Comments on: Detroit’s Big Three Are “So Poor They Can’t Pay Attention”

By: General Motors CEO Trades Private Jet For Plug-In Hybrid. Sort Of. at Deceiver.com

Fri, 05 Dec 2008 02:55:08 +0000

[...] in Washington begging for $25 billion in taxpayer bailout money for their cash-strapped companies. They got there in private jets. Yeah, that went over about as well as an Angelina Jolie keynote speech at a Promise Keepers [...]

By: General Motors Learns a Valuable Lesson at Deceiver.com

General Motors Learns a Valuable Lesson at Deceiver.com — Sat, 22 Nov 2008 00:29:06 +0000

[...] if your executives are criticized for taking a private jet to Washington to beg taxpayers to bail out your ineptly run business, you should pretend to make a concession that [...]

By: Minnow

Minnow — Fri, 21 Nov 2008 21:38:16 +0000

This one?

By: Jrod

Jrod — Fri, 21 Nov 2008 15:06:22 +0000

I am still waiting for the next Minnow post…

By: phoenyxthecat

phoenyxthecat — Fri, 21 Nov 2008 05:02:43 +0000

Well, as part of a GM family and a former employee, I know to look past the resplendent lives that CEOs lead, which I feel most CEOs across the board live, because they just don’t represent the millions of middle class people who depend on the Big Three in some way or another.
And GM isn’t all Hummers and Suburbans, they also make things like the Chevy Aveo and Coblat, the Saturn line, the plug-in Chevy Volt, and a ton of products that are FlexFuel and/or hybrids. I feel like they sincerely are trying to change, but to take a lesson from physics 101, for any huge object trying to switch directions, there’s a lot of inertia to overcome.
So, I’m not trying to convert anyone or even think that the bailout is the best option, I just think that we need to check our prejudices of the evil Big Three at the door and try to do what’s best.

By: MC Mom

MC Mom — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 19:47:33 +0000

Minnow, thanks for answering my question. I appreciate the logic and depth of your posts, as unsexy as they are. Now feel free to carry on with the grass-dress and the faux-Brit accent.

By: Minnow

Minnow — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 18:52:06 +0000

BTW bigmama, before you purchase your next car, give the Big 3 a look-see.

Yes, they cranked out some real trash in the 80’s and frankly, some lines are still rubbish.

But there is good stuff out there.

As the B3 decrease overhead problems they’ll firm up more solid supplier relationships. They’ve learned the hard way that the cheapest parts manufacturer isn’t always the best way to cut costs. Most reliability problems stem from improperly machined or treated parts, not design or assembly problems. Unfortunately, the cheapest supplier from India who employs 3 guys in loin cloths isn’t terribly motivated to crank out quality parts and he also isn’t held responsible when there’s a product recall. The car company takes the blame.

The B3 are in the process of getting union costs under control; then they’ll have the funds to invest in better design and quality suppliers. In the next decade you’ll see American cars topping the JDPowers list more and more.

Oh-oh. Slipping into logic again. Darn. Okay, pretend I gave that mini rant wearing a dress of grass clippings, using the accent I picked up watching BBC. Much better, no?

By: Jason

Jason — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 18:29:20 +0000

How much time is lost by the GM representatives when they have to check in for a flight two hours early, or when the GM representatives are not to talk about business during the flight due to insider trading concerns?

The question is what is lost? When 12 people fly on a private jet it costs about $20,000. When 12 fly commercially to DC it costs about $12,000. Is a $8,000 savings worth the time lost?

Isn’t it really worth it in the long run?

http://nomedals.blogspot.com

By: Minnow

Minnow — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 18:04:22 +0000

Sorry D, I thought my logic was sexy.

I’ll go back to the skimpy panties and red toenails before I post again.

By: bigmama

bigmama — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 14:28:26 +0000

I bought a foreign model car for three reasons: it is affordable, it is reliable and it gets good gas mileage. If the big three went back to that, I would buy American in a heartbeat.