Caption General Motors CEO's

[Lucky9teen]

Richard Wagoner Jr., Chairman and CEO of General Motors (L) arrives in a prototype electric vehicle for a Senate hearing with Rep. Sander Levin (D-MI) (R) in Washington, DC. Chastened bosses of the Big Three US automakers beseeched Congress for a 34 billion dollar bailout Thursday, steering into a raging debate about the wisdom of rescuing the crippled firms.


Richard Wagoner (R), chairman and CEO of General Motors, and an aide arrive to testify before the Senate Banking Committee hearing on the financial assistance package for the big Detroit automakers on Capitol Hill, December 4, 2008


Auto executives, from left, General Motors Chief Executive Officer Richard Wagoner, UAW President Ron Gettelfinger, Ford Chief Executive Officer Alan Mulally, and Chrysler Chief Executive Officer Robert Nardelli testify on Capitol Hill in Washington, Thursday, Dec. 4, 2008, before a Senate Banking Committee hearing on the auto industry bailout.


Larry Burns, General Motors vice president of Research and Development and Strategic Planning, talks to reporters in front of a Chevy Volt on Capitol Hill in Washington December 4, 2008. The top executives of the major U.S. auto companies pledged to refocus on higher fuel efficiency and lower production costs as they asked Congress again on Thursday for billions of dollars in emergency cash.

[Lucky9teen]

They need to start making cars like they used to

[pnh102]

WANNABE WELFARE QUEENS!

[WayneS]

They need to start making cars like they used to...

And have to completely rebuild the engine every 100,000 miles?

No thanks.

[mnehring]

But you would have to buy a new car every year.. churning product.. The big 3 started having problems when they made reliable cars where people didn’t have to trade them in often. If you are forced to trade in a crappy car every year, sales are through the roof. If the darn car lasts ten years, people need to buy them less.. Stupid quality.. /sarc

[egannacht]

I heard the CEO Johnson Controls testify that if the Big 3 go under women and minorities will be hurt the most.

[Lucky9teen]

Just give us the money....come on....

[Lucky9teen]

Not the engine part...just the outer look and style. I hate that every car looks the same now....and so “aerodynamic”.

Gone are the days of true “muscle cars”...

[Corporate Law]

I am sure Mulally is happy to be lumped in with the Three Stooges beside him.

[WayneS]

Well, if they relied on ME buying new cars for their survival, they’d have already starved.

My wife and I have a 1999 Saab 9-5 with 235,000 miles on it;
a 1997 Saab 900 with 134,000 miles on it;
a 1994 GMC Subiurban with 245,000 (completely trouble-free) miles on it;
and a 2004 Chevy 2500HD Diesel Pick-up with 58,000 miles on it (with a speedometer that just crapped out yesterday).

And we’re not planning on replacing ANY of them any time soon.

[Snickering Hound]

Should have shown up in an Edsel...

[WayneS]

That is one fine specimen there...

[pepperhead]

Thank God we are finally out of this crampy uncomfortable car!

[edzo4]

I told you we should have rented the Camry

[SouthTexas]

You think they might have gotten one with hubcaps?

[reagan_fanatic]

Three things p*ss me off about this:

One - switching from planes to automobiles fools no one, and will not sell a single more automobile, nor will it influence anyone to buy one of their cars. Net gain - zero.

Two - Congress, one of the most brazen examples of wasteful spending and poor planning, lecturing experienced businessmen on how to run their companies. Hypocrisy level - off the charts.

Three - Running to Congress begging for money. They don't want to declare bankruptcy for fear of scaring away customers, but just how does bowing and scraping like a bunch of serfs to a bunch of hypocritical clods gain the consumer's confidence? Stupidity meter - pegged.

[Holicheese]

Yes, I have run the company into the ground but if you give me $12 billion, I can keep running it into the ground a bit longer!

[pepperhead]

You think they might have gotten one with hubcaps?

They took them off so it would look better for their cause. ;)

[edzo4]

too bad we sold the jet sir.

turns out chartering it was the one part of the company that was actually making money...

[ushr435]

I guess “prototype” means “no hubcaps.”

[Azzurri]

Richard Wagoner (R), chairman and CEO of General Motors, and an aide arrive to testify before the Senate Banking Committee hearing on the financial assistance package for the big Detroit automakers on Capitol Hill, December 4, 2008

That's not an aide...that's Congressman Sander Levin getting out of the back seat, and his brother US Senator Carl Levin getting out of the front passenger's seat (both of Michigan).