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27 Comments on “Bailout Watch 478: See? This Stuff Is Funny...”
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I WISH they actually said that about the Sebring in the real report!
I WISH they actually said that about the Sebring in the real report!
Yeah, that was my favorite part…like an Edsel f**cked a Pinto!
John
Meh, maybe this is what happens when you pay a lot of attention to something and care a lot about it, but I didn’t find that bit particularly funny. Mostly because it depended on stereotypes of GM vehicles as ugly, unreliable and basically undesirable vehicles, which just isn’t true at all anymore. There are a lot of simply fantastic offerings from GM, like the CTS and Malibu and, like ’em or not, their SUVs are absolutely great.
Chrysler cars are pretty poor right now, and each offering is basically at the bottom of whatever class it competes in, with the exception of Jeep.
Still, it was a little annoying to see all the jokes based on the idea that the cars are all junk that we’re saving. Say what you will about the politics of the bailout or whatever, but there are plenty of fantastic cars coming out of GM.
Re: Jakecarolan
Last I checked, there is no humor in portraying something accurately. Well, that is except for
Anheiser?
Here.
Busch?
Here.
Bueller? Bueller?
He’s sick.
holydonut, I know just what you’re saying. I just think good comedy is that which hits a truth, and the basis of the funny in this Daily Show bit requires that GM makes crappy cars, which just ain’t true nosiree. Well, they sure make some crappy vehicles, but I’m just sayin’…
holydonut wins the Internet for his Ferris Bueller reference…
I especially liked the Obamathon Kia commercial.
The Fun Gestapo put the brakes on it. They are blocking the content to the great white north.
Well that absolutely busted the laughmeter–especially the obamathan and the, uh, mating between the Edsel and the Pinto. Thanks for finding that.
jakecarolan: Jon Stewart ripped on Washington about the Financial sector buyout a few weeks ago: they just threw money the banks way and made Detroit jump through hoops… he said “at least they build something tangible, contribute material to GDP”… He’s just cracking a common joke about automakers and lemons (it’s not just American automakers).
Sure. GM can make a good car, when they get it right. And I would not be unhappy with any SRT8 in my driveway, either.
Doesn’t matter. They are in the sh*t, we are buying their drinks now, and the Daily Show nailed ’em good. Kudos Jonny.
Jake,
don’t look a gift pony car in the mouth!
David
It is funny when things fail.
jakecarolan:
There are a lot of simply fantastic offerings from GM, like the CTS and Malibu and, like ‘em or not, their SUVs are absolutely great.
I have family at GM and want them to succeed, but let’s be realistic here. “Fantastic” is a bit of an overstatement and this is where the domestics lose credibility. They have cried wolf way too many times over the years.
Let’s go through the some of the GM line up and see the supposed ‘fantastic’ products they have:
Malibu–Competent, decent styling (int & ext), but nothing that really stands out. An OK powertrain, some cheap interior bits. In a baseball analogy, this is a solid single maybe stretched into double, but not a home run and not “fantastic” unless you’re grading on the curve. They just didn’t bring anything new to the table.
CTS–Very good interior. Expressive exterior, maybe a bit too much for some. Still a good selection. Dynamics are solid, but the car is a bit big (good and bad). I’d vote this a solid double, maybe he takes third.
Silverado–Strong, but roughly equal to F150 and even Ram. All have strengths and weaknesses. The new diesel may have been gamebreaker, but we’ll not know for a long while. Solid single, but no more.
Cruze–Vaporware until it actually launches. Cobalt is one of the weakest players in the Compact segment (ahead of only Caliber). Baseball, ground out.
Corvette–Outstanding performance buy. Great handling, but let down by a mediocre interior. Still, in this area, performance trumps almost all. Probably an ‘in the park’ homer.
Aveo–Are you kidding? Worst in segment. Whiff.
Equinox–10MY will help greatly. The outgoing model is one of the worst in segment. Maybe reaches on an error.
Still no truly competitive Compact SUV/Crossover (Equinox is too big, really a small midsize), need something smaller. Vue too fat and thirsty. Managerial error.
Tahoe–Very good despite being out of fashion. Probably a solid single.
Hybrids–Misread the market about hybrids being more of a statement than fuel savings. Mild hybrids are a whiff. Two mode system is better, but a non-starter in the market. Call them a walk. Volt, TBD.
In the end, the baseball analogy is limiting as the auto market does not allow so many quick outs. The real point is that GM has made strides, but really needs a couple of home runs rather than merely acceptable products to be “fantastic.” Overhyped models help keep the public believing that the old GM won’t/hasn’t really changed.
You have some good points, lbc_conejo, but I think your judgments don’t leave a lot of room for success. I don’t want GM to produce crazy-go-nuts Home Run cars because that can only last so long; the path to long-term success is to make reliable, comfortable, desirable models across the range. The Malibu is arguably the segment leader in the hypercompetitive midsize sedan market, which is remarkable considering the old Malibu. It makes the Camry look like a box of triscuits. No, I don’t know what I mean by that, but it makes sense to me… anyway, the CTS is great, the new Equinox has lotsa sexy, the Corvette is an American legend, the Silverado, if you consider it equal to the F150, is among the best trucks in the world, no doubt about it. Nobody builds trucks like the US automakers.
Nobody’s saying the Aveo is anything but a turd. Yuk. The subcompact hatch market is where Honda has things all wrapped up for at least the next year.
