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I’m guessing that you’ve already heard General Motors announcement that it was down $6 billion in the first quarter of 2009. And you’ve probably also heard that just after this announcement was made, some of the company’s top executives sold their stock for almost nothing. But have you heard the most recent release from GM — the Chevy Volt jingle?
Sadly, there’s more bad news out of Detroit today. In a statement released earlier this morning, General Motors officially announced “The Pontiac brand will be phased out by the end of 2010.”
I’m sure most of you had heard the rumors circulating last week regarding the Pontiac brand, but I still think it’s worth a few minutes to take a quick look at the official press release from GM.
I don’t know…I really just don’t know what to think about this.
I mean, I’m down with finding new and better ways to travel. And, of course, I understand the idea that a vehicle should match its environment. It’s pretty easy to understand that big, luxury touring cars like to stretch their legs out on the open highway, off-road vehicles are at home in a rugged off-road environment, race cars have their place on a wide-open racetrack and so on. But have you seen this new city vehicle from General Motors and Segway? It’s called Project P.U.M.A., and it’s either brilliant, or crazy. I’m not quite sure yet.
The basic idea is simple: a low-cost, safe, all-electric vehicle that allows people to travel short distances within a city, and do it without creating added congestion or pollution. Sort of a city car idea; however, in the case of Project P.U.M.A. there’s really no surrounding car.
It’s truly coming down to the wire for U.S. automakers Chrysler and General Motors. In the past 48 hours, in anticipation of President Obama’s announcement where he’s expected to reveal his plan for the ailing U.S. automakers, there has been some surprising news out of Detroit. GM has already made a change — and it’s a significant change, at that.
In a brief statement released earlier this morning, Rick Wagoner said “On Friday I was in Washington for a meeting with Administration officials. In the course of that meeting, they requested that I “step aside” as CEO of GM, and so I have.” Wagoner is doing so as a condition of pending federal aid money that, in addition to other conditions that we’ll learn about later today, would not be delivered if he were to remain in his top position at GM. For Wagoner, this is the end of a 31-year career with the company.
Let’s be honest: When you test drive a vehicle, there’s not really a whole lot at stake. Sure, buying a new car or truck is an important decision, but if you don’t like what you feel when you’re behind the wheel, you can easily move on to the next option on your list of favorites and no one really gets hurt. Well, today in Detroit, there’s going to be a test drive that potentially carries a multi-billion-dollar price tag.
President Obama’s automotive task force is paying a visit to Detroit today. While there, aside from meetings with Chrysler and General Motors executives and top union officials, the task force will have an opportunity to tour the Dodge Ram truck plant and test drive the Chevrolet Volt prototype. The recently formed task force has been appointed to determine if the U.S. automakers’ plans for the future are indeed viable and to determine if they should receive additional aid.
After a great deal of speculation and rumor, General Motors has finally made the official call regarding the fate of its Saturn brand. However, the automaker has a few tough decisions to make about its SAAB and Hummer line of vehicles, too.
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