Someone already posted the txt portion of this, and it's no wonder the UAW doesn't want to take concessions when exec pay is so out of whack with the fortunes (or lack thereof) of the respective companies.
(UAW) Why should I sacrifice when the (insert exec example here) is making millions? F'k that! I'm going to continue to demand fat contracts making way more money than I should be in outdated plants...nevermind the fact that the company is going under at warp 9, I'm taking what I can get for ME!
Last time I looked, Buick did not have them either (unless you consider OnStar as GPS). And you have to go to the top model to get Stability Control. That was standard on my Hyundai.
Now *there's* something the rest of the world has in common with the US! NOBODY understands Lucas electrics - hence their age old nickname "Prince of Darkness." Cheers
GM could actually keep all the brands if they knew how to make cars the peeples wanted. There problem is styling. Most GM cars are now styless, gm thinks they can compete by making all there cars look like every other bland silver metalic car on the road. When they learn that they need to begin building a car with nice contoured eye catching lines that makes the customer step back and say "that be one nice looking car". But GM doesnt get it, so hasta la vista.
GM thinks they can get away by beginning to sell rehashed Australian imports also. Those who by GM want American not Australian 4 door BMW wannabees as in the Pontiac G8.
And the funny part is that you are supposidly unamerican if you do not buy a Detriot product even if Detriot does not make it. As long as they sell it they figure is qualifies as american.
I think GM's problem is that they are making cars for their perceived target market: Rental Car companies. They don't care what the rest of us with our one-off purchases think. This comment is made a bit tongue-in-cheek, but what else explains the bland products they are making more of lately? Products only a rental car company would want.
GM's misreading of what the general public wants goes back many years. When I bought my first new car in 1990, I ended up with a Ford Taurus even though my dad was a GM employee and UAW member. Back then, GM had survey results that said their customers didn't want front passenger airbags. So they installed seat belts attached to the doors as passive restraints. I didn't want airbags, but those stupid seatbelts were even less desirable. Today: I want a mid-sized or full sized sedan with a stick shift. What is available from GM? I couldn't find anything. I bought a 2.3L Ford Fusion that I will drive until Saab brings their BioPower equipped model to North America.
Americans aren't very bright and are also all too willing to sign up to stupid counter-productive nationalism.
Whilst Americans continue to buy bad American cars just to be 'patriotic' they are actually killing the US auto industry by letting it off the hook in its domestic market and giving it an excuse not to address many fundamental issues about those same vehicles.
I wouldnt call American cars BAD, they are really just as good as any from my experience, but I admit they are ho hum plain and boring. American cars used to have attitude and thats what those who drive american want back...attitude.
Well.... US cars tend to have relatively poor fuel efficicency and are the last bastion of the likes of live rear axles and poor suspension and indifferent handling it has to be said.
How do you figure? Take a look at the ratings for domestic and foreign cars of the same size and there is little, if any, difference. People are still buying big cars, both imported and domestic.
Really? And what sort of factual evidence do you base this factual conclusion on Grahmam?
You been buzzing around in the states in a bunch of chevys and fords lately?
lemme give you my actual (as in experienced) recent results. I drove a Chevy (humoungous) Imapala recently from BH to Baltimore (450+ miles) and back and averaged over 30 mpg. This is a bohemoth sized car and I was completely astounded at the mileage.
How? My guess i sth extremely high gearing and small displacement 6 cyl engine.
My point was - - - - - - - It is not just US cars, it is all big cars. So how do you figure US cars tend to have poor fuel economy? There are some small US cars that get comparable mileage to imports.
That's only true for a few older designs that few buy. RWD police models included. OH yes those truck based SUVs also included, but they aren't cars.
Most NA cars for over a human generation have been very efficient and well built. In fact they were the first with stainless steel exhausts and body sheet metal galvanizing for lower priced cars.
I was going to respond to the previous poster's statement about only being patriotic by buying American. I find that comment about 30 years out of date. Graham's vast overgeneralization about Americans (would that be North, South or Central Americans?) that "aren't very bright" deserves comment too.
While it may be said as a joke, nobody I know still seriously considers someone un-American if they buy a Toyota or Honda who offer the two most popular models in the US, made in California and Ohio, respectively. Nor are they more patriotic if they buy a Ford (which is probably made in Mexico), GM or Chrysler (either brand likely made in Canada). The only exception to this are the comments from members of the United Auto Workers trade union, primarily in Michigan. Don't make the mistake of assuming that the stupid outcries of one special interest group in one state in the United States has any meaning or impact to the citizens of the other 49 states.
Graham, your comments about Americans are consistently based on age-old stereotypes that are obsolete. When was the last time you saw the United States, and what tiny portion did you see? Or is it just your closed mindedness that makes your perspective tiny?
They may do but the US auto makers don't pomote them much do they ? Whilst Detroit continues to lavish its attention on SUVs and muscle cars, overall fuel efficency will continue to be dismal.
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