Whatever, my basic point is that there are some great, great cars offered by GM, and to say otherwise requires nitpicking and hypercriticism. You need to compare the offerings to equivalent size/price offerings, and when you do that, you see that GM has some real winners on their hands. Of course things can always get better, but if it is only considered a “single, maybe a double” when you put out a market leading vehicle in a very competitive segment, I don’t know what chance any automaker has to succeed by those metrics.
# jakecarolan :
March 31st, 2009 at 2:26 pm
Still, it was a little annoying to see all the jokes based on the idea that the cars are all junk that we’re saving.
————————————————-
If they are not junk, they don’t need to be saved. Just sell more of them and return to profitability.
# jakecarolan :
March 31st, 2009 at 5:52 pm
but if it is only considered a “single, maybe a double” when you put out a market leading vehicle in a very competitive segment, I don’t know what chance any automaker has to succeed by those metrics.
———————————————-
In recent years, Hyundai Sonata was a home run. So was Honda Fit and Infinity Infiniti G.
As for Camry/Accord, they had their home runs long ago, they can hold on to their advantage as long as their competitors don’t score.
I truly cannot think of any home runs from GM. Oh, Corvette doesn’t count because they sell in insignificant numbers.
jakecarolan :
…my basic point is that there are some great, great cars offered by GM, and to say otherwise requires nitpicking and hypercriticism.
I wasn’t trying to be hypercritical of the Malibu, but where exactly does it beat the segment leaders? It’s a very competitive product and nothing more.
Style, probably it’s best shot. Subjective certainly, but I mostly agree here. It’s much more expressive than Camry and Accord and somewhat better than Altima.
Interior space, no. The rear seat of the Malibu is much tighter than Camry or Altima and nowhere near the Accord.
MPG roughly equal to the others (not that many people buy on MPG anyway). The special model with the 6 speed AT wins by 1 city/2hwy over Camry, but the others have an old 4 speed AT and lose by similar margins.
Engine, Accord and Camry win on refinement and Accord and Altima win on output for the 4 cyl. On the V6, Malibu is last behind Camry, Accord and Altima.
Handling, better than Camry, worse than Accord and Altima.
Reliability, Good (per Consumer Reports), but right in with the competitive set.
Again, my point is that Malibu is merely competitive, not class leading. It’s this overhyping (‘great’ or ‘fantastic’) that furthers GM’s credibility problem.
Zamborgini FTW. :-)
It’s funny because it is true… (quoting Fat Tony from the Simpsons).
Really. Whats not to find funny? Whats not true? Daily show takes real news and makes it entertaining with only a slight twist on the truth, and it is easy to tell which parts are true and which are exaggerations.
I wasn’t trying to be hypercritical of the Malibu, but where exactly does it beat the segment leaders? It’s a very competitive product and nothing more.…
This statement is TRUE. Quite competent, but not stellar. If this was a Honda, it would be good enough. But GM needs a real reason for the Camcorders to give it a serious look. And that, unfortunately, the Malibu does not provide. What would help? How about a 8 year bumper to bumper warranty? This would be a game changer because the car is good enough, but its reputation is sullied by the fact that it is a GM product. Remove the risk of repairs, and I think you would snare a good amount of open minded purchasers.
Loved the comedy!! Sad, but seriously funny. Not that D2 needed that, but…
Even if it isn’t true, it’s still damn funny
Humbug! Humbug to you all! No, you all have perfectly valid points.
Sometimes I just get taken with the idea that, when you think about it, all cars are pretty fantastic. Nobody stands back to marvel at these amazing machines we make that can take us anywhere we like at breakneck speeds in relative comfort. There are many mentions that the Malibu isn’t necessarily class leading (an entirely subjective and debatable point) but, really, it’s an amazing car. That’s not to say that the other cars in the segment aren’t also amazing, but man, I just get tired of talking about how rotten every car is. Even the lowly Aveo is, in it’s own way, a glory of human ingenuity, even if it’s the worst example of it’s type it’s still ten times better (in terms of comfort, safety, reliability, etc.) than anything offered within it’s relative price range 15 years ago. Here come the stories about how your 1993 Geo Metro was a million times better and way more efficient and Aveo’s so ugly and all the other cars in it’s segment are better and bla bla bla, but I think you know what I’m getting at.
Idunno, I guess all this recent terrible news about Detroit and rightful public disgust with them and their ways of doing business has me wistful for the days when you could just love cars for what they represent instead of tearing them down for their relative failures judged against other cars. There’s a part of me that loves the product if not the business, and it’s tiresome to pick on everything all the time. But I’m not a bottom-line, “it’s a competitive market, damn the failures” businessman, I’m just a kid when it comes to this stuff.
jakecarolan, while I don’t agree with your first post about the “fantastic” GM cars (don’t get me started… and anyways others beat me to it), your last post does make an interesting (good?) point about the general goodness of cars these days.
True that there is something to be said about standing back and marveling at these machines…. which reminded me of one of the funniest bits I’ve seen recently by comedian Louis CK. Take the four minutes to see this:
The part that relates to this thread: “everyone on a plane anywhere should be going ‘WOW! I’M FLYING! THIS IS AMAZING\'”
What’s funny (and sad) is that Stewart/Colbert are single-handedly doing the entire job the pathetic MSM should be doing themselves.
Critical thinking wrapped up and delivered as comedy.
Wait. Didn’t Hyundai win “car of the year” with the Genesis?
Has anyone found a link for this that can be viewed by those north of the border? Every link I find just points back to the ComedyCentral embedded video and the same “NOT YOURS” error.
John R : Wait. Didn’t Hyundai win “car of the year” with the Genesis?
Yup… but remember – the U.S. also invented the automobile.
Kman, that’s just what I’m talking about!