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GM's Secret Success


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When all of you negative SHEEP out there were calling for Rick Wagoner to be fired, I had to laugh. How stupid some of us are to listen to the likes of Barney Frank and Chris Dowd and to the empty suit talking heads on the main stream liberal media. Keep in mind that Frank and Dowd are mainly responsible for the FNMA/FHLMC disaster and for them to ask for Wagoner to resign is a FN JOKE, they should no longer be senators.

I have listened to Wagoner over the years and I was very impressed with him. I liked what I saw GM was doing and I gave them the benefit of the doubt.

The malcontent, shallow, negative, unknowing, knee jerkers, called for him to resign. This Ob Ed was in the NEW YORK TIMES today, and this is how I feel, lets wake up people and get a little deeper than the MSM permits with its subjective knee jerking coverage. The proper way to look at things is to ANALYZE them NOT to knee jerk with emotion:

January 3, 2009

Op-Ed Contributor

G.M.’s Secret Success

By WILLIAM J. HOLSTEIN

WITH billions of federal dollars flowing to General Motors, and with the incoming administration likely to discover that still more assistance is required, we can expect renewed calls for G.M.’s chief executive, Rick Wagoner, to lose his job as the price of failure. This view presupposes that Mr. Wagoner has not been willing to bring G.M. into line with the new global reality, that he has not designed cars Americans want to buy and that the company is a “dinosaur,” to quote Senator Richard C. Shelby, Republican of Alabama.

In reality, Mr. Wagoner has presided over the most sweeping transformation of G.M. since the 1920s. He has reversed management’s long practice of meekly going along with the demands of the United Auto Workers, notably with a deal to transfer health care costs to a union-controlled trust over the next two years.

During his tenure, as president, then as chief executive, Mr. Wagoner also put in place a previously unthinkable two-tier wage system to reduce the company’s average cost per worker; halved the company’s unionized work force in the United States through layoffs and plant closures; spun off Delphi Corporation, its largest parts supplier; and sold controlling interest of GMAC, its financing arm.

A decade ago, suggesting that Mr. Wagoner attempt these restructuring goals would have been ridiculed as unrealistic. But these moves have largely succeeded and by 2010 should strip $5,000 from the cost of every G.M. vehicle.

The company has made enormous strides in imitating and improving upon Toyota’s lean manufacturing system. At G.M. plants, gone are the mass assembly techniques pioneered by Henry Ford. Instead, workers are organized in small Japanese-style teams and encouraged to make sure problems are fixed on the spot rather than passed down the line. The quality gap between G.M. and Toyota has been closed.

Mr. Wagoner has allowed his designers to recapture car design leadership with products like the Cadillac CTS, the Saturn Aura, the new Chevrolet Malibu and the revived and visually dazzling Camaro. The cliché that G.M. makes only gas-guzzling sport utility vehicles is years out of date.

On the innovation front, Mr. Wagoner was responsible for introducing OnStar, the onboard communications and navigation system, and he has made a huge commitment to lithium-ion batteries, which will power the Chevrolet Volt, an extended-range electric vehicle. If the Obama administration wants to create new “green” industries here in the United States, these batteries represent a potential $150-billion-a-year opportunity.

Lastly, Mr. Wagoner has globalized G.M. to a degree that it never has been before. The company’s strong position in China has helped support the difficult turnaround effort in North America.

Before the financial crisis tanked American automotive sales, Mr. Wagoner had almost guided the country’s largest industrial company into a new era, demonstrating great resilience in the face of intense global competition. Making him a scapegoat might be politically expedient but it ignores the very tangible progress he has achieved.

William J. Holstein is the author of the forthcoming “Why G.M. Matters: Inside the Race to Transform an American Icon.”

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1996 and newer - DTC codes OBD2 >> https://www.obd-codes.com/trouble_codes/gm/obd_codes.htm

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Mike,

I expect I'm one of those negative SHEEPLE out here about whom you speak. Nearly a year ago I suffered guffaws when predicting bankruptcy for Fannie, Freddie, and Citigroup. Later I added GM to that list. I've enjoyed no satisfaction.

