Stormwind

I believe the reason gm got off their asses and start doing some real work is not because of pubic humilation, they been humilated over and over for decades and they still haven't learnt, not because of pride as they have none. Workers have been caught drinking during lunch breaks over and over. The reason is because of Obama. Unlike past bail outs where the government just gave them a pile of cash and told them chip chip cheerios off you go, Obama has kept a tight reign on them and rode them close.

Whenever gm executives tried to give themselves a big bonus (oh they tried, quite a few times) or use company paid vacations to some exotic locations Obama would tighten the reigns crack a few lashes on the backs of executives and told them to go back to work. I believe Obama has been the main driving force behind why gm is putting out non-lame products.

bitkahuna

iTrader: (20)

<gag>


so this is the proper role of a president? to micromanage an auto maker? a guy who never ran anything, never ran a business, never made money except in a crooked real estate deal, then becoming a politician, then writing a successful book?

regardless, gm, while designing and making some really great products, is still in big trouble. i just read an article showing toyota will outsell them this year, which is remarkable given how toyota has had to overcome to tsunami/earthquake, and launch products and be stuck with a pretty aged product line.

gm should have been allowed to go through a normal corporate bankruptcy, and should have moved its corporate offices out of detroit, and then moved their factories out of michigan over time too.

gm shrunk in the obama bailout, and is making some good vehicles, but in many ways it hasn't changed its ways, which is why it's likely doomed to fail again.

LeX2K

It's been a little over 3 years since GM filed chapter 11. In 3 years you can make improvements, but you can't substantially change the DNA of your vehicles. For that reason I don't believe General Motors has changed all that much, plus the new cars I've seen from them gave me that same lackluster, ho hum vibe. Moving in the right direction? Probably, but the competition is not standing still either.

84Cressida

They've improved, but I feel Ford has had a better, more impressive turnaround, and their cars are better than the equivalent Chevy, IMHO. GM is also still run by imbesiles. Dan Akerson is a flat out moron and nothing compared to Alan Mulally.

Ty419

It's still the same old BS at GM. They just keep talking about how good they are and will be, just like they have been for the past 30 years. It hasn't ever been true and it never will be true. The company is beyond repair. The government is just making it worse by endorsing this kind of failure. It's sad to see that a few union votes are worth this kind of taxpayer loss to Obama.

Trexus

GM's market cap as of 7/27/2012 is $30 Billion but they still owe $42 Billion. So if GM were to sell themselves they'd still owe the U.S. taxpayers $12 Billion. Where would they get that money from?

http://finance.yahoo.com/q?s=gm&ql=1

Stormwind

Although people may not like the way Obama is doing thing but you got to give him respect for doing it and getting it done. He whipped a dead beat company into shape to do something usefull. He had the ***** to go out to find the number 1 terrorist and shoot him in the face, hell he should have finish it by torching the government that is hiding him in the first place I mean their base is just a couple hundred yards away.

Could Obama done a better job? I am sure he could but at least he is out there getting things done. I do agree with you that gm should be left alone and let darwin take over.

I8ABMR

I am surprised to hear this. They made such a big deal about repaying the loans so fast. They should let GM go down the tubes where it really already is apparently

4TehNguyen

iTrader: (1)

http://news.investors.com/article/62...fuel-sales.htm

I thought we went through this already

G Star

iTrader: (2)

They should've never been bailed out, they're all just prolonging the inevitable..prolonging OUR PAIN.

bitkahuna

iTrader: (20)

i believe they made payments on SOME of the short term loans, even some ahead of time, and of course they made big hay of that. but that was nickels and dimes compared to what they still owe.

gengar

Only about 10% of the $50 billion payout from the government was officially classified as "loans". So when GM claimed to have "paid back" the "loans" in "full", they were only talking about that tiny portion. But it actually gets worse - GM paid back that 10% of the 50 billion using money directly from another account established by the $50 billion bailout. No reasonable person would consider that a "repayment" or "paying back" at all, it's effectively just as if GM took a smaller loan in the first place.

The statement from the GM CEO about repaying loans was simply a huge PR stunt. There is no factual or logical basis to say GM paid back any "loan", much less a "in full". Of course they made a big deal about it, because politicians and especially the White House needed it in the face of increasing public scrutiny about the bailouts. That is all politicians are nowadays: Big sound bites that are utter lies, designed to fool the American people.

chikoo

You need a good coach to win. The coach does not have to have had wins in their past. Obama is the coach here. To find faults like this is utter rubbish.
a good salesman not maketh a good sales manager.

4TehNguyen

iTrader: (1)

Taxpayers funding a Chevy Volt Village:
http://www.insideline.com/chevrolet/...community.html

Govt Motors spending $600M to sponsor European Soccer teams:
http://freebeacon.com/government-mot...-soccer-promo/

I guess if you are this deep into a hole you might as well go out with a bang. Now they are trying to increase sales to subprime borrowers to pad short term sales figures. This was one of the reasons they went bankrupt in the first place.

chikoo

The only business that is safe is a cash only business. If you want credit, come back tomorrow.....