In late May, senior executives at General Motors confronted a decision that few thought they would ever face: whether to continue developing the next generation of one of the most successful products in G.M.’s 100-year history — the full-size sport utility vehicle — or to punt the program entirely.
It’s rare for an automaker to pull the plug on high-profile initiatives, much less one involving a $2 billion, top-to-bottom overhaul of a ...
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Excellent article about the failure of General Motors management to anticipate the rise of oil prices, which has brought the giant automaker to the brink of bankruptcy, and caused it to lay off over 40,000 employees over three years. The report documents in great detail how GM brass came to depend on the sale of their gas-guzzling S.U.V.s to shore up their sagging bottom line, and miscalculated the need to invest billions of dollars to develop new vehicles requiring less gas. The ... More »
I feel sorry for all the american workers who are paying the price for serious errors in judgment by their executives. One more example of why ... More »
A close-up view of how a variety of factors have doomed GM. Analysis is accompanied by a quotations from many Janesville workers, which, when magnified, illustrates clearly how many thousands of employees -- and their families and their towns -- will be so dramatically affected by these plant closings. So much of the piece is focused on points of view from auto-industry-related sources, that it needs some outside perspectives to provide better balance.
"What is good for General Motors is good for America" goes the old saw. It is hard to imagine the United States without any Chevrolets, Buicks, Cadillacs and GMC trucks--even as many of us have disdained these brands during the past twenty years. This article makes it clear just how crucial the SUV was to GM's continued success during this period, and also how difficult it will be to create an alternate profit base.
Although well-written, it simply tells of the failure of GM as told by GM. Nothing about the quite noticeable dislike liberal elements had for SUV's, nor the palpable dislike of SUV's for being huge, consumptive, and dangerous. The article seems to present nothing of any environmental or safety concerns that could have served as a warning. Overall, a lopsided, sympathy piece for GM and the auto industry.
While nobody, including GM, may have expected fuel prices to escalate so quickly, industry analysts have been predicting falling output and rising prices for decades. This piece is, therefore, a long and sad chronicle of industry denial. Yes, the foreign car companies were more "nimble." That's because they were more realistic--not a well-known American virtue. They're also more used to living with scarce natural resources. Another thing we'd better adjust to quickly.
Well written and accurate background outline of GM's mono-lense view of auto making. Also seems to illustrate the short sighted view, shared by most American auto makers.
THis article is a good piece on showing the condition of our economy because of how the details of every day useful energy consumers effect and are effected by the stock market and gas/oil prices. Again it contains good factual information with quotes and numbers to make the piece more trustworthy and informative.
Yes because it has very interesting statistics not just about GM but about America as well that help them prove their point. They basically did theyre homework with this piece.
Yes it is because it has numerous facts and it is informative on a topic many people do not know about.
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