<VV> em corvair audi (No corvair content)

[Tony Underwood]

At 09:01 AM 11/16/2006, Cash Case wrote:
>That would occur only if one of them was awake. I think GM is in
>serious trouble. Toyota has announced that they intent to unseat GM
>in they're ranking as a top automaker.


Toyota telegraphed this intent TEN years ago.    GM got warnings time 
and again from a variety of automotive authorities and economists 
over and over, sometimes with astonishment that GM was actually not 
only taking Toyota's bait, but also helping them build the hooks.

Hell, PBS and Frontline, NOT known for being excessively friendly to 
US Big Business, did a documentary on this topic which uncovered some 
damning details about Toyota...  questions which went unanswered by 
Toyota, and ignored by GM.   The automotive experts consulted during 
the investigation called this shot Back
When.   Nobody seemed to care...   except Toyota who claimed they'd 
been "slandered".   But they wouldn't answer any questions.

Now people say they're surprised...?    Can't believe it?    Never 
would have thought...?     Geezz, what ignorance behind GM's board 
rooms did it take?


Those of you who know me have listened to my anti-Toyota drivel on 
this for many years, sorry if my rants bore you.    But I'll not own 
a Toyota.   Give me one, and I'll sell it without ever titling 
it.   To an immigrant or a Gen-X'er who doesn't know the 
difference.   For cash.   Cheap.   He can bling it out with large 
decal script across the backlite glass that he thinks says "No Fear" 
in Japanese but it actually says Bakka Gaijin  ("Stupid Foreigner").


All the while, Toyota has step-by-step done things to insure their 
continuing success at the expense of GM, up to and including running 
a promising low/zero emissions vehicle (EV1) out of business by 
having the Japanese government subsidize 70% of the costs of the 
Prius so as to make it affordable by US Amurikins while the EV1 of 
course was no longer practical to produce since the buyers would 
flock to buy that cheaper Prius that you didn't have to recharge.

Does anybody believe that if the Prius hadn't been heavily 
subsidized, that GM would have dropped the EV1?    And what the HELL 
was GM thinking when they first called this electric hotrod "Impact"?

GM was being run by monkeys and beancounters who saw nothing but a 
bottom line and bananas.



>I can't remember what position
>GM is in, 2nd or 3rd maybe. Toyota will probably succeed only because
>they has a plan.


Same plan as from the beginning:   Bury GM.


>I'll bet GM doesn't have a coherent plan. They
>better get on the ball.

It's still not too late.   Fire the beancounters and egotistical 
bastards in the offices and hire somebody who knows cars and markets 
to run GM.   IF they'll do it... it may not be too late.



>Toyota isn't one of my favorite car makers,
>but that's just my preference. They make really good cars. GM is
>making good cars too, but Toyota makes long term plans and then
>sticks to them.

Bury GM.


>Also GM's current crop of car are just ugly. The

Beancounters.



>'vette looks good, but that's about it. I think they missed the mark
>completely with their 'HHR'

PT Cruiser wannabe that didn't pan out, so blatently obviously a copy 
that it makes you wanna smack GM in the chops for doing it in the 
first place, actually thinking that nobody would believe they didn't 
try to just copy the PT...   which was ALREADY on the downside with a 
glut of them on the roads and sales dropping.

SO, copy an already saturated design that's 
waning...?    WTF?    Then charge more for it than the item you 
copied.    THAT's smart.     (starting price PT 15.2 vs HHR 15.3)



>and what they are calling a malibu and
>the impalla are just wrong!


They're not really truly Chevrolets.    The bodies are built by...  ?


(Drum roll)

...take a friggin' guess.

And GM pays them for building them.    ??    It's almost like 
subsidized encroachment.  And it makes about as much sense.

I give up.   No new Chevy in THIS camp even if I *could* afford it.

I take some satisfaction in knowing that the car I drive to work 
every day (a Corvair) was bought with money that did NOT go to Japan 
or China, and it was built by people HERE who spent the pay earned 
building this car on stuff which help the GNP of this country and not Japan.

How many times do we have to call GM a "punk bitch" and yell "wake 
up" before anyone will listen?    I am genuinely worried about GM's 
possible collapse, or severe downsizing.   It's NOT gonna spell well 
for our economy if that happens.




tony..