GM of GM is a joke

[Perry White]

He want's the Govt to add a $1.00/gallon tax to fuel so it would drive people to buy there Chevy Volt. You belive that?

[melvonnar]

Originally Posted by Perry White

He want's the Govt to add a $1.00/gallon tax to fuel so it would drive people to buy there Chevy Volt. You belive that?

NO NO

[DFR]

That and a payback for the bailout?

[W4RLR]

LINK

[NLOVNIT]

I only caught a snippet of the audio on CNN, but I think he said he'd rather see that than meet the more stringent mpg fuel regulations that are coming. What a crock!

Lori-

[Finhawk]

What else can we expect from "Goverment Motors"?

[powerboatr]

having alternate vehicles is nice
but the harsh reality is electric cars/trucks etc cost more in raw materials and lifetime cost to the environment from manufacturing the batteries and then producing electricity to charge them
than fossil fueled vehicles.

folks think they are saving the planet by just plugging in
and never think about the power generation station burning coal


he should mandate that if you have a volt or similar that you have to install a wind turbine or solar to recharge your car

that would at least offset some of the hazardous material used in its production and lifetime care and feeding

[wa8yxm]

Just hook him up to the what 380 volt battery and see if he gets a charge out of that.

Of course companies want the government to force us to buy new stuff... How come do you think that instead of paying 200 bucks for a decent size analog TV you now have to pay 1200 for a Digital "Wide Screen" Because sales of the older TV's were slowing down so the industry invented a new cow to milk.

[Paul R. Haller]

Perhaps many of you are too young to remember the governments demand for cleaner air and fewer fatalities in American made cars of the late 60s and early 70s. The big 3, that had approx 80% market share then, complained it was too expensive and would ruin the auto manufacturing business. Never mind that people were dying because of no 3 point seat belts and 455 V8 engines that produced 400 horse power and 8 mpg. The government insisted despite GM, Ford, and Cryslers, warning. All three started producing 3 point seat belts standard and installed smog controls and the average fuel economy went from about 11 MPG to 16 MPG. All 3 also just passed the extra costs associated with those improvments to the consumer who now were looking at alternatives to the same old crap from the big three. By 1980 GM slipped from 80 % market share to 40% not because of cost but because of the crap they produced compared to a Japanese built auto for less $ that delivered better fuel economy way better drivability and durability. Now, fast forward 25 years to the bailout and the advent of government ownership in GM. Now GM wants the government to raise gas tax and get out of ownership of GM. The big three have never in my lifetime done whats best for the consumer... they are motivated only by whats best for them.what was best in 1970 was to produce huge cars with drum brakes and no smog control and lap belts only. Whats best for them now is to have government out and higher gas taxes in. They have never in the last 40 years ever had our best interest forefront and center.
Toyota, Honda, Nisson have listened to consumers and tried building what they wanted. A quality product with better then average fuel economy and some creature comforts and producing a car that we can drive for 10 years without having to buy another in that same time frame.

Yes, yes, I have heard the argument that American cars have gotten better. They had to get better to compete in the market.

Also, just for the sake of comparison, our air quality has improved by a factor of 10 since 1970. With 1/ 8th as many cars on the the road as we do now, our air in California was awful in 1970. Now its substantially better so, no matter what you may think, smog control measures do help. Who brought them to you!?!? It wasn't GM... it was mandated by the government.

I, for one, would not have handed GM one cent of taxpayers money when they came begging in their private jets and 5000$ corporate suits. They have earned my dispising what they stand for. Corporate greed at its best. While Toyota prodced the Prius, etc, GMs answer was the Hummer H2. Fords was the Excursion and Expidition, While Cryslers was the Jeep Grand Cherokee all rated more prone to repair and worst in crash protection. Wake up Folks,,, you are in GMs gunsights. Next, they will lobby for huge taxes on imports cars so they wont have to compete.
-Paul R. Haller-

[diandtom]

We have four Buicks in a row. Last week we got a Ford Edge. I guess that my protest to GM. In a way I really hate it as I had a very nice dealer where I had got a few of the Buicks and the truck I still got.

[mccsix]

Ford also agreed with GM

[Half Dimes]

Originally Posted by mccsix

Ford also agreed with GM

A more complete quote from the article:

Akerson isn't the first auto exec to float the idea of a gas tax to encourage consumers to buy fuel-efficient vehicles. Ford Chairman Bill Ford Jr. has previously advocated a gas tax increase.
On Monday, a Ford spokeswoman said the company "will leave the policy decision to Congress"; in 2009, GM CEO Rick Wagoner called a higher gas tax "worthy of consideration."

Bold type is mine.

[RickO]

Originally Posted by Paul R. Haller

The big three have never in my lifetime done whats best for the consumer... they are motivated only by whats best for them.what was best in 1970 was to produce huge cars with drum brakes and no smog control and lap belts only. Whats best for them now is to have government out and higher gas taxes in. They have never in the last 40 years ever had our best interest forefront and center.
Toyota, Honda, Nisson have listened to consumers and tried building what they wanted. A quality product with better then average fuel economy and some creature comforts and producing a car that we can drive for 10 years without having to buy another in that same time frame.

-Paul R. Haller-

I couldn't agree more Paul... although I would contend that the Japanese execs were just infinitely better business people motivated by the same profit motive as GM. They learned from their efforts in the 50s and 60s that "Made in Japan" meant JUNK to the average American. They learned to listen to customers... "leverage" and improve upon existing designs... and committed to Total Quality Control... taking Henry Ford's idea to the next level of manufacturing technology and supply chain management. It ate Detroit's lunch and continues to. And yet the Saturn line gets killed?

Makes one wonder where it will end.

I do have to admit that your reference to the HP 455 Olds made me smile though. As a pup, I had one in my 442 and another in my 16' jet boat. I thought I was immortal then.

Rick

[w6pea]

Prime example
A couple of months ago the Dept. of Manical Vipers required us to get smog certificates (at obscene fee's for the test and a certificate, that you do not even get) on our vehicles to be able to pay their extortion license fee's and renew the registration on my 1995 F-250 P/U and my wife's Van, we now have to take them to a test only station or Gold Shield Repair Facility.
Any way my tuck failed they said it was a split vacuum line $98.00 bucks later it passed.
We took my wife's 1992 Dodge Van to the same place. They said that it would not pass smog because the catalytic converter was no longer legal here in Mexifornia, and in order for it to pas we had to put a new catalytic converter on the vehicle to the tune of over $1550.00 bucks. The maximum you have toe spend to get it to pass before they give you a waiver.

Or we could turn it in for junk and get $1000.00 from the State of Mexifornia. To make a long story short we went to another test only site. My wife's van passed first time no repairs needed. I would say the Gold Shield Repair place wanted to make a buck.

Now I would say the State of California is trying to force people to buy new vehicles in the state of Mexifornia. As long as I can keep my two vehicle that are paid for running I will never buy a new vehicle. I paid too much for both of our vehicles but to buy a new truck comparable to my F-250 I would need to spend up to $42000.00 my wife's Van almost the same.
As long as our Government has their fingers in the US Auto industry they won't get anymore of my money.