Ford slipped to 4th place in sales last month

Guys all this comes back full circle to the opening post. Chrysler, Ford, and GM need to design and build vehicles, not just Trucks, that people want to buy again, and again. If they do, they will halt the slide of their market share, and maybe even recover some of the points they have lost. It is a fact that the cost of everything is, and will continue to rise, and the only out will be on volume...simply sell more. But if people do not see your offerings as attractive they will not buy, and simply look elsewhere. There is a lot of anger out there towards american cars, and I do believe much of that anger can be neutralized. Because despite everthing, there are also lot of people who still believe in Chrysler, Ford and GM. So how about it "Chrysler, Ford and GM" will you PLEASE give us something we can come back home to..! VB. Mercon

I agree completely. most of the stuff GM builds screams "rental car" and the few models that don't are either high-dollar cars like Caddys or specialty cars like the 'vette. And, of course, they're still trying to sell rediculously oversized SUVs and pickup trucks when everyone knows that small cars are going to be the wave of the future (at least to anyone who cares about the environment and/or lives in a city where space is at a premium.) Back in the late 60's and early 70's GM built cars that didn't feel cheap or fall apart after 50K miles and that is why they sold so many. I'd gladly trade my company Impala for my dad's old '67 Cutlass any day of the week, and never look back. Can't I just please have the option of a small to mid-sized RWD American coupe/sedan that is practical enough for work/family and yet still has good handling, decent power, feels solid, and is trimmed in materials that don't scream "low bid" for a price that real Americans can afford?

nate

I bought a new car last September. My goal was not to buy or not buy American, my number 1 priority was to buy what I thought was the best vehicle for me, to fill my needs. Country of origin was not a consideration.

I looked at and test drove a few American cars, mostly GM. They did not satisfy me, so I went elsewhere. I truly hope that the US car makers do make some radical changes in their offerings. If so, I'll be back. Meantime, I did at least put some US employees to work assembling my car here.

Ford Falcon?

Why can't we have those here?

Ford Ka (another car that should be here), so on...

X-mas puzzle

Is there life after X-mas ask GM and FORD

What is N?

"Good N may be brighter than silly girls that love their little dogs far more than men Modern studies have revealed such interesting facets of the N's mental capacities that a female professor of education in this country linked it to the history of women and woman's liberation. And just to be very clear about it: soundness and decency is not to be barred from women at all. The solid facts in a recent presentation are that chimpanzees share 98% or 99% of their genes with us humans. Now, as the French say, vive la difference. The N too is quite close to the the human. Even though professor Stanley Curtis has the N as number two among intelligent beings on the planet, others place them fourth, after humans, primates (apes and monkeys), dolphins and other whales. It could be number three or four, but what would it matter in the over-all picture? The N is intelligent, very sensitive, and is treated to his damage all year long in most countries. That is because of its usefulness to man and woman, or a certain lack of compassion in humans - which amounts to the same. The highest is to let Ns be pNs, and thus free. The second highest is to strive for good habitats and rights. Speaking of use and very likely abuse: The N, the sweet and sensitive, has organs that may be transplanted to humans, the size and build-up (morphology) of its intestine organs come close to those of humans, the skin may look a bit like human skin at a distance, and so on. The N is a clean and odorless, but of value - but without being made a pet and household member, even though it may well be as bright as a watchdog. Today many welcome the N in the house apart from on the dinner table, for there are a few things to learn from it, including that an intact male (not neutered male) has a strong, foul odor and becomes sexually active when he is six to eight. That's rather early! Another thing to learn is that Ns can "stress out" rather easily. The gist of it is that by letting Ns be Ns in N habitats, no great problems need to occur. That would be good for many home-owners and Ns. "Live and let live" requires such tact." Is there life after x-mas ask GM and FORD

Does that mean you actually believe the government can provide you with free, or ever lower cost, health car ? If you do the group IQ just dropped

mike

Why then do so many Americans buy cars like the Camry that sell for much more, yet the employees in their US plants receive an average of $14 an hour less in wages and benefits and their foreign employees even less? LOL

mike

Actually GM sells more cars than any other manufacture, somebody must like the cars they have for sale. LOL

mike

If you bought a Jap car all the profits went to Japan tax free.

mike

Probably because they are willing to pay for a car that has a better reputation for quality and better dealer service behind it. This is not rocket science. If GM wants to be competitive they need to develop their own reputation, and come out with some more appealing products, not simply by cutting costs (although it appears that they will have to do that as well.)

nate

Mike Hunter wrote:

You forgot to say in my opinion. Those millions of folks that bought all of those GM cars in 2006 obviously do not believe as you do, or they would not have purchased them. As for me personally, I wonder where are all these so called inferior cars? I have not had a bad car, foreign or domestic, in more than twenty five years. From what I see all manufactures are building good reliable stuff today. The only real difference among them is style and price ;)

mike

And the opinion of much of the public.

