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I can't watch the collapse of the American car companies anymore. It is just too painful. The following article talks about GM possibly eliminating Buick or Pontiac. The writer refers to GM as the Titanic. This is unfortunate. If the public perceives a brand is failing, it will fail. A similar situation has been going on at Ford with the Mercury brand. The Lincoln brand is also rudderless.
I wish Ford and GM would hire some people to manage the companies who actually love and understand cars, instead of just hiring bean-counters and self-absorbed designers.
I am available for employment.
Troubled GM May Kill One of Its Brands
1 hour, 7 minutes ago Business - Reuters
DETROIT (Reuters) - General Motors Corp., which issued a shock profit warning last week and has been losing market share, may phase out one of its weaker car brands if sales fail to meet projections, company Vice Chairman Bob Lutz said on Wednesday.
GM's Buick and Pontiac are both "damaged brands" due to lack of investment over the years, and GM is working to correct that with an array of new vehicles coming to market, Lutz told a Morgan Stanley automotive conference in New York.
But if some of its brands fail to meet sales projections, "then we would have to take a look at a phase-out. I hope we don't have to do that. What we've got to do is keep the brands we've got."
Financial analysts have said for years that the world's largest automaker has too many brands to support, even with the gradual phase-out of the Oldsmobile brand a few years ago, particularly with its weaker U.S. sales.
Sales for both Pontiac and Buick have lagged in recent years. But GM is in the midst of a $3 billion investment in new vehicles for Buick and Pontiac showrooms, and they will have four new vehicles this year, including the Solstice roadster, Torrent SUV and the G6 mid-size coupe.
GM, which last week cut its earnings outlook for 2005 by as much as 80 percent, posted a 6 percent drop in U.S. sales for the first two months of the year. GM's U.S. market share fell to about 25 percent, far below its share of 27.5 percent for all of 2004.
Analysts said last week that GM's March sales could fall as much as 10 percent, while foreign automakers such as Toyota Motor Corp. (news - web sites), Hyundai Motor Co. Ltd. and Nissan Motor Co. Ltd. would continue to gain U.S. market share.
Lutz said GM will post relatively flat U.S. sales for March, however, performing much better than expected.
"I think we're going to be just about even, our best guess at this point. Either a percent over or a percent under," he said. "It is a substantially better month than January or February, and it looks like the whole industry is up."
'A HUGE ALBATROSS'
No details about an expected restructuring at GM, the largest private U.S. provider of health care benefits, have emerged since it roiled markets with its warning last week.
But the company, which has about $300 billion in outstanding debt, said on Wednesday it was in talks to sell a stake in its GMAC Commercial Mortgage unit after potential investors expressed interest in the unit.
And Lutz and Gary Cowger, GM's president for North America, spoke of possible demands for a cut in mounting health care benefits for the company's hourly union employees in remarks on the sidelines of the New York auto show on Wednesday.
An elimination of any one of GM's brands would likely mean plant closings and a shrinking of GM's hourly work force.
"An across-the-board competitive health care plan for salaried and hourly employees could literally save us billions," Cowger said. Health care costs, added Lutz, are "a huge albatross hanging over American industry today."
Lutz particularly acknowledged the automaker, which will struggle to make a profit this year, faces challenges. But he said GM was "taking the necessary steps to right this ship" and told reporters at one point the threat of bankruptcy at GM was "absolutely out of the question -- totally out of the question."
"Sure, we face short-term challenges, and this is not going to be a banner year," he told the Morgan Stanley conference. "It's a difficult period of adjustment. But we will get through it."
He said some of GM's new cars, such as its Chevrolet Cobalt small car and Pontiac G6 mid-size car, will post their best sales to date in March, and told the Morgan Stanley conference "I don't know where all the gloom and doom is coming from."
He quoted one car reviewer who said, referring to GM's troubles, that the quality of the Cobalt convinced him that "the Titanic may yet turn fast enough to miss the iceberg."
