GM Cancels LA Auto Show Press Coverage!

First

I can just imagine the questions they'd be asked:

1) Would you like to comment on the horrible mismanagement of your money and how the company's future is pretty much nonexistant unless the U.S. government steps in and bails you out?

2) Why spend so much money making the Volt when, by your own admission, you'll be out of money before it can even be brought to the market?

GM's answer....Ham?!

LoL

Screw GM, they deserve to go down the tubes. Now they are saying if the gov gives us money, the gov isn't going to tell us how to spend that money? WTF Have they ever heard of beggars can't be choosers? Besides doing it their way got themselves into this mess in the first place. If I was the gov I wouldn't give them crap and hopefully this will be the last auto show that we ever see from this company.

How about the government gives GM the money in exchange for a controlling stake in the company. This would make GM a government owned and operated company and then they could make the kind of cars that are really needed and possibly sell them at a price people can afford.

Obviously, this is just a suggestion though and I have no clue as to how viable an option it could be so keep the flame to a minimum please. Don't they do this in some other country's though?

It's going to be really hard on GM's employees, but, I say let GM fall. A little revolution from time to time is a good thing.

While I admit I dont like the idea of the government bailing GM out I also dont think its completly GM's fault for being in the position they are in. The Union members forcing GM to pay high wages, cover insurance and retirment pland for life etc. has caused the company to fail. In the past GM has been pressured by the union to keep doing business as usual and keep paying its employees more and keep running itself into the ground. If GM does go under (which it wont, the gov will save it and the 3 million jobs with it) the union may finally get a taste of reality. They have been biting the hand that feeds it for so long the hand just cant feed it anymore.

@ Austin814

The unions have nothing to do with the mismanaged product range which totally ignored the cyclic energy crisis the US gets into typically after such a period of excess. Being unprepared and largely ignorant is management's fault (and somewhat the consumer).

Tom:
The Unions have a lot of blame as Austin814 said. This, along with management decisions have caused the problem.
It was not just one of them, it was and is a mixture of both.

GM faces 3 problems which have put them where they are today:

1. The Unions. They continually put GM in a competitive disadvantage vs the competition.

2. The people who refuse to buy or even consider buying their products. I call these people Americans. They live in the US, buy and drive foreign cars and then complain about the loss of jobs when a company like this goes under.

3. The US Govt which engineers artificial shortages and creates more problems than they solve.

GM has great product on the market and in case you didn't notice, gas is $1.99 and will stay low for the forseable future, until the new President renews the offshore drilling ban and puts us back into an artificial supply shortage. And in case you didn't notice this whole financial fiasco was caused by the US govt through Fannie and Freddie who were pushing these risky mortgage loans to people with no money.

What a country.

@ FrankO:

I'd add a fourth item:

4. GM Executives. To sum up why, google 'GM CEO pay' and do some reading.

it might be good for government to take majority of the control on GM if decided to give them money in exchange of the company stake/shares. For the time being, government can restructure the company from management to manufacturing plants and the work force (keeping unions or not). After this GM revives even not at the level its peak, government can sell it again to the market players.

seeing GM value at its history low level, whoever (including goverment) interested in buying this now CHEAP company can really do it easily getting lots of shares. When the economy stabilizes a bit after a few years and GM's bad habits has been cut or restricted, government may sell it at a much higher value.

making it state owned for a "limited time" may not be a bad idea at all, there's chance to bring Billions of dollar in profit. It's one of the ways to use our tax money and not to waste it, i guess.

very capitalist... but it might work, right?

@ kw:

Yes you can add #4 GM Executives but the pay scale is not the problem, you have to pay to get good talent. Having said that all Execs in any company in the US should have a performance incentive that doesn't pay when they don't perform. Agree? I thought so.

@ vanboy:

"...For the time being, government can restructure the company..."

Did you say that with a straight face? The same people that caused the price of oil to shoot through the roof and crushed our banking system?

I have one a one word respponse to that ...

BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

The govt is a source of capital and that's it. If you actually expect them to accomplish anything you are kidding yourself. Have they fixed Social Security yet? I didn't think so.

