GM’s Board of Bystanders spent a good part of their Sunday reviewing their Chairman (and CEO’s) DC-bound turnaround plan. According to Bloomberg, Rick Wagoner’s new new new new new new new turnaround plan takes two forms: a 10- to 12-page public document and a “private, more detailed plan of about 80 pages with background material.” If the existence of a “private plan” to spend an estimated $12b of your tax money isn’t enough of an outrage– and I’m thinking it is– then ask yourself this: why is this plan different from all other plans? “The largest U.S. automaker also may ask to delay a $7 billion payment to a union retiree health fund, drop more brands and rework an accord with GMAC LLC to prove it can survive and repay the government, said the people, who asked not to be named because details haven’t been presented to Congress.” Don’t you just love fictional anonymous sources who always seem to state what common sense and pundits have already proclaimed? Neither do we. Anyway, as we’ve discussed umpteen times, the UAW’s Mother of All Health Care Plans was a non-starter before it started. GM can’t close brands willy-nilly; the lawsuits would make Oldsmobile’s termination look like a bris. And reworking an Accord is something GM should have done in 1976, not an escape clause fashioned by a terminally ill GMAC. Other than that, they’re good to go. C11. But shhh. Don’t tell that to GM’s Board. They’re thinking they’d better think it out again tomorrow.
Find Reviews by Make:
Read all comments
there is a way.
Return to Greatness
I still think Red Ink Rick will continue to deny the proper channel of Chapter 11 until the bitter end. I’m guessing his golden parachute will be much more profitable if he is ousted as opposed to resigning…
But red-ink Rick said he does not have a golden chute! I saw that video. I saw his lips move when he said it.
Actually, it depends on the meaning of the phrase “golden chute.” If by “golden chute” you mean greater than $1 billion, then the answer is no, he does not have a “golden chute.”
Also, it depends on the context that the phrase is used. It is very likely people will take his comments out of context. He may even remind us that interviews with journalists do not count for anything, since interviews are not conducted under oath. The board of bystanders may even fudge the dates on the paperwork, affording Rick past deniability. There could be many reasons for people misconstruing what he said.
Just say’n.
As far as I can tell, Detroit’s Return to Greatness plan so far involves the Mustang, the Challenger and the Camaro, three of the stupidest cars I can think of. Yes, I know, two percent of the potential automotive market, including a lot of 14-year-olds, think they’re more fun than tits, but is that a plan?
Please don’t tell me V8s 4 ever or anything like that, it’s just stupid.
If Congress doesn’t want to give the car companies the $25B, how about giving them permission to pick through the dumpsters out back of the HQ of various banks like Citi, BoA, Wells Fargo, etc.
As far as I can tell, Detroit’s Return to Greatness plan so far involves the Mustang, the Challenger and the Camaro, three of the stupidest cars I can think of. Yes, I know, two percent of the potential automotive market, including a lot of 14-year-olds, think they’re more fun than tits, but is that a plan?
Please don’t tell me V8s 4 ever or anything like that, it’s just stupid.
C’mon, you don’t eat fetuses, curb-stomp puppies and give the finger to baby seals, do you? You gotta have a little passion in your lineup, you know…
Aaa-aaaaaa, aa-aaaaaa,
All the things I could do,
If I’d have a little money
In a rich man’s world!
I know what the BOD does on Sundays. Drinking bourbon for all of us.
GM’s continued insistance of “we are viable if we can pretend our debt doesn’t exist, we don’t have to pay our VEBA obligations, and auto sales return to 17M units per year” is getting a little tiresome. I’m half expecting their “plan” to include sprinkling unicorn poop on their balance sheet…………
TexN: who gave you a copy of the plan? That unicorn poop idea was eyes-only BOD.
Signed,
Red Ink Rick.
You gotta have a little passion in your lineup, you know…
What I think Stephan meant was that those cars are more for puffing up your brand and satiating the relatively small percentage of pistonhead consumers, not for keeping a company alive. Basic Bimbo-boxes keep them afloat, trucks, sedans, minivans — that sort of thing. In that respect, GM and Chrysler have no tangible plans or concept of how to be successful.
maniceightball,
I don’t know the Challenger’s sales numbers, or if GM is still targeting 100K Camaros per year, but I do know that the Mustang has always sold at least 100K units per year for the past decade or so. The MY2009 Stang is probably going to be a slow seller- I hear that production is being capped at 50K units or something like that- but I’m assuming that Ford wants to start producing MY2010 Mustangs ASAP. So, they sell well enough for Ford to warrant continued production…
Yes, I’m sure the Mustang sells well, but it just strikes me as odd that in this day and age, most of what we seem to be hearing about are these three latter-day pony/muscle cars, and it seems to be symptomatic of Detroit’s lack of vision. All they can see is The Past.
And we do need to be aware that the gearhead market is indeed tiny.
From Ford I’m hearing about a revamped Fusion with better performance AND fuel economy, and an upgraded interior.
I’m also hearing about the upcoming Fiesta, an all-new Focus based on the next-generation European model and a completely restyled Taurus.
That sounds like a plan to me…