VCCA Home Forums GENERAL DISCUSSION General Discussions GM good & bad news...

GM America is not the only company downsizing the local plants much the same is happening in a lot of the bigger companies here in Aus.
Several of the once large manufacturers of not only automobiles are doing the manufacture overseas and only bringing in the finished product.
Some of what I have seen is of a inferior quality while others are an improved quality. The worst part of it all is the local workers that now dont have work at any pay rate while the sponges at the top rake in bigger pay packets.
An example is the our once Goverment telephone company now half privatized just appointed an american at Aus$10mil a year to implement full privatization. It now takes them a week to fix any problems within their system because of staff shortage.

Thats OK. You guys keep investing in that *#&%#* stock market. I worked at a Caterpillar plant here in IL. in the 70's and 80's during the first Asian invasion. I remember well a manager I had great respect for saying as how the Asian companies planned there strategies for 5-10 years down the road. On the other hand U.S companies were much more driven by the next quarters stock performance and made decisions based on that rather than long term outlooks. Layoffs and plant closings to boost that profit right now even though we might be able to weather a short downturn and be well positioned in a few years.

I'd put my money in land and old Chevy parts but I'll never be a part of Wall St.

The stock market? I didn't think that anyone invested their money in that thing any more. Real estate, collectibles and etc. is where it's at for the present.

Wonder how much money GM invests in the stock market? Our state retirement fun (PERS) invested retirees and future retirees money in the stock market, and when the market fell a few years ago, the retirement fund lost 17 BILLION dollars! Guess who has to make up the difference and who suffers because of the bad investments by the directors? Not the directors of the fund......but the future retirees!!!

Our Ontario teachers pension fund which is the largest in the country other than the government will invest mostly in Building and Land Baseball & Hockey teams and there structures. There overall rate of return was 17% last year and has had this for at least 5 years. They will shortly have to ask ther members to pay more as there will be more retired than working. They are allowed to go at 85 factor that is when ther age and years of service add up to 85. This is likely the same at GM, more retired than paying in. Our largest steel producer is short on their pension fund and current and future retiree may have cuts topensions. This could also happen at GM. It appears to be a world problem as well.

brjr51, you are exactly right, the long term is forgotten about.

On the news today:

The chairman or CEO of Toyota said that Toyota will raise their prices to help GM!!!!

Yeah so much for the grand plan to have the stock market back up retirement plans.
My wife recently bought a 2005 Malibu Maxx LT. The car is fantastic with great handling and pick up. The quality of fit and finish much better than malibus of years ago. The car, along with the Pontiac G6 is based on the GM owned Saab Epselon chassis and it shows. It's a step in the right direction.
I agree with most where the top GM people have all got to go! Keep the ones responsible for the new products and can the rest.
Let's get a President that is willing to invest in American and American jobs!
Need proof? Just take a look at the tag on your underware!

"Let's get a President that is willing to invest in American and American jobs!"

Great idea!!! But......where are we going to find one of those?? :( :( :(

I second that!!!

Maybe that President will have to be found. Maybe we have a talent contest for one. Forget about the usual politicians that buy there way into the White House...Maybe it's time to DRAFT a President. Now only if we had an Ed Cole or somebody like that. Yeah, a non-politciian dude that can get it done!

A new reality show; instead of picking a singer we could pick a President....cool... :love:

When times were good a few years back, we had a REAL American IDOL, WJ Clinton.

...and Hilliary is in the next to bat circle! WOW!!!

MM:

I think your comment about Hillary being in the "on deck circle" is more real than most folks think.

No comment about that being "good" or "bad." I just think it's a real likely possibility.

Bill.

The same woman running the country as before? Oh no......not again!

it was interesting that corporate raider kirk kerkorian was unable to find enough sellers to increase his stake of gm to the levels which he had hoped last week...seems there's a lot of confidence among shareholders that they can do better holding for a while...


epi

I just hope everyone of the retired workers and members of their family who get the medical benifits are driving a GM vehicle... :cool2:

Hum......I think that some of them are driving Chryslers! :eek: :eek:

I see GM stock has gone up quite a bit the last few days...

I have been a GM /Chevy fan all my life. Right now i have a 2002 chev silverado with 61,000 miles. At 50,000 my rearend went out and its been down hill ever since. My last truck was a 98 chev silverado. I traded it off at 85,000 miles because i got tired of dumping my paycheck into it. Chevrolet has to work real hard to keep me a loyal fan of the new cars and trucks. I am a fan for life on the OLD chevies

The recently closed GM Linden, NJ assembly plant employee parking lot was generally filled with 50% FOREIGN cars or trucks. Talk about biting the hand that feeds you......... :confused:

Welcome to the club. I lost the transmission in my 95 GMC Suburban at 87,000 miles.

I share greg72monte's concern about all the foreign cars in US of A. Particularly on the two coasts. The middle portion of US seems more 'loyal' for some reason.

But what the heck are US buyers supposed to do when the rear end goes out at 50k per hrndog and Back Roads loses the trans at 87k?? Of course, these were 'trucks' - not cars.

I've only bought one new car in my life, a 69 Pontiac Bonneville. I'll never buy another one. Same problems as a 'used car' and why suffer the huge depreciation loss?? Since the early 1970's I've always had good used CHEVYS that are 10 to 20 years old. Currently have 84 Caprice Coupe, 92 Caprice Wagon and 96 Impala SS.

So far, the Impala had the most expensive 'repair.' $888 to get the 'check engine light' to go off. Great car; but how bad is it to spend $888 on that computer krapola??? Of course it had nothing to do with the engine. That light usually comes on for 'exhaust' reasons. More gov't BS in our cars!!

Bill.

I ways thought instead of an engine symbol they should use a dollar sign for that "Check Engine Light". $$$

brjr51's post makes me laugh - a sick laugh. Like I've been 'screwed' by that light.

The light definitely should be called 'emissions light' NOT 'check engine light.' I've

never talked to anyone with an Impala SS who actually had an engine problem. It was always emissions or some such thing!!! :( :( Bill.

it is well and good ,Bill, but think about where your used cars came from...Someone bought them NEW, or do you reckon that some cars "never were new" Ha!