Fair and… mentally balanced? I'm not so sure. But one thing is certain: there's a new spinmeister in town. Speaking with Automotive News [sub], GM Chief Financial Officer Ray Young whirled a mean dervish. "There are reports that we were in crisis," Young said, confusing his tenses. "That's far from the truth. We run a dynamic planning process here, so we're constantly feeling the market. We have a certain view of the United States economy and a view of the oil prices. After the month of June, our assessment of the U.S economy made us realize there's a lot more risk in this economy than we thought initially." D'oh! And then scribe Jamie "I Ain't No Stinkin' Lap Dog" Lareau asks "Will this plan save the corporation?" Whoa, Dude! Or, as Young says, "It's going to allow us to handle a very conservative set of industry assumptions, a very conservative set of mixed assumptions and provide ample liquidity through 2009. We're still working through 2010 plans. To me that's still too far away." If only Toyota thought so short term. Anyway, Young says bankruptcy is "not in the cards" and Car Czar Bob Lutz is playing with a full deck [kidding]. Also, the Beancounter has not been asked to price-up the cost of a brand termination. "I keep on reminding our organization that cash is king. I'm not sure what it would cost to eliminate a channel, but when we closed Oldsmobile that cost $1 billion. That's a lot of money."
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Every fibre of my being, everything I know implicitly and explicitly about the workings of GM, tells me I shouldn’t be surprised that this is the attitude emanating from RenCen 24/7. But all the same, your jaw drops when it parades itself, nakedly and unabashedly, in the harsh light of day.
Cash is king.
Three word summary of the problem.
“There are reports that we were in crisis,” Young said, confusing his tenses. “That’s far from the truth.”
Nice to see GM has matters well in hand. Nothing to see here, folks, move along.
Maybe they should try a deck of Tarot cards, or a Ouija board
Maybe they should try a deck of Tarot cards, or a Ouija board
and stay away from the liqor cabinet!
I keep on reminding our organization that cash is king.
Versus quality, product, the customer. Now I wonder why they can’t sell any cars?
Young: There are reports that we were in crisis. That’s far from the truth.
Lareau: Will this plan save the corporation?
These guys should have rehearsed this better. If there (is? was?) no crisis, why does the corporation need to be saved?
…I’m not sure what it would cost to eliminate a channel, but when we closed Oldsmobile that cost $1 billion. That’s a lot of money.”
It is when you have to borrow to keep the lights on.
Of course GM’s execs will claim that there is no crisis. They’ll do anything to avoid being held accountable for the situation they have wrought.
Perhaps Mr. Young’s choice of tenses is correct. “Were [past tense] in crisis”. “That’s far from the truth [present tense]”; i.e. we were not in a crisis back then, but the truth is, we sure as hell are now.
Why is this man smiling, could it be the cool, little toy cars they gave him. He really should be worried about job security or a federal indictment ala Enron when the ship sinks and GM has mislead investors on the security of the company.
Baghdad Bob would be truly embarrassed at this man’s skill of obsfucation of reality.
http://www.welovetheiraqiinformationminister.com/
Can we assume the Chinese guy with the car models on his desk is Ray Young? I’m really not that intimately familiar with Detroit–or any–CFOs. The photo identifier says something about Brazil, so that’s no help…
LOL, GM execs don’t care. They are getting paid handsomely regardless of GM financial health.
RW and the “boys” get 10x plus what Watanabe gets at Toyota.
Yet, are GM products 10x better than Toyota’s????
I think not.
Perhaps Mr. Young’s choice of tenses is correct. “Were [past tense] in crisis”. “That’s far from the truth [present tense]“; i.e. we were not in a crisis back then, but the truth is, we sure as hell are now.
Mud-slinging at this level is a bit juvenile. Ever notice that the spelling/grammar nazis are never the most popular guys on the forums? Stick with attacking the stuff that his proofreader couldn’t fix, i.e. overall cluelessness.
Can we assume the Chinese guy with the car models on his desk is Ray Young? I’m really not that intimately familiar with Detroit–or any–CFOs. The photo identifier says something about Brazil, so that’s no help…
Possibly. Lots of Chinese people in Brazil, surprised me too when I ran into a Chinese dude who was fluent in Portuguese.
The little toy cars remind me of “Dark Helmet” getting caught playing with his action figures in the movie Spaceballs.
Helmet: Did you see anything?
Colonel Sanders: No sir! I didn’t see you playing with your dolls again!
It’s a misunderstanding. The “we” he’s referring to is the execs, and he’s right. “They” don’t have any problem at all. As for the poor bastards whose lives have been or will be wrecked, yeah, they’re in a crisis. Ditto for the people who make and deliver the seats, headliners, tires, etc. I wonder if Wagoner ever thinks about it.
“I keep on reminding our organization that cash is king”
So tell us again why you just spent a pile of it on Michigan real estate?
I worked on contract for GM for years. Laziest bunch of engineers you could imagine. They had some good ones who did about 99 percent of the work and the rest were great at making bad decisions.
The chickens come home to roost.
Just so we’re clear on all this, Toyota despite all their success is operating as if they are in a crisis, yet according to GM they are “far from” a crisis?
“Ah, wonderful! Fresh ice. Anyone care for a Polar Bear on the Rocks?”
Its the idea of “I dont care” attitude of GM executives that really tells the Truth of this whole sordid mess, what they said yesterday via the Chief Mouthpiece is what they said Six weeks ago, they just keep cutting and cutting, eventually there will be nothing left to cut!