Quote:
Originally Posted by Alan Roehrich
Lynn, if GM was making money before gas hit $4 a gallon, why were they continually posting quarterly losses in the millions, and even billions, of dollars, for the last several years?
It's real easy to try to lay the blame for this massive mess we're in on a short term period of $4 a gallon gas and a "credit crunch". But it ignores all of the real factors. Gas prices and financial institutions collapsing were not the cause, gas prices were an excuse, and the collapses were a symptom of the base problem.
I can lay out the failures at GM, it'll take a while, but they are obvious. The question is, will you listen, or are you convinced it is "credit" driven? By the way, easy credit is what got us here, the lack of it, if it is really lacking, is not why we are here.
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Alan,
You are totally missing the point. Just because someone does things you can criticize in hindsight, doesnt make you correct. Rick Waggoner himself said GM was making a profit on capital hill during the senate hearings before the current economic crises. So were a lot of companies.
It is credit driven. I would say well over 1/2 the people reading this thread dont have a credit score 750 or above. Doesnt matter if they build a ZL1 Camaros, if you cant finance it. How many have $30k to pay cash for a car? Not many.
Watch the credit loosen, and watch sales go back up. The liberal agenda to force the auto industry to build hybrids and left wing agenda products doesnt fly no matter how you prop it up. Surely you know that manufacturing can make a profit even though the company is writing it down?
If your wife is spending all your money doesnt mean your engine building business isnt making money. GM is undergoing global restructuring. It would take a book to write explanations. When I was working for Ford financial in 1999 they were making $10,500 on a Navagator and $5500 on a F150 pick up average. They lost money on every car. Want to know why they built SUV's and trucks?
Below is an explanation of what I am talking about.
http://www.gm.com/corporate/investor...r/letter1.html