Have any of you read any articles about GM dealers today?

[billybob]

The American Auto makers problem was a long time coming- they were content giving us pretty crappy cars for about 25 years and had a take it or leave it attitude, then in the mid to late 90% they decided to compete and started to close the gap till now they are on pretty equal footing with Japan and Germany but perception-wise they are stuck with the image of an inferior car everywhere except for styling or HP, what they have to do is make a superior car for next 5-10 years to erase the perception of inferior quality- ironically this is the same hurdle the Japanese automakers had to overcome in the 70s and 80s.

[IDBillzFan]

I have no idea how anyone in their right mind can possibly believe that the current administration has any sense what they are doing when you read that they are giving ANOTHER $4 BILLION in taxpayer money to GM, a company whose imminent bankruptcy is lost only on Obama and his ilk. Perfect timing...the three-day weekend is upon us. No one is paying attention to this right now. Jesus, what a bunch of !@#$king incompetent morons are running this country?

 

Hey Obama, you witless dolt. The whole !@#$ing world knows they're going bankrupt. In what world does it even remotely make sense to throw another 4 BILLION in taxpayer money onto this bonfire? But what do you care, right? You're just handing it over to UAW, any way, right? You're paying off your debt.

 

This is, without question, a level of incompetence and recklessness the likes of which I have never been seen in my lifetime.

 

Oh, wait...let me guess. Bush started this.

 

C'mon you all-knowing, always-supporting libs. Defend this embarrassing waste of money. Defend this moronic move.

 

You can't. No one can. Except Obama. Face it. He's so far over his head, he's apparently just making shiit up at this point.

[AlaskaDarin_Has_AIDS]

C'mon you all-knowing, always-supporting libs. Defend this embarrassing waste of money. Defend this moronic move.

 

One word- ACORN.

[RLflutie7]

So, I've read a few articles today about the 1,100 dealerships that will not be renewed with GM. It seems every single one has a quote from a dealer that sings a song such as, "All we do is buy their product and sell their product. It's not OUR fault. We are the victims here. This is so unfair." This goes unchallenged in the articles.

 

To that I say, "Really?". You, the dealers, the angels in all of this, had no part in driving away the consumer away from GM vehicles? You all ran good, honest businesses and treated your customers with respect and provided them with a superior buying experience compared to your competitors? Really? All those surveys about how people hated the car buying experience were all liars and you are all victims here?

 

It is unfortunate that a percentage of good people may lose their jobs, but as a whole - auto dealers aren't much more reputable than crack dealers.

 

 

Your most successful and accurate post since I've been here. What's gotten into you!

 

And I'm a ticket scalper, another low life scum bag occupation if there ever was one.

 

These people are crying because they can no longer rip people off and they got ripped in the end. Although, I do think they should get some form of a buyout.

[Live&DieBillsFootball]

I have no idea how anyone in their right mind can possibly believe that the current administration has any sense what they are doing when you read that they are giving ANOTHER $4 BILLION in taxpayer money to GM, a company whose imminent bankruptcy is lost only on Obama and his ilk. Perfect timing...the three-day weekend is upon us. No one is paying attention to this right now. Jesus, what a bunch of !@#$king incompetent morons are running this country?

 

Hey Obama, you witless dolt. The whole !@#$ing world knows they're going bankrupt. In what world does it even remotely make sense to throw another 4 BILLION in taxpayer money onto this bonfire? But what do you care, right? You're just handing it over to UAW, any way, right? You're paying off your debt.

 

This is, without question, a level of incompetence and recklessness the likes of which I have never been seen in my lifetime.

 

Oh, wait...let me guess. Bush started this.

 

C'mon you all-knowing, always-supporting libs. Defend this embarrassing waste of money. Defend this moronic move.

 

You can't. No one can. Except Obama. Face it. He's so far over his head, he's apparently just making shiit up at this point.

 

Like it or not, this is no different from the financial system bailout. The financial bailout was done to prevent a systemic crash of the financial system. Maybe it wouldn't have occurred if we let them all go bankrupt, but no one wanted to risk it happening.

 

It's the same thing now with the auto companies. Lots of people want the market to take care of GM. They certainly deserve it. But a GM liquidation would wipe out a hell of a lot more than just GM and pose a serious threat to parts suppliers who also happen to supply Toyota, Honda, Ford and the other viable companies.

 

Although many people don't see GM as being viable in the long run, there is a chance that they can return to profitability as a more streamlined company. I know that it looks dire with new auto sales expected to be down to around 10 million units in 2009. However, due to pent up demand, economists are projecting annual new car sales of 16+ million cars by 2012. People can postpone their new car purchases, but at some point their cars will need to be replaced.

[Magox]

Like it or not, this is no different from the financial system bailout. The financial bailout was done to prevent a systemic crash of the financial system. Maybe it wouldn't have occurred if we let them all go bankrupt, but no one wanted to risk it happening.

 

It's the same thing now with the auto companies. Lots of people want the market to take care of GM. They certainly deserve it. But a GM liquidation would wipe out a hell of a lot more than just GM and pose a serious threat to parts suppliers who also happen to supply Toyota, Honda, Ford and the other viable companies.

 

Although many people don't see GM as being viable in the long run, there is a chance that they can return to profitability as a more streamlined company. I know that it looks dire with new auto sales expected to be down to around 10 million units in 2009. However, due to pent up demand, economists are projecting annual new car sales of 16+ million cars by 2012. People can postpone their new car purchases, but at some point their cars will need to be replaced.

You are correct that it isn't different from the financial system bailout, and that they were afraid of the systemic failures that they believe could of occured. But, I'm not buying it. Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying that a further erosion of stocks, confidence and etc. wouldn't of occured, but what I believe is that these are stop gap solutions that have a little chance of having a solid, sustained business model.

 

I will never endorse the idea of recapitalizing a business that has had a failed business model. That is what bankruptcy is for, and we arguably have the best bankruptcy court system in the world. There are two main types of bankruptcy, "disorderly" and "orderly", and as long as they go through an "orderly" bankruptcy then a lot of these issues can get resolved over there in an orderly controlled manner.

 

In regards to the banking bailout, we have the FDIC which can take these banks into temporary receivership until they find bidders to buy up their assets. Another question, if it didn't work for Japan, why will it work for us?

 

In regards to GM, they have a very little chance at selling 16 Million vehicles by 2012. This country relies on credit extension, and you are right that there is some pent up demand, not as much as you think, but if they don't have access to credit then that will continue to be a thorn on their side.

 

You would have to believe that unemployment is going to be under 6% by 2012, and that good appreciation in banking assets such as homes, commercial realestate, credit card revenues would have risen considerably during this time period to believe that to be the case.

 

I don't see it.