Posted on 04/30/2006 6:51:38 AM PDT by ncountylee
Ponying up more than $100,000 of their own money, three dozen General Motors Corp. dealers nationwide this month bought full-page newspaper ads imploring the public to give GM a chance.
''For the good of everyone, they must succeed and they need our help,'' the ad read. ''We pledge ours. We hope you will do the same.''
For most of GM's 98-year history, that kind of plea would have been unimaginable. But now, the company long synonymous with U.S. industrial might is scrambling to avoid something else once unimaginable: bankruptcy.
GM executives, including Chief Executive Officer Rick Wagoner, say they have no intention of filing for bankruptcy protection, and no need to do so.
On Thursday, the company reported a $323 million first quarter loss, a sharp improvement from recent quarters and an ''important milestone'' in the automaker's turnaround plan, Wagoner said.
But some veteran industry analysts say GM's fundamental problems of high labor costs and falling market share are so severe that there is a serious risk that the auto giant will enter Bankruptcy Court in the next few years. Any number of events could be the tipping point — another surge in oil and gasoline prices, a recession brought on by rising interest rates or a strike by GM's main parts supplier, which already is reorganizing under Chapter 11 of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code.
Super-sized problem
For the world's largest automaker and its vast constituencies, the prospect of a bankruptcy filing is so daunting that even many of Wagoner's critics hope his revival program works.
A GM bankruptcy filing would be the largest in history, challenging Wall Street, organized labor, politicians and the legal system to deal with the fallout.
GM's 147,000 workers in the United States and 460,000 retirees would face the prospect
(Excerpt) Read more at mcall.com ...
Please remember there are a lot of NON-UNION WORKERS, that make parts for GM.
For the record, I do think the unions have screwed GM, of course GM didn't have the b***s face a strike.
Also, if GM goes down, a FReeper could lose his house, car ect.
I understand that the truth hurts and that I hit a nerve with you. No hard feelings on my part though.
Too true. Many FReepers will hurt bigtime if GM goes belly up. And to be clear, I want it to survive. But the cancer of unions and poor management needs to be cut out for it to thrive. The transition will not be without pain.
Begging is ugly...especially when a gigantic corporation does it. Sheesh.
.....THey haven't really even tried to make a go of selling overseas because they wouldn't be able to compete price-wise.......
This doesn't properly state the situation. GM like their counterparts have manufacturing plants around the world. They supply local markets from local plants and don't really neeed to export from America.
It is my understanding their foreign operations are profitable.
The contrarian answer is HGM.
and where did GM place it's bets on the 2007/08 model years?
Large SUVs ofcourse as their moneymakers and a few hybrids that improve MPG negligably.
To make a long story short, the vaunted GM service technicians, who could never get past their computer readers and do some real mechanic detective work, never did discover what my problem was on their own. My next door neighbor, who is an old school mechanic (but not currently in the business), briefly checked the compression in all of my cylinders and found that only three of them were working properly. Further checking showed that one of my engine's exhaust valves had completely blown out due to a factory defect (I guess the Union workers and GM quality control folks were not paying attention when my truck was originally built).
So, in only five minutes, he essentially diagnosed the problem for the GM service techs, who eventually fixed the problem under warrantry, but I was still out over $400 for the previous visits and lost work time.
But we all know it can't happen here </sarcasm>.
The management is equally if not more to blame. The shame is that once they do go bankrupt guess who inherits the pension plan payments. Yup! the good old American Taxpayer.
Let's hope management gets it right. Heck, heard on the drive home, forgot which day, Rick Wagener pay was down from 4 million to 2 million.
Greed by the unions (demanding more than what was reasonable; not working closely enough with the company to recognize an unsustainable benefit package).
Greed by G.M. (Management being so arrogant in their Ivory Tower that they didn't keep in touch with the average consumer and what they wanted and could afford).
Greed by the dealerships.(Not taking care of the people that "buttered their bread"---the buyers). It only takes getting burned on a $20,000 product once before you go elsewhere on your next purchase.
In a free-market economy, G.M. is getting what it deserves.
This is my understanding too. This highlights that domestic operations lose money while foreign operations make money.
Again, this is due to labor costs and tax costs of US mfgd good.
My wife has a 320 ML, it's junk, in the shop every 6-8 weeks.
We keep our autos prestine. Shoddy parts most of the time, and cheap plastic interior. knobs and switched break constantly...
MB has the lowest quality of all the foreign cars, as measured by consumer reports for JD Powers, for the last several years and has also been bleeding red.
IMO before GM itself goes bankrupt, they'll move somewhere that has lower labor costs and border-adjustable taxes.
I'm not worried about a warranty, I just want parts....
Bwahahahahaha! We'd all ride horses!
....then GM's demise is Inevitable.....which does not comfort me in any way.
The solution is obvious. Replace the union labor with illegals at fraction of the hourly and no benefits and the problem is solved, thus proving the point that illegals are crucial to our economic well being ;-)
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