Our Mr. Wagoner may have done some fine things and I probably wouldn't ask for his resignation, but I also expect it is too little too late. GM hasn't (I think) turned a profit in ten years and (I believe) is some $80B in debt. Much as I'd like to, I don't see Rick turning that around. If GM can make it to 2010 (and $5,000/car less), more power to them, but I am not optimistic.

Regards,

Warren

P.S. Barney and Chris should be taken out behind the barn and left there. Sadly, a few Republicans should join the pair. Also, all of Wall Street with the admirable exception of Peter Schiff ( http://caddyinfo.ipbhost.com/index.php?showtopic=20099 ).

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There is no means of avoiding the final collapse of a boom brought about by credit expansion. The alternative is only whether the crisis should come sooner as the result of a voluntary abandonment of further credit expansion, or later as a final and total catastrophe of the currency system involved. - Ludwig von Mises

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Mike,

I expect I'm one of those negative SHEEPLE out here about whom you speak. Nearly a year ago I suffered guffaws when predicting bankruptcy for Fannie, Freddie, and Citigroup. Later I added GM to that list. I've enjoyed no satisfaction.

Our Mr. Wagoner may have done some fine things and I probably wouldn't ask for his resignation, but I also expect it is too little too late. GM hasn't (I think) turned a profit in ten years and (I believe) is some $80B in debt. Much as I'd like to, I don't see Rick turning that around. If GM can make it to 2010 (and $5,000/car less), more power to them, but I am not optimistic.

Regards,

Warren

P.S. Barney and Chris should be taken out behind the barn and left there. Sadly, a few Republicans should join the pair. Also, all of Wall Street with the admirable exception of Peter Schiff ( http://caddyinfo.ipbhost.com/index.php?showtopic=20099 ).

I wasn't referring to you, I don't recall you saying that Wagoner should resign or be fired.

Its VERY easy and UNINFORMED to call for his head.

Pre-1995 - DTC codes OBD1  >>

1996 and newer - DTC codes OBD2 >> https://www.obd-codes.com/trouble_codes/gm/obd_codes.htm

How to check for codes Caddyinfo How To Technical Archive >> http://www.caddyinfo.com/wordpress/cadillac-how-to-faq/

Cadillac History & Specifications Year by Year  http://www.motorera.com/cadillac/index.htm

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Mike,

I expect I'm one of those negative SHEEPLE out here about whom you speak. Nearly a year ago I suffered guffaws when predicting bankruptcy for Fannie, Freddie, and Citigroup. Later I added GM to that list. I've enjoyed no satisfaction.

Our Mr. Wagoner may have done some fine things and I probably wouldn't ask for his resignation, but I also expect it is too little too late. GM hasn't (I think) turned a profit in ten years and (I believe) is some $80B in debt. Much as I'd like to, I don't see Rick turning that around. If GM can make it to 2010 (and $5,000/car less), more power to them, but I am not optimistic.

Regards,

Warren

P.S. Barney and Chris should be taken out behind the barn and left there. Sadly, a few Republicans should join the pair. Also, all of Wall Street with the admirable exception of Peter Schiff ( http://caddyinfo.ipbhost.com/index.php?showtopic=20099 ).

I wasn't referring to you, I don't recall you saying that Wagoner should resign or be fired.

Its VERY easy and UNINFORMED to call for his head.

I've been VERY negative about GM for some time now in terms of its stock and its fortune in the marketplace. Nothing has changed my opinion. I am still negative regarding the likelyhood of their recovery. It would not be prudent to own their stock in my view.

Regards,

Warren

Posted Image

There is no means of avoiding the final collapse of a boom brought about by credit expansion. The alternative is only whether the crisis should come sooner as the result of a voluntary abandonment of further credit expansion, or later as a final and total catastrophe of the currency system involved. - Ludwig von Mises

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That statement is VERY different than asking for Wagoner's head.

But given that they delivered 200,000 cars in December combined with all of the positive things mentioned in the NYT's article and that they are only down 31% when Toyota and Honda are down about 37%, maybe your negative opinion about them should be directed at the economy.

