December 2009 Archives

Huh...leave it to a Libertarian to dig deep into history to find some root causes of troubles in the auto business.  Then, to extrapolate current "solutions" into yet deeper problems going forward.

Read on:

http://libertyunbound.com/article.php?id=445

First bad move - GM buys Saab.   I used to have a Saab, even though I've never taught in college, and they appealed to quirky people.  But, people bought them becasue they were quirky.

GM then manages to squeeze all the "Saab-i-ness" out of the cars, making them bland, and therefore not appealing to eccentric college professors.  Sales tank.  Huh, no surprise.  A new Saab really is a horse designed by a committee.

Too bad...

But the good news is that GM finally admits a huge blunder, and shuts Saab down:

http://money.cnn.com/2009/12/18/autos/saab_closed/index.htm

Paying loans back early!  Or at least starting to think about it. 

This is good news.

http://money.cnn.com/2009/12/15/news/companies/gm_repayment/index.htm

Let's just hope they're not depending on selling lots of $40,000 Volts to pay the rest back.  How about selling a few hundred thousand Malibu and Cobalt instead?

Each of us here at VRCG have had close friends, or business acquaintances, lose their dealerships to shortsighted "planning" on the part of the domestic manufacturers.  Although any "fix" is too late for many, it looks like there could be a bit of groundswell to get some justice for some remaining dealers.

Read on:

http://money.cnn.com/2009/12/11/smallbusiness/small_business_auto_dealers/index.htm