At GM, the Endgame Begins

GM

The Big 3 all have broken business models. Personally, I have a difficult time as a tax payaer subsidizing a broken industry that is broken partially by the exorbinant lucrative health care plans for present and retired workers. I have no such helth care plan. Bankruptycy could allow the auto companies to right size and cut innefficient labor costs. It may be considred ruthless, but the alternative could be no auto industry at all.

Jay S. Holmes of GA @ Nov 09, 2008 13:39:09 PM

Nero Fiddled While Rome Burned

Having lived in Lansing Mi. most of my life, I saw the auto industry go from making some of the finest cars in the world to the poorest cars in the world. And while they steadily lost market shares they coninue to allow the unions to send their costs thru the roof, other foreign automakers continued to improve on their product and gain market share. While they can sell their products all over the world we can hardly sell ours here. Ghosts towns like Lansing, Flint and etc litter our states has the automakers now rush to close factories which should have been closed decades ago, along with downsizing the workforce and upsizing the number of robots on the assembly lines. While GM is begging for help where are the offers from the unions to bear some of the responsibility for this mess and come up with their own cost cutting measures. Their silence is deafening. And GM is falling behind again with the electr4ic car, by the timer 2010 rolls around the good foreign alternative enery and hybrids will have cornered the market share again and so it goes on and on.

Curtis Gwin of WA @ Nov 09, 2008 09:55:21 AM

The Hole Deepens and there are many new shovels about!

At sixty years old and a college professor now after almost forty years with a Fortune 100 company that traveled this world many times, I must admit that the state of our country is at a point even I could have never fully imagined. The auto industry in the US has proven itself myriad times to be arrogant, fat, slow and the UAW is far from exempt from the same character traits. I am a pure free marketist and feel the market will, painfully but correctly, correct this matter of too much high cost auto capacity. Waggoner as CEO ranks as a true spoiled minimalist for a corporate leader. I had great hopes for Mullaly but where's the beef and Chrysler; well it is Chrysler!

I have no doubt Carlos Ghosn is the man for the job but the delay in getting the infrastructure and the "want to" in place is as dismal as the pain itself. This is and shoul be an embarrasment to all Americans. There is a political dimension no dobut this but is just pure terrible leadership and collusion with trade unions and our governments. SICKENING!

james w. williams of OH @ Nov 09, 2008 06:48:12 AM

Its kinda their fault and kinda not

A lot of people are quick to blame the big 3 for their current woes. This is a narrow view of the situation. Yes, GM relied on big SUVs and trucks for too long, and got clobbered by the high gas prices. But then the housing bubble collapsed, which meant that people had less money on hand to buy cars. Then, on top of that credit markets froze up, some now people have no money on hand, and can't get money on loan either. And tie in generally low consumer confidence, so people if they have the money for a car, are just sitting on it. Really, its just the worst possible situation you could have landed in. Even the foreign car companies, like Toyota, have taken a bruising. Toyota cut it earning forecast to 1/3 of last years. So, its pretty rough out there for everyone

Mike of CA @ Nov 09, 2008 01:41:09 AM

GM Ford Chrysler

Chapter 11 was designed to deal with situations such as those that exist in the auto industry. Unfortunately, a loan would just defer the necessary restructuring, so a loan is probably the worst choice among a range of porr choices.

@ Nov 08, 2008 23:41:47 PM

GM Ford Chrysler

Chapter 11 was designed to deal with situations such as those that exist in the auto industry. Unfortunately, a loan would just defer the necessary restructuring, so a loan is probably the worst choice among a range of porr choices.

@ Nov 08, 2008 23:41:28 PM

GM

Should taxpayers save the auto industry? I think so, yes. It is a strategic industry that we would need in time of war, and if they default on pensions and eliminate jobs the cost to the government and economy would be higher than the bailout. Is it a bailout? You bet, and the failed upper management that made it happen need to go as part of the deal. They were on cruise control heading towards a brick wall that they saw clearly. They only cared about stock prices, quarterly profits, and bonuses. They failed, and more than that, they were reckless and irresponsible. They didn't look forward, the were not pro-active, they were poor corporate citizens, and they were not innovative. Do not blame the workers or unions.

Independent of AZ @ Nov 08, 2008 19:36:15 PM

american autos

just think if all americans were driving american autos where your economy would be righ now there would be so many good paying jobs america wouldnt be able to fill them all instead we fight a war in iraq and buy foreign cars who is the real enemy and who is winning the economic war the enemy is coming in the back door wake up america buy made in america and put your neighbors to work and you will have loads of tax money for infastrructure or send all your money over seas its bad enough we buy all the oil from the enemy but do we have to buy the cars to

american made @ Nov 08, 2008 15:21:36 PM