Pre-1995 - DTC codes OBD1  >>

1996 and newer - DTC codes OBD2 >> https://www.obd-codes.com/trouble_codes/gm/obd_codes.htm

How to check for codes Caddyinfo How To Technical Archive >> http://www.caddyinfo.com/wordpress/cadillac-how-to-faq/

Cadillac History & Specifications Year by Year  http://www.motorera.com/cadillac/index.htm

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Well here is the negative side of that NYT article, tons of negative comments to waddle in

http://www.thetruthaboutcars.com/nyt-the-s...oner-no-really/

Pre-1995 - DTC codes OBD1  >>

1996 and newer - DTC codes OBD2 >> https://www.obd-codes.com/trouble_codes/gm/obd_codes.htm

How to check for codes Caddyinfo How To Technical Archive >> http://www.caddyinfo.com/wordpress/cadillac-how-to-faq/

Cadillac History & Specifications Year by Year  http://www.motorera.com/cadillac/index.htm

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Toyota Motor Corp halts production at Japanese plants: They’ll do that for 11 days in February and March, Reuters reports. A 37 percent slump in December sales in Toyota’s biggest market U.S.A. was its sharpest fall in more than a quarter of a century and worse than General Motors and Ford Motor.

Toyota December Sales Hit the Wall: Down by 36.7%

By Robert Farago

January 5th, 2009 -

In fact, sales for the Toyota brand itself (as distinct from Scion and Lexus) fell by 37.5 percent. Oh yeah? Well, Lexus’ December sales sank by a whopping 41.8 percent. There was only one– count it ONE vehicle– that experienced a sales increase. The Lexus LX, the gigantic badge-engineered Toyota Land Cruiser, increased sales from 132 to 508 monthly sales (something to do with gray market exports to the Gulf methinks). Everything else dropped like a proverbial stone thrown in a deep dark well, from the Corolla (-19.4 percent) to the Camry (-22.6 percent) to the Highlander (-47.1 percent) to the aforementioned Land Cruiser (-65 percent). The Scion xB redo is looking like a HUGE mistake, with sales off by 52.6 percent for the month, which is only slightly less bad than December sales of the Texas-built Tundra (-52.2 percent). One wonders what these numbers would look like without the Saved By Zero marketing campaign. Folks, in case you didn’t know it, it’s Hell out there.

Acura December Sales Crater by 39.3%

By Robert Farago

January 5th, 2009 -

“With outstanding resale value and a strong lineup, Acura will be in an excellent position when the automobile market begins its recovery.” Which can’t come soon enough for Honda’s up market (mid-market?) brand, which saw sales sink by 39.3 percent. The situation is so dire– or the PR department so clever– that the company isn’t providing the usual chart showing December ‘07 vs. December ‘08 sales broken down by vehicle, and stats for year-to-date comparisons. All they’ll tell us is the headline number and “in its second full month of sales, the all-new 2009 TL performance luxury sedan remained Acura’s sales leader for November with 3,160 vehicles sold… The all-new 2009 TSX sports sedan recorded sales of 1,712 for the month, with year-to-date sales reaching 29,694 units. The MDX luxury SUV was Acura’s best-selling light truck, with sales of 2,101, while the RDX crossover SUV tallied 681 units.”

Nissan December Sales Crumble by 30.7%

By Richard Chen

January 5th, 2009 -

Nissan’s December sales weren’t out of line compared with the rest of the Big 6, down 30.7 percent in the last month of the year. Unlike some others today, the sales release didn’t have much nausea-inducing spin. Again the couple of bright spots were the CUVs Rogue and Murano, up 10 and 54 percent respectively. The Quest minivan was again the mass-production loser, down 74.7 percent and 491 barely hustled. Other Nissan branded cars and trucks were well into negative territory, regardless of size or displacement. 2008 totals down 10.9 percent and just under 1 million sold., or less than half of Toyota. Infiniti division took a (par) 34.6 percent hit with nary a bright spot and closed out the year down 11.1 percent. At 112K vehicles, totals were roughly half that of Lexus, Mercedes, and BMW. Godzilla body count: 149 this month, 1,730 (potential fried transmissions) for the year. (We kid. We hope.)

