizing. That is what we do.

There is, however, something fundamentally wrong with thinking that everything is fine and dandy and that the domestics are in the same boat as the imports. They’re not… by a longshot. There is no long-term viability in GM the way it is, and that’s what TTAC has been arguing for quite some time. Going around saying “GUYS STOP JUDGING THEM!” is idiotic and pointlessly defensive.

Funny, that is how I feel anytime I read the comments over on Autoblog. If it doesn’t have a bowtie (or live under the GM umbrella), it is bashed constantly. When the tag says “toyota” or “honda”, it is unreadable.

http://www.olemiss.edu/depts/history/faculty/neff.html