Tag: General Motors

Man Buys $115,000 Hummer Electric Truck – It Immediately Left Him Stranded in Middle of Road

Man Buys $115,000 Hummer Electric Truck – It Immediately Left Him Stranded in Middle of Road. Sorry GM, we won’t be buying one of these heaps (Or anyone else’s) anytime soon. This would really be exciting. if it happened 30 miles north of Lovelock, Nevada in the middle of nowhere. Out there if you call AAA they laugh and hang up.

After only a few days, and with fewer than 250 miles on the vehicle, the Hummer had problems in spectacular fashion. Alone on a busy highway, Mica found himself stranded.

The Hummer ceased to budge.

The shifter wouldn’t move. The trunk refused to open.

And then there is the simple matter of recharging the battery. Something that under some conditions may take days to build up for the Hummer EV.

New GM claims they’re not responsible for old GM’s lemons

If you expected gratitude from GM after everything taxpayers have done for them, you just ain’t been paying attention.

Your tax dollars bailed their sorry ass out of oblivion. Your tax dollars helped them develop an over-hyped second-rate hybrid vehicle no one wants. If you expected gratitude from GM after all that, you just ain’t been paying attention.

Reuters reports:

General Motors is seeking to dismiss a lawsuit over a suspension problem on more than 400,000 Chevrolet Impalas from the 2007 and 2008 model years, saying it should not be responsible for repairs because the flaw predated its bankruptcy.

…[the plaintiff] contended that her Impala suffered from faulty rear spindle rods, causing her rear tires to wear out after just 6,000 miles.

…the lawsuit demands that GM fix the rods, saying that it had done so on Impala police vehicles.

…GM noted that the cars were made by its predecessor General Motors Corp, now called Motors Liquidation Co or “Old GM,” before its 2009 bankruptcy and federal bailout.

“New GM” said it did not assume responsibility under the reorganization to fix the Impala problem…. In essence, the automaker said, [the plaintiff] sued the wrong entity.

In bankruptcies, the “old” company’s failures usually aren’t the “new” company’s problem. But GM wasn’t a “usual” bankruptcy: bankrupt companies don’t usually get taxpayer-funded blank checks from the government. Bankrupt companies don’t usually vacate claims of senior bondholders in favor of their largest union thanks to a meddling politician. GM can afford to cast the usual excuses aside for Ms. Trusky as it did for its police customers.

We see it as one more reason to never again buy a Government Motors vehicle, no matter how many times they go bankrupt.

Oop. Here’s President Obama back in 2009 announcing that the government would stand behind GM and Chrysler warranties.

– Written by Bonfire of the Absurdities

Source: Reuters

Government Motors’ brand new Chevy Volt already obsolete

“Planned obsolescence” is a term applied to products designed to break easily or to quickly go out of style. GM has taken the concept to new highs (or lows.)

“Planned obsolescence” is a term applied to products designed to break easily or to quickly go out of style. GM has taken the concept to new highs (or lows.)

Green Autoblog reveals the Volt’s unplanned obsolesence:

volt-obama
The Volt should be renamed the Obama. Both have run out of energy far sooner than anyone expected.

CNN Money recently had the audacity to call the Volt’s technology “obsolete.”

CNN’s reasoning employs something called “math”: the Prius Plug-in goes 13 miles in electric mode, then swithces to hybird mode for 51 mpg highway and 48 mpg city. The Volt goes 35 miles in electric mode but on gas only 36 mpg highway and 32 mpg city. The raaaacists conclude:

On trips of 13 miles or less, the Prius plug-in and Volt deliver the same all-electric mpg: zero. On trips between 13 miles and 35 miles in length, the Volt beats the Prius. But after 35 miles, the Prius handily outscores the Volt.

Cost is the deciding factor:

…with a base price of $41,000, the Volt ain’t cheap. Pricing for the Prius Plug-In … is expected to start at approximately $28,000, meaning that it will likely undercut the Volt’s MSRP by more than $10,000. Yes, rebates alter that number, but CNN finds it difficult to justify the hefty premium for what amounts to less than 30 miles of added electric-only range.

Just try getting a “rebate.” It’s easier snatching a tamale from Michelle.

The car in which Obama “invested” so much of our tax money and so much his rapidly vanishing credibility is a metaphor for his presidency: A waste of time and money. Obsolete, just like all his other “ideas.”

