Autoblog

Seems like everyone's reacting to the possibility of Obamanomics.
Wall street down yesterday 430 plus points.Europe today,crashing again.

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Of course, it was rollercoastering worse than that long before the election, but now if anything bad happens, well, of course it's Obama's fault, right? Can't wait to see you rejects howl when something goes wrong and he's actually in office.

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I guess you didn't notice the fact that World Markets have been crashing for the past month?

I am expecting to see benefits on the chopping block. Product wise if I was to guess...

1) Close Hummer. Nobody wants to buy it and it has become a huge drain but then this depends on negotiations with dealers.
2)Colorado and Canyon seem vulnerable to more cuts or disappearing as does Suburban and friends.
3) Equinox is also vulnerable. Could see that plant getting a temporary shutdown at least. Global architecture and the joint venture with Suzuki might save the Equinox long term. Whether or not the 2010 redesign happens on time is another question.

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Oh STFU about politics already. This is not the forum for it.

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"Of course, it was rollercoastering worse than that long before the election, but now if anything bad happens, well, of course it's Obama's fault, right? Can't wait to see you rejects howl when something goes wrong and he's actually in office." - Snark

Just can't help yourself can you. You libs couldn't wait to blame Bush for the bust of the dot.com bubble before he even took office for his first term. What's good for the goose is good for the gander.

And yea.. I already know I'm a racist for thinking an apples to apples comparison is even remotely fair.


"Oh STFU about politics already. This is not the forum for it." - fixitfixitstop

Or you could simply exercise your American right to choose and learn to use the "BACK" button on your browser. How's that for change.

Maybe if more people controlled themselves instead of trying to command everyone around them this world would be far better off.

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The financial markets know Obama will bring new economic policies.
That's not politics,it's reality and they are concerned.
They've heard about his plan to redistribute wealth by overtaxing the economic wealth builders,and they know He's a protectionist.
Additional economic uncertainty lies in His Iraq withdrawal/appeasement talk policy with Iran which will give more ground to state sponsored terrorism.
You could argue that's politics but the world ecomonies are looking to the US with uncertainty.
Obama needs to reassure them .These are perilous times.

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Dear GM,

Please stop fighting and just go peacefully into that good night.

Thank you.

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Quit bringing stupid politics into this, especially since this is a post about GM, not an investment bank. And Obama is already the best candidate GM could have hoped for so quit being idiots. The election's over, are you idiots going to spend the next 4 years whining on automobile blogs about Obama every time the stock market moves?
It's not on topic, so quit it, nobody wants to hear this nonsense.

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Listen, ALL OF YOU: GM's problems truly began in the 70s, and before Jimmy Carter was elected. Their issues have little to do with the political climate and much more to do with not addressing customer needs while being bloated, reluctant to change, and ignorant of all market segments.

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To those who say keep the politics out (of a BLOG in a DEMOCRACY)...
You don't think politics effect the auto industry dynamic?
Maybe that' why the US auto industry is failing....they couldn't take criticism constructively.

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Wow. Republicans are dumb.

PS: Palin? You really voted for her? Wow! Please don't have kids.

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Vintage, please don't generalize all republicans as being stupid. Thank you.

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the economy dropped in preparation for obama. The Obama Economy started a few months ago when every one realized he was going to win.

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@jon

If you were an investor, you would realize that today was a HUGE buying opportunity, just like Oct 23rd. Every smart person cashed out the last 2 weeks of rally on Nov 4th, 30% of my positions were up 50% or more.... I used the market dip to consolidate positions. A few more days like this and I can retire...

But you wouldn't know anything about that.

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Chrysler on the threshold of a product upswing? Um, no.

The only threshold that Chrysler is on is bankruptcy. That is why Cerberus is trying to blackmail GM into taking off their hands by shutting off the loans from GMAC.

Chrysler's small and midsize cars are terrible and they don't have the talent, time, or money to replace them. The 300/Charger is also past its sell-by date. The minivan market is tanking. The Durango wasn't good when it was new 7 years ago, and they are closing the factory. The Ram is competitive, but still trailing the competing Ford and GM products as truck sales fall of a cliff.

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Cerberus is trying to unload because they're not seeing the instant profits they want. This has been a strip and flip from the beginning.

Never bet against a company with 10+billion in liquid, unallocated cash.

Chrysler should take their chances, buy themselves from Cerberus with that cash, and if they go down -- its because of their own doing, and not an outside company.

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Jared:

"The Durango wasn't good when it was new 7 years ago, ..."

Um, no. The Durango was all new for the 2004 model year. That is only FOUR YEARS or FIVE model years ago.

The 300 was all new for the 2005 model year, and the Charger was all new for 2006 model year. None of these are considered "old" models yet. The refresh rates for cars is 4-5 years, for suv's 6-8 years, for pickups 8 yrs avg.

Now add to that the new minivans, the new Ram, Challenger, Journey, the improved interiors, and the upcoming Phoenix V6, new tranny's, B segment car with Nissan, the LY large car, and the future Grand Cherokee/Durango to be built at the Jeep plant in Detroit and it's obvious you don't know much of what is going on at Chrysler.

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Sorry, Frank, but you're wrong. As you should know, Chrysler considers that the Aspen/Durango are so competitive, that they're closing the factory next month. Permanently. No more Aspen/Durangos.

The Ram is an improved truck, but it will still be number 3 in sales in a falling market.

The Journey interior is very poor and the Journey isn't selling.

The 300/Charger is an old product, with a fair bit of content (suspension, steering, transmission) from the previous generation Mercedes E-class. Note that MB is replacing the current generation E-class next year, so the underpinnings of the 300/Charger are effectively two generations behind. Chrysler knows that the 300/Charger is in need of replacement, which is why they have a replacement model in the works for the 2010 model year: http://www.autoblog.com/2008/10/07/new-dodge-charger-chrysler-300-confirmed-for-2010/

Unfortunately for Chrysler, people aren't buying inefficient, large, rear-wheel-drive sedans like the 300, as can be seen in the sales figures of the 300 -- down 60% from last year. Ouch.

Improved interiors won't make the Sebring/Avenger competitive with any of the competition.

Rebadging a Nissan small car won't make Chrysler a success either.

I'm not the only one predicting Chrysler's demise. Kimberly Rodrigues of Grant Thornton: "Chrysler as we know it will cease to exist very soon."

Gerald Meyers, former CEO of AMC: ""There's no economic reason for Chrysler to exist anymore."

Gordon Wangers: "Whoever buys Chrysler is buying it for Jeep."

Peter M. De Lorenzo: "One thing we are certain in all of this is that Chrysler will cease to exist in its present form, and momentarily too."

Tim Higgins: "Analysts predict both GM and Chrysler could run out of cash next year if they do not receive help."

Justin Hyde: "Analysts believe both companies could run short of cash next year, possibly triggering a bankruptcy."

David Cole: "The biggest problem is cash and whether these companies will have enough to survive this downturn."

John Snow, head of Cerberus: "The collapse of the auto industry at this time would be devastating for a new president."

Robert Farago: "About a year ago, ChryCo’s German “partner” (and author of the abortive DaimlerChrysler “merger of equals”) valued its 19.9 percent Chrysler stake at $2.2b. At the end of June, the number slid to a scarecely creditable $268m. And now The Detroit Free Press says Daimler believes that its ChyrCo position is without any financial value whatsoever.

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