TalkBack: “GM, what might have been”

Of course, GM made a mistake in declining the alliance with Nissan-Renault. But, let’s assume they had accepted a deal. What those of us who’ve had some exposure to GM knows is, that GM’s management, and the company’s culture, would have killed the relationship. That is, it would have found a way to screw it up.

GM has for decades been the kind of company where everyone can say “no,” and no one will say “yes!” (This is an observation expressed by insiders who know that so much gets stalled, or killed, because too many people are in a position to do so). It is a key reason who GM moves too slow!

What’s worst is that GM’s management team is famously arrogant. They may appear less so today due to the drubbing they routinely take in the marketplace, but I have NEVER seen a more insular, anti-outsider group. GM fails because of this. They need new blood, but the body rejects it. They said no to the alliance, and they are failing. If they had accepted the joint effort, they still would have failed at it.

There’s another side to this. GM had US Union labor to deal with. Not that this is a bad thing at all, but the others didn’t have to pay a living wage. If GM gets its proposed “Volt” in production earlier rather than later, and removes oil companies’ influence from its business decisions, it will make a strong comeback. I buy American vehicles not necessarily because they’re the best, but because it’s the best choice for our country.

GM actually missed the boat years ago when they scraped their electric cars program (I’m sure back room deals with the oil industry had nothing to do with that,huh). GM had a number of those electric cars in California, and they were getting rave review. GM had them destroyed!!!! In the era of $4 a gallon gas, GM would rule. Instead, they reacted the way Detroit always does…they did the stupidest thing possible, and shot themselves in the foot. Now Detroit is playing catch up and is in real trouble. Where’s American innovation…or vision. Our major corporations are being run by morons.

Had GM entered into the deal, they would have simply been left to produce the larger autos..The ones no one wants to buy. I dont believe that building a buick version of the Altima would have helped them because Nissian has already proven itself to be reliable and somewhat efficient with fuel cost. Pontiac and Buick cannot say the same so I dont believe that adding the GM name to a nissian would have done anything but lower consumer confidence in the Maxima.

What a one sided article. A lot of the luster has also worn off of Carlos Ghosn since this merger was proposed. Jerry York and Kirk Kerkorian’s proposal was all about making them wealthier not about improving GM. How are Nissan’s sales of Titan’s and Frontier’s going?

GM made a huge mistake by not joining forces with Nissan-Renault in 2006. They would have a better line-up of more fuel efficient cars already available for the US markets. Costs would have been lower and the impending threat of bankruptcy would have been avoided. Maybe the new VOLT will save them if they can produce it at a profit..

the problem w/ gm is that it had a concentration of profits in the same kind of car. diversification is key and a balanced product mix would had cushioned the blow. as such, the company became an all-or-nothing pipeline that went from boom to bust.

however, there is a much larger macro global issue at play. gm has a huge legacy cost for itf retired employees and their dependents. i maybe wrong but neither nissan or renault face that plus have lower corporatre taxes thus car for car, gm has a cost disadvantage that practically forces them to gie up on low margin cars.

as the article said, that it was a different time back then. gm’s position was not as dire as it is now. remember, hindsight is always 20/20.

Please — the EV-1 had no customer base except for a few Hollywood types. Sir, how familiar are you with the EV-1 project and how familiar are you with the inter-workings of GM or any other auto company? The fact of matter is — GM’s quality today is as good or better than any Asian brand out there (yes – that includes Toyota). As I recall, Toyota had the most “recalls” than GM last year but this never seems to make the front pages of the newspapers. It’s always buried on page 15. Comments like “GM listened to it’s OIL buddies” is simply an idiotic statement. Everyone is a Monday morning QB. Most comments spewed by the public is without any factual basis. Sure GM has problems they need to resolve but it will and be better and stronger for it. Take a look at GM friends — I think you’ll be impressed.

