GM bankruptcy!

[SSMUFF]

Please read!

http://articles.moneycentral.msn.com...02markets.aspx

I hope this doesn't effect the camaro!

[rolnslo]

So, GM needs some cash to make it through 2008-2009?

Start selling the Camaro next month instead of next year! The cash infusion from enthusiasts like all of us should help a bit. Keep dealers from gouging buyers on it and they'll sell more in less time.

[boxmonkeyracing]

way to go. . .release a report and people sale. . .doesn't actually mean GM is going to do it. . .or really should. but perception is what's killing GM now a days.

[Captain Awesome]

How about buying options and then writing a column to make them valuable? There oughta be a law...

[MerF]

I was just overhearing this on Fox news. Apparently GM shares hit $9.99...as low as they were in the 50's.

Yikes.

[fastball]

I hope Scott chimes in on this, because there is alot about car production I don't understand (obviously), but have some thoughts that may or may not be on target.

It seems to me that foreign automakers are more flexible and adept at making changes to production, product design, and chasis lines more quickly and for less money than GM can. We all know today the automotive market is global, not just North America anymore. GM has far more competitors than just Ford and Chrysler. To keep up with the ebb and flow of the market based on fuel costs and general economy, I keep seeing other companies ability to lower production and utilize flex lines to build more or less of different models on the same line. While GM has scaled back on slow sellers, I don't know if they can do it quick enough. At least as quickly as others. And I'm not specifically pointing out Honda and Toyota. But it just seems that GM still, despite the fact they have modern products, still go about making those products the same way they did in 1960.

How many of GM's assembly lines can produce full size trucks and small cars on the same line? And adjust accordingly almost instantaneously based on market conditions? All the while keeping quality consistent?

It's just something I've observed over the years and would like some input.

[chevydude26]

we need to drill for oil...and now....

the gas prices are stopping people from buying suv's and well vehicles in general...

and gm still sold the most out of all the car companies last quarter but the auto industry as a whole is down when toyota has a bigger drop than gm....

drill here drill now pay less!!!

the unions also kill american car companies as well

[fastball]

I agree - I'm all for drilling anywhere.

Seriously. I'll start digging a hole in Alaska myself!

[pinkcamaro10]

I heard that north and south dakota has tons of oil.. but they said that even if we started drilling now it would be 10 years before it affected anything.

i say the sooner the better, let's start now.

a life without suv's and V8's is no life at all!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[chevydude26]

Originally Posted by pinkcamaro10

I heard that north and south dakota has tons of oil.. but they said that even if we started drilling now it would be 10 years before it affected anything.

i say the sooner the better, let's start now.

a life without suv's and V8's is no life at all!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

thats just the opposition's excuse to keep us from drilling

the truth is that the speculators will see that there will be a ton of new supply coming in...considering we have more oil in our reserves than all of the middle east...and they will begin to start buying low and the price would come down in a matter of months...

strengthening the dollar would help as well...but...considering the housing market is kind of weak if you raise the interest rates you'll make the housing market worse...

but drilling is the most important thing as the weak dollar only affects the price of gas by like 70 cents and then the state and federal taxes that the government takes adds as much as 70 cents to the price per gallon

but drilling in my opinion would cut the price in half in a very short period of time...

besides saying we won't see the oil for 10 yrs and using it as an excuse for not doing it is like saying...don't go to school or college because you won't see the effects of it for years...

its a senseless argument made up by environmentalist marxists

[kanys]

Originally Posted by pinkcamaro10

I heard that north and south dakota has tons of oil.. but they said that even if we started drilling now it would be 10 years before it affected anything.

i say the sooner the better, let's start now.

a life without suv's and V8's is no life at all!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

lol well put.

[chevydude26]

the problem with the volt is that its going to be at the least 40,000 dollars...

out of the realm of affordability of the market that would be interested in saving at the pump...

not to mention that every 2 years you probably have to buy a 3000 dollar battery which totally negates the savings you would from not filling up...not to mention your higher electricity bill...

the only good thing is that if it sells enough they can begin to get economies of scale and begin to sell it at a much cheaper price...and implement the tech into their other more affordable vehicles

but we wouldn't even be having this problem if we had that oil ten years ago...eventually the market will be forced to look for alternatives but the government shouldn't force this change

[Captain Awesome]

Dump 1/4 of the U.S. Strategic Reserves on the market and the price will fall like a rock and the speculators will lose their shirts and will never again play betting games against the United States.

The reserves are held back for times of war, and if we declare war on speculators, this is a legitimate use of them!

[edbrick]

Originally Posted by chevydude26

the problem with the volt is that its going to be at the least 40,000 dollars...

out of the realm of affordability of the market that would be interested in saving at the pump...

not to mention that every 2 years you probably have to buy a 3000 dollar battery which totally negates the savings you would from not filling up...not to mention your higher electricity bill...

the only good thing is that if it sells enough they can begin to get economies of scale and begin to sell it at a much cheaper price...and implement the tech into their other more affordable vehicles

but we wouldn't even be having this problem if we had that oil ten years ago...eventually the market will be forced to look for alternatives but the
government shouldn't force this change

General motors requierments are that the battery should last 15 yrs. Nobody would purchase a vehicle that would require such an exspensive repair 3 yrs in and If we drilled for more oil we would still need more refining capacity. We need more refineries which isnt going to happen in this political climate.