Those of us in our 40's, 50's and 60's need to pause for a moment and just think of the news story this morning. General Motors has declared bankruptcy.
Thirty years ago.....twenty years ago.....ten years ago....even five years ago, who among us could have imagined this day?
Not only was GM the largest auto company in the world; at one time it was the largest company in the world.
I won't review the sad litany of mistakes and lack of foresight that has brought this day to pass, but just.............damn............General Freakin' Motors is bankrupt.
My father-in-law has been saying this for the last few years. The only way for the General to come back is to go bankrupt and start up again the next day. Sad to see. Our cars are getting rarer by the minute...
My father-in-law works at the Pontiac/Buick/GMC and large truck fleet dealership. Last week they dealership was given notice of closure and to liquidate the inventory by October. After that the dealership is supposed to become the largest Isuzu dealership.
The supplies that have been building parts for GM will be hit hard. People who have run their own businesses fine but will not receive payment from Gm(the little guy). Is it fair the GM will get away with out paying them or giving them penny on a dollar. The worst thing is they will have no choice but to supply GM with parts as this is the only way they will be able to pay their debt. There will be no bail out for them. And the worst thing is the clowns that put GM in this situation have taken their millions and run. Its just not fair once again the little guy gets screwed.
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1957 Pathfinder deluxe 4 door wagon 1961 Pontiac Parisienne bubble top Traded for a Harley sorry guys.
The governments said they would back the warranties. I have my doubts about anything administered by government where you are expected to get service and/or parts replacement, especially in any kind of a timely manner. I had a tree in front of my house on the public boulevard that the city deemed a "hazard", then it took them over two years to actually remove it, but not before a big limb came off last winter during a storm and landed in my neighbour's driveway. If his car was outside, it would have been crushed.
What can I say that hasn't already been said already? It pains me to see GM which was on top of the world in the 70's with the best products ever being reduced to this. Decades of greed, mismanagement and an insular attitude that we were too good, too big to fail, better than everyone else and worst of all, we know better than anyone else has inevitably lead to this result. They lost touch with the market and their customers and figured we would just continue to gobble up anything they produced, regardless of style, quality, utility, consumer tastes, etc.
Quite frankly it's just plain embarrassing. I was watching some interviews from the street in Detroit last night and that's what most people were saying as well, shaking their heads in disbelief...
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Hillar
1970 LS4 (eventually an LS5) Laurentian 2dr hdtp -and a bunch of other muscle cars...
I heard a story on the radio about a women who had her Chrysler mini van at a dealer for service. After a few days of runaround, the story came out that her vehicle needed a widget that could only be obtained from a manufacturer in Ontario. The manufacturer was refusing to ship parts to anyone until they got paid by Chrysler for past debts. I would probably do the same thing to apply leverage. Don't know how long I would hold out though.
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1967 Parisienne 2+2 1967 Grande Parisienne
1967 Laurentian 1967 Strato Chief
Remember, "The Government" only has money confiscated from us.
My gut says Magna buying Opel was a bad idea. I'm also sure that whoever administers the warranties will no doubt not be as "generous" as GM was in the past. I talked to former co workers a few weeks ago and it used to be you could give "goodwill" warranty to a good customer up to 2 years or 40000kms past the expiration of the base warranty. Now they'll only go a couple thousand KM's or a couple of months past. And good luck getting that blemished molding covered now. I'm sure they will be pulling way back on coverage.
This day will be remembered in history. Think about it. GM was the largest corporation in the world. A shining example of Capitalism in the most successful country in the free world with the largest GDP in the history of our planet. It has fallen and may very well take the rest of the country with it. I remember reading a statement made by the president of Toyota during an interview with a US car magazine about 15 years ago. He stated that his goal was to topple GM. it went like this, 75 years ago nobody knew what General Motors was. He wanted it to be the same in 75 years into the future. At the time of reading this I thought he was a fool and Toyota would be gone long before GM. I wish he was wrong instead of me.
