The first Car Czar,
Steven Rattner, was well qualified to oversee the American automobile
industry, having driven several. Sadly however, after influence
peddling rumors surfaced 10 days ago, he decided to spend more time
with his family and abruptly resigned. His successor is
former steelworker's union executive Ron Bloom. Experience? "Hey, cars is made wit steel ain't they?"
So how are things going otherwise at Obama Motors?
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Well, so far, not so good. Just one month after the government took
a 60% stake in GM, it reported its first half sales fell 22%.
Worse, its global market share fell to 12% — down from 12.3% a year
ago and 14.1% in 2005. Last year, Toyota took over from GM as the
world's largest automaker, and this year GM will lose its Hummer, Saab,
Saturn and Pontiac lines, becoming even smaller.
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Okay, what's the plan?
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In other news, Corvette Racing will make their GT2 class racing debut at Mid-Ohio on August 8. It'll be broadcast on NBC.
ReplyDeleteYeah, it's a big deal. For me. Corvette kicked ass so bad in in GT1, the sanctioning body is killing off GT1 and forcing Corvette Racing to run a bastardized Vette in GT2.
I presume they can still run well, because they have Pratt & Miller on their side. Hopefully, Obama Motors won't get in the way.
rockville,
ReplyDeleteYeah, I'm with you.
Meanwhile, back at GM's eau down de toilette.
—DougM
And remember when Obama said the government was backing auto warranties? Well, stop living in the past: the time limit on that promise has expired.
ReplyDeleteLaurence
This is hilarious! Ford BIG profit. GM and Chrysler down the tubes because of the .gov program, perhaps?
ReplyDeleteBest thing that ever happened to Saab. The 900 series is very satisfying to drive, but not much fun to own. Damned unreliable. Nothing at all like the classic "pre-GM" 900.
ReplyDeleteI actually look forward to buying another one as soon as they re-engineer out the GM parts.