GM's Employee Discount for Everyone extension gets mixed reactions

It's always funny when you find separate articles with completely different views on the same subject. Take the announcement yesterday that GM will be extending its Employee Discount for Everyone program to Sept. 30. Bloomberg sees the move as a sign of gloom and doom, quoting an analyst as saying, "Adding 2006 SUVs is like the kiss of death." It blames the company's junk status on the fact it can't sell cars without heavy incentives. Meanwhile, the Chicago Tribune has titled its article "Experts applaud GM extension of employee pricing." The Tribune sees the extension as a clever "counter-move" to draw attention away from Moody's downgrading the company's status to junk and ongoing talks with the UAW. It also points out that employee pricing incentives have been more attractive to consumers than value pricing because no haggling is involved. Regardless of your take, it's likely that Ford and DaimlerChrysler will soon follow suit.