– Written by Bonfire of the Absurdities

Source: Green Auto

Michael Moore: Obama should force GM to kill internal combustion engine

Michael Moore and Lawrence O’Donnell. Put ‘em together in front of a camera and the socialism just begins to spontaneously ooze. Or spurt. Or gush. Yeah, gush is a better word.

Michael Moore and Lawrence O’Donnell. Put ‘em together in front of a camera and the socialism just begins to spontaneously ooze. Or spurt. Or gush. Yeah, gush is a better word.

Here’s Michael Moore explaining how President Obama should use government control of General Motors to bring about a socialist workers green paradise:

The auto thing is a good example, too, where I wish Obama would just … if he would just ratchet it up another notch. Yes, you saved the jobs of all my friends back in Michigan but now that we sort of control the car companies let’s get them doing mass transit. Let’s get them doing things that are going to save this planet. Because the internal combustion engine is not going to get us to the twenty-second century. That’s just not gonna, we’re not gonna have a planet. That has to stop. And I just thought, jeez, when you have this power you can do things. And he’s just kinda like, “Nah, we’ll just get the money back from the auto companies and it’s all gonna be ok.”

Putting the questionable constitutionality of Moore’s dream aside, we have one question:

Do you really expect anyone to believe you have friends, Michael?

Fat chance.

Congratulations! You now own nine of the worst cars on the road!

Don’t run out to the garage looking for them. You only own them because Barack Obama and Tim Geithner “invested”$80 billion of your tax dollars in General Motors and Chrysler.

Forbes magazine did its annual “Worst Cars on the Road” review and you may be disturbed to learn that you own nine of the eleven on the list.

Don’t run out to the garage looking for them. You only own them because Barack Obama and Tim Geithner “invested”$80 billion of your tax dollars in General Motors and Chrysler.

2011-dodge nitro
Don't you find it somehow appropriate that a car named the Dodge Nitro is a bomb?

Here’s the bad news from Forbes:

… with three exceptions–the Mercedes-Benz S550, Smart Fortwo and Nissan Titan–all of the cars on this year’s list of the Worst Cars on the Road are (still) made by domestic companies. That includes the Dodge Dakota, Chevy Tahoe Hybrid and Chrysler Town & Country. The only American car company with zero vehicles on the list? Ford.

Ford? You mean the same Ford that declined your tax dollars? The same Ford that now has the largest share of the new car market? The same Ford that is reporting record profits?

Yes, that Ford.

Oh, by the way, just in case you were wondering, here’s the complete list of the Loser Eleven: Cadillac Escalade, Chevrolet Tahoe Hybrid, Dodge Nitro, Jeep Wrangler, Dodge Dakota, Mercedes Benz S550, Chrysler Town and Country, Chevrolet Colorado, Chevrolet Aveo, Jeep Liberty and Nissan Titan.

Source: Forbes

The Chevy Volt’s shocking sales: Only 281 electric cars sold in February

Question: What’s the only thing that takes longer than charging a Chevy Volt? Answer: Selling all 10,000 Volts they’ve committed to build.

Question: What’s the only thing that takes longer than charging a Chevy Volt? Answer: Selling all 10,000 Volts they’ve committed to build.

The latest sales figures tell a common liberal morality tale: They come up with some wacky socialist scheme and attempt to force it down the gaping gullets of the American people. In the unfortunate case of the Volt, it doesn’t look like even the most liberal of environmental lunatics will spend their own money on it.

The Washington San Francisco Examiner explains:

Peruse Chevrolet’s February sales release, and you’ll notice one number that’s blatantly missing: the number of Chevy Volts sold. The number — a very modest 281 — is available in the company’s detailed data, but it certainly isn’t something that GM wants to highlight, apparently. Keeping the number quiet is a bit understandable, since it’s lower than the 321 that Chevy sold in January.

Note that it’s also lower than the 326 that sold in December. There are about 9,200 left to sell.

326 sold in December. 321 sold in January. 281 sold in February. Please allow us to use those sales figures to extrapolate a projected sales chart for the rest of 2011.

Yes, you’re reading the chart correctly. At the rate sales are plummeting, zero Volts will be sold in September leaving Government Motors with about 7,000 oversized door stops.

chevy-volt-sales-chart

Source: San Francisco Examiner

Volt revolt: Consumer Reports says GM’s electric car “doesn’t really make a lot of sense”

Government Motors says the Chevy Volt is the future. But if that the case, it’s not a future Consumer Reports is looking forward to.

