Maximum Bob Hearts The PTFOA
Based on an Autoweek account it seems that not everyone at GM fears the reaper. Bob Lutz clearly doesn’t, meaning a thousand maximum sycophants are going to have to learn a joke that doesn’t involve the government being here to help. At a recent Automotive Press Association luncheon Lutz characterized the PTFOA’s influence as “benevolent oversight and two-way communication between Washington and the auto industry.” And who doesn’t like a good listener with deep pockets? As Lutz delicately puts it, “jeez, it only took 30 years for somebody to finally figure it out.” So when did Mr “Global Warming’s A Crock Of Shit” become such a fan of soft socialism?
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I doubt Lutz has retained his flight status for the Alpha trainer - that would take some really nice connections, Banana Republic style. Reality looks better with the political glasses off. Since private enterprise in Detroit blew the place up, they went crawling and (eventually) driving to D.C. to beg - please, please, please - for help. D.C. responded. No - the gummint isn't going to decide what cars to build, it's just trying to salvage something from the wreckage that Wagoner and Lutz created. Saving GM is a sinkhole - should have just been left alone. (When private investors walk away, you know there's nothing to salvage.) The fact that the new crew in D.C. get this millstone around its neck is not their doing. At any rate, methinks what's happening to the world auto industry is actually a good thing. Cars and mobility will be a lot more fun a few years from now.
If GM made a 560HP car for about 16K they'd mop the floor with Toyota. I'd buy two just in case our dickless, oops I meant fearless leaders tried to outlaw them. Anyone know whether or not it'd be illegal to buy CAFE-compromised cars, replace/modify the engines for performance, and resell them for a profit? Sounds like a potentially lucrative business.
reclusive_in_nature, GM has a tough time building a 120hp Cobalt for $16K. Stein, In a recent interview, El Lutzbo said he had sold the Alpha. He said something to the effect, times are tough and one must economize where one can. He said he kept his other jet. Tough times, indeed, when you're down to just one personal jet.
The depth of the tragedy created by unbridled greed and stupidity makes the efforts to reverse it seem even more like "socialism". Unfortunately, the adage "In for a penny... in for a pound" applies here. If the PTFOA gives up now, what was it for? They have to finish what they started, no matter how convoluted the mess gets. It's getting ugly now; I pray that the desired result (a smaller, yet independent auto industry) is achieved, despite the naysayers.