[PluggyRug]

I've said this once before.

To survive, GM should get out of the lackluster business and get into the car business.

Like Boots says, keep a single brand like Chevrolet and add some luster to their cluster.

[ziggy]

Proculation Proculation:

The lost 82 billions in 2 years. Amazing.

What's amazing is after all these years they still cant build a truck that wont fill your drivers compartment up with snow every time you open it after a small snowfall.

Pet peeve of mine with my duramax,that and I bought it in Canada and it was made in the states.

[stemmer]

IF North America STOPPED being a dumping ground for every other nations products our corporations would be doing just fine...

IF we continue down this path North America will be owned and run by foreign corporations and investors... It's bad enough America is in debt to China but to lose control of our manufacturing is not a good thing...

Toyota, Honda, Nissan will succumb to auto companies coming out of China and India...

[SigPig]

stemmer stemmer:

IF North America STOPPED being a dumping ground for every other nations products our corporations would be doing just fine...

Do you care to explain how it is the fault of Asain car companies that GM insisted on making SUVs and trucks that most of CDN consumers weren't interested in buying? Because it seems to me that you are arguing that GM and the big three would be fine if there weren't other companies producing cars that sell better then their own. Talk about convaluted logic.

[stemmer]

I heard Phil Edmundston (Lemon Aid Guy) on the radio recently and he alleges it's a myth SUVs did GM in... He maintains other car companies including Toyota had as many SUV lines as GM... Even BMW and Lamborghini have a SUV or two....

[Proculation]

I would do fine too if I was the only company to sell a product... This is called competition.

[SigPig]

stemmer stemmer:

I heard Phil Edmundston (Lemon Aid Guy) on the radio recently and he alleges it's a myth SUVs did GM in... He maintains other car companies including Toyota had as many SUV lines as GM... Even BMW and Lamborghini have a SUV or two....

You are right, other companies did have SUVs, very good ones in fact. But that is not all they had that appealed to customers. Toyota had Corollas that were popular, BMW sold large numbers of their sedans and coups. Honda even now has the Pilot, but they also have the CIvic which was the best selling car in Canada for a number of years.

Basically the point I am trying to make is that GM out all their eggs in the SUV, pickup, large vehicle basket. What smaller vehicles did they have that appealed to Canadian consumers and could supplement their bottom line. Because lets be honest here, the market for SUVs and trucks is a fairly small group. Most people don't need one if all they do is go to work and the grocery store, though some buy them anyways. They didn't offer a product that appealed to a large portion of the Canadian market and that is why they are the way they are today.

[DrCaleb]

stemmer stemmer:

IF North America STOPPED being a dumping ground for every other nations products our corporations would be doing just fine...

You mean like how GM re-badges the Holden Monaro (built in Australia) as the "GTO" - and no one buys it?

Or how Ford sells the Focus STI - but only in Europe? Or how it won't bring product lines like the Falcon or Mondeo here?

Ford and GM do produce fine cars, equal or better than Asian manufacturers - just not here for some odd reason.

. . .and I have excellent news about the Dacia Sandero!

[bootlegga]

stemmer stemmer:

I heard Phil Edmundston (Lemon Aid Guy) on the radio recently and he alleges it's a myth SUVs did GM in... He maintains other car companies including Toyota had as many SUV lines as GM... Even BMW and Lamborghini have a SUV or two....

It's not the fact that they build SUVs, it that they build so many different ypes of SUVs. Let's compare;

Toyota website lists 6 SUVs (including a hybrid version and non-hybrid version of the Highlander), with their Lexus sub-brand has 3 more, for a total of 9.

http://www.toyota.ca/cgi-bin/WebObjects ... dex%2ehtml

http://www.lexus.ca/lexus/experience/en ... &fp=index#

Now, let's look at the GM website;

http://www.gm.ca/gm/english/showrooms/suv?adv=72499

They have 20 SUVs (across all companies). Based on the stats, the Trailblazer and Envoy to be essentially the same vehicle. Why build two different models of the same vehicle?

In total models, GM (53) builds almost double as many as Toyota (27 including Lexus). That's the problem right there. Get rid of some of that redundancy and GM might be profitable someday.

[Axeman]

stemmer stemmer:

IF North America STOPPED being a dumping ground for every other nations products our corporations would be doing just fine...

IF we continue down this path North America will be owned and run by foreign corporations and investors... It's bad enough America is in debt to China but to lose control of our manufacturing is not a good thing...

Toyota, Honda, Nissan will succumb to auto companies coming out of China and India...

We're not a dumping ground. We're importing products that consumers want. You're in the MINORITY. If you don't want to buy these products, DON'T, but don't go telling me which ones I can choose. I like Japanese cars and Dutch beer and Malaysian pornography and Swiss Chocolate and Chilean grapes and German appliances and Lebanese hash and South African wine. I don't like Chinese children's toys, so I don't buy them. You have the power to choose.

[stemmer]

I'm not telling anyone what to do or not do...only informing them their choice has a consequence... I simply believe the sovereignty of North America is more important then a Toyota Corolla, Sony Plasma TV or Toshiba DVD player...

IF we must compete on the global market then be prepared for your standard living to fall so we can be at an even playing field with China, Brazil, India, etc....

AND it will not only be North America but Japan, EU, Australia, United Kingdom, etc...will also take the big fall...

It's not unlike the bs behind global warming, another lie orchestrated to transfer wealth from North America to the BRIC nations (Brazil, Russia, India, China, etc)...

Why do you think Harper a Conservative and George W Bush a Republican were jumping onto the bail out?

The demise of manufacturing in North America will leave a very big void that will not be filled over night...

[stemmer]

Axeman Axeman:

We're not a dumping ground.

Then why are we importing toys that are harmful to our children? Simple. We are a dumping ground...

[mtbr]

stemmer stemmer:

Axeman Axeman:

We're not a dumping ground.

Then why are we importing toys that are harmful to our children? Simple. We are a dumping ground...

because people are stupid enough to buy them..like GM's and Chryslers.

[Axeman]

stemmer stemmer:

I'm not telling anyone what to do or not do...only informing them their choice has a consequence... I simply believe the sovereignty of North America is more important then a Toyota Corolla, Sony Plasma TV or Toshiba DVD player...
IF we must compete on the global market then be prepared for your standard living to fall so we can be at an even playing field with China, Brazil, India, etc....

...and when I hear nonesense like that it makes me doubt your claim that you "took economics at university."

stemmer stemmer:

Why do you think Harper a Conservative and George W Bush a Republican were jumping onto the bail out?

I think 2 things: #1 Bush and Harper are idiots; #2 Bush and Harper care more about APPEARING to be trying to solve a crisis than actually solving one.

stemmer stemmer:

The demise of manufacturing in North America will leave a very big void that will not be filled over night...

ABSOLUTELY the smartest thing you've said. But the demise of manufacturing is an opportunity for Canadians to do something BETTER. So let's spend our "bailout" money on developing businesses for the 21st and 22nd centuries. Let the Chinese and Malaysians and Mexicans do the 20th century's dirty work.

[RUEZ]

Axeman Axeman:

ABSOLUTELY the smartest thing you've said. But the demise of manufacturing is an opportunity for Canadians to do something BETTER. So let's spend our "bailout" money on developing businesses for the 21st and 22nd centuries. Let the Chinese and Malaysians and Mexicans do the 20th century's dirty work.

You must be smarter then everyone else.