And the millions of folks that bought non-GM cars apparently agree with me.

There's one sitting outside my office right now. $23K sticker and it looks like a rental car.

Then you're not very discriminating. The difference in driving experience between an American car (even when brand new) and a comparably priced German or Japanese car is very pronounced.

Then you're not very discriminating. The number of rattles, clunks, and other bad noises emanating from my "good, reliable" GM car is rather alarming at only 30K miles. Had I bought it with my own money I'd be royally pissed. Not to mention the simple design and/or construction glitches like the parking brake that makes you catch your shoe on the kick panel to release it (and doesn't work anymore anyway,) the wipers that run off the edge of the windshield, and the poorly designed doors that not only make egress difficult but have a perturbing tendency to swing shut on you while you're attempting to get out of the car. Oh, and the "keyless entry" that requires that you push the "unlock" button 4-5 times to unlock the doors, despite the fact that the lights flashed the first two times you pushed the button, therefore whatever little receiver was supposed to receive the signal obviously received it. (especially fun when you're in a hurry and it's raining.) Oh, and the ridiculously low ground clearance which means that I can't park it in my driveway without entering it at a 45 degree angle, even though my Porsche 944 and the girlie's LOWERED VW Corrado make it up there just fine.

And quality, performance, handling, and reliability, and the service you get from the dealer.

Even if price were the only factor, I'd still buy foreign, as Hyundai kicks GM's ass in value for the money.

nate

At least you are stating your opinion, not presenting it as fact. Americans still buy more domestics than imports. As for my current 2007 sporty domestic convertible, I would have to had spend at least $8,000 more for ANY foreign car that can perform nearly as well. As for my current 2006 luxury sedan, it is just as good as the foreign sedan I formally owned, that would have cost me $15,000 more to drive home in 2006 had I bought another. As they say, its your money send it where you wish.

mike

I had one truly miserable one; a 1984 Dodge 600ES (same as LeBaron) with the Mitsubishi power train. If I hadn't done all except the warranty repairs myself it would easily have cost as much to repair in the 6 years or so we had it than we paid for it originally. Stupid things, like the intermittent lighting (interior and brake lights) short that turned out to be a wire banging around inside the front passenger door and shorting to a sharp edge. Design things, like the Infamous Mikuni Carburetor or the A/C compressor bracket with the bolt that can't be seen, only felt. I unloaded it when the timing chain needed changing because it was chewing on the cover, but the first step was "remove engine from car to access cover" and the last step was "reinstall engine, using special jig to prevent destruction of torque converter."

Mike

Well, we do pay less in Canada! Each province has it's own medical plan, governed by the Canada Health Act. There is an economy of scale, when millions of people pay into it, and it is run as near to break even as is practical.

Here are the monthly premiums from the BC MSP webpage:

MSP Premiums

In B.C., premiums are payable for MSP coverage and are based on family size and income. The monthly rates are:

$54 for one person $96 for a family of two $108 for a family of three or more

Steve R.

You are referring to a vehicle, built 23 years ago. There will always be individual vehicles that will have a problem. The rate of those the do have problems today is just a bit over 1%. Considering around 17,000,000 new vehicles are sold annually in the US that is one hellava lot of good new vehicles on the road every year . The vehicles on the market today are technologically far super in every way to vehicles built even just five years ago. Given the proper preventive maintenance, even econboxes are easily running 200K or more today, trouble free and it makes no difference whose brand is on the grill. ;)

mike

That's IF you can find a Doctor. In the US our Doctors must first find an Attorney and an insurance company that is willing take his coverage. ;)

mike

I am in Canada. ;-)

Proving that most people are sheep, as they are with USA Federal elections and Win PC purchases.