Government Motors says the Chevy Volt is the future. But if that the case, it’s not a future Consumer Reports is looking forward to.

The latest issue of the highly respected magazine shines the harsh glare of reality on the electric Chevrolet:

volt-obama
"A Volt buying scheme?" the President sputtered. "I thought you said a vote buying scheme."

“When you are looking at purely dollars and cents, it doesn’t really make a lot of sense. The Volt isn’t particularly efficient as an electric vehicle and it’s not particularly good as a gas vehicle either in terms of fuel economy,” said David Champion, the senior director of Consumer Reports auto testing center at a meeting with reporters here. “This is going to be a tough sell to the average consumer.”

… The magazine has put about 2,500 miles on its Volt. It paid $48,700, including a $5,000 markup by a Chevy dealer.

Champion noted the Volt is about twice as expensive as a Prius.

He was said the five hour time to recharge the Volt was “annoying” and was also critical of the power of the Volt heating system.

“You have seat heaters, which keep your body warm, but your feet get cold and your hands get cold,” Champion said.

You know you have a problem when the best word you can pull from a review is “annoying.”

Source: The Detroit News

Nice work if you can get it: GM and Chrysler to pay bonuses equal to 50% of pay

General Motors and Chrysler, which went hat-in-hand to Washington begging for bailouts, are getting ready to cut big, fat bonus checks to their salaried employees. Some of them may add up to 50% of their annual salaries.

General Motors and Chrysler, which went hat-in-hand to Washington begging for bailouts, are getting ready to cut big, fat bonus checks to their salaried employees. Some of them may add up to 50% of their annual salaries.

gm-headquarters
An evolution: General Motors, Government Motors, Gimme Motors

Bloomberg.com has details of yet another taxpayer-funded rip-off in Motor City:

GM plans to pay bonuses to most managers equal to 15 percent to 20 percent of their annual salary and as high as 50 percent to less than 1 percent of its 26,000 U.S. salaried employees, said one of the people, who asked not to be named revealing internal plans. Bonuses for Chrysler’s 10,755 salaried workers will average about $10,000, with a small group getting as much as half of their salary, one of the people said.

The payouts come as GM, Chrysler and Ford Motor Co. prepare for contract talks this year with the United Auto Workers, which is seeking a share of the industry’s growing prosperity. Ford, the only U.S. automaker to avoid bankruptcy in 2009, is expected to pay bonuses equal to 10 percent or more of base pay to some salaried staff, said a person familiar with the plan.

“The union is going to be very angry about this,” Gary Chaison, a professor of industrial relations at Clark University in Worcester, Massachusetts, said in an interview yesterday. “If these kinds of bonuses are paid to salaried workers, then the union’s demands will increase, knowing management can’t claim an inability to pay.”

The unions are going to be angry? Screw the unions. As a result of the bailouts, they now own the damn companies. Their cushy pension plans and generous medical plans remain intact.

Far as we’re concerned, it’s the American taxpayers who deserve to be pissed.

Source: Bloomberg

New Government Motors commercial says, “Help. I’ve fallen and I can’t get up without a few billion tax dollars.”

General Motors is running a holiday commercial that pokes taxpayers in the eye by thanking them for helping the company get back up. The ad says, “Everyone falls down.” And that’s true, But, damn it, when most of us fall down, the government doesn’t rush in to give us $50 billion.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yr94zStsk8E

General Motors is running a holiday commercial that pokes taxpayers in the eye by thanking them for helping the company get back up.

The ad says, “Everyone falls down.” And that’s true, But, damn it, when most of us fall down, the government doesn’t rush in to give us $50 billion.

What GM should really be thanking us for is losing $9 billion on their initial public offering. And for all the stock that was given to the corrupt UAW. And the for $45 billion in unique tax credits they were awarded. And for the way the original stockholders and bondholders were screwed so that the President’s allies would profit. And for the way they were allowed to claim they had repaid the loan when they really hadn’t.

In reality, the commercial shouldn’t say, “We all fall down.” It should say, “We’ve fallen and we can’t get up without screwing the taxpayers.”

Hybrid cars: If the public won’t buy ‘em, the Obama administration will

First the government buys General Motors. Then they require the company to build electric cars that the public doesn’t want and won’t buy. So how can the government paper over this fiscal fiasco? By purchasing the cars from itself, of course.

