In case you hadn’t noticed, I hate weasel words. If GM needs federal money to stay afloat, GM CEO Rick Wagoner should say it. Of course, that would open GM’s top suit, and all his fellow suitlings, to the long-delayed reckoning (a.k.a. a root and branch reform and anvil-shaped clock cleaning). So what we get is a hideously overpaid chief executive that’s willing to play rhetorical footsie in a [Bill] Cinton-esque style to secure an initial $25b your hard-earned tax money– without strings attached. “General Motors CEO Rick Wagoner said today that limits on use of low-interest government loans should be loosened,” Automotive News [AN, sub] reports from Rick’s testimony at a “so-called” [AN’s term] energy summit. “He called his recommendation ‘an amplification of terms’ rather than loosening. But he contended that a project that leads to production of vehicles with 10, 15 or 20 percent better fuel economy should qualify for federal loans.” Wagoner, who largely avoided talking about the loans, and didn’t mention either “b” word, didn’t get a completely free ride. “Sen. Bill Nelson, D-Fla., chastised Wagoner for the auto industry always fighting fuel economy standards and predicted companies will be back next year for a financial rescue.” Ya think? Meanwhile, “A Toyota lobbyist walking nearby was asked what he says if a lawmaker asks about loan funding, and he said, ‘We’re staying out of it.'”
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First we get ‘dimensioning‘, now we get ‘an amplification of terms’…I’d be a lot more sympathetic to these people if they’d stop spouting drivel. Then again, he is grossly overpaid and not doing a good job, so maybe he feels somewhat sheepish about coming right out and say ‘give us a handout’. Nah.
And this from the DetN:
Wagoner rejected suggestions that GM caused its own woes by focusing too much on trucks and SUVs. “I think’s it silly to say we should be punished for having done the best trucks,” he said. “All manufacturers have been hit by this radical change in the marketplace.” He also reminded Congress that GM has provided significant benefits for U.S. workers. “We’ve spent $103 billion over the last 15 years paying for pension and health care,” he said.
Oh brother.
The fact that Toyota doesn’t have their hands out is telling; Toyota needs domestics as a “comparison point” for their vehicles; if they can keep the big 2-point-whatever as “whipping boys”, even ToMoCo’s occasional dips in quality don’t stand out as much. Without the domestics, Toyota would have to compare themselves to other players (notably Hyundai), who are on rapid improvement arcs.
I can’t blame GM for having Plan A as “cash in on big trucks and SUVs”. What is absolutely unforgivable is not having a viable Plan B. It makes me furious that over the last 30 years they have collectively squandered a dominant market position AND THEY STILL DON’T GET IT!
AND THEY STILL DON’T GET IT!
Is this even possible? I mean, no matter how damn dumb or lazy or fat and happy, how can they not get it? I can believe Lutz actually believes at least some of the bullshit he spouts, but he changes his tunes so often that things kind of average out. To zero. So ignore him. I just have to believe they do understand the very simple truth, but don’t have to change so they don’t. Wagoner et al. are set for life so why break a sweat; more importantly, why acknowledge they were ever wrong?
Maybe there’s a sliver of hope this bailout won’t happen in time. If congress can screw around a few more weeks, the heat will be off, and GM at least should be toast and we can put our wallets back in our pockets. I don’t want to see workers suffer, but this bailout would give GM just a few more months before the reckoning anyway.
So now GM is equating “no bailout” with “punishing the Big 3”. Huh?
What was ‘silly’ is leveraging your product portfolio so heavily that, unless a very specific set of market conditions persisted (truck heavy, fleet heavy, ever increasing year over year volume), you would be in the red.
Companies SHOULD be designed to make money regardless of market conditions – making more when the market is ‘favorable’ and less when it is not favorable. For instance, Toyota isn’t losing money…they are simply making less profit(I love the DetNews/Freep articles about their ‘plunging’ profits).
Saying that all manufacturers have been hit by the shift is at best disingenuous, at worst dishonest. But then again I guess I could say that about several statements coming out of the Ren Cen for the last couple years.
“General Motors Corp., the world’s biggest automaker, has scrapped plans to build a new generation of small cars at a plant in Ingersoll, Ontario, and said it may delay a family of related models as it focuses on truck production. ”
Seattle Post Intelligencer, June 18, 1999 http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-64101373.html
Back in June of 1999, GM was crowing to the financial press about it’s monster truck profit margins. GM intentionally bailed out of the efficient car business. Caught by surprise my ***.
@Mel23
I really think Detroit execs don’t get it because they genuinely believe it isn’t their fault. It isn’t their fault that gas went to $4/gal. It isn’t their fault that the Asians started making better cars. It isn’t their fault that credit is so tight Americans can no longer afford 7 year loans on vehicles they can’t afford. It isn’t their fault that Americans don’t believe their reliability has improved. Et cetera, et cetera, et cetera.
And since it isn’t their fault, they can’t commit to the changes they need to make.
A more disreputable management team does not exist. These guys are completely insufferable. I will NEVER buy a GM vehicle unless the entire executive squad gets flushed. Even then, it will take time and some damn good product.
I have a new advertising slogan for the Big 3:
“Bye American”.
;)
Long live Rabid Rick!
It’s just so funny. GM should keep him on as official clown or something.
Already there is much too much waste in this world…letting this bailout through would be the biggest waste of money in a long time. And remember, it won’t be easy trying to get any of it back!