So many companies go through restucturing and often we have no idea. Harley Davisdon is not the same company it was originally, heck it was even owned by a bowling ball maker at one time. Hudson Bay Company had to be one of the oldest companies around until the Americans bought it, we still think of it as the Bay, a Canadian company. I hate to say it but Cadillac started out in Ford's group. I look at this as a progression. Remember in the span of time the US and Canada are still infants in terms of Countries in existence, It's really only been 250 years or so since anybody knew North America existed. Canada is only 142 years old, some people have grandparents in their 90's. It's just that GM has been around almost as long as anyone in Canada and the US can remember BUT it's not really that long in the big picture of time. None of this dimminishes what the company accomplished either. Packard, LaSalle, Cord and Dusenberg are still revered marques, long out of production but still revered. AMC has gone through how many changes? Too many to count. The sun will come up tomorrow!
Let's hope that they actually hire someone that knows what the hell they are doing to run it this time! Get Lee Iacocca out of retirement! Maybe give it to Jim Balsille as a side project, I don't know, just f$%#$%g fix it!!! Even still it is a horrible day in automotive history.
I hope GM survives, but it will NEVER be the General Motors we grew up with any more. The Canadian governments said today they do not expect to ever be fully paid back on the loans - which is directly opposite to what McQuinty and Harper were saying just a few weeks ago. As taxpayers, it looks like the only hope we have of getting any payback is through the future sale of the shares of the new GM the government will be given. Regardless of being a car guy, governments cannot spend money like they are drunken sailors, no matter how noble the cause may seem; we are just getting saddled with debt forever.
I have two comments on this very sad subject ( I know "normal" people think we are nuts,and I know it's not like someone being sick or passing away)
1. The comments I have heard about no real Pontiacs built since 79 or since the 70's guys do you remember K cars and the first Minivans? Mopar fans lived thru tough times and now look what they have.We
2. I used this analogy for a Sports fan I know,A Billionare fromTexas comes to Montreal and offers up blank cheque to to Montreal Candiens owners they give him the figure and he signs on the dotted line.The new Canadiens owner now relocates the team to Texas,takes all the banners and history and shoves it in storage and renames the team the Longhorns.
28 years of being so into something and a bunch of stupid bean counters and suits *%#$&^ it up.
First off, let me state very clearly what I will say is not said in bitterness, but said sadly.
I have been "GM" as long as I have had an interest in cars. I have defended their company to the end. I have supported them the best my wallet was able to. I have promoted the parts they sell as being top notch. I could go on and on.
By the time they rip down the sign at our dealership I will have been selling GM parts for over 29 years, well over half my life.
In return for this, I have not received one single bit of contact from anyone at General Motors. Many of these people who are now silent have been working at GM and have known me for as long or almost as long as I've been selling their product.
I think this tells us the sad state of affairs at General Motors right now.
There is nothing but bitterness, backstabbing and total discouragement among their field staff at this point. I find it so, so sad that they have fallen so hard, but I believe they each can accept some of the responsibility for refusing to believe they could ever be toppled. I certainly would welcome a new lean, efficient General Motors.
Sorry for the babbling but this morning's bankruptcy announcement was the second hit for me involving GM in just a few short weeks and it's tough.
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1966 Strato Chief 2 door, 427 4 speed, 45,000 original miles
1966 Grande Parisienne, 396 1 of 23 factory air cars
First off, let me state very clearly what I will say is not said in bitterness, but said sadly.
I have been "GM" as long as I have had an interest in cars. I have defended their company to the end. I have supported them the best my wallet was able to. I have promoted the parts they sell as being top notch. I could go on and on.
By the time they rip down the sign at our dealership I will have been selling GM parts for over 29 years, well over half my life.
In return for this, I have not received one single bit of contact from anyone at General Motors. Many of these people who are now silent have been working at GM and have known me for as long or almost as long as I've been selling their product.
I think this tells us the sad state of affairs at General Motors right now.
There is nothing but bitterness, backstabbing and total discouragement among their field staff at this point. I find it so, so sad that they have fallen so hard, but I believe they each can accept some of the responsibility for refusing to believe they could ever be toppled. I certainly would welcome a new lean, efficient General Motors.
Sorry for the babbling but this morning's bankruptcy announcement was the second hit for me involving GM in just a few short weeks and it's tough.
As taxpayers, it looks like the only hope we have of getting any payback is through the future sale of the shares of the new GM the government will be given. Regardless of being a car guy, governments cannot spend money like they are drunken sailors, no matter how noble the cause may seem; we are just getting saddled with debt forever.