GM

[Ranger]

Reuters

GM over-the-counter stock halted

Tuesday March 28, 4:19 pm ET

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Over-the-counter trading of General Motors (NYSE:GM - News) was halted on Tuesday pending the release of news, according to NasdaqTrader.com.

[OynxSTS]

Nice...

I think it might have something to do with:

DETROIT, March 28 (UPI) -- General Motors Corp. has begun firing hundreds of white-collar workers in what employees have dubbed "Black Tuesday."

Short-timers at GM's Tech Center in Warren, for example, were escorted from their offices to one of about three dozen conference rooms and told they were history, the Detroit Free Press reported.

The layoffs come weeks after the ailing automaker reported losing $10.6 billion last year.

Cutbacks were apparently first hitting the upper ranks, what is called the eighth level. Workers at that level have company cars so GM arranged for a taxi service to take them home, workers said.

A spokesman for one rental car agency in the Detroit area said GM had put them on standby for Tuesday. "They know we can accommodate them at any moment. We do group moves for GM, Ford and Chrysler all the time," he said.

I hope the Guru is still employed!

[Marika]

Oh dear. A sad day indeed. My heart is broken for these people.

[BigCat83]

Oh dear. A sad day indeed. My heart is broken for these people.

Have no fear the General will survive.

If they put me in charge they would surely survive.

Chevrolet, Buick and Cadillac.

Perhaps I could be convinced that Pontiac could be saved over Buick, but I think not.

Three name plates - low-end, mid market and a luxury car brand.

[Dan]

I would keep Chevy Pontiac Buick Cadillac

Saturn, GMC, Hummer, and Saab would all go.

Also somebody tell me why they got rid of Olds, then turned Saab into badge-engineered Swedish Oldsmobiles?

Badge-engineering is the death of the American auto industry. Nobody wants to buy a premium GM brand (or a Saab 9-7x) and see a chevy (Trailblazer) that looks just like the car they bought. They also don't want to buy an American car only to find the engine is built in China. (equinox) And GM wonders why people think they make low-quality cars?

[OynxSTS]

If I had the axe I would have kept

Chev (after merging in GMC) Pontiac (after merging in Saturn) , Olds (after merging in Hummer and Buick), and Cadillac.

We never did get a straight answer out of GM as to why they killed Olds over say SAAB or Buick.. Their press releases looked more like mumbling apologies rather than vision statements... However if you read the info kits they mail out to stockholders two things are obvious:

1) GM believes its future is overseas... India, China, Africa and the rest of the third world... Management has given up on the US and Canadian Market... (Anyone seen or heard from Bob Lutz lately?) and

2) GM had one division that had zero presence overseas... OLDSMOBILE. ALL of the others were sold in Europe, China, India, Africa, etc...

Interesting factiod... GMs reduction in North American market share almost EXACTLY equals the number of Oldsmobiles they were selling here...

darn MBAs

[scottshoe]

I think GM should go with a 3 tier system like Ford (and believe me that's all that Ford is doing right!) Chevy should be the "basic" product, combine the pontiac, GMC and buick assets to the Mid-box product and make Cadillac the top of the line/special service nameplate (maybe even sell the corvettes there). All can have there basic and performance versions, like Chevy with the SS line, Caddy the "V" line, etc. I would put the GMC and Buick and Pontiac SUV's, trucks, etc. all in the mid-box area only keeping the slightly upscale ones. Chevy would have all the HD truck line so you could keep track of #'s against Ford and Dodge. You have to leave Saturn alone, they are ffor the most part a seperate deal anyway. But what do I know?

[Poobah]

For many years, I've thought the Chevy (basic brand) / Buick (mid-range) / Cadillac (top-of-the-line) breakdown for GM would make a lot of sense. It would certainly be more clear cut than what they've had in the past. Keep in mind, however, that a big part of the brand reduction equation has to do with the dealership franchise network and GM's contractual agreements with them. Discontinuing a make can close a lot of dealerships around the country.

I think it's interesting to note that Mercedes, Bmw, and some other forign makes have only one brand with a whole range of models under the one name. Different marketing strategy, I guess.

[Bob D]

Well..they weren't really "fired". The employees that were level 8 were given advance notice for yesterday and were asked to cancel all bussiness and vacation travel and report to work with thier bussiness vehicles. Of the the 500 that were layed off, a high pecentage were 30+ year veterans close to retirement. This was essentially "early retirement" for them, with separation packages depending on the individual. All others were given one months salary for every year of service up to 15 years/months.

Nice...

I think it might have something to do with:

DETROIT, March 28 (UPI) -- General Motors Corp. has begun firing hundreds of white-collar workers in what employees have dubbed "Black Tuesday."

Short-timers at GM's Tech Center in Warren, for example, were escorted from their offices to one of about three dozen conference rooms and told they were history, the Detroit Free Press reported.