Which GM Brand Will Go?

[Jerboa113]

o well.. have you seen any h2s or h3s on the road lately? I know I havent.

 

the few that were on the road before ike are long gone now.

 

Buick is probably next.. although it is their blue-hair cash cow.

 

You know the tahoe hybrid gets 21mpg city right? on 87? You know our cars get 19 city right? on premium? ... I know its expensive, but I think thats a very good thing for people who want to have their cake and eat it too.. and for people who want to feel "green" when driving a 5000 pound soccer monster.

[SLegacy99]

I think the next gen. Tahoe hybrid with a new smaller V8 will be only be better.

[Guest heightsgtltd]

They have to find a buyer for Hummer. It's not like Jaguar, so the problems that GM is having with it will still be an issue for a new owner

[SLegacy99]

DETROIT - Another 1,600 workers at three General Motors Corp. factories will be laid off indefinitely over the next few months as the company tries to control its inventory amid a worsening U.S. sales slump.

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About 700 workers at GM's pickup truck plant in Pontiac will be furloughed starting Feb. 1, while another 500 at the Detroit-Hamtramck sedan factory will be laid off starting Jan. 12, spokesman Chris Lee said Thursday. In addition, 400 workers at a two-seat sports car assembly plant in Wilmington, Del., also will be out of work starting Dec. 8.

Workers were notified of the company's actions Sept. 29, Lee said.

 

The Detroit-Hamtramck plant, which makes the Buick Lucerne and Cadillac DTS full-size sedans, already is down to a single daily shift. GM will reduce its assembly line speed from 56 to 38 cars per hour to achieve the layoffs, Lee said.

The Pontiac plant, which makes the Chevrolet Silverado and GMC Sierra pickups, also is operating on one shift and will see its line speed go from 55 trucks to 24 trucks per hour.

 

In Wilmington, the plant that makes the Pontiac Solstice, Saturn Sky and Opel GT roadsters will go from two shifts per day to one, Lee said.

"We don't need excess inventory out there," Lee said. "We adjust up and down to the market. Pickup trucks, as you know, have been impacted, and in this case our large luxuries have been impacted and the small two-seater niche products as well."

Lee said the company plans no further plant announcements at this time.

 

George McGregor, president of United Auto Workers Local 22 at the Detroit-Hamtramck plant, said the union has known about the layoffs for a while, but didn't know the exact number.

 

"We don't know when the return date will be. We are just holding on," said the 62-year-old, who has been a GM employee for 41 years. "We had a lot of people who retired early. With what's left now, we are just holding on, taking it day to day, year to year."

McGregor's plant, which employs 1,500 hourly workers, is slated to build the Chevrolet Volt, GM's electric car with a small gas engine to extend its range. The Volt is due in showrooms in late 2010, but McGregor said the union is not sure when production will start.

During the layoff, workers will get close to full pay and benefits through supplemental pay and state unemployment. After 48 weeks they go into a jobs bank in which the company pays 85 percent of their salaries, plus benefits. Within two years, the workers could lose pay and benefits if they don't transfer to another plant.

 

GM said the Pontiac truck plant has 1,200 hourly workers, while the Wilmington factory has 1,100.

The automaker announced Monday that it would shutter its metal parts stamping factory near Grand Rapids by the end of 2009, costing 1,520 jobs. It also sped up the end of SUV production at its Janesville, Wis., plant to Dec. 23, eliminating another 1,200 positions.

Industry analysts say the sagging U.S. auto market will force GM to close more plants. U.S. sales overall are down 13 percent for the first nine months of this year, with predictions that automakers will sell 2 million fewer vehicles than they did last year.

GM is burning through more than $1 billion in cash per month and analysts say it may reach the minimum amount of money to run the company sometime next year. GM's sales are down 18 percent, and the company has lost $57.5 billion in the past 18 months, largely because of tax accounting changes.

GM shares rose 15 cents, or 2.3 percent, to $6.37 in afternoon trading.

[SLegacy99]

In a move that would have seemed implausable a decade ago, General Motors have cancelled a $2 billion investment program to update their range of full-size SUVs, the staple breadwinners of the 90s. Pulling the plug on Project CXX, which was set to underpin future versions of the Escalade, Yukon and Suburban, was unanimously approved by executives, ending 15 years of vehicles that defined the brand.

 

“It would have been very difficult in today’s environment to spend a couple of billion dollars to do a replacement,” said Robert A. Lutz, G.M.’s vice chairman and head of product development. In a market faced with soaring fuel prices and consumer demand for more compact, more efficient cars; “reality had set in.”