First the government buys General Motors. Then they require the company to build electric cars that the public doesn’t want and won’t buy. So how can the government paper over this fiscal fiasco? By purchasing the cars from itself, of course.

obama-electric-car
We all know who's in the driver's seat for this fiscal fiasco

In the words of Aretha Franklin, who’s zoomin’ who?

Fox News has the details of the government-created demand for government-created products:

President Barack Obama’s administration has bought almost a fourth of the Ford Motor Co. and General Motors Co. hybrid vehicles sold since he took office, accelerating federal purchases as consumer demand wanes.

The U.S. General Services Administration, which runs the government fleet, bought at least 14,584 hybrid vehicles in the past two fiscal years, or about 10 percent of 145,473 vehicles the agency purchased in that period, according to sales data obtained by Bloomberg under a Freedom of Information Act request. In fiscal 2008, hybrids accounted for less than 1 percent of government purchases, the data showed.

The government is boosting investment in a technology that has failed to win broad acceptance after more than a decade in the marketplace. Consumer sales of hybrids are headed for their third consecutive yearly decline. Government agencies and businesses have said they also will purchase all-electric models being introduced by automakers including GM.

“At some point, the reality is that for this technology to be accepted, it needs to be done without a government crutch,” said Jeff Schuster, director of forecasting at J.D. Power & Associates in Troy, Michigan. “But without a huge gas-price increase or further government demand, the natural demand just isn’t to be there.”

To complete the story, it should be pointed out that Government Motors does have one other big customer in addition to itself.

General Electric, which makes the recharging stations for electric cars and who also received a big pile of stimulus money, has announced that it will buy a fleet of electric cars.

Can anyone say, “Shell game.”

Source: Fox News

A jolt from Volt: Mileage figures may be 20% of what Government Motors promised

Let’s be charitable and say that Government Motors misinterpreted the numbers. Or that they exaggerated a tad. Or that they erred slightly. Call it what you may, they misinterpreted or exaggerated or erred by about 500%.

Let’s be charitable and say that Government Motors misinterpreted the numbers. Or that they exaggerated a tad. Or that they erred slightly.

Call it what you may, they misinterpreted or exaggerated or erred by about 500%.

chevy-volt
Everything you'd expect from a company called Government Motors. And less.

The folks at Jalopnik have all the fouled-up fuel economy figures:

First of all, let’s talk about fuel economy. In August of last year, we heard GM’s then-CEO Fritz Henderson claimed with all the marketing might it could muster at a Detroit-area press event, that the Chevy Volt would get 230 MPG in city driving conditions. Now, as the Volt’s being tested by the auto trade press, we’re seeing some surprisingly low fuel economy figures amid the expected lavish praise buff books are heaping upon the Volt.

Let’s see what they’ve found out. Popular Mechanics saw just 37.5 MPG in city driving. Car and Driver apparently didn’t choose to use their wheel time for any city driving — but found with all-electric driving:

“…getting on the nearest highway and commuting with the 80-mph flow of traffic-basically the worst-case scenario-yielded 26 miles; a fairly spirited back-road loop netted 31; and a carefully modulated cruise below 60 mph pushed the figure into the upper 30s.”

Motor Trend, like the rest of the trade press other than Popular Mechanics, didn’t appear to do any testing in city conditions, but did find that:

“Without any plugging in, [a weeklong trip to Grandma’s house] should return fuel economy in the high 30s to low 40s.”

They also parrot GM’s new line of 25-50 miles of all-electric — a far cry from the 230 MPG they originally marketed — that the “Volt provides 25-50 miles of real-world electric operation no matter how hard you flog it.”

Oh, big deal. A measly 500% off. Admit it – you’d be thrilled if Tim Geithner could come up with budget numbers that accurate.

Source: Jalopnik

Former Car Czar Steven Rattner rats out Obama

Steven Rattner, President Obama’s original Car Czar, has written a new book called Overhaul that says Obama was “out to get” GM and Chrysler. Obama’s decisions, Rattner says, were political, not economic.

Steven Rattner, President Obama’s original Car Czar, has written a new book called Overhaul that says Obama was “out to get” General Motors (GM) and Chrysler. Obama’s decisions, Rattner says, were political, not economic.

rattner obama
President Obama is not smiling about Steven Rattner's new book.

