Do you think GM will survive?

[navychop]

Do you think GM, which I think was once one of the largest corporations in the world, if not THE largest, has a reasonable expectation of survival?

Yes, they'll get the government money and survive.

Yes, they'll survive, but only after going thru bankruptcy.

Whether they get the governement money or go thru bankruptcy, they'll fail.

They'll fail, but someone will buy up some of their lines and continue some brand names and support.

 

[Paul Wozniak]

IfGM goes down, they'll take the world with them. Dominoes.

 

[HDRoberts]

Headed for bankruptcy, but they will go on. If they fail, welcome to Great Depression 2. I already saw a story on the news about America's new shanty towns.

 

[satjay]

IfGM goes down, they'll take the world with them. Dominoes.

Agree, dominoes is the best word. As every industry will continue to take a hit.

 

[Madtown HD Junkie]

GM needs to makes it self a viable company whether that be through chapter 11 or some other means, it needs to happen now. Their business model is not sustainable.

 

[navychop]

Keep in mind, the second tier suppliers to the automakers are not getting bailout money. And the automakers have slowed payments to them. If they stop production, and there are articles saying they will (no choice), no more autos produced. There are not always second sources for some parts.

Can the government keep pouring money into them endlessly? If they owe more than they're worth- nothing is going to get that money back. And it'll mean inflation is on the way, big time, as money is "printed" to try to save GM by throwing money at the problem.

How long will people agree to see their money going to people better off than themselves?

 

[yourbeliefs]

File for bankruptcy. I'm tired of having to help bail these companies out, especially when I've never had anything to do with them. With the exception of 2 horrible Saabs that my dad owned, neither I or anyone in my immediate family have owned a GM-based vehicle. Pumping more money into this archaic company is not going to help bring it back from it's ashes.

 

[Van]

No I don't think they will, the best thing they could do is merge with Chrysler and cut out about %60 of the poorly performing lines and cut a third the work force and get rid of the union. They also need to cancel things like job banks as well as double and triple overtime and put employee pricing more inline with what most places do and put it at a %10 discount. Overtime itsself should be limited to no more than 5 hours a week with an approved cap of 25 a month. The employee's also need to fall inline with the majority of the country and pay a part of their health insurance and yearly vacation time needs to be cut back to something more realistic.

Would be sad to see GM go? No not in the least, the company did nothing to help my father after his being required to work a double shift that came out to 24 hours and he fell asleep at the wheel and hit a tree head on which resulted in a 6 month hospital stay and recovery resulting in my family loosing 40 acres of land and a home. They also did nothing to help him after his stroke and double anuerism and when he moved out of Michigan to warmer climates for his health they cut his medical retirement benefits.

 

[televisionarchives]

The Unions are killing the big 3.

 

[tomcrown1]

The unions are not the problem!!!!

It is GM helping out big oil--big oil will bankrupt America!!!

 

[televisionarchives]

The unions are not the problem!!!!

It is GM helping out big oil--big oil will bankrupt America!!!

Because GM has to pay retired workers it cost around $81 per hour to employee a worker. That's with benefits. Toyota pays workers very well but they don't have to pay retired workers .
Another problem is when they have to switch out and change the Assembly line. Toyota can do it in a matter of minutes because they were smart enough make the equipment so it could do that. Just a software change. It takes GM, Ford on Average 13 months to do that same change.

 

[cybok0]

GM needs to makes it self a viable company whether that be through chapter 11 or some other means, it needs to happen now. Their business model is not sustainable.

Agreed.:up

 

[Van]

The unions are not the problem!!!!

It is GM helping out big oil--big oil will bankrupt America!!!

Find one factual document that proves this please, otherwise stick to hugging tree's and burning jasmine incense. Coming from an automaker family and having lived in Michigan most of my life and experiencing first hand the failures that is the union in all its flavours from auto workers to the news papers to the food industry to the movie industry to the manufacturing to the transportation industry. The auto industry is not pandering to the oil companies its every person who has to drive a 12mpg suv or quad cab four wheel drive truck to go to starbucks or take the kids to school that are pandering to the oil companies.

 

[bhelms]

Bankruptcy, in which the old business model gets a major overhaul. This will affect many stakeholders (employees at all levels - past and present, stockholders, suppliers at all levels, customers, taxpayers, etc.) and all should participate and expect to share in the pain, as well as the future gain...

 

[starman345]

I think the government will pump more money into the automakers in an effort to stave off panic and keep from de-stablizing the markets further. I don't see that they will have a choice in that. They can't afford to have people holding their assets under the bed. The best they can hope for is that the economy comes around and the death of one of the automakers is an easier pill for the panic prone public to swallow at that time.
One way or the other, there are big changes coming for the auto people, there is no going back.
I would like to be able to time travel 20 years into the future and look back and see how this all worked out....we will probably be onto other disasters by that time

 

[lakebum431]

The unions are THE NUMBER 1 PROBLEM. Period. There was a time in this country when unions were very much needed (for decent wages, safety, etc.), but that time is long since passed. I can't find a single positive thing that unions are doing today. The only viable way to get rid of the absurd union demands is for the companies like GM to go into bankruptcy and disolve all contracts/ties with the union. It is also very likely that the government will be forced to take over at least part of the pension obligations through the bankruptcy proceedings, but at least then the company can move on and try to rebuild.

 

[HD MM]

The unions are THE NUMBER 1 PROBLEM. Period. There was a time in this country when unions were very much needed (for decent wages, safety, etc.), but that time is long since passed. I can't find a single positive thing that unions are doing today. The only viable way to get rid of the absurd union demands is for the companies like GM to go into bankruptcy and disolve all contracts/ties with the union. It is also very likely that the government will be forced to take over at least part of the pension obligations through the bankruptcy proceedings, but at least then the company can move on and try to rebuild.

I work for a union contractor, and I agree that the UAW is the main reason why the Big 3 are failing. It has been this way for a long time, but it's only magnified now that demand is way down. Until they restructure their contract, GM and others won't survive, especially if the economy stays the way it is now.

 

[Van]

Thats the thing though, demand isnt way down, the problem is that the banks are not lending money even to people with stellar credit. The big banks arent lending but some smaller banks that are doing ok are lending some but its nothing like it was before this mess started 3 years ago. My mothers bank has been trying to get her and my brother to pick up two vehicles that they had recently and the bank is a small single branch bank. If things are going to get rolling again the banks have got to open up to people with steady income and credit thats decent and better and start making some loans.

 

[thiggin2]

Well because I have worked for GM since 1992 I hope they will survive. I think they will need to file bankruptcy to protect them and to change the union contracts that is killing them at the moment.

 

[navychop]

I considered starting a thread on who's to blame about GM, but decided it would just be bait for political discussion out of bounds. So I backed away from that. I just don't think there's a single boogeyman here.

If the government assumes all or part of the pension and health plans, that just rewards a few at the expense of the many. Not sure that will go over well. Again, taking money from some folks to give to people of higher incomes. Not a good political recipe, no matter how you try to disguise it.

Personally, I think if the government puts a fortune into GM, way more than they're worth, I think the government should then OWN the entire company. Shareholders slept at the switch, and should lose out. No sense in us paying money to shareholders. Maybe the government could then one day sell all or part of GM, and get some money back. But I expect there will be very darned little money coming back. A soft landing for the economy is about all the government can hope to get out of this. And even that may be expecting too much.

BTW, my boss went down to the bank and got an increase in our line of credit, no problem. I believe I could refinance my mortgage thru my credit union, with some cash out to redo the kitchen. But I just don't have the intestinal fortitude to do that just yet.