<p>I live in Michigan, so this is a huge issue with the Big Three auto crisis.</p>
<p>Personally, I think GM should cut Pontiac and save Saturn. Pontiac has been deteriorating in quality and design for years. Saturn has that certain quality that can compete with imports. </p>
<p>I find it interesting that Gm has the technology for the electric car. Did anyone see the documetary “Who killed the Electric Car?” GM already had prototypes done and gave the cars to many people to use back in the early 1990’s. I know some one who had the car.
[Who</a> Killed the Electric Car?](<a href=“http://www.whokilledtheelectriccar.com/]Who”>http://www.whokilledtheelectriccar.com/)
I highly recommend this if you can get a hold of this.</p>
<p>Combine Buick and Pontiac and reduce the line to Solstice, G6, G8, and Lucerne. These are all good cars in their respective niches and are marketable to a broad demographic range. Let G5 and Lacrosse buyers look at comparable Chevy models.</p>
<p>Hummers are a tough call. They have no place in a world that must become more energy efficient as could be said about most SUV’s that are used to drive to the supermarket. But they sell. So combine the SUV models under 1 flag and pare down the total models to provide a good cross section of lower cost utility models, suburban warrior station wagons and work vehicles.</p>
<p>Not being privy to all the financials, off the top I’d say - </p>
<ul>
<li>Keep Chevrolet - The flagship brand. Concentrate on improving the quality. Cut losing models.</li>
<li><p>Keep Cadillac - The luxo/premium brand.</p></li>
<li><p>Lose GMC - Redundant with Chevy</p></li>
<li><p>Lose Buick - Redunant with Chevy - tries to edge into Caddy space</p></li>
<li><p>Lose Pontiac - Redundant with Chevy</p></li>
<li><p>Lose Saturn - Difficult to reconcile this ‘everyday car’ brand against similar offerings from Chevy. Saturn’s also had lots of difficulties defining itself over the years. Redundant with Chevy.</p></li>
<li><p>Sell Hummer - It was too much of a niche market to have branded in the first place</p></li>
<li><p>Sell Saab - Many models are redundant with Chevy</p></li>
<li><p>Expand Chevy and Cadillac as needed to allow the other brands to go away. Perform dealership alignments as-needed. Continue to pursue potential market grabber vehicles like the Volt but only if it’ll work financially in a longer range plan. </p></li>
</ul>
<p>These redundant brands have been a losing issue for GM for years - well before the current economic situation. Now that they’re begging for my tax dollars to bail them out it’s time to resolve these long-standing issues and get their house in order post-haste. </p>
<p>The delineations have also changed over the years since one can get power/luxo/performance features in all but the most basic models from Chevy without having to move to Pontiac/Buick/etc. and the already defunct Oldsmobile.</p>
<p>The unions and the manufacturers need to get real and figure out how they can compete in a global environment. If they don’t, it’s the workers who’ll lose out the most.</p>
<p>How about trying to make cars that get decent milage, are comfortable, and maybe use hybrid technology. Sheesh…who is going to buy the $50,000 Volt that gets 40 miles to a gallon when they can buy a Prius that gets 55 miles to a gallon for less than 1/2 the price?</p>
<p>The U.S. automakers should have seen this coming. It makes me sick that they continue to make their gas guzzling cars with ridiculous price tags and poor reliability ratings. If nothing else, this should be a “wake up call” to them. People aren’t buying their cars because there are BETTER alternatives out there. I haven’t owned a car made by the big three (yes, I know they own parts of my foreign car companies) ever. </p>
<p>Why haven’t they been dealing with hybrids? The ones they have are a bit odd. The Escape is a start…but if you don’t want an SUV…you won’t want that hybrid (and the mileage isn’t exactly terrific). Why didn’t they make a hybrid version of the Focus…or the Saturn…or the Cobalt…you know…the smaller cars.</p>
<p>My next car will be a Honda Civic Hybrid. If the domestic makers had a car that size with a hybrid engine for a similar price, I would consider it. They don’t. </p>
<p>In my opinion, they should be given help ONLY if they are demonstrating that they are making more fuel efficient vehicles, and are getting rid of the gas guzzlers of the past.</p>
<p>thumper1, the Big Three do make hybrids. I go to the auto shows all the time, and I see their hybrids and flexfuel options (Saturn anyone?). There will always be a market for SUVs and trucks. I mean, what are the subcontractors and construction crews supposed to drive? Small cars? Some people simply don’t want small cars, which makes sense. Most Americans look for mid-size vehicles.</p>
<p>I think it’s sheer ignorance to say that all cars made by the Big Three are unreliable. They have made some tremendous progress in the last few years (Ford is now on par with Honda in quality and safety). In case you haven’t noticed, Toyota has been slipping in quality. Ditto for Nissan.</p>
I think you might be confused on some of the numbers. The metric is that the Volt is supposed to ‘go 40 miles with NO gallons - i.e. electric only’ - not that it gets 40mpg. I think the equivalent mpg based on cost power cost puts it somewhere in the > 100mpg range and it’s relevant since most commutes are within 20 miles. </p>
<p>I agree that the cost needs to be reasonable enough for consumers to choose it based on economics and it needs to be a cost GM can live with, i.e. turn a profit, and it needs to stand on it’s own 4 wheels - not be subsidized on the backs of the taxpayers.</p>
<p>There has been a lot of talk about how the Prius has actually been a money loser for Toyota. I don’t know if this is still the case or not. Toyota keeps a tight lid on this.</p>
I agree although there’s always room for improvement by any of the auto makers. My 1998 Dodge Durango now has about 158K miles on it and it still feels new to me but that’s because I don’t drive it that much (wife’s car). Instead, I drive a 1966 Ford Mustang with hundreds of Ks of miles on it. That said, my 1991 Ford Exploder (sic) was one of the least reliable vehicles I’ve owned - all due to quality and design issues.</p>
<p>Thank you ucsd<em>ucla</em>dad. The Big Three (especially GM and Ford) have changed a lot since the 1980s and 1990s. Sadly, some people (including congressional leaders) want the American automakers to disappear as though they have no effect on the economy.</p>
<p>You want to know who really makes gas guzzlers? Performance luxury vehicles like BMW and Mercedes Benz. Most of their vehicle line is not SUVs but their cars sure do get sub-20 mpg fuel economy with their V6/V8/V12 engines. The fuel economy and environmental effects are not the most important factors on the buyers’ minds.</p>
<p>tenis…I agree that Ford has made huge changes…I think they are the ones who saw this all coming. Their new car designs and features are good ones. I would look at a Ford before I would look at GM or Chrysler. </p>
<p>But I do wish that even Ford had considered putting a hybrid engine into one model of the Focus.</p>
<p>tenis…thank you for the list. If the big three can put this hybrid technology into their largest or most expensive cars…why can’t they put it into one of their smaller cars??</p>
<p>That said, making hybrids isn’t necessarily the panacea. The subject was mostly related to which brands are viable which relates to the profitability of the company. Hybrids aren’t necessarily the answer to their profitability since not all consumers want a hybrid. Looking at it another way, if the company only made hybrids they’d probably be even less profitable than they are now due to the high cost of producing a hybrid.</p>
<p>Another question you might ask which might be more applicable to the topic - why don’t the 3 auto companies bring over for US manufacture more of the high mileage diesel vehicles they already produce in Europe? I assume they’re making an economic decision here and think USA consumers aren’t interested enough in a high enough volume but I think some of those vehicles might be viable and could employ people here in their manufacture.</p>