you're right I did. Fritz is the right man at the right time. for the past five years at the stockholders' meeting I have called for a president to be rienstated. GM is too big for one man at the top and Red Ink Rick has proven himself incapable. remember how he also attempted to run NA? what a disaster that was.I remember Buickman posting this a few days ago, though a search reveals no such thread. He was praising this move by GM, no less.
like others...censorship.So where did it go?
Not really. I've looked into this and I can tell you I think I know what happened. I found your thread in our dump and I see that:
1. It is from a subscription article. We can't post subscription content.
2. The link you provided was to the home page of the news site. We need a link to the article itself and not the home page of the publisher. This helps to prove the story is legit. Also having to search a website for some story is a MAJOR PITA.
I would say your thread got dumped for one or both of the reasons above.
even John Gotti presented a defense but it did not alleviate his guilt.1) As bad of a deal as it was for GM, the tie-up with Fiat did allow them to get some much needed smaller diesel engines for GMEurope.
2) The Delphi/Delco spinoff happened back before Wagoner became CEO. They filed for bankruptcy while he was CEO
3) I'm just as unhappy with the accounting irregularities although I haven't seen any mentioned in this report, just the massive tax credit writedowns. So hopefully they have fixed it finally.
3) Cadillac didn't have 5 cars in 2002. They had the SeVille and the DeVille and the Catera (which didn't sell). The ElDorado was a SeVille coupe. The First Gen Escalade is still an embarrassment. Today the CTS and DTS sell well, the SRX is a fantastic machine, and the Escalade isn't a dressed up GMC anymore as it has a completely unique interior and significantly different sheetmetal.
4) Yes, they missed the boat with the Camaro revival. It's not that important though in the grand scheme of things. They did manage to build the Sky and Solstice which proved that GM could do something interesting with a compact car platform.
5) Completely agree with the whole missing the hybrid vote.
6) New UAW contract which will fix many of GM's structural cost problems over the next 3 years combined with operational efficiency improvements have turned GM into a global player
7) Look at the new Malibu, the new CTS, the Aura, the Astra, the G8, the Lambdas, the GMT-900's. All of which are universes ahead of their predecessors in terms of production quality, attention to detail, and execution of the final product
8) Rick and Bob have finally managed to get the GM Scrooge division out of the automotive side of the business and we are finally starting to see the dividends of that.
I'd like to point out that the primary purpose of any manufacturing company is NOT to make shareholders money. It is to make and sell product. If they do a good job at it, the shareholders will get their share. Making decision based on how it will affect the stock price is a classic case of 'the tail wagging the dog'. Decades of being more focused on the stock price than the product is what helped get GM into this predicament. GM is in the position it is today because people like Roger Smith sold GM's future for short term gain.
It will take GM a long time to undo all the bad that was done to it. That's a fact. I'm sure there are people who could be better at it than Wagoner. but your fooling yourself if you think GM stock can get back to the 40+ range in six months time. There is just too much baggage that needs to be dealt with. I believe that long term GM stock is a good buy. But if you were looking for a short term gain, then you made a really bad decision to buy GM stock.
My problem with investing right now is most US corporations I see are ran by management for management. You could invest 1 million dollars in GM, and the management might decide to take that 1 million and give each other bonuses.
Guys like Carl Icahn are trying to turn it around, but even when they buy like 1 billion dollars in a company they have to fight and fight just to be allowed a single board seat. The board of directors seats are mainly other ceo's from other companies, who represent upper management, not shareholders.