 

But with sales of SUVs steadily falling since 2004 and the company posting an $18.8 billion loss in the first half of the year, GM are in troubled waters. Share prices have seen drops of as much as 76 percent on the year - but they are by no means alone. Ford shares are down 70 percent over the same period, while Chrysler, like GM, may also loom on bankruptcy. But it is General Motors which has suffered and will suffer most, its passenger cars sold as loss-makers and its success dependant on its line of sport-utility vehicles.

 

Lay-offs at GM plants are set to continue, with Janesville, the firm's oldest and most reliant on SUV production, being announced earlier this month as to close by Christmas. And if the potential merger goes ahead with flailing Chrysler, further job losses are expected, adding to the some 40,000 hourly workers already made redundant in the last three years. Hopes that a new small car could fill the production line at Janesville were dashed as GM made a committment to its Arlington plant for future developments.

 

GM Chairman Rich Wagoner says development of smaller cars and lower-capacity engines will be sped up, also redeclaring the company's commitment to delivering the electric-drivetrain Chevrolet Volt by 2010. Further resources are being poured into development of the new Chevrolet Malibu and its crossover entries, the Buick Enclave and GMC Acadia, as well as the continued development on hybrid systems.

 

 

 

source : world car fans

http://www.worldcarfans.com/9081028....full-size-suvs

 

These vehicles already were behind when you look at a company like Toyota. Well maybe not the Escalade. Wouldn't you think that a Volt type SUV might be in the works? Guess not. Or how bout using the potent DIed 3.6L in these large vehicles instead. Putting out 300 HP and 260 some odd trqs. it's alot better than the 250 HP Suburban 1500 of 10 years ago, just not so much with the torque. Nevertheless, not everyone is trying to tow a 20 foot boat. A V6 option could really sell I think, especially in the Tahoe and Yukons.

[crazyjay1089]

With gas becoming cheaper I sure hope they don't make the mistake of thinking that SUVs may come out alright. In the long run, SUVs will be what hurts the most, so while putting smaller engines may sound like a good idea in the short term, cutting back production and looking at larger vehicles, such as the Tahoe, in the next 5-10 years from a more utilitarian perspective will help put the company products in better market standing.

 

As for the Escalade.. I don't understand that car, but I see too many other people who do.

[SLegacy99]

Whoa, GM just posted a 45% drop in sales, Ford a 30% drop. GM sales are supposedly the worse they have been since WWII. Ouch.

[Bolksey85]

I read Ford is losing 2 billion a month. I think the math came out to just under 67 million EACH DAY.

[SLegacy99]

To be honest, and this scares, me the redesigned Fusion sparks my interest.

 

http://www.blogcdn.com/www.autoblog.com/media/2008/10/10fusionsport_01.jpg

 

 

Quote:

We love mid-size sedans if for no other reason than buyers benefit from the incredibly high level of competition between each player in the segment, and Ford's just-revealed 2010 Fusion appears ready to compete. We only have one image, but it shows the Fusion's new face with an even bigger three-bar grille, nicely contoured hood, angry-eye headlights and a sharply redesigned lower bumper. There's also a new engine lineup with three mills to choose from. The first is an all-new Duratec 2.5L four-cylinder with 174 hp and 172 lb-ft of torque (up 14 hp/16 lb-ft from prior 2.3L). The second is a reworked version of the current 3.0L V6 with 19 more horsepower for a total of 240 hp and 228 lb-ft of torque. And finally Ford will be offering the Fusion with its new 3.5L V6 for 2010, which will make a class competitive 263 hp and 249 lb-ft of torque. The best part? All three engines will be paired with Ford's 6F35 six-speed automatic transmission.

 

Ford hasn't revealed fuel economy numbers yet, but says the four-cylinder's fuel economy will go up a full 10% and the sixes between 4-6% thanks in large part to the new tranny. This will also be the year Ford introduces the Fusion Hybrid and Mercury Milan Hybrid, which will feature the previously announced SmartGauge and can travel up to 47 mph in all-electric mode with a range of more than 700 miles. Unfortunately, it appears that the 2010 Fusion won't be available with any turbocharged, direct-inject EcoBoost powertrains, but the new engines and transmission, along with the nose job, are a big step forward for Ford's already competitive Fusion.

 

An all new 2.5L 4 cylinder and you can even get it with a 6MT. And hey, a hybrid coming. Oh boy.

