Why Rick Wagoner Had To Go

[dieselhead]

Finally, the guy who got the most powerful car manufacturer on its knees and half dead, is getting his marching orders. (http://www.forbes.com/2009/03/30/rick-wagoner-gm-jerry-flint-business-autos-backseat-driver.html)

Rick Wagoner, you won't be missed. Not one bit.

[btm]

only half dead? :p

[dieselhead]

Well, the half that's still kicking is called OPEL. You know, the one that still makes nice cars :)

[btm]

walks away with a cool $30m in benifits though...

[rjastra]

http://blogs.motortrend.com/6481942/government/obama-60-days-to-a-gm-bankruptcy-30-for-chrysler-to-join-fiat/index.html

[Huhness]

GM are dead. No way will they get their money from the US. Car industry in USA is dead too.

[dieselhead]

car industry in the USA is dead too... Like the rest of their economy. I'm a big fan of Bill Maher, an American stand up comedian, that said "Long time ago, we used to do stuff. Now all we do is think that we can make money from nothing". Really, think about it, when was the last time you bought something Made in the USA?

[rjastra]

LOL... I like all these references to the "car industry" in the States being dead. They sell more than 10 times more vehicles in the USA than here. If the economy is crippled there then quite alot of world market car manufacturers will be in trouble.

GM goes under and OPEL will bite the deck. Will the german government bail it out? Don't think so as they already have a prosperous national manufacturer (VW). Maybe China could buy it? I am sure everyone here would LOVE to buy a chinese designed and manufacturered OPEL :) Actually, get rid of Opel and rebadge it Buick like they do in China.

[dieselhead]

Well, if you'd read more financial reports you'd find out that the US is a 17 million cars/year car market. There are forecasts talking about 9 million this year, even the most optimistic predictions talk about 14 million. If you look back 10 years, GM had massive losses more often than not. Even at peak car sales market, GM was bleeding dozens of billions each year. Having said all that, what makes you think they will survive now, when even Toyota is loosing 8 billion, for the first time in red in their history? Chrysler has only 30 days to find a partner or close shop.

Germans will bail out Opel as soon as they are sure their euros are not going to Detroit. If GM goes bust tomorrow, Opel will be nationalised faster than you can say "Astra". There's no need to hurry, they could grab Opel at a fire sale price, too :)

[rjastra]

Well, if you'd read more financial reports you'd find out that the US is a 17 million cars/year car market.


i was talking about the current market numbers as that is all that is important ;)



Germans will bail out Opel as soon as they are sure their euros are not going to Detroit. If GM goes bust tomorrow, Opel will be nationalised faster than you can say "Astra". There's no need to hurry, they could grab Opel at a fire sale price, too :)


Right.. just like sweden is bailing out SAAB. I think people fail to realise that Europe (UK and germany) is in a bad, if not worse situation, that the USA. To think that a government would want to throw good money after bad trying to build cars (the Brits killed their industry that way) is a bit niave. Even the yanks dont want to do it!

As I said before... I reckon the chinese would love to grab Opel and drag it away :)