Here are the highlights (or lowlights, if you prefer) from the Huffington Post:

  • When Obama was told of the plan to pay GM CEO Rick Wagoner a $7.1 million severance package after Obama ordered that he be sacked, Rattner writes: “Suddenly I felt that I was indeed in the presence of a community organizer…”
  • Rattner describes presidential political adviser David Axelrod coming to car meetings armed with poll data to support the takeover and Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel identify Congressmen in whose districts large Chrysler facilities were located.
  • ”[Obama’s economic team] veered dangerously close to having the government take control of the two most troubled banks, Bank of America and Citigroup.”
  • ”If his team had linked arms with the outgoing administration, as President Bush’s advisers had proposed, billions of dollars could well have been saved.”
  • Rattner says Chief of Staff Rahm Emanual dictated Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner’s schedule, public appearances and staff selections.
  • He says Obama economic advisers Larry Summers and Austan Goolsbee and FDIC Chair Sheila Bair as enemies who slowed down decision making with infighting
  • Rattner said Obama was frustrated with the auto companies from the start: “Why can’t they make a Corolla?” he has Obama asking.

We just hope that someone sitting around that big conference room table had the guts to look at the President and said, “They could make a Corolla, Mr. President, but because of the union workforce and idiotic governmental regulations, it would cost twice as much.”

Source: Fox News

Ed Schultz calls GM a success story, liberal HuffPo writer calls BS

When Poor Ed began raving about Government Motors positive earnings, he surely expected a good progressive like Huffington Post’s Leo Hindery to agree. No so fast, Ed.

MSNBC’s Ed Schultz lives in some kind of alternate universe where Obama’s economic program is working.

When Poor Ed began raving about Government Motors positive earnings, he surely expected a good progressive like Huffington Post’s Leo Hindery to agree.

No so fast, Ed. Hindery quickly brought Ed back to reality.

“I love being on this show,” Hindery said. “But I’m going to push back a little bit on your accolade for GM. There will be more jobs created in Mexico by the Big Three automobile manufacturers than will be created here in the United States.”

Note the way the smile disappears from Ed’s pudgy little face.

Source: NewsBusters.org

General Motors is spending your tax dollars on political contributions to Democrats

As would be expected, General Motors (GM) suspended all political donations when it went into bankruptcy last year. We thought they might actually continue that policy. No such luck.

As would be expected, General Motors suspended all political donations when it went into bankruptcy last year. We thought they might actually continue that policy as long as 61% of the company’s stock was owned by the American taxpayers.

No such luck.

Fox Nation tells how your tax dollars found a new home with the corrupt Congressional Black Caucus:

rangel-congressional-black-caucus
Charlie Rangel, poster boy for the Congressional Black Caucus, recipient of your tax dollars via General Motors

The carmaker gave $41,000 to groups associated with lawmakers, the vast majority of it — $36,000 — to the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation, the company reported on a disclosure form last week. The CBC Foundation is a charity with 11 members of the Congressional Black Caucus on its board.

“We’ve always given to the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation as far back as anyone can remember,” said Greg Martin, GM spokesman. “Our commitment remains unabated, and we continue to be a proud supporter of their work to advance economic development in communities throughout the U.S.”

Henry Ford said, “You can have it in any color you want as long as it’s black.” General Motors has apparently amended that to, “You can have it in any color you want as long as it’s the Congressional Black Caucus.”

Source: Fox Nation

New York Times headline calls the Chevy Volt “G.M.’s Electric Lemon”

In short, the Volt appears to be exactly the kind of green-at-all-costs car that some opponents of the bailout feared the government might order G.M. to build.

chevy volt prototype
An early prototype for the electric, but hardly electrifying Chevy Volt

Edward Niedermeyer, editor of The Truth About Cars, wrote an op-ed piece for the New York Times about the new Government Motors’ (GM) new Chevy Volt. Let’s be generous and say it was less than complimentary:

GENERAL MOTORS introduced America to the Chevrolet Volt at the 2007 Detroit Auto Show as a low-slung concept car that would someday be the future of motorized transportation. It would go 40 miles on battery power alone, promised G.M., after which it would create its own electricity with a gas engine. Three and a half years — and one government-assisted bankruptcy later – G.M. is bringing a Volt to market that makes good on those two promises. The problem is, well, everything else.

