R.I.P. General Motors (1931-2006)

Jeff,
good point.
Jason

 

Please stop top posting. It makes it nearly impossible to follow the thread.

Please use punctuation. Like a period between "not and an." Capital letters
would help, too.

How do you know a Honda will not tow 10,000 lb? It is rated to tow 5,000 lb.
And it combined weight of about 9500 lbs is similar to Ford's rating.

I would be very surprised if a Honda Ridgeline could not tow 10,000 lb. I
would not recommend towing 10,000 lb with a Ridgeline or a F150.

Jeff

 

Hudson did. They became part of AMC. AMC became part of Chyrsler, which
became part of DC.

Oldsmobile, Stutz, Studebacker, Willeys (became part of AMC), Stanley
Steamer, Packard, Delorean and many others.

 

Honestly?

I have NO idea whatsoever.

 

I think the question was regarding the RECENT performance of the
company and stock shares.

 

I'm not sure what would make you think that. Jason makes the
assumption that GM's loses will continue at the same rate as they
recently have. I think the problems are about to get worse. GM has
recently sold off the most lucrative portions of its business to
gains some cash reserves. Although I agree they needed to do that,
it does not look good for making more money anytime soon after
selling off the money-makers.

 

Did every car manufacturer own a large piece of Hertz or Avis? No,
that was Ford and Chevy.

 

I must admit, you utterly confused me with this one.

 

Excellent analysis. When Mike says GM stock is/has done well, one
would need to ask, "Compared to what?"

 

And Ford sold off Hertz because they need the cash.

Jeff

 

I have to agree with Mike Hunter on this one. I am don't know the laws of
the fifty states, but there are franchise laws that state this. I think they
are different for each state, but I am not sure.

Jeff

 

Yup.

 

They are also doing other steps to save money. However, with their legacy
costs (healthy care and pension for retired workers) and their union
contracts, they have quite a problem that won't be easy to work out.

Jeff

 

I might agree with him too if I could figure out what he said.

 

The auto dealer franchise laws prevent the manufacturer from competing with
dealerships so fleet sales are all delivered through dealerships. That
said, there are some exceptions in some states like MA and CA where the
manufacturer can sell some vehicles directly to employees and qualified
vendors. In other states like Illinois, automakers cannot do a retail
delivery even to an employee and so employee purchases must go through a
dealership.

 

Now I understand why there almost all of the cars on the Avis rental
lot were cars made Ford and Chevy.

 

Jeff,
I agree with you. I believe the health care costs and pensions of the
retired workers will keep any foreign car companies from buying GM. Do you
agree or disagree with me?
Jason

 

Just as an example - if you own the number one SUV, the Explorer, you cannot
rent a trailer from U-Haul. They refuse to let their trailers be hauled by
Explorers due to the number of crashes and lawsuits. Best selling does not
mean the best. Also, many sales figures for domestic models are padded by
fleet sales - some as many as 60% of sales (Ford F150).

 

I agree.

However, I don't see why another company couldn't buy parts of GM and leave
the pension and healthcare costs to GM. For example, a different company
could buy say Hummer or Saab and leave GM stuck with pensions and health
care costs.

Alternatively, GM could do what the airlines have done and declare
bancruptcy, and shift the cost of the pension to a government agency and
dump the health care altogether.

GM has said it won't do that, but in a few years, they might not have a
choice.

Jeff

 

When I rented a car from Hertz a few years ago, it was a GM car. I was
wondering why they would rent me a GM car instead of a Ford. If I really
liked the car, I would have bought it instead of the Ford. Last two times I
rented from Hertz, this year and last summer, I got a Subaru and Saturn SUV.
They were both good vehicles. I could see myself buying either one.

Jeff