Kronos, the Titan, begat Zeus in Greek mythology. The Roman version had Saturnus fathering Jupiter. The titan father, the head of the gods, the son.
So GM begat Saturn to change the way it did business. Gone were the crippling, profit-sucking union contracts. A whole new philosophy of management was the key to the future---GM would show it could compete with those upstart Japanese: Toyota, Nissan (nee Datsun), and Honda. The future would be operations like Saturn.
Fast forward to 2009---Saturn regurgitates recycled Opal products. GM succumbed to the high profit low future gas guzzling GMC Sierras, Hummers, Escalades. GM needs to re-organize and present a viable business plan to the US government before the end of February to keep its loan package and attempt to qualify for future taxpayer largess.
Let it GO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! The plan as announced this week jettisons its once shining star, Saturn. It also includes the sale of Saab, once a company noted for its technological innovation. It will make Pontiac--maker of some of the greatest cars GM ever produced (Grand Prix, G T O, Firebird Trans-Am)-- a sub-brand of one of the remaining marques---Chevrolet, Buick, Cadillac, and GMC. At least those inefficient beasts with a moniker that reminds one of a slang term for fellatio (Hummer) is consigned to the garbage heap. That's only one right out of eight. Given that track record, what are this corporation's chances of survival? Slim and none is overly optimistic. Let GM go bankrupt. A little more short term pain will benefit us in the long run if the management sees this type of reorganization as saving this company and making it a viable concern for the 21st century.
It was once said that what was good for GM is good for the US. No longer. As Captain Kirk said in the Star Trek episode "Who mourns for Adonais", humans have outgrown the need for gods. Or corporations that believe they are gods.
So mourn for Saturnus and the company named for that Titan which might once have been the competitive rebirth of the American auto industry. And feel sorry for all those workers who need to be retrained. Hopefully the government will do what's right--allow a poorly run corporation without the management vision to right itself fail as the market dictates and then use the government's fiscal clout to absorb the losses and redirect the efforts of these workers into productive and sustainable occupations.
Showing posts with label Chevy. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Chevy. Show all posts
Thursday, February 19, 2009
Tuesday, September 30, 2008
Someone Please Tune In the Picture
I see more ads for Ditech mortgages (from GMAC) and GMAC Bank than I see for GM cars. So GM is now earning more from the financial sector than from manufacturing?
We owe ever more to China and India, and the petro-dollars we send to the Gulf of Arabia are now being used by Gulf countries' sovereign wealth funds to shore up our banks!!
The Economist magazine, hardly a left-wing publication, stated "The financial-services industry's share of total American corporate profits rose from 10% in the early 1980's to 40% at its peak last year. By one calculation, profits in the past decade amounted to $1.2 trillion more than you would have expected." And this was from the Sept. 20, 2008 edition, before the meltdown Monday, Sept. 29!!!!
Tie these items together and it's easy to see why the US is well down the road to being a second class power. Financial engineering has replaced real engineering. Anybody else think this picture needs adjusting??
On a more hopeful note, Captain 'Roid has been following with interest the saga of the freighter that the Somalian pirates captured. Seems there's about $40 million worth of old Soviet tanks and artillery aboard. It was headed for Kenya. The Somalis want a $20 million ransom for it. Our captain would love a share of that money to help her parents retire, but the gleam really comes to her eye when she thinks about her and the rest of the Pirate Dogs sailing that ship up the Potomac, taking over Washington, and helping all of us........................
We owe ever more to China and India, and the petro-dollars we send to the Gulf of Arabia are now being used by Gulf countries' sovereign wealth funds to shore up our banks!!
The Economist magazine, hardly a left-wing publication, stated "The financial-services industry's share of total American corporate profits rose from 10% in the early 1980's to 40% at its peak last year. By one calculation, profits in the past decade amounted to $1.2 trillion more than you would have expected." And this was from the Sept. 20, 2008 edition, before the meltdown Monday, Sept. 29!!!!
Tie these items together and it's easy to see why the US is well down the road to being a second class power. Financial engineering has replaced real engineering. Anybody else think this picture needs adjusting??
On a more hopeful note, Captain 'Roid has been following with interest the saga of the freighter that the Somalian pirates captured. Seems there's about $40 million worth of old Soviet tanks and artillery aboard. It was headed for Kenya. The Somalis want a $20 million ransom for it. Our captain would love a share of that money to help her parents retire, but the gleam really comes to her eye when she thinks about her and the rest of the Pirate Dogs sailing that ship up the Potomac, taking over Washington, and helping all of us........................