For starters, G.M.’s vision turned into a car that costs $41,000 before relevant tax breaks … but after billions of dollars of government loans and grants for the Volt’s development and production. And instead of the sleek coupe of 2007, it looks suspiciously similar to a Toyota Prius. It also requires premium gasoline, seats only four people (the battery runs down the center of the car, preventing a rear bench) and has less head and leg room than the $17,000 Chevrolet Cruze, which is more or less the non-electric version of the Volt.

In short, the Volt appears to be exactly the kind of green-at-all-costs car that some opponents of the bailout feared the government might order G.M. to build. Unfortunately for this theory, G.M. was already committed to the Volt when it entered bankruptcy. And though President Obama’s task force reported in 2009 that the Volt “will likely be too expensive to be commercially successful in the short term,” it didn’t cancel the project.

Cancel the project? Are you insane, Niedermeyer?

The Chevy Volt is the car Hollywood hypocrites need to park between their Ferraris and their Lamborghinis to show that they’re environmentally conscious. It’s the car in Laurie David needs to terrorize Santa Monica’s quiet residential neighborhoods. It’s the car Leonard DiCaprio needs to travel between his mansion and his private jet.

But most of all, it’s the car that Barack Obama needs to demonstrate his scorn for market forces.

Source: New York Times

Road rage! You own the companies that makes the worst cars on the road

Congratulations! Your tax dollars are building four of the ten worst cars on the road. Considering all the car companies in the world, this is a truly remarkable achievement for Obama Motors.

cadillac escalade
Introducing the 2010 Cadillac Piece of Crap

Congratulations! Your tax dollars are building four of the ten worst cars on the road.

Considering all the car companies in the world, this is a truly remarkable achievement for Obama Motors.

Let’s be specific. We’re talking about the Cadillac Escalade, Chevrolet Aveo and Chevrolet Colorado, made by General Motors, and the Dodge Nitro, made by Chrysler.

Forbes reports this remarkable story of American manufacturing know how:

If you want to drive something dependable and long-lasting, steer clear of these vehicles.

With a 22% improvement in sales last month, and despite the six-month, $4.3 billion loss it announced Wednesday, General Motors is likely to have its strongest spring and summer in years. Plus, the automaker had critically acclaimed new products at the recent New York Auto Show and the much-anticipated Chevrolet Volt is due out this fall.

Year-over-year sales of GM’s Cadillac division alone are up almost 76%; sales in the Buick, Chevrolet and GMC divisions were each up more than 40% for March. The industry as a whole was up 24.3%.

Unfortunately just because GM’s cars are selling well now doesn’t mean they’re the best bet for durability or value — yet. It’ll take awhile before GM’s new direction shows up in tangible new products at the dealership.
Four of the seven vehicles on our list of the worst-made cars on the road come from GM brands. And all of the cars on the list — including Chrysler’s Dodge Nitro and Jeep Wrangler — are made by Detroit’s Big Three. Only one car on the list is made by Ford Motor (NYSE: F).

This reminds us of a former client, a production manager at a major semiconductor company, who once stood before an international sales meeting, looked with disdain at his worldwide sales force and said, “Last year you complained that we made shit. (pause) This year you’re complaining that we’re not making it fast enough.”

Never laughed so hard.

Source: Forbes

GM (Government Motors) introduces the stylish new 2010 ObamaMobile

The 2010 ObamaMobile car gets an EPA-estimated 1000 miles per gallon because it runs on nothing but hot air and broken promises.

2010 ObamaMobile

Welcome to the future of American automotive excellence, brought to you by Government Motors (formerly General Motors).

The 2010 ObamaMobile car gets an EPA-estimated 1000 miles per gallon because it runs on nothing but hot air and broken promises.

It has three wheels that help the vehicle navigate repeated turns to the left. It comes complete with two TelePrompters programmed to help its driver talk his way out of any violations.

The transparent canopy reveals the plastic smiles still on the faces of all the happy Obamabot owners. And it comes in your choice of S, M, L, XL and 2XL.

It won’t get you to work, but what the hell, there aren’t any jobs anyway.

And coming soon from GM, the all new 2010 Van Jones Van.

Source: LeoGibbons.com

June sales for GM and Chrysler even uglier than predicted

June sales for GM and Chrysler even uglier than predicted. Ford weathered the storm better than most–with no government bailout.

ugly June car sales

Ford may have manufactured the Edsel, but even it was prettier than what’s happening to Chrysler and Government Motors.