[RobE]

Whoa, GM just posted a 45% drop in sales, Ford a 30% drop. GM sales are supposedly the worse they have been since WWII. Ouch.

how did your wonderful brand Toyota do?

[SLegacy99]

how did your wonderful brand Toyota do?

 

I dunno, probably not well as even Subaru posted a decline.

[Jerboa113]

ah yes.. the ford fusion.. brought to you by Gillette.

[SLegacy99]

Hahahaha, yeah, that grille is aggressive to say the least. They should tone it down a bit. I do like it better than the Acura snouts of late.

[SLegacy99]

FYI, the Ford Fusion/Mercury Milan hybrids achieve 38 MPG city, 5 MPG better than the Camry hybrid. This is Ford's second gen. hybrid system which will eventually go into the already frugal Escape/Mariner/Tribute SUVs. Well done Ford. GM needs to get on it.

 

http://www.hybridcars.com/files/smartguage-502.jpg

 

Smart guage acts a coach. Since the designers recognize that it could get annoying after a while you can shut off the things you dont want to see, such as the blinking red fuel guage when you are running low. Very cool.

[IwannaSportSedan]

GM doesn't have the money to "get on it"

 

Which brand will go?

 

is there an option "all of the above"?

[SLegacy99]

Theyve got a full hybrid system and sedans big enough to put it in without compromising trunk space.

 

I am going to enjoy these low oil prices while they last, but I don't think it will be for very long.

[Jerboa113]

GM doesn't have the money to "get on it"

 

Which brand will go?

 

is there an option "all of the above"?

 

sounds like it..

 

that sucks.. cos I really hate ford and dodge.

 

but it looks like ford is really pioneering the alternative energy systems in the domstic market. Unless the volt is an amazing piece of perfection and they start deploying a full electric hybrid system like this in more and more of their vehicles.. I cant imagine it really taking off against a 38mpg city car.. especially the fusion.. I mean thats a pretty big car for that kind of mileage.

 

still tho.. I wonder what it will cost in 20 years to replace the batteries?

[camber]

Bankruptcy might not be a bad thing for GM in the long run. In the sort term it would suck but things there need to be shaken up badly. Also, I don't think Bush will do anymore bailing out before the end of his term. I'm not sure if GM can make it to the end of January, 2009.

[ehsnils]

I wouldn't care much if GM went down the drain. Maybe we could get rid of all those boring Opels over here then...

[Jerboa113]

he might not, but the rest of the political scene (the left anyway) are gung-ho for it it sounds like.

 

honestly I dont know what to think of bailing them out but i'm conditioned to say no to giving them money... I just dont think the volt is going to be their saving pass. It will be 1 car that will sell midly well.. and 1 car is not going to revolutionize and revitalize their industry.

 

now if its packageable in multiple vehicles.. and they roll out more than just the volt.. but maybe 8 or 9 vehicles with it that get truly amazing mileage and still maintain their performance models.. that would be good.

 

Maybe they should only bail out the corvette division.. I hate to see the corvette go the way of the dodo bird.

[ehsnils]

I suspect that someone will pick the goodies out of the cake.

[SLegacy99]

 

still tho.. I wonder what it will cost in 20 years to replace the batteries?

 

True but how many 1988 Tauruses or Camrys do you see on the road today? They are diminishing, but thats not to say that they aren't out there. I predict that anyone who would want to/need to replace batteries on a car that old would be able obtain replacements from vehicles that have been in wrecks.

[Jerboa113]

well, possibly.. but you know that batteries aren't like engines where they can sit for long periods of time and still be viable. Batteries tend to become.. permadead.. heh. I'm no expert but they do have a shelf life, that much I know.

 

You do make a good point tho... but it kind of leads me to another.

 

What about environmental impact of said batteries and the disposal of them? I mean they wont be able to just let a car sit in a junkyard with the possibility that these things will leek into the soil will they?

[ehsnils]

Well - I sure want soil for my leek:

http://www.bedug.com/pics/leek.jpg

 

But I get your point - the electrolyte may leak out into the soil, but the more serious problem is the metals in the batteries - and what happens to the batteries when they are stored? Many batteries aren't coping well with storage. Some really hates you if you don't charge them the right way. Our classic lead/acid batteries that we have in our cars are heavy beasts compared to the capacity they have, but they are also able to take the strain and beating that the harsh environment a car is for several years.

[Jerboa113]

ok so I made a typo/spelling error that still gets the point across when read aloud..