Oh, crap. GM's done for. 
1
2
3
4
5
6
-
June 10, 2009 1:19 p.m. Jensenman MegaDork
-
June 10, 2009 1:31 p.m. Adrian_Thompson Reader
Jensenman wrote:
Oh, crap. GM's done for.
Why? My Bosses, bosses , bosses boss is some guy who never worked in the auto industry prior to three years ago and I'm happy with how the direction he's taking it us.
-
June 10, 2009 1:35 p.m. John Brown MegaDork
Adrian_Thompson wrote:
Jensenman wrote:
Oh, crap. GM's done for.
Why? My Bosses, bosses , bosses boss is some guy who never worked in the auto industry prior to three years ago and I'm happy with how the direction he's taking it us.
Muckin Phoron said:
He was one of the guys who helped create a new AT&T that wasn't so dependent on land-line phone service. There's a parallel with General Motors. GM is not now about just making cars. It's about re-creating itself as a 21st-century car company. They have to have somebody at the top that understands they have to make a new GM
Umm.... Isn't the problem with GM the fact that they got AWAY from the business of building cars and tried to be an everything company including mortgages, low security auto loans, health care provider and other non automotive businesses?
The business of GM SHOULD be to build cars and ONLY to build cars.
-
June 10, 2009 1:59 p.m. alfadriver HalfDork
John Brown wrote:
Adrian_Thompson wrote:
Jensenman wrote:
Oh, crap. GM's done for.
Why? My Bosses, bosses , bosses boss is some guy who never worked in the auto industry prior to three years ago and I'm happy with how the direction he's taking it us.
Muckin Phoron said:
He was one of the guys who helped create a new AT&T that wasn't so dependent on land-line phone service. There's a parallel with General Motors. GM is not now about just making cars. It's about re-creating itself as a 21st-century car company. They have to have somebody at the top that understands they have to make a new GM
Umm.... Isn't the problem with GM the fact that they got AWAY from the business of building cars and tried to be an everything company including mortgages, low security auto loans, health care provider and other non automotive businesses?
The business of GM SHOULD be to build cars and ONLY to build cars.
And the point of the outside person coming in is to ask the exact same questions that we all are. And get away with it.
Alan isn't a car guy, but he was smart enough to ask- "why kill the Taurus- it's a good name?" and "why does Europe have X and America Y and they are the same class?"
Sometimes it does take an outsider to REALLY ask the obvious questions. More important, he'll reply "bull E36 M3" when the answer isn't good enough.
The risk is that you get Jack Welsh kind of guy who only is interested in cutting. That's really bad, and glaring evidence of that can be seen by our neighbors up in Auburn Hills.
Eric
-
June 10, 2009 2:16 p.m. John Brown MegaDork
I don't know if any of you have been services by AT&T but there is a reason why they are running so many ads: To try to get their old customers BACK from their bad customer service and poor management.
I have been rooting for GM the whole way, I have suggested to people to buy stock once the new company offers its IPO, Hell I wanted to figure out how to go to work for the company. This really bothers and scares me. This is not a PR excersize, it is the livelihood of hundreds of thousands of Americans and it can affect the cost of living across the board for all of us.
IF GM fails, how long before the failure does the government stop supprting GM and GMAC? You see if GM fails, GMAC fails. If GMAC fails Chrysler fails. If GMAC fails the #4 home mortgage company underwriter in the us fails. This can affect a domino fall that could really screw up a bad year.
-
June 10, 2009 3:50 p.m. Jensenman MegaDork
It definitely should be someone new who's not afraid to kick ass and take names. But he should have SOME idea what cars are all about. Maybe someone like Roger Penske. Or Rick Hendrick. From personal experience: Hendrick runs a tight but fair ship. His management team could make GM snap to in a hurry.
EDIT: Half of Ford's problems in the '80's and '90's was due to the top brass being more interested in units than cars. Look what almost happened to them. If you are going to hire a plumber, would you be more likely to trust someone who knows plumbing or an accountant who was 'hired to run the company'?
