The Carmagedonn Thread: FCA and "Consolidation"

[Philly]

When it does come time to start picking people back up, I wonder if they'll be looking around Michigan for those jobs or if GM will be setting people up from other parts of the world. It would be sad to see those jobs leaving the state.

Although, if there are a few engineering positions there, maybe they'll be opening back up by the time I get out of college...

 

[YSSMAN]

Hooray Michigan!

According to Autoblog, the Lake Orion plant will be getting the contract to build GM's new sub-compact car, likely the the Aveo-replacement, the Chevrolet Viva. That is very, very good news for those of us in the state, particularly on the east side. This comes on the heels of another announcement that we will be getting a new GE plant on the east side of the state as well, which will be very helpful indeed.

 

[Jim Prower]

Which branch of GE? Power Gen? Locomotive?

*reads*

Prototyping think-tank, apparently. Well, It's no full-production line, but it's something for the engineers.

 

[YSSMAN]

Hey, 1200 jobs are 1200 jobs regardless of where they're going. I just think its cool that they're coming to Michigan.

To Clarify on the Lake Orion Annoucement...

According to Autoblog, the Lake Orion facility that had been building the Chevrolet Malibu and the Pontiac G6 will be re-tooled to manufacture B and C segment vehicles. This would likely include the Aveo-replacing Viva, the Chevrolet Spark, as well as a fairly distinct possibility of having a Buick-badged Astra produced right around the corner from Joey.

 

[YSSMAN]

GM Emerges from Bankruptcy Today

After a scant six weeks in bankruptcy court, General Motors is on its way out of Chapter 11. U.S. Bankruptcy Court Judge Robert Gerber approved the sale of GM's good assets to a new company lead by the U.S. and Canadian governments and the UAW healthcare fund, but gave vested parties four days to file an objection.

After two requests for a stay were denied on Tuesday and an accident victim's request was denied at the last minute on Thursday, all signs point to an exit from bankruptcy within a few days, and this morning, word from the Detroit News is that the company officially emerged from Chapter 11 at 6:30am this morning. CEO Fritz Henderson has called a 9 am press conference this morning, and one can only assume that he will declare the birth of "New GM."

GM has received $50 billion from the US government to keep the mega-corporation out of liquidation. For its troubles, Uncle Sam will receive a 60% stake in the new company. Canada, which pitched in $9 billion, will be 11.7% owners, while the UAW will receive 17.6%. Old GM will receive 10% of the new company to help creditors recoup some money. The "New GM" will be smaller in almost every way, with four fewer brands, a smaller presence in Europe, fewer employees, and a markedly more attractive balance sheet.

LINK

Hmmm, lets hope this works!


ALSO:

Retirement? Not for Bob Lutz

Well, that's what the internets are saying. Considering that it has been this man who has otherwise turned much of GM's car product line around, its for the better, in any position.

 

[Philly]

That was quick. It only seems like yesterday that they went into bankruptcy. It's good to see that both Chrysler and GM are now out of the bankruptcy umbrella. Hopefully they'll be turning good profits pretty quick here.

 

[Leonidae]

oh yeah, they're planning to change the logo too.

Behold!

*click*

 

[Philly]

I believe we could call GM even more a company of tools than Toyota if that happened.

 

[Jim Prower]

Meh, remember, they have to look good to the normal, uneducated person who doesn't memorize all these facts about cars. Could be a good move...

Ok, who am I kidding, it's ridiculously cheesy. But kind of expected since it's run by...*gulp* the U.S. and Canada...

 

[YSSMAN]

Nah, they've already said they aren't changing the logo's color. The full name for the new brand is now "General Motors Company," which sounds ridiculous. Still, having only four brands, and being able to focus on their core products may cause some interesting changes in the company. We'll see. Since last summer, I've taken a strong liking to Ford, and GM is going to have to work very hard to get all of my love back.

 

[Philly]

And just like that, we find out that those jobs aren't coming back.

