imported_Italia311

Nah, I agree with u man, CAW is trash.

If I was GM, I would chop half the cars on production. I dont understand why they have so many cars. Most of them are the same!!! you only need one of each!! lol...Time to rebuild the company...geez.

Honda and Toyota aren't in CAW are they?? Besides, they're fairly new to north america (factory wise) so they aren't even close as far as retired people go. They'll learn from GM's mistakes and capitalize even more :P

SteveZ

lol, that was by far one of the worst anti-gm statments ive ever heard. its an emblem, honda has an h in a box, what so classy and expensive about that?

but anyways, im not gettin into a big thing here cause its like talking to a wall, but why is it youd discuss only the bad about domestics, yet only the good about imports? its funny cause when i see old domestics on the road, the exterior looks decent with only some paint faded. when i see the old civics and accords like one of you have mentioned, the exterior is rust with a few painted spots, and some of them even have a lot of rattles that you can hear when driving beside them. maybe its just me (and it probably is because there may be a handful of actual car enthusiasts here and not just honda fanboys) that can appreciate that its not just domestics but imports aswell that have there share of problems and imports (namely japanese) cars are not gods gift to the automobile industry.

imported_Italia311

Hhaha

Hands down, the 06 z06 vette is 10x better then any car ever made by honda...if ya wanna bring it to that level.

What do you expect though Steve Z, its a honda FORUM. I've owned a jbody, my civic is 10x better.

t_dot_porkchop

let the truth be told!

mattharper

its not 100% that plant 2 is going to shut down, there just isnt any plans to build any product on that line for 2008right now, thier plan is to revamp the body shop so that 6 diff vehicles can be made on the same line/chassis.

DumbasSi

I remember reading that one of the problems the Big 3 have is with the huge amounts of money they pay out in retirement, benefits and huge salaries to executives.

imported_Solid_turk

Correct me if im wrong but all of your are sayin the top 3 ford, gm , and chrysler but if im mistaken i heard that Honda has now taken over one of those spots and is one of the top 3... and i seriously predict that GM will go bankrupt within 10 years unless they seriously do some work to the company and come up with better products and ideas for their vehicle line up... i think the only thing i would buy from gm would be the trail blazer and the vette and you all say that their quality has improved in the last years.. i dunno my rents owned a 91 astro and now a 98 astro IMO the older one was 100% better than the newer one and i still see the older one rolling around and they look great and run great

imported_gatherer

No, it's Toyota thats one of the big 3 world wide.... however the big 3 ussually refer to Ford Gm and Chrysler ...

anyways Honda is non unionized and I think when it's employees see what is happening at GM they will never unionize.

When someone that places a bolt on a car make more then I do a year I have to start wondering....

imported_Solid_turk

thats sooo true ... and i had a feeling that it was toyota thx alot

imported_Solid_turk

srry a little off topic... but whats the difference between the toyota cavalier and the chevy cavalier ... did they change anything with the jdm cavalier!?

imported_Italia311

I don't think Toyota and Honda have unions, seriously. Which, I think is a good thing.

The big 3 world wide are GM, Toyota and Ford, in that order. I think hond ais like 5 or 6.

GM needs to downsize huge, and need to do it fast. Along with laying off employees they need to cut out half the cars they make. They don't need that many cars. Start over. They should declare bankrupt just so they could get the **** out of that union. Its killing them.

imported_gatherer

in regards to this list would GM really be missing any vehicles if they pared it down too:

Chevy -Trucks only
GMC -Vans only
Saturn - passenger cars only
Cadillac - high end passenger cars.