Sunday, June 15, 2008
Raise the Fuel Taxes
Gas prices continue to go up---over $4.08 a gallon as I write this. And the monthly payments on pickups and SUVs keep decreasing---no interest for 60 months, $6,000 rebates, "employee pricing".......Anybody else out there think this is a disconnect? And note the small print on these adds---none of the "deals" apply to hybrids!!!! The fuel efficient varieties are full boat, baby!!!!
Our government says we can alleviate gas prices by drilling in places like the Arctic Wildlife Refuge. But the current administration doesn't exactly deserve kudos or respect in terms of their record on the environment or climate change. Let's face it, the "senior administrators" are ex-oil men. The candidates recommend gas tax holidays or windfall taxes on big oil.
How about something that might work? Let's eliminate the taxes on diesel. This will give truckers a break and help stabilize the costs of food and other goods that depend on trucking to get to America's consumers. We can increase the gas tax on regular fuel to offset this revenue loss and also to subsidize the cost of truly fuel efficient and alternative fuel technologies.
Check out the Honda website http://automobiles.honda.com/fcx-clarity/frequently-asked-questions/. That fuel cell car in the tv ads is available in a few counties in Southern California at a lease cost of $600.00 a month. That's more than the lease on a Hummer, a Mercedes S class, or a Cadillac STS!!!! We should be begging to lease the fuel cell car all over the country and getting the infrastructure built to support fuel cell technology. But the vast majority of Americans can't afford that kind of lease price. One would think GM, Ford, or Chrysler could build a fuel cell car that might fit an average family's budget if some of the development costs were subsidized.
According to Jonathan Rauch's article in the July/August Atlantic(http://www.theatlantic.com/doc/200807/general-motors), the Chevy Volt will sell for "maybe north of $35,000." But an F-150 Ford or a Chevy Silverado at 10mpg can be had for about $20,000!! If we really are serious about conserving fossil fuels and getting their prices back in line, we need the Volt to sell for the same price as a Malibu.
So let's bite the short-term bullet and pay an inceased gas tax which can be used by car companies to develop alternative fuel vehicles without passing the high development costs on to consumers and keeping the sticker prices of these vehicles in line with what the average family can afford. The other benefit of this would be to help make American companies competitive and hopefully increase job opportunities in the automotive sector, which has been among the hardest hit in the economy. Or maybe America isn't as good as our competitors in this segment of the global economy?
Our government says we can alleviate gas prices by drilling in places like the Arctic Wildlife Refuge. But the current administration doesn't exactly deserve kudos or respect in terms of their record on the environment or climate change. Let's face it, the "senior administrators" are ex-oil men. The candidates recommend gas tax holidays or windfall taxes on big oil.
How about something that might work? Let's eliminate the taxes on diesel. This will give truckers a break and help stabilize the costs of food and other goods that depend on trucking to get to America's consumers. We can increase the gas tax on regular fuel to offset this revenue loss and also to subsidize the cost of truly fuel efficient and alternative fuel technologies.
Check out the Honda website http://automobiles.honda.com/fcx-clarity/frequently-asked-questions/. That fuel cell car in the tv ads is available in a few counties in Southern California at a lease cost of $600.00 a month. That's more than the lease on a Hummer, a Mercedes S class, or a Cadillac STS!!!! We should be begging to lease the fuel cell car all over the country and getting the infrastructure built to support fuel cell technology. But the vast majority of Americans can't afford that kind of lease price. One would think GM, Ford, or Chrysler could build a fuel cell car that might fit an average family's budget if some of the development costs were subsidized.
According to Jonathan Rauch's article in the July/August Atlantic(http://www.theatlantic.com/doc/200807/general-motors), the Chevy Volt will sell for "maybe north of $35,000." But an F-150 Ford or a Chevy Silverado at 10mpg can be had for about $20,000!! If we really are serious about conserving fossil fuels and getting their prices back in line, we need the Volt to sell for the same price as a Malibu.
So let's bite the short-term bullet and pay an inceased gas tax which can be used by car companies to develop alternative fuel vehicles without passing the high development costs on to consumers and keeping the sticker prices of these vehicles in line with what the average family can afford. The other benefit of this would be to help make American companies competitive and hopefully increase job opportunities in the automotive sector, which has been among the hardest hit in the economy. Or maybe America isn't as good as our competitors in this segment of the global economy?
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