Is That All There IS?

The now state owned General Motors has released its 2010 lineup. To make a long story short the lineup is not exactly awe inspiring. In an attempt to stay alive the General has sold a very extensive bill of goods to the American public. GM has promised to change its evil ways and come more into line with what a good company should be.

The problem is that GM has forgotten how to be a real company. A real business offers quality products or services that consumers want. A real business will offer something called “value” to the consumer. Value implies a quality product at a fair price. Finally a real company must sell its products or services at a profit.

We the American people now have a controlling interest in the largest car company in the world. To say the least this is not an ideal situation. Obama and company will surely attempt to dictate engineering and styling policy. Compact politically expedient econo-boxes that no one will purchase is the new Motown mantra.

The race is on for an all electric car that can go forty miles on a charge. Wow sign me up for one, at thirty to forty thousand dollars per unit consumers will be beating down the doors. I really hate to be so sarcastic but the rest of the world is literally kicking our asses on engineering and styling innovation.
The problem is not our inability to compete. The problem lies in an upper management quagmire that has stifled the American auto industries attempts to compete.

We must come to grips with the new reality. That reality is that in order for a company to stay in business it has to offer a product that is marketable and sellable. Pricing must reflect what the market can bear. As of right now that market cannot bear much of anything. The American public went on a spending binge with money it did not have. We used our homes as ATM machines not thinking that the bill would someday come due. Go ahead and blame Wall Street and the Banks for assuming too much credit risk. The bottom line is that no one twisted anyone's arm to get an easy line of credit.
No one talked the American public into spending like drunken sailors. The end product is that America woke up with a hangover and empty pockets.

The economic boom times were fueled by easy no questions asked credit. We are now in a position where credit is not available unless you have a credit score of at least 750. The Fed has lowered interest rates to almost zero percent.
The lowest rate in history is still not low enough to help out the now tapped out binge spenders that were the cause of this mess. Low interest rates are hurting the people who did the right thing and saved while the rest of the country went on a spending orgy. Bank CD rates are paying less than two percent interest. There are trillions of dollars tucked away in these low interest bearing accounts. If the Fed raised the prime by a point or two spendable income would flood the market and spur demand. This will not help Wall Street,the Banks, or the people who shot their load during the credit binge.

This takes us back to the GM dilemma. People who can get credit or have cash are taking a very hard look at the value of a major purchase. GM is not accustomed to marketing to such a sober crowd. The hype and voodo loan economics will not work with this group. Value and service are the only two factors that will come into play when the non stock market investing crowd walks into a car dealer with cash in hand.
GM better have the right "the right stuff" or this new car buying crowd will head over to the nearest Toyota or Honda dealer faster than you can say bankruprcy.



CTS


GM tried to make the CTS the corporate flagship. The General made a surprise about face and kept the Corvette as king of the hill.

DTS



A rehashed 4door sedan that is a big seller in South Florida retirement communities.

Escalade




A big,boxy overweight SUV with the styling of a brick. The vehicle of choice for drug dealers and wannabe rap stars.

STS




An old rendition, the two available colors say it all Vanilla Latte and Tuscan Bronze ChromaFlair



The Buick lineup is overweight, replete with big chrome grills and bad lines

Enclave



Lacrosse and Lucerne

Grandpa's 4 door sedan with holes in the fenders. GM is betting that these two relics will save the company. They are pitting the Lacross and Lucerne against Mercedes and Lexus. The Lucerne is a very nice car but is is not a Lexus. GM will have a very tough time convincing the upscale market that $35k is a good deal for a Buick.

Chevy

Aveo



4door un's - underengineerined, underpowered, uninspired econo box
•Horsepower increases to 108 (80.5 kW) •New exterior color: Wintergreen Metallic •Rear spoiler now standard on Aveo5 2LT •Lower numeric fourth and fifth gear ratios on the five-speed manual

Camaro




A day late and a dollar short. The Camaro should have been launched five years ago - the designers did not keep true to the cars original lines. The new version is too heavy and angular. GM halted development of the Z28 to keep Obama happy.

•Direct injected 3.6L V-6 delivers 304 hp (227 kW) and 29 mpg on the highway •SS model with 6.2L V-8 offering up to 426 hp (318 kW) •Available RS package included HID lights

Cobalt



Most kids would not want the Cobalt as a high school grad present. This car is a typical ugly little two door coupe that Washington is pushing. •New exterior colors: Black Granite Metallic and Crystal Red Metallic Tintcoat •Power sunroof and performance display now standard on Cobalt SS

Corvette

A petuna in an onion patch. The C6 Corvette is the only bright star in the GM sky. GM went out on a limb and announced that the Corvette is safe for the time being.


•Wider front and rear fenders – including specific front fenders with integrated Grand Sport badges •Z06-style front splitter and tall rear spoiler •Functional brake ducts and extra cooling •Unique 18-inch front and 19-inch rear wheels; painted finish standard and chrome finish optional •Large 275/35ZR18 tires in front and 325/30ZR19 tires in the rear •Z06-size brakes, including 14-inch (355 mm) front rotors with six-piston calipers and 13.4-inch (340 mm) rear rotors with four-piston calipers •Specific manual transmission gear ratios •Specific rear axle ratio on automatic-equipped models

Impala and Malibu

This dynamic duo has retained the traditional ugly styling that makes for great police cars





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