I sold all my shares in GM two years ago when it became evident Wagoner would never be held accountable for his strategic blunders. A CEO is responsible for steering a company and making long-term strategic decisions. Wagoner has proven he’s not up to the task as his bet on SUVs shows he’s a failure. But the board wouldn’t fire him then and won’t fire him now. A company with poor governance cannot survive, especially in an industry like automobiles. I am very glad I sold when I did.

As a GM common and prefered stockholder, I am outraged that GM management passed on an offer to save the company. Mark my words, GM will be filing for Chapter 11 in 2009, and I will lose over $10,000. In all honesty, management at GM are a bunch of morons! For the GM Board of Directors of give the CEO a vote of confidence is indication the Board smokes Crack!

There is one thing that GM is really good at and that is making excuses for their poor performance

Gm has made many mistakes in the operation of business, just like any company. It does seem however that when GM sneezes….it is perceived as “GM HAS Pneumonia”. I have tried for many years to really understand this type of thinking. I have concluded that GM is a lot like Microsoft. People love to complain about it, but some where in the past the complainer has been “wronged” by one of their products. I suppose when you have that many products and that many customers …it goes with the territory. I think many in the media that happen to cover these company stories are among those that have been somehow “wronged”. GM has been dealing with a White House ,that for the last 8 years , has all be ignored them. The current administration has done more to transfer wealth to other countries than the previous 3 administrations combined. When GM, Ford, and Chrysler went to Bush (2003) and asked for some consideration on our countries health care expenses…Bush just glibly replied….:There just gonna haft to learn how to compete!. Well looks like they are still leaning. maybe when all of their products are made in another country, and there headquarters are also off shore, and our country finally becomes the newest member of the third world…maybe then it will be competing…just what will America be buying?

Or, maybe not…

I’m sure there was a nicely prepared report about how much money the Daimler-Chrysler deal would save, too. The reality is that no one can really predict these things.

GM did the right thing. Without a doubt, the Renault alliance would have caused massive US job loss, and would have destroyed GM’s autonomy in an era where most corporations have lost all loyalty to their US workforce, and have walked away from pension responsibilities to retired workers, and have taken the ‘quick fix’ of moving production overseas, further deteriorating our country.

Face it folks; if we sell out all our US companies to overseas ‘investors’, you can kiss US standard of living goodbye. We will become a 2 class society: The obscenely and unnecessarily rich, like Kerkorian, and the poor who will be locked outside gated enclaves of the super rich.

This model has been done before, in several countries, and it leads to widespread misery, graft, corruption, and the militantism.

Waggoner did the right thing rejecting that offer. GM will survive, and will innovate its way out of the Wall Street created Oil Bubble….without cowtowing to a few fat, rich, white guys who got their feelings hurt because their short term buy in GM stock hasn’t yet made them another Billion dollars.

Who needs ‘investors’ like that? They have only their own short term self interest in mind, as they’ve had for their entire lives.

GM made a mistake when it destroyed the EV-1! You’ve heard the idea that when 10% of the population becomes aware of bad business practices, or even philosophies or ways of thinking, major changes are bound to happen.

It’s a bummer that GM listened to it’s OIL buddies before it listened to its customer base. Bad business = go out of business. Adios GM! Japanese and now S. Korean vehicles are designed better…cost is not the major factor here…fact is they are safer…they were so when they became popular during my parents generation. Now round two, my brother and I prefer Honda and Toyota to GM, Ford, or Chrysler because let’s face it – they have a bad sense of how to run their business.

They created economic policies where they had no business making policy, they attempted to destroy the competition, but once again voters and eventually money wins. Money always wins.

Regardless GM is a bad company and deserves to go under – that is the American design for Economics. If the US Central Bank (The Fed) bails them out – they would be going against the ‘hands off’ state that we need right now. When a company commits crimes, or doesn’t listen to its constituents – this is what happens.

GM management did what they did to protect their cushy sinecures and the GM board rolled over. Who was there to speak for the interests of the true owners? What happened to fiduciary responsibility?