Buicks are a wierd cars, when you speak the name you think of a car left over from the 80s they should go, they have no image... Pontiac when compared to Saturn doesn't have the reliability... (Saturn is more reliable IMO) Cadillac has a great name out there and Saab is in the same high end market so get rid of one.

you could sell all models at one Dealership called GM. The brands for trucks and vans should stay because they are well known under those brands a possible change would be to get rid of Chevy and just call them GMC trucks so you have GMC trucks and vans...

that would reduce overhead greatly.. you get to clear house on the offices of those companies you no longer need. thereby reduceing size and streamlining.

if you go any where in the world the car companies are known under one brand. in North america most have a "economy" brand and a High end brand. the north American car companies however have a billion brands and that creates issues with overhead.

imported_Italia311

GMC - Trucks only
Combine Chevy and Pontiac Cars
Keep saturn (they have a hybrid comin out)
Caddy keep...
Keep Saab in Europe...

czeto

Don't feel guilty man! They are your dollars to spend how yow you see fit, and if it comes down to buying a quality auto, then so be it.

imported_viper_2_4

I'd do the same, ditch buick and merge chevy and pontiac, keep saturn, keep caddy.....and sell Saab...

czeto

I saw on the news lastnight that its the union that is screwing GM. Whenever the union contract expires, CAW/UAW chooses one of the big three to submit their proposal, so the union is only bargaining with one company. So essentially what works for Ford, does not necessarily work for GM.
edit: big three=NA auto makers

imported_Italia311

Yeah its so true man. I mentioned that on page 2. I was fallowing that deal cause of my labour studies class. CAW is screwing GM. The size of the company that GM is, they should be making their own deals. NOt to say GM is king, but, they're so much different, just like any car company is.

Oh and if GM does go bankrupt, who here is going to buy a Toyota Corvette... lol

imported_gatherer

Slow down Guys .. when CAW contracts with the big 3 come up for renewal CAW does choose which company they will speak with first but that doesn't mean the other 2 companies don't get a say in their own contracts...

what happens is CAW get s a contract with Company A and then Demands the same thing from company B and C saying if Company A can afford it why can't you? With car sales in the past little while being so good, and most of the big 3 moving to more On demand inventory systems (meaning less inventory on hand) they ussually avoided walk off by giving CAW what the first company gave just to keep the ball rolling.. look at Delpha group and how after GM cut them lose they said to the union well it's renewal time we'll offer 1/6th of what your making or we will declare bankrupcy and lock the doors for good.. the union eventually caved (Although that company is still in bankruptcy protection)

now with Times becoming tough for GM, you can bet that what other auto makers give their employees might not be what GM gives... GM most likely is prepared to weather a large strike. if GM can get enough product out to the dealership network so that it's not sitting in the factory lots then when the strike happens GM can just not pay wages and still collect from sales giving it a much better bottom line for that quarter... it's been shown int he past that the employees ussually cave before the company..

are Scab workers still allowed? if so then GM can really weather the storm by paying them peanuts.

stock94block

You have suggested nothing GM can do to improve their predicament, just gave everyone the same old "why your import isnt so great speech." The reason GM cars are considered throw aways is because they cut production costs down in the early 1990's to save money. In turn it damaged the quality of the car, MECHANICALLY. People bought these cars, drove them and found out they dont run too well, the engine requires frequent service or have trouble breaking the 200,000km barrier, and on top of it the re-sale value is minimal. Surprise surprise, people talk to each others about cars and most have complaints about their GM automobile, and today market has now shifted towards japanese cars.

To make you happy I will tell you what sucks about my honda. Rear quarter rust has started and is typical, no fancy options, uncomfortable interior, tiny motor...why do i praise it? because the car is mechanically sound, parts last a long time...i give it a beating and it takes it.

I dont feel bad for not buying a domestic car. Make a quality product and prove it can last over the years. I will then reconsider. I know a lot of people that work at the GM plant, some dropped school to start working there because its a high paying job with a promising future (at the time), i feel sorry for these people that may now be out of work shortly.

t_dot_porkchop

its just part of the business cycle....adaptable businesses survive, old methods die out. in the free market, people decide with their $.

just because the BIG 3 are BIG, does not make them impervious to exinction.

also, a lot of these companies are no longer "domestic." i think it was daimler last year that made more money/profit from currency swaps than from selling cars.