3 ms·

Not sure what to think about this. On the one hand, I have nothing but antipathy toward GM for squandering every opportunity to modernize their business and fig

by gamble 18y ago

Not sure what to think about this. On the one hand, I have nothing but antipathy toward GM for squandering every opportunity to modernize their business and fighting the regulations that would have forced them down that path. If any business deserves to fail, they do. What gives me pause is how much damage a GM bankruptcy will inflict. The auto industry represents about a third of the US manufacturing industry. If GM (or Chrysler) goes down, it may take everyone else with them. The job losses would be unbelievable. I don't really want to contemplate what the economy will look like after construction, finance, and manufacturing have all been wiped out.

dangoldin 18y ago
A bankruptcy won't necessarily kill the business. Look how many times airlines have gone bankrupt and they're still flying. What it will do is cause the business to be restructured and make it more in line with the foreign companies which have much lower legacy/union costs.
- alecco 18y ago
  Please stop bashing the unions. GM has a sales problem. They can't sell any more SUVs.
  - iigs 18y ago
    It's death by 1000 cuts. The unions aren't the problem, but they definitely contribute, along side inflexible plants that can't be reassigned, never laying off white collar workers (until last month? wtf), not building cars people want, complete marque mismanagement (Pontiac and Chevy cars were virtually indistinguishable for 30 years), equating small cars with low quality (geo metro of the 90s, chevette of the 80s), abusive partnerships with other manufacturers (Daewoo), divesting themselves of key component manufacturing resources (Delphi) creating incentives for the independent company to attempt to squeeze for profit, a lack of commitment to quality, failure to tend successful brands (Ford's especially bad about this), fighting ecological and safety regulation instead of embracing it as a feature, coasting on their performance brands instead of cultivating new markets, and lukewarm attempts at innovation when they actually did something new. Fixing any one of those problems leaves all the rest. GM is facing downward pressure on production costs (among everything else) and the unions stand in the way. You can't blame the unions for trying, but as a disinterested bystander you have to wonder why GM wasn't firmer in their bargaining -- everybody's losing now.
  - hugh 18y ago
    GM is selling more vehicles than any other company on the planet. Last year they sold 9.37 million vehicles worldwide, slightly more than second-placed Toyota. I don't have numbers for this year handy, but GM is still either number one or number two. When you sell nearly ten million of your products each year, and each one costs maybe $20,000, you definitively do not have a sales problem. You have some other problem instead.

by gamble 18y ago

dangoldin 18y ago

A bankruptcy won't necessarily kill the business. Look how many times airlines have gone bankrupt and they're still flying. What it will do is cause the business to be restructured and make it more in line with the foreign companies which have much lower legacy/union costs.

alecco 18y ago
Please stop bashing the unions. GM has a sales problem. They can't sell any more SUVs.
- iigs 18y ago
  It's death by 1000 cuts. The unions aren't the problem, but they definitely contribute, along side inflexible plants that can't be reassigned, never laying off white collar workers (until last month? wtf), not building cars people want, complete marque mismanagement (Pontiac and Chevy cars were virtually indistinguishable for 30 years), equating small cars with low quality (geo metro of the 90s, chevette of the 80s), abusive partnerships with other manufacturers (Daewoo), divesting themselves of key component manufacturing resources (Delphi) creating incentives for the independent company to attempt to squeeze for profit, a lack of commitment to quality, failure to tend successful brands (Ford's especially bad about this), fighting ecological and safety regulation instead of embracing it as a feature, coasting on their performance brands instead of cultivating new markets, and lukewarm attempts at innovation when they actually did something new. Fixing any one of those problems leaves all the rest. GM is facing downward pressure on production costs (among everything else) and the unions stand in the way. You can't blame the unions for trying, but as a disinterested bystander you have to wonder why GM wasn't firmer in their bargaining -- everybody's losing now.
- hugh 18y ago
  GM is selling more vehicles than any other company on the planet. Last year they sold 9.37 million vehicles worldwide, slightly more than second-placed Toyota. I don't have numbers for this year handy, but GM is still either number one or number two. When you sell nearly ten million of your products each year, and each one costs maybe $20,000, you definitively do not have a sales problem. You have some other problem instead.