Chrysler’s December Sales Fall 53%

By Robert Farago

January 5th, 2009 -

Earlier today, we reported that rental fleet sales had fallen by 500k units in the last 12 months. Clever members of our Best and Brightest connected the dots, and wondered where that would leave the fleet queen herself, the New Chrysler Corporation. “Total sales were significantly affected by the industry’s largest reductions in fleet sales,” the official press release almost boasts. “63 percent for December and 31 percent for the year.” Yes, well, the retail end of the business wasn’t that much better; tanking by a full 53 percent. Needless to say Jim Press quickly sacrificed the last remaining shreds of his credibility to toe the company line and collect the company paycheck. ““Last year Chrysler and all of our stakeholders persevered through extraordinarily difficult economic conditions, made the necessary adjustments and always kept our focus on serving our customers,” said Jim Press, President and Vice Chairman, Chrysler LLC. “As a result, our Company and our dealer network start this year stronger and better positioned to succeed in today’s marketplace.” Let’s have a little look at where that might be…

Honda Shares The “Joy;” December Sales Down 34%

By Edward Niedermeyer

January 5, 2009 -

Have we mentioned recently that selling cars is difficult these days? Honda sales dropped 34.7 percent in December compared to the previous year. And that’s despite being one of the few automakers to run car-as-stocking-stuffer ads. Like this little beauty which reminds Americans that inside everyone one of us lurks a small, toy-crazed child who knows that he wants an MDX. But even “low finance and lease offers” couldn’t cut through deathly silence in credit-fueled consumptionland this holiday season, and holiday non-sales dragged Honda to its first annual US sales decline since 1993. A 34 percent monthly and 6.7 percent annual drop may look good in this market, but Honda is doing some serious stretching to proclaim the “joy” to be “back.”

http://www.thetruthaboutcars.com/

Pre-1995 - DTC codes OBD1  >>

1996 and newer - DTC codes OBD2 >> https://www.obd-codes.com/trouble_codes/gm/obd_codes.htm

How to check for codes Caddyinfo How To Technical Archive >> http://www.caddyinfo.com/wordpress/cadillac-how-to-faq/

Cadillac History & Specifications Year by Year  http://www.motorera.com/cadillac/index.htm

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While all the auto companies are struggling, it's "nice" to know that some people affiliated with the industry are doing just fine. Wouldn't surprise me, in the future, to hear that these two were found face down somewhere.

http://www.clickondetroit.com/video/15908257/index.html

"Burns" rubber

" I've never considered myself to be all that conservative, but it seems the more liberal some people get the more conservative I become. "

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While all the auto companies are struggling, it's "nice" to know that some people affiliated with the industry are doing just fine. Wouldn't surprise me, in the future, to hear that these two were found face down somewhere.

http://www.clickondetroit.com/video/15908257/index.html

This is my experience with UNION management also, featherbedding, taking cash to turn their heads, etc... They aren't for the workers they are for themselves.

Pre-1995 - DTC codes OBD1  >>

1996 and newer - DTC codes OBD2 >> https://www.obd-codes.com/trouble_codes/gm/obd_codes.htm

How to check for codes Caddyinfo How To Technical Archive >> http://www.caddyinfo.com/wordpress/cadillac-how-to-faq/

Cadillac History & Specifications Year by Year  http://www.motorera.com/cadillac/index.htm

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GM hasn't made a profit in ten years. GM is eighty thousand million dollars in debt.

Tell me how this works out favorably for GM . . .

I'm listening . . .

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There is no means of avoiding the final collapse of a boom brought about by credit expansion. The alternative is only whether the crisis should come sooner as the result of a voluntary abandonment of further credit expansion, or later as a final and total catastrophe of the currency system involved. - Ludwig von Mises

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Actually the more I think about this the more I realize that the statement As GM goes, so goes the US is true.

What does the US manufacture?

Answer: NOTHING

The US auto industry will be the last industry to go down, we are hanging on to it as best we can, but it will die sooner or later.

Pre-1995 - DTC codes OBD1  >>

1996 and newer - DTC codes OBD2 >> https://www.obd-codes.com/trouble_codes/gm/obd_codes.htm

How to check for codes Caddyinfo How To Technical Archive >> http://www.caddyinfo.com/wordpress/cadillac-how-to-faq/

Cadillac History & Specifications Year by Year  http://www.motorera.com/cadillac/index.htm

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