Sales are down for everyone. But GM and Chrysler come in at the back of the pack. Here’s a complete list of June U.S. auto sales:

▼ 5% Kia, 26,845 units vs. 28,292 units

▼ 11% Ford, 148,153 units vs. 167,090 units

▼ 15% Volkswagen, 26,551 units vs. 31,411 units

▼ 20% BMW, 20,849 units vs. 26,155 units

▼ 23% Nissan, 58,298 units vs. 75,847 units

▼ 24% Hyundai, 37,943 units vs. 50,033 units

▼ 26% Mercedes, 16,271 units vs. 22,121 units

▼ 30% Honda, 100,420 units vs. 142,539 units

▼ 32% Toyota, 131,654 units vs. 193,234 units

▼ 33% GM, 175,792 units vs. 264,065 units

▼ 42% Chrysler, 68,297 units vs. 117,457 units

Please note that Ford, which declined a government bailout, a government intervention, and a government take-over, seems to be weathering the downturn better than most.

Source: Chrysler.com

Car sales down 28%, media reports end of sales slide

New-vehicle sales in June fell 28% from a year earlier to 860,000 cars and light trucks

Great news!!! Car sales are only down 28% this month!!!
Great news!!! Car sales are only down 28% this month!!!

Great news from Detroit. The recession is over. Cars are going to start flying off the lot any day now. At least that’s what the big three carmakers are saying and the media is reporting.

The three biggest carmakers in America called a bottom to the long decline in U.S. auto sales as the industry reported its smallest monthly sales drop this year.

Just one thing. Don’t break out the champagne and confetti yet. Things aren’t as rosy as Detroit would have you believe. Get a little deeper into the story and you discover the truth:

New-vehicle sales in June fell 28% from a year earlier to 860,000 cars and light trucks, according to the market-research firm Autodata Corp. That would be the smallest decline in any month this year.

In similar news, the Japanese government announced that Hiroshima was actually an indication that they won World War II.

Source: Wall Street Journal

If you want to see Chrysler and GM’s future, look at Amtrak’s past

Amtrak's Taxpayer Express has completely derailed
Amtrak's Taxpayer Express has completely derailed

President Obama doesn’t want the government to own car companies. No, no, no. Anyone who thinks that is sorely mistaken. He insists this current “ownership” thing is just temporary.

Why, three years from now, both companies will be so financially robust that they somehow will no longer need billions of dollars in government subsidies.

Hey, wait a minute. That’s what the same thing they said back in 1971 when Congress legislated Amtrak into existence. Here’s Wikipedia’s description of how that’s worked out:

“Amtrak commenced operations in 1971 with $40 million in direct Federal aid, $100 million in Federally insured loans, and a somewhat larger private contribution. Officials expected that Amtrak would break even by 1974, but those expectations proved unrealistic and annual direct Federal aid reached a 17-year high in 1981 of $1.25 billion. During the Reagan administration, appropriations were halved. By 1986, Federal support fell to a decade low of $601 million, almost none of which were capital appropriations….by 1995 Amtrak was on the brink of a cash crisis and was unable to continue to service its debts.”

So Congress dug a little deeper into your pocket and upped the subsidy. Every year. Here’s what you’ve kindly contributed to Amtrak in the last five years.

2005 $1.2 billion
2006 $1.8 billion
2007 $1.9 billion
2008 $2.2 billion
2009 $2.6 billion

To summarize: In 1971, Congress said Amtrak would be self-sufficient in three years. 38 years later, the subsidies are bigger than ever and the service is worse than ever.

It doesn’t take Nostradamus to predict the future for GM and Chrysler. If you can read history, you can see the future.

Just add a couple more zeroes to the subsidies.

Source: Wikipedia, Heritage Foundation

The “new” GM comes up with “new” ideas
by stealing them

Now that President Obama has written out a big, fat check to General Motors and put a 31-year old crony with no business experience in charge of it, you’re probably wondering what they’re doing with the money. The answer, according to Wired, is stealing the best ideas from tax paying entrepreneurs.

GM engineer "reverse engineering" another company's battery technology.
GM engineer "reverse engineering" another company's battery technology.

Now that President Obama has written out a big, fat check to General Motors and put a 31-year old crony with no business experience in charge of it, you’re probably wondering what they’re doing with the money.

The answer, according to Wired, is stealing the best ideas from tax paying entrepreneurs.

GM invested $25 million in the 33,000-square-foot Global Battery Systems Lab to develop and test the drivetrains underpinning the Chevrolet Volt and other hybrid, battery-electric and hydrogen fuel cell vehicles.

