Rick Wagoner spent the last 10 years trying to catch a falling knife, and yesterday it bounced off the table and stabbed him in the heart. He’s a decent man who tried to do the right thing, but it was never enough fast enough. When you’re borrowing tens of billions from the taxpayers, a human sacrifice may be called for. Wagoner is it.My question is, “when do we start sacrificing bankers?” At least Wagoner can point to Buick coming in number one in the latest J.D. Power study for vehicle dependability (tied with Jaguar). Can anyone name a single thing any of America’s top banks have ranked number one in lately other than quantity of bad investments, boldness of consumer exploitation, or size of taxpayer bailout?
And has the government forced out a single bank CEO? No. Their specialized knowledge is too valuable, their experience too extensive, and their judgment too sound. We just can’t lose them.
If Lincoln had managed the Civil War the way President Obama is managing the financial crisis, McClellan would have still been holed-up in Washington in 1864 while Lee controlled the rest of the continent.
I understand the need to get tough with Detroit. Let’s just dish out the same medicine to Wall Street.
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GM wanted to borrow more money and he said no, but he'll give them 60 more days if they fire the guy...what does that accomplish?
I honestly thought it would be harder for Obama to stick it to the car industry because of union support. Maybe he wants the government to step in and negotiate with the unions in a manner that would be more palatable to the UAW. He cans a bank head and the labor movement could care less, but if he forces GM into bankruptcy there would be hell to pay from the workers.
Ok,JD Powers I get Buick, but I am really skeptical of Jaguar, but then its owned by Ford?. Since the Feds are now going to back GM Chrysler warranty, I just keep on thinking how user friendly the IRS and Medicare are.I'm waiting for the national healthcare plan. I just love having a front row seat to a good horror flick.
Wagoner in, Wagoner out. It really doesn't make a difference. The poor bastard got treated like he was working on the line. What worries me is anybody that thinks a Jaguar is dependable. What I want to see is the Fiarysler concept car!
Jaguar (and Land Rover) are now owned by Tata Motors of India, who also make the world's least expensive car.
I just read RW is getting a $20 mil exit package. Wonder what Congress is going to say about that. They'll be leading a tourch-carrying mob of bloggers and solar energy afficianados in a parade down Woodward Avenue, with a Carmry trailing behind in case Barney's puppys start to bark.
Hard to believe that Chrysler has fallen so far that Fix It Again Tony (FIAT) Motors is going to take it over.
Guess the PT Cruiser didn't pull them back from the abyss.
If the Feds hadnt bailed out Chrysler in the 70's we'd be looking at a very differant auto industry today. Car execs would have learned then what their workers have always known,do it right or your gone. Does anyone really believe that this crisis,with all its free handouts teaches lessons in better business? AIG doesnt give a rat ass about this country. Can anyone still call this a free market when only the workers,not the company, can go under? Today the peoples president asked the auto workers to give more and sent more troops overseas. Fuck him.
Before the election I quoted Louis Farrakhan. "It doesnt matter who gets elected,when he gets to Washington he'l findout who's running things." My guess, the World Bank & the Joint Chiefs.
I'll take his retirement package though. Beats my $300 a week unemployment check.
I'm not sure that the same medicine is appropriate here. Although I believe that there is certainly a bias toward Wall street as opposed to the auto industry, I also think that the problems are different. GM, Chrysler, et.al. have been in trouble for years -- well before Wall Street imploded. They were ill positioned when gasoline prices instantly went up last year. They seemed to have abandoned the fuel-efficient sedan market for the SUV and truck market. They've been hit by an incredible double whammy of first high gas prices and then by a deep recession. They are suffering from the result of having made good quality cars that last a long time. People can drive longer and during a recession they can easily put off buying a new car. Whoops.
None of these issues are the fault of the UAW and rest solely with management in the person of Rick Wagoner. Chrysler will go the way of Studebaker. GM will finally restructure (hopefully) into a more efficient company with fewer divisions and fewer dealers. Our fervent hope is that they are able to do this without the gutwrenching job losses we've already seen.
So if I see a cougar in a jag or a milf in a rover I can say nice TATA'S.Selling a product is so more transparent than selling money.The WE/THEY stuff is just getting started.Which makes me wonder why Obama would speak at ND when a place like Southern Cal, OSU or Florida would be more his style.
Birdman -- you are so wrong I hardly know where to begin. I'm not even going to get into your simplistic analysis of GM; I’ll just focus on the other side of the equation. You seem to suggest that the banks problems weren’t of their own making, and that their problems are recent. In fact, neither of those things are the case. And the losses the banks have suffered make Detroit’s red ink a mere bog-o-shells.
Actually, I will make one comment on your mischaracterization of GM, which makes more cars getting 30+ MPG than any other car company anywhere. You think they only sell trucks because you watch a lot of spots on TV and you can’t believe they aren’t talking to you.
Warrenout -- you better know her well or be wearing a mask.
Where to begin...overcapacity was a problem in many industries, too many cars for sale, too many mortgages, too many magazines, too many channels.
Did anyone ever think selling 16mm cars a year was sustainable? Especially with all the off lease product coming back to market! Once you ride the tiger it is hard to get off. too many companies and industries are finding out first hand. Too bad its the little guy that gets hurt the most.
If you want to blame anyone - lets blame the finance guys with MBA's, put that in your excel and build a business case!
GM's problem is similar to that of all businesses. If you are not growing, you are failing.
The competition comes in and they can innovate because they are almost always leaner. You have a structure to produce half the vehicles in the world and you fall to 40%, you find contraction is hell.
Most experts say that the US auto makers focused on SUV's and trucks because they netted more per vehicle. The overhead and legacy costs were harder to maintain selling less profitable vehicles. They will need to restructure to survive.
I'm not shocked I could be wrong about this stuff. My point was that every illness shouldnt' necessarily get the same treatment. Each one is different.
Dont wimpout Bird, tell DB where to get off.
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