I was watching Obama's speech from Michigan just now and he was saying that Michigan won't recover any of the jobs that have been lost to the recession. Instead we'll be building windmills and stuff there.

I thought this was why we bailed the companies out...

 

[Joey D]

And just like that, we find out that those jobs aren't coming back.

I was watching Obama's speech from Michigan just now and he was saying that Michigan won't recover any of the jobs that have been lost to the recession. Instead we'll be building windmills and stuff there.

I thought this was why we bailed the companies out...

Wow, awesome. So effectively we all get screwed here in Michigan.

And apparently we bailed GM out so they could invest their...errr rather our money in Canada, Mexico, Australia and Korea because that's where is seems like a lot of our cars are coming from.

 

[Philly]

I'm sure there will still be a lot of jobs kept in the US, but I am very disappointed in this speech. There should have been a clause in there about having to keep jobs in Michigan, as unfair to other states as that is.

 

[YSSMAN]

Well, that becomes unfair in itself because its federal money doing the talking, not state money. Realistically, we shouldn't expect these jobs to come flying back into the state because of whatever happened, because truth be told, we should be looking to diversify as it is. Obama has been talking about re-investing in automobile plants to build windmills (and such) for what feels like forever. There are already some plants doing so already.

If there is anything to be more concerned about with plants re-opening in Michigan, its what side of the state it will be on. In that sense, once again, we Westerners will get screwed.

 

[Omnis]

Spain built windmills and eco crap too when they couldn't figure out what to spend other people's money on. They're not better off for it.

 

[Joey D]

Tax Dollar Dollar Dollar bills y'all...ya apparently this smells like that. Thank the gods we bailed GM out so they could spend their money on marketing this!

That Taxpayer Money Smell? Cadillac to get new fragrance to celebrate anniversary
What does government money smell like? While we'd imagined something like a mix of various colognes mixed with filth and an undertone of unwashed suits, Cadillac evidently thinks Uncle Sam's cash – our cash – smells like fruit, spice, and incense. General Motors has licensed the Cadillac name to Dubai's Beauty Contact Incorporated for the fragrance rollout, intended to hit stores in time for this fall's Cadillac centennial.

Past olfactory experiments by automakers haven't proven to be successful, so Cadillac's effort doesn't seem to have a very bright future, but Beauty Contact's Alwyn Stephen thinks its fragrance is "a relevant extension of the Cadillac lifestyle." The full portfolio of products will be available, spray, aftershave, deodorant, body wash – the whole nine yards. If it helps make the sweaty $5 bill we were most recently handed smell better than body odor, we're all for it.

If it smells like the Cadillac lifestyle it's either going to make you smell like a 70 year old Florida man or inner-city gang banger.

 

[Jim Prower]

Well, We're not paying for it, they're licensing it. That means Dubai is paying GM for use of "Cadillac"

 

[YSSMAN]

Americans Put Ford First?

Ford Motor Co said on Monday that U.S. auto sales rose 2.3 percent in July, its first year-over-year monthly sales increase since November 2007, supported by the U.S. government "Cash for Clunkers" program.

Ford, whose shares rose as much as 10.75 percent to the highest level since November 2007, said U.S. sales rose to 165,279 vehicles for all of its brands in July, from 161,530 vehicles a year earlier.

Sales rose 1.6 percent to 158,838 vehicles in its core Ford, Lincoln and Mercury brands, it said. U.S. sales in its Volvo luxury car unit that is up for sale rose 25.7 percent to 6,441 vehicles, the automaker said.

Retail sales for the core Ford, Lincoln and Mercury brands rose 9 percent from a year earlier, Ford said.

For its Ford, Lincoln and Mercury brands car sales rose 8.7 percent, crossover sales rose 36.9 percent, SUV sales fell 36.1 percent and truck and van sales fell 14.5 percent.

Ford, the only large U.S.-based automaker that has not restructured in bankruptcy with federal funding, also said it was the first of the major manufacturers that sell cars in the United States to report a monthly sales increase this year.