Alexander
1959 Hardtop
1960 Golde Top
I wish Ford and GM would hire some people to manage the companies who actually love and understand cars, instead of just hiring bean-counters and self-absorbed designers.
I am available for employment.
Troubled GM May Kill One of Its Brands
1 hour, 7 minutes ago Business - Reuters
DETROIT (Reuters) - General Motors Corp., which issued a shock profit warning last week and has been losing market share, may phase out one of its weaker car brands if sales fail to meet projections, company Vice Chairman Bob Lutz said on Wednesday.
GM's Buick and Pontiac are both "damaged brands" due to lack of investment over the years, and GM is working to correct that with an array of new vehicles coming to market, Lutz told a Morgan Stanley automotive conference in New York.
But if some of its brands fail to meet sales projections, "then we would have to take a look at a phase-out. I hope we don't have to do that. What we've got to do is keep the brands we've got."
Financial analysts have said for years that the world's largest automaker has too many brands to support, even with the gradual phase-out of the Oldsmobile brand a few years ago, particularly with its weaker U.S. sales.
Sales for both Pontiac and Buick have lagged in recent years. But GM is in the midst of a $3 billion investment in new vehicles for Buick and Pontiac showrooms, and they will have four new vehicles this year, including the Solstice roadster, Torrent SUV and the G6 mid-size coupe.
GM, which last week cut its earnings outlook for 2005 by as much as 80 percent, posted a 6 percent drop in U.S. sales for the first two months of the year. GM's U.S. market share fell to about 25 percent, far below its share of 27.5 percent for all of 2004.
Analysts said last week that GM's March sales could fall as much as 10 percent, while foreign automakers such as Toyota Motor Corp. (news - web sites), Hyundai Motor Co. Ltd. and Nissan Motor Co. Ltd. would continue to gain U.S. market share.
Lutz said GM will post relatively flat U.S. sales for March, however, performing much better than expected.
"I think we're going to be just about even, our best guess at this point. Either a percent over or a percent under," he said. "It is a substantially better month than January or February, and it looks like the whole industry is up."
'A HUGE ALBATROSS'
No details about an expected restructuring at GM, the largest private U.S. provider of health care benefits, have emerged since it roiled markets with its warning last week.
But the company, which has about $300 billion in outstanding debt, said on Wednesday it was in talks to sell a stake in its GMAC Commercial Mortgage unit after potential investors expressed interest in the unit.
And Lutz and Gary Cowger, GM's president for North America, spoke of possible demands for a cut in mounting health care benefits for the company's hourly union employees in remarks on the sidelines of the New York auto show on Wednesday.
An elimination of any one of GM's brands would likely mean plant closings and a shrinking of GM's hourly work force.
"An across-the-board competitive health care plan for salaried and hourly employees could literally save us billions," Cowger said. Health care costs, added Lutz, are "a huge albatross hanging over American industry today."
Lutz particularly acknowledged the automaker, which will struggle to make a profit this year, faces challenges. But he said GM was "taking the necessary steps to right this ship" and told reporters at one point the threat of bankruptcy at GM was "absolutely out of the question -- totally out of the question."
"Sure, we face short-term challenges, and this is not going to be a banner year," he told the Morgan Stanley conference. "It's a difficult period of adjustment. But we will get through it."
He said some of GM's new cars, such as its Chevrolet Cobalt small car and Pontiac G6 mid-size car, will post their best sales to date in March, and told the Morgan Stanley conference "I don't know where all the gloom and doom is coming from."
He quoted one car reviewer who said, referring to GM's troubles, that the quality of the Cobalt convinced him that "the Titanic may yet turn fast enough to miss the iceberg."
Alexander
1959 Hardtop
1960 Golde Top
Kodac and/or Fugi. The Fugi is .69 cents cheaper. 9 outta 10 would buy the Fugi. I bought the Kodac to support the American Company. As I picked it up I took notice of a rather large American flying flag placed on the box for all to see. I paid & left with it. I did notice some extremely tiny print next to said flag. When I got home I slipped on my reading glasses to see what it said, and was I ever ****ed!!
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