[damurf]

The current GM leadership team has done just a wonderful job of managing the downward spiral. There have been few, if any, bold moves on GM's part to address their shrinking market share in the US or any attempt to recreate the organization to face the new realities of the US market. I had high hopes when they killed Oldsmobile that GMC, Pontiac or Buick, and maybe Saturn would not be far behind. Long gone are the days that GM can command 25%+ of the automotive market. There are simply far too many auto manufacturers with comparable or superior products available to the US consumer. To wit, we have lowly Hyundai challenging Toyota/Lexus with a luxury car in the US and with a SUV that is being compared to the best from Japan. GM has for too long peddled a mediocre product to the US consumer. And because of that they have lost a generation of potential buyers who were either dissappointed with a previous GM product or grew up on Japanese and European vehicles. A classic example is the Malibu - by all rights a very nice ride. But, the previous two generations of Malibus were turds. I had the misfortune of renting a number of Malibus over the years and I simply wouldn't put one on my shopping list because of previous expereinces.

Mark LaNeve is a bit delusional. The problem GM has is quite clear. Simply go to the GM.com site and do a search for their sedans. Approximately sixteen distinct models come up. Not one has a sophisticated hybrid system. There are no diesels. Many are saddled with 4 speed automatics and OHV engines that should have been retired years ago. At most, maybe the CTS, Aura, G8 and Malibu are competitive sedans. There are no Honda Civic killers, Prius fighters or high end autobahn cruisers? How can any company suffering the losses that GM has suffered possibly support the marketing and continued improvement of sixteen freakin' sedans!! Answer - they can't and they aren't. What would have happened if GM had killed Saturn and invested all the money and engineering into Chevy? Instead of having just one bright spot - the Malibu (I'm not counting the Corvette because thank God GM seems to actually care about that brand) we could have the huge Chevy sales channel pushing an Astra (intead of the crappy Cobalt), the Sky (Corvette's little brother), the Vue (instead of the Equinox) and the Outlook (kill the outdated Trailblazer).

Despite Mr. LaNeve's comments market dynamics is dictating that GM must downsize. They can continue the downward spiral of peddling maybe 4 -5 decent sedans and 12 sub-par ones OR they can develop a handful of class leading, category defining vehicles that the US consumer will purchase.