The automaker believes the facility, at its sprawling Warren Technical Center campus outside Detroit, Michigan, will help make it a market leader in battery and EV technology.

So far, so good. But here’s where it gets a little iffy:

The lab also features a thermal shaker table for testing the structural integrity of each pack and a battery tear-down workshop for failure analysis and reverse-engineering competitors’ batteries.

Please allow us to translate: We gave GM billions of dollars so they could rip off good ideas from the entrepreneurs and companies who helped contributed to their bail out.

Perfect. Just friggin’ perfect.

Source: Wired via PlanetGore

Top Republican calls Obama’s General Motors plans “lunacy”

Introducing the sleek, new one horsepower 2010 Obamamobile from General Motors
Introducing the sleek, new one horsepower 2010 Obamamobile from General Motors

House Republican Leader John Boehner is not a fan of President Obama plans for General Motors. In fact, he calls them “lunacy.”

“When the government got involved with helping Chrysler in the late 1970’s,” Boehner noted, “there were hearings, there were oversight hearings afterward and we ought to have the same thing happen here.”

Boehner seems justifiably upset that Obama’s hand will exert too much unfettered control over the new GM.

“…one only has to look at what happened several weeks ago when the government basically coerced the auto companies to stand there and agree to a CAFE (corporate average fuel economy) standard that cannot be met unless the auto companies force Americans to buy cars that they don’t want to buy.”

“This is lunacy! And all of this is going to get stuck on the backs of middle-class taxpayers,” Boehner continued. “Not only are they going to have to pay for the [auto] bailout, but they’re going to pay much higher prices for these cars they don’t want to buy because of the mandates that are coming from the government.”

As we recall, central planning didn’t work out too well in the old Soviet Union. But Barack Obama gives a much better speech than Joe Stalin and that makes all the difference in the world.

Source: CNSnews.com

Republicans want to give you control of GM

GM stock may not be worth the paper it's printed on, but it's better off in your hands than in the government's
GM stock may not be worth the paper it's printed on, but it's better off in your hands than in the government's

Two Republican senators, Lamar Alexander and Robert Bennett, want the government to give its stake in General Motors to American taxpayers. The plan makes so much sense that it’s almost impossible to believe it was generated in Washington, DC.

Under the plan, the government would divvy up its newly-minted General Motors shares among the 154 million Americans who pay federal taxes. If you don’t pay taxes, you don’t get the stock. The senators said taxpayers financed the government’s $60 billion investment in GM, so they deserve to own the stock.

“Those shares might not be worth much now, but put them away and one day they might contribute something toward a college education,” Alexander said. “GM’s 610 million shares were only worth 75 cents just before bankruptcy, but they were worth $40 dollars per share two years ago.”

“This bill would be a tough one for Democrats to oppose,” one aide observed. “They would essentially say that they would rather have the government run and own an auto company than the American people.”

That poor deluded aide. Let us give you the Democrat response before they even make it:

“This outrageous plan is typical of good old boy Republican politics. It discriminates against the poor, people of color and hard-working undocumented aliens. Blah-blah-blah.”

Source: Reuters

Michael Moore proves that Moore is less. Less for you, that is.

Alternate energy: Power the homes of several average American families for a year with the fat sucked out of Michael Moore's wattle.
Alternate energy: Power the homes of several average American families for a year with the fat sucked out of Michael Moore's wattle.

For some reason, we’re on corpulent corporate bashing Michael Moore’s email list. 

Yesterday we got an email from our pal Mike that proved he’s as good an economist as he is a film maker.

He presents a 9-point plan to revitalize America. It involves mass construction projects including bullet trains, light rail systems, fleets of electric cars, windmills and solar panels, and hybrid cars and busses.

But how, you may ask, can we possibly afford all this? Well, Michael has the answer to that, too.

“To help pay for this, impose a two-dollar tax on every gallon of gasoline. This will get people to switch to more energy saving cars or to use the new rail lines and rail cars the former autoworkers have built for them.”

Yes, $2 per gallon. Overnight. Bang. The price goes up more than 50% overnight.

We have a better idea. Enforced liposuction on all obese film makers. Burn it like they used to burn whale oil back in the 1800s. We’d cut our foreign energy dependence overnight.

The email letter on his website.

I HATE THE MEDIA ™
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