GM is alive and bin Laden is dead.

[AURaptor 1,137]

The recall nightmare at General Motors just won't end.

General Motors has recalled another 3 million autos, bringing the troubled automaker's total for the year to 12.8 million worldwide.

GM has been under fire this year for its botched recall of millions of vehicles with an ignition switch problem that the automaker had known about for 10 years. TheDepartment of Justice, investigators from Congress and federal auto regulators are currently probing the decade-long delay.

Most of the cars recalled Thursday were older models built before the company's 2009 bankruptcy, as was the case with the ignition switch recall.

The bulk of the latest recall applies to 2.4 million cars with a wiring problem that's been tied to at least 13 accidents, two injuries and no deaths. Those vehicles include the 2004-2012 Chevrolet Malibu, the 2004-2007 Chevrolet Malibu Maxx, the 2005-2010 Pontiac G6, as well as 2007-2010 Saturn Auras.

[autigeremt 6,970]

Oh, and BTW...that 23 billion dollars....they still owe it. Accounting is a funny thing. lol

[icanthearyou 4,468]

That there proves that we need another Republican Pressident. They didn't have to recall no cars when Bush was in office.

[AURaptor 1,137]

That there proves that we need another Republican Pressident. They didn't have to recall no cars when Bush was in office.

Should have elected Romney, and allowed GM go file for bankruptcy.

[TheBlueVue 177]

That there proves that we need another Republican Pressident. They didn't have to recall no cars when Bush was in office.

Should have elected Romney, and allowed GM go file for bankruptcy.

Makes too much sense...you know electing a guy who has a clue and the law and all.

[icanthearyou 4,468]

That there proves that we need another Republican Pressident. They didn't have to recall no cars when Bush was in office.

Should have elected Romney, and allowed GM go file for bankruptcy.

Uh, they did file bankruptcy.

[DKW 86 7,726]

That there proves that we need another Republican Pressident. They didn't have to recall no cars when Bush was in office.

Should have elected Romney, and allowed GM go file for bankruptcy.

Raptor, they DID file bankruptcy. ichy is right on this one.

GM's filing bankruptcy is why is it nothing short of a miracle they are actually recalling the duds from before 2009.

homer, this is what we get for interfering with the natural order of things. If they had gone thru REAL bankruptcy, they would have had to get thru all this stuff and would be a better company or owned by a better company by now.

[TheBlueVue 177]

That there proves that we need another Republican Pressident. They didn't have to recall no cars when Bush was in office.

Should have elected Romney, and allowed GM go file for bankruptcy.

Raptor, they DID file bankruptcy. ichy is right on this one.

GM's filing bankruptcy is why is it nothing short of a miracle they are actually recalling the duds from before 2009.

homer, this is what we get for interfering with the natural order of things. If they had gone thru REAl bankruptcy, they would have had to get thru all this stuff and would be a better company or owned by a better company by now.

Barry had to step in and save the day by buying GM stock so the govt could turn around and sell it to the tune of an $11 billion dollar loss of tax payer revenue. Another prudent waste of tax payer money

[icanthearyou 4,468]

That there proves that we need another Republican Pressident. They didn't have to recall no cars when Bush was in office.

Should have elected Romney, and allowed GM go file for bankruptcy.

Raptor, they DID file bankruptcy. ichy is right on this one.

GM's filing bankruptcy is why is it nothing short of a miracle they are actually recalling the duds from before 2009.

homer, this is what we get for interfering with the natural order of things. If they had gone thru REAL bankruptcy, they would have had to get thru all this stuff and would be a better company or owned by a better company by now.

??????????????????????? You make it sound as though that is not the norm???????????????????????? What the.................

In reality though, I know what Raptor meant. I was just being well, you know,,,,,,, a *($*@$$. Which is also the norm.

[AURaptor 1,137]

Let Detroit Go Bankrupt is an Op-Ed by Mitt Romney that appeared in The New York Times on 11/18/2008.

IF General Motors, Ford and Chrysler get the bailout that their chief executives asked for yesterday, you can kiss the American automotive industry goodbye. It won’t go overnight, but its demise will be virtually guaranteed.

Without that bailout, Detroit will need to drastically restructure itself. With it, the automakers will stay the course — the suicidal course of declining market shares, insurmountable labor and retiree burdens, technology atrophy, product inferiority and never-ending job losses. Detroit needs a turnaround, not a check.

