Comments on: GM vs. Honda

By: The Fixer

The Fixer — Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

It’s a stupid mistake, and I probably wouldn’t have checked until I heard the rubbing noise either, Froggy. Although, in the shop’s defense, I doubt the guy who mounted the tire even looked at the other three on the car. The boss probably ordered the tire (his fuckup) and told the spooge to put it on after it arrived. If it’s a dedicated tire shop, there is no excuse.

By: Mollie

Mollie — Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

If GM ends up going “belly up” as far as car sales go, they can always go into the business of belt sales. I have a seat-belt belt that is GM and I get compliments on it all of the time.

By: G. D. Frogsdong

G. D. Frogsdong — Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

Hey, Fixuh, whaddya think of this? Mrs Frogsdong had a little disagreement with a curb and wracked up the suspension real nice on her Volvo S70. They had it in the shop for a week and tonight I drove it. I pull into a parking space and hear a loud rubbing noise, so when I get out I take a look at the tire they replaced (front passenger side). The shop stuck a 225/55/R16 on it. The car takes 205/55/R16. I checked the bill and sure enough they claim to have put the michelin MV4 205/55/R16 on there, which it isn’t. Now Mrs F is mad at herself for not checking that. Who in the hell would have thought they’d put the wrong tire on? She also doesn’t want me to call the shop tomorrow. She says she’ll do it. She’s afraid I might say something intemperate. Intemperate? Hell, I want to rip them a new one.

By: Mike

Mike — Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

I’d like to recommend Brock Yates’ “The Decline and Fall of the American Automobile Industry”, which was written twenty-two years ago, but remains a very sobering read.

An excellent book. I reread it every few years and depressingly realize that GM’s arrogant, insular management lurches from crisis to crisis every few years, always blaming someone or something else, promoting corporate-politician ass-kissing incompetents, never taking responsibility and consequently never learning a damn thing.

Imagine where they’d be today if they truly woke up, shook themselves up and started hoovering up knowledge, principles and practices from Honda and Toyota in the 80s instead of lapsing back into their smug reliance on short-term financial gimmicks and over-reliance on giant guzzlers with fat margins.

By: Gordon

Gordon — Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

There’s a book called “Whatever Happened To The British Motorcycle Industry” that almost exactly parallels this deal. Reliance on “proven” (read: the tooling and engineering are paid for and we’re making lotsa money selling the bozos the same old shit so why change?) models and their heads firmly in the sand vis a vis the Japanese onslaught.

By: The Fixer

The Fixer — Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

And speaking of the Chrysler 300C, here’s my road test of the thing.

By: The Fixer

The Fixer — Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

The management is too entrenched to leave, or they would have seen the writing on the wall 5 years ago. Fortunately, when they go down, most of the blue collar workers will be snapped up by Honda, Toyota, and Nissan if they’re willing to relocate to one of their ‘corporate cities’ (Smyrna, GA, Marysville, OH and the like). As I’ve said forever, GM’s been trading on the rep they earned 40 years ago and it’s wearing thin. If Delphi Electronics are the future, I’m gonna put a gun to my head.

By: firedoglake

firedoglake — Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

I’m with you John in that I think GM can do it — but not until management abandons the notion that what they need is the government to come and bail them out, which seems to be a deeply held Republican business notion these days.

By: Sheba

Sheba — Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

Question: Honda had a 55 mpg car in the late 80s – CRX-HF. Where is it now and why can’t the hybrids make more than that?

The best GM news floating is that its fight with the unions over health insurance might, just might, lead to them pushing the US governement into a proper national healthcare system not tied to jobs. Healthcare tied to jobs has led to two tragedies on opposite ends of the spectrum – the large companies like GM who are increasingly unable to compete in the world market because of the weight of maintaining the same level of healthcare coverage for their employees, and the WalMarts who forge ahead by limiting their hourly people to 37.5 hours a week so they do not qualify for health coverage. The main issue is to get rid of involvement by insurance companies who leach away close to 40 cents of every healthcare dollar and who have a huge lobby and undue influence on the current government.

By: emeryroolz

emeryroolz — Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

And I’d like to recommend the episode of The Simpsons where Homer’s long-lost brother allows him to design a car for the “common man.” The design yields something like the Atzec. One of Homer’s sample suggestions: “I want a horn, here, here, and here. You can never find a horn when you’re angry! And they should all play La Cucaracha!” I’d like to think that the leaders of the US auto industry are smarter than Homer Simpson, but…