Lemme buy you a beer Frank, well spoken. Nothing there i don't agree with.

On top of all that, don't forget that there are a LOT more auto related jobs on the line in the US than simply GM employees. GM doesn't make a ton of what goes into a car, don't forget that.
So give the vendors their pinks slips. Give machinists and assemblers their pink slips. Give distributors their pink slips. Give some aftermarket product manufacturer and installers (that's me) their pink slips. Give technicians, slaesmen, and parts countermen their pink slips. This time of year our shop should be overflowing and hectic with installs and upgrades from dealers and Joe Public. We're down to 1/3 to 1/2 of our normal volume for that part of our operation.

While this is the land of oportunity for everyone, seeing a national landmark like GM slowly die is painful. This is the same company that turned fully into government vehicle manufacturing facilities during WWII. Making vehicles that saved lives and countries.

The Big 3 didn't get that name without a reason. But i'll be the first to admit that they screwed the pooch and sat on their fat cat laurels cranking out the same dated vehicles, not paying attention to what was going on around them.

Ford is learning the quickest and has some good stuff coming, the sooner the better too.
Chevy is learning, the new Malibu is a tight car and should be used as an example of how to build a car for the rest of their platforms. On top of #1 through #4, also add the Volt and Camaro development as #5. How many billions was that?
Wether either survives the next couple years is to be seen. Seems like Ford is in a better position.

As far as Chrysler/Jeep goes, they are so off course it's not even funny. I have zero confidence they can survive independently anymore. They had a quick burst of Hemi Madness for a few years, but that died in a hurry.

I really don't care what you buy or drive. It's your choice. Like voting, the popular choice eventually decides. But it's time to start pushing some new laws concerning what's sold in America. Force more companies to bring manufacturing here if it can be done here. Too much of our money and labor is going the wrong way. For what? Cheap Chinese crap tained with poisons? The Wal-Mart mentality needs to die. I'll gladly pay 100 bucks more for a TV knowing my neighbor has a reason to get up in the morning.

to FrankO

i dont see big conflict your response to my comment. Anyway, the best/first option in my thinking is, to let GM die, but if this can not be done (not likely to happen), then what i said would be the second option in my mind, better than just bailing out GM without conditions.

i'm not a specialist so that's only ideas in draft, what you just ponit out could be details to work out. In a difficult time there's different measurement, things may not be perfect but at least keep going.

I still want to buy the volt. I think it is a great concept, and may be very lucritive for GM. But you know the world has been screwing us alot lately, and we haven't been pushing back as we should.
PS I was right about the price of gasoline dropping below 2.90.
PPS I'd buy the camaro too if I wasn't with a bitch. Home life economics. Get what you can while the gettin is good, and be patient through the lean years. I also think a few unions suck, and if the scales were balanced. GM would be the overall dominent power house in the world of auto manufacturing.

Let's kep GM alive, I still want their cars over any other manufacturer.

Cheers

@ Trooper: indeed, this is not about cars-only, its a about the menality of the nation.

Bottom-line, America cant afford to be the sheriff of the world AND have major, competitive, production on its soil.
Many of these jobs, Electronics, Appliances, Call-Ctrs, were exported not because the others were cheaper, but because americans were too expensive. Historical competitive advantages no longer apply!

A catch 22.

For a country to survive, you either out-innovate everyone else (USA from 1920-1965), you out-scale everyone else (from 1940 through 2000).
If not, you have to go a different path: out-cost every-one else. Either through massive efficiency gains (actually USA led this from 1970-1990), luck (you have natural resources that no-one else has) or stiff cost cutting (well you cant be a sheriff then).

For the US, the sheriff mentality (and cost) fuelled the walmart mentality. Innovative thinking and investments were slowed and
job were pushed out.

For the US to succeed, new government must make the country cheap again:
1. stop being a sheriff
2. cut litigation culture and cost
3. build compulsory efficient health/SS network
4. Stop making costly mistakes: copy what works elsewhere.
5. work on your efficiency

Honestly, if the new government doesnt correct things fundamentally, USA will be, 30 years from now, where Argentina/Russia is today: a once great country collapsed under its own weight of self-importance.