I love cars, American cars. I was born in Detroit, the son of an auto chief executive. In 1954, my dad, George Romney, was tapped to run American Motors when its president suddenly died. The company itself was on life support — banks were threatening to deal it a death blow. The stock collapsed. I watched Dad work to turn the company around — and years later at business school, they were still talking about it. From the lessons of that turnaround, and from my own experiences, I have several prescriptions for Detroit’s automakers.

First, their huge disadvantage in costs relative to foreign brands must be eliminated. That means new labor agreements to align pay and benefits to match those of workers at competitors like BMW, Honda, Nissan and Toyota. Furthermore, retiree benefits must be reduced so that the total burden per auto for domestic makers is not higher than that of foreign producers.

That extra burden is estimated to be more than $2,000 per car. Think what that means: Ford, for example, needs to cut $2,000 worth of features and quality out of its Taurus to compete with Toyota’s Avalon. Of course the Avalon feels like a better product — it has $2,000 more put into it. Considering this disadvantage, Detroit has done a remarkable job of designing and engineering its cars. But if this cost penalty persists, any bailout will only delay the inevitable.

Second, management as is must go. New faces should be recruited from unrelated industries — from companies widely respected for excellence in marketing, innovation, creativity and labor relations.

The new management must work with labor leaders to see that the enmity between labor and management comes to an end. This division is a holdover from the early years of the last century, when unions brought workers job security and better wages and benefits. But as Walter Reuther, the former head of the United Automobile Workers, said to my father, “Getting more and more pay for less and less work is a dead-end street.”

You don’t have to look far for industries with unions that went down that road. Companies in the 21st century cannot perpetuate the destructive labor relations of the 20th. This will mean a new direction for the U.A.W., profit sharing or stock grants to all employees and a change in Big Three management culture.

The need for collaboration will mean accepting sanity in salaries and perks. At American Motors, my dad cut his pay and that of his executive team, he bought stock in the company, and he went out to factories to talk to workers directly. Get rid of the planes, the executive dining rooms — all the symbols that breed resentment among the hundreds of thousands who will also be sacrificing to keep the companies afloat.

Investments must be made for the future. No more focus on quarterly earnings or the kind of short-term stock appreciation that means quick riches for executives with options. Manage with an eye on cash flow, balance sheets and long-term appreciation. Invest in truly competitive products and innovative technologies — especially fuel-saving designs — that may not arrive for years. Starving research and development is like eating the seed corn.

Just as important to the future of American carmakers is the sales force. When sales are down, you don’t want to lose the only people who can get them to grow. So don’t fire the best dealers, and don’t crush them with new financial or performance demands they can’t meet.

It is not wrong to ask for government help, but the automakers should come up with a win-win proposition. I believe the federal government should invest substantially more in basic research — on new energy sources, fuel-economy technology, materials science and the like — that will ultimately benefit the automotive industry, along with many others. I believe Washington should raise energy research spending to $20 billion a year, from the $4 billion that is spent today. The research could be done at universities, at research labs and even through public-private collaboration. The federal government should also rectify the imbedded tax penalties that favor foreign carmakers.

But don’t ask Washington to give shareholders and bondholders a free pass — they bet on management and they lost.

The American auto industry is vital to our national interest as an employer and as a hub for manufacturing. A managed bankruptcy may be the only path to the fundamental restructuring the industry needs. It would permit the companies to shed excess labor, pension and real estate costs. The federal government should provide guarantees for post-bankruptcy financing and assure car buyers that their warranties are not at risk.

In a managed bankruptcy, the federal government would propel newly competitive and viable automakers, rather than seal their fate with a bailout check.

[DKW 86 7,726]

That there proves that we need another Republican Pressident. They didn't have to recall no cars when Bush was in office.

Should have elected Romney, and allowed GM go file for bankruptcy.

Raptor, they DID file bankruptcy. ichy is right on this one.

GM's filing bankruptcy is why is it nothing short of a miracle they are actually recalling the duds from before 2009.

homer, this is what we get for interfering with the natural order of things. If they had gone thru REAL bankruptcy, they would have had to get thru all this stuff and would be a better company or owned by a better company by now.

??????????????????????? You make it sound as though that is not the norm???????????????????????? What the.................

In reality though, I know what Raptor meant. I was just being well, you know,,,,,,, a *($*@$$. Which is also the norm.

No Bro, just getting your back on this. You were dead on.