G.M. Suspends Dividend

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/16/business/16auto.html?_r=1&ref=business&oref=slogin ^ | July 16, 2008 | By NICK BUNKLEY and BILL VLASIC

[Harley]

THE END

[RightWhale]

The dividend has been the lifeblood of widows and orphans forever. Sure hasn’t helped keep the stock price up lately.

[DemonDeac]

They did this to themselves with decades of taking costumers for granted and decades of poor cars. While their cars have improved a lot lately it’ll take a lot to win back the folks they pushed to Japanese cars. Those folks, like me, are very content and they will need to offer a clearly superior product to have a chance to win me back. Why switch if something works? Especially to a company that sold you the worst car you’ve owned.

They also screwed up by putting too many eggs in the big truck basket. That bubble was bound to burst eventually and they were badly unprepared.

[VlPu]

... of age

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=%22Last+glimpse+of+an+age+coming+to+an+end%22

[Koblenz]

The real problem was that back in the 60s, 70s, 80s and 90s, GM promised a lot to their employees when they retired. Now that those people have retired, GM has to spend a lot of money on pensions and health care.

Social Security faces a similar problem in about 10 to 20 years.

[Dustbunny]

This would not be happening if we would 'DRILL HERE, DRILL NOW, PAY LESS'.

When are the citizens of this country going to wake up.

When will we stop allowing the Democrats and the MSM to destroy this country in order to gain power.

[bert]

The real dividends are from GM preferred

[Dustbunny]

This is also true but most of blame goes to the money hungry unions.

[hiho hiho]

For the first time in 30 years I own a GM vehicle. Leaks oil (and other unidentifiable liquids), has 1/3 the miles of my Japanese car, but runs like it has 3 time the mileage. I don’t feel sorry for them.

[Dems_R_Losers]

How about supporting American jobs and communities for a change? I've driven nothing but GM cars for the last 20 years and I've never had a problem with any of them. I would stack my current Saturn Aura against any Toyota or Honda, and I paid $3000 less for it. My 1986 Honda turned into a money pit almost literally the day after the warranty ran out.

I get really tired of the bashing of General Motors on this site. GM directly or indirectly employs almost a million people in this country and supports another half-million retirees.

[ikka]

Can I ask which model you have?

[TSgt]

The happiest day of my life was when I traded my 97 Saturn SC2 for a Honda Accord.

I do however own a Chevy Silverado but that is a different class of vehicle.

Greedy Unions coupled with poor management killed the golden goose.

[xDGx]

My last 3 vehicles have been GM’s and I have had it with subsidizing unions. I really think the best thing they could do is take GM into bankruptcy and emerge without the union albatross. Otherwise I will shop elsewhere.

Plus GM needs to fire their chief designer.

[Mad_Tom_Rackham]

This is what happens when management fails on a massive scale.

[Blood of Tyrants]

The unions didn’t help with their outrageous demands where groundskeepers make $100k per year and 12,000 people get paid for literally sit around doing nothing because they demanded that no one lose their job when GM automated a lot of the older plants. GM needs to declare bankruptcy and ask a judge to eliminate all the crazy contracts where auto workers get paid a fortune for installing windshield wipers.

[Dustbunny]

Thinking back on it, the unions (most of them Democrat voters) had/have a strangle hold on the auto industry. Every contract they wanted more and more and more. Now the industry is paying for allowing the unions to bully them and the bullies are paying for by lay offs etc.

I'll be surprised if any of the US auto makers survive.

In fact I'll be surprised if the country can get past all this without ending up just another 3rd world type of country.

[boogerbear]

Nothing about drilling here would have helped GM. They were taking on water when gas was cheap. Just plain a poorly run company.

[RightWhale]

Oil is down 6.80 and gasoline down 18 cents. GM did this.

[Dixie Yooper]

They did this to themselves with decades of taking costumers for granted and decades of poor cars. While their cars have improved a lot lately it’ll take a lot to win back the folks they pushed to Japanese cars. Those folks, like me, are very content and they will need to offer a clearly superior product to have a chance to win me back. Why switch if something works? Especially to a company that sold you the worst car you’ve owned.

I think that somewhere in the late 60's, GM and the other two lost sight of the fact that a new car is a major purchase for a customer and that it's very difficult to make payments on a loan for a car that has turned into something you hate. My first new car in 1978 was a GM product. It was also the last American car I ever owned.