News, Dealers prepare for worst if GM files Chapter 11 bankruptcy. (dealership, profit)

[jimj]

I don't know, they may be ok as long as they keep His highness BO and Turbotax Timmie's hands out of the company.

[Stac2007]

Originally Posted by John1960

DETROIT — Experts are advising car dealers to start preparing themselves for the very real possibility that General Motors (GM) files for bankruptcy protection.

If the automaker does file, any money owed to dealers for warranty work they've done on cars or for rebates they've already paid to buyers could just disappear, warns Scott Silverman, an attorney.

Dealers prepare for worst if GM files Chapter 11 bankruptcy - USATODAY.com

Two GM dealerships in the county I live in (Rockland County, NY) have recently gone out of business.

[jimj]

Originally Posted by Stac2007

Two GM dealerships in the county I live in (Rockland County, NY) have recently gone out of business.

And many more will follow as BK is pretty much assured now unless they present a better offer to the bondholders.

[roncorey1]

http://www.detnews.com/article/20090...TO01/904200390

This whole thing is starting to stink. The American public is not getting the whole truth about this. The UAW, the Treasury, and the GM management are all up to something and I don't feel that it is honest and transparent. The only good thing I have seen come out of this is that there are good deals on new GM vehicles and when you go to the showroom the sales people actually act like they give a darn for a change!

But this whole China/Buick thing makes me sick to my stomach. Where is the UAW on this one? They are giving concessions and taking pay cuts for new workers, and then GM STILL lays off thousands and shuts plants in the U.S. all the while investing in Communist China!?! Hear that they are building a plant in Russia!

This is the company with slogans over the years like "The HeartBeat of America", "Keep America Rolling", and "An American Revolution"!

But you watch: when the recession is over and people start to buy more cars I predict that someday you will go to a Buick dealership and look at the VIN number on a shiny new LaCrosse or Lucerne and it won't start with 1 (US), 2(Canada), or even 3(Mexico); it will start with whatever designation they give to China. Would love to hear someone on Capitol Hill at least address this issue.

Makes me wanna go buy a Nissan!!!

[wheelsup]

Originally Posted by roncorey1

But this whole China/Buick thing makes me sick to my stomach. Where is the UAW on this one? They are giving concessions and taking pay cuts for new workers, and then GM STILL lays off thousands and shuts plants in the U.S. all the while investing in Communist China!?! Hear that they are building a plant in Russia!

The UAW tried to stick up for itself, but the public got outraged with the job bank. Little did they know the job bank was a way to try to force GM to keep the plants in America. The union thought what reasonable company would pay a worker in the US to sit around AND pay another one in another country to make cars?

If/when the UAW is forced to give up the job bank program you can bet the majority of Detroit cars will no longer be made in North America, let alone the United States. Our economy will continue to crumble as more middle class jobs are destroyed forever and replaced with low wage service jobs. Our manufacturing infrastructure will crumble as plants are closed down. Better hope another WWII never occurs or we will be sitting ducks.

[texdav]

I see no sense in that as the manufacturing in mnay areas has been in decline bvut we still have the most powerful military industry in teh world and military. In fsact no company need to become a welfare case. The big three have basically signed their own funeral papers by the parties involved living in their 1950's dream world of the american people will buy what we give them.

[jimj]

Originally Posted by wheelsup

The UAW tried to stick up for itself, but the public got outraged with the job bank. Little did they know the job bank was a way to try to force GM to keep the plants in America. The union thought what reasonable company would pay a worker in the US to sit around AND pay another one in another country to make cars?

If/when the UAW is forced to give up the job bank program you can bet the majority of Detroit cars will no longer be made in North America, let alone the United States. Our economy will continue to crumble as more middle class jobs are destroyed forever and replaced with low wage service jobs. Our manufacturing infrastructure will crumble as plants are closed down. Better hope another WWII never occurs or we will be sitting ducks.

The job bank was UAW's way of keeping non employed DUES payers on the payroll just like they kept those workers who were sitting in bars while supposedly working on the payroll with no punsihment. The UAW exists for the UAW, they've sucked the big 3 dry with help from management and now it's time to pay the piper.

[roncorey1]

Originally Posted by texdav

I see no sense in that as the manufacturing in mnay areas has been in decline bvut we still have the most powerful military industry in teh world and military. In fsact no company need to become a welfare case. The big three have basically signed their own funeral papers by the parties involved living in their 1950's dream world of the american people will buy what we give them.

I agree with you on the military thing...it will still be quite some time before we are challenged again like we were in the Cold War era, but who wants to depend on defense industry manufacturing as more and more of our total manufacturing? We can't start basing our whole economy on services, health care, and defense spending. Where will the money come from to keep making weapons? Remember: the defense industry is tied directly to the Pentagon budget! And why will we be making them? The type of operations it takes to defeat terror cells and guerilla type insurgents just doesn't take the heavy super high dollar equipment that a conventional threat requires. Look at all the whining about job losses due to the cancelling of the F-22 Raptor!

I remember that when the Cold War ended in the early nineties and then we wrapped up the Gulf War how defense spending dropped and people in that industry started to get laid off. When the "War on Terror" starts to wind down then what will we do? Defense spending can't take the place of the traditional manufacturing base that we have lost over the last 25 years.

This economy of ours has seen too many factories close and in their place a Wal-Mart, shopping mall, or even a shiny new prison is built, and these types of jobs are supposed to replace manufacturing??? Kind of reminds me of what I heard retired Sen. Fritz Hollings of SC say a few years back while addresssing the Senate chamber: "We need to start making things again. We can't just sell hamburgers to each other".

[roncorey1]

I understand that this is part of the global economy and all and that it makes good business sense to manufacture the cars where you will sell them, but I remember Rick Wagoner telling Congress how GM was burning through cash so fast...just weeks after the opening of this shiny new factory in Russia!!

GM Opens $300 Million Russian Plant to Boost Sales (Update1) - Bloomberg.com

This and the China/Buick thing have made me really change my mind about ever considering GM products again!!

[MIEng]

Originally Posted by roncorey1

I understand that this is part of the global economy and all and that it makes good business sense to manufacture the cars where you will sell them, but I remember Rick Wagoner telling Congress how GM was burning through cash so fast...just weeks after the opening of this shiny new factory in Russia!!

GM Opens $300 Million Russian Plant to Boost Sales (Update1) - Bloomberg.com

This and the China/Buick thing have made me really change my mind about ever considering GM products again!!

Global expansion is what has kept GM alive in the last decades. As a company you have to expand and invest where people are buying and spending. Asia-Pacific and Russia are essential to GM's survival.
The North American and western european markets are declining and people are not buying as many cars so you have to adjust production to reality.
Also a car built in China for the chinese market or in Russia for the russian market cannot be sold here because of our safety and tailpipe regulations.
It makes sense to continue to invest in the markets that are bringing you the profits.