The increase marked Ford's first year-over-year monthly rise since just before the U.S. economic downturn began. U.S. auto industry sales have been tracking at their lowest annualized rates in nearly 30 years so far in 2009.

The "Cash for Clunkers" program took effect on July 24, a week before the end of the July sales period.

Ford shares were up 51 cents, or 6.38 percent, at $8.51 Monday on the New York Stock Exchange.

Congrats, big ones at that, go out to the folks in Dearborn. Hmm, I guess that having good products actually do give you the sales you need to go on.

 

[JCE]

Awsome. But my lack of action in buying shares causes me an irritating pain. I could of bought them at the low price of $1.12/share. Now its over $8.00. I feel sick...

 

[Jim Prower]

You go into the stock market for the long haul, not the short run...

 

[Philly]

Congrats, big ones at that, go out to the folks in Dearborn. Hmm, I guess that having good products actually do give you the sales you need to go on.

Now if only GM and Chrysler could figure that out as well as Ford did...

 

[Northstar]

Is anyone else worried that Ford will continue their trend of finding what works and sticking with it too long like they normally do. For instance they haven't really changed the Ranger in 10 years, there are also countless other cars that they have done this with.

 

[Philly]

Yeah, that'll happen. But I'm not really worried about Ford right now. They achieved this by building quality cars. And that will always work. The Big 3 got where they are today because they were getting away with building junk for years, and suddenly junk wasn't selling. That's not the entire problem, but quality has been one of their biggest issues.

In other good news, Chrysler is out of cars to sell. Yes, they've been selling enough cars (thanks to CARS) that they are out of inventory. Who would've seen that?

In still more good news, it looks like the beginning of the end is coming. Sure, rebates and things have a lot to do with this (but July wasn't all that effected by Cash for Clunkers), but it's great to see that we're starting to turn around. I'd also like to applaud my VW and Subaru for posting gains throughout most of the sales slide. That should pay off pretty well I think. 👍

 

[JCE]

You go into the stock market for the long haul, not the short run...

I know this. My point was $1.12/share was a better place to START than the current $8.61/share.

 

[YSSMAN]

RE: Chrysler's Out of Cars, Things Looking Good

Its about bloody time! Considering part of the recovery came from the automakers back in the '80s, hopefully much of the same can be done right now. It would be awesome.

 

[JCE]

Actually I'm thrilled at Chrysler selling out of cars. Why you ask?

Because that means loads of these will be GREAT second hand cars (as long as they are the V6 models because the V8's probably won't yield the MPG rating needed ):

I'm not being sarcastic.

 

[Tornado]

Am I the only one who finds the new GM ads a touch...pathetic? Its like they hired this non-threatening old man to the CEO spot just so he could provide the can-do attitude of a World War II propaganda reel.

I will also add that some of the measures GM has been taking to make themselves out to be "less GM" are rather hilarious; though also in a sad, "do they actually think the public will buy that?" sort of way.

 

[JCE]

+1 These stupid new GM commercials are just retarded. Shows why GM is the way they are. Blind, dumb and out of touch. Nobody wants them right now and they need to stop doing damage control and start actually making cars people want.

 

[Jim Prower]

Trying to pull an Iacocca and failing miserably. This because of this:

Nobody wants them right now and they need to stop doing damage control and start actually making cars people want.

 

[YSSMAN]

I like the idea of the ad, but the execution is very poor. It would have been much better to just roll out the cars that are coming, instead of doing cheeky reveals that last for portions of a second. Furthermore, the gimmick with the 60-day return policy isn't going over well either.

Who were the ad wizards who came up with that one?


Don Draper Moment:
People want to know that buying a GM vehicle is a good idea. They want to know that they're getting an American car. GM should be out there showing not only what they make now, which are solid options in the market, that are built by Americans in Kansas, Detroit, Ohio, California, etc.... But also what is coming. All of them. For 30 seconds at a time.