Posted on 07/17/2006 5:57:40 AM PDT by JamesP81
General Motors’ board of directors has voted to start exploratory discussions with Nissan and Renault on a potential business alliance — a plan first proposed one week ago by Kirk Kerkorian, GM’s largest shareholder. But would a deal with the automakers help boost GM’s flagging fortunes?
(Excerpt) Read more at msnbc.msn.com ...
How about GM collapsing 8 brands down to 3 or 4
It might be a plan to shed itself of the unions and the "welfare state" they created for themselves. You never know --
Just about anything is better than the royal mess they have now.
Maybe Kerkorian - the great Armenian wizard - can save their behinds.
Was it supposed to increase their sales?
I thought it was supposed to decrease costs.
I am not sure either, but as I said in another thread a 350Z with an LS2 engine would be a world beater.
" I do like Nissan autos, however, and I'd be really incensed if GM started selling their cheaply constructed cars with a Nissan tag on them."
Aw, c'mon! Some of GM's cars have been up at number two behind Toyota in the J.D. Power surveys. Catch up with things.
still way too much overlap
reduce to:
Chevy
Cadillac
GMC Trucks
GM still sells more cars than anyone else in North America. Costs are killing them.
Grossly Mismanaged was forced into this due to York/Kerkorian's insistence (they don't think Rick Wagoner is moving fast enough) that they meet. York apparently contacted Ghosn. Ghosn miracously turned around Nissan in a VERY quick time frame and, I believe, Y/k think he can help out GM. Problem is that GM, at this point, doesn't have a small car strategy. Their addiction to large SUV type vehicles has hurt them badly.
Deduct Oldsmobile, then add Saturn. Neither made sense to me. Now I hear you can get a Saturn with a Honda engine. Why doesn't GM just sell Hondas ?
I see this as Kerkorian's solution to the Delphi parts crisis. This will put Nissan parts into the GM pipeline, probably by the 2010 model year. Then Delphi gets the axe (followed by the inevitable strike) and the GM assembly lines keep moving in spite of it. Remember, no parts equals no cars. Additionally, this would open overseas assembly lines in Europe and Asia for vehicles with the GM marque, also as insurance against a UAW strike. A percieved increase in quality, backed by Nissan and Renault financial strength(French gov't money too) with access to plants around the world...Looks like a huge win for GM. (Shipping cars to the US is cheap. Overseas plants do not carry GM's enormous labor/benefit costs.) This will also give Renault access to a US network of dealerships, which they have wanted for the past several years. Additionally, this puts high-mileage econoboxes back in the GM stable, though modified for US sale. Renault has gotten better mechanically since the Nissan link-up, so the "cranky French crapbox" image is dissipating. Looks like a big upside for GM management, dealers, and consumers. The US government won't even blink, because no one in Washington wants to watch GM go belly up, regardless of politics. Also looks like a big downside for Delphi and GM assembly employees in the mid to long term.
I have been very favorably impressed with some GM cars I have driven as rentals in the past year. I can't say the same for either Toyota's Corolla (though the Camry is nice) or Honda's Civic, which is less refined, less powerful, less everything than anything else I have driven. The GMs got good mileage, ran well, were comfortable and ergonomically better than I had any right to expect. If I were buying a car today, it would be a Buick or a Chevy.
I agree. The last three cars I've owned have been Nissan's. I may have to rethink buying any in the future if GM will be involved. It might be back to the VW's for me.
"I do like Nissan autos..."
Then you should hate this plan. I don't want to buy a Nissan made in Mexico. Keep the American brand American, (Nissan), and let the foreign manufacturer, (GM), figure out their own problems.
"It might be back to the VW's for me."
Yikes. VW has fallen on hard times in terms of quality.
Go for a nice Honda.
How would that plan work?
It also feels good to drive a car made in the United States by non-union people in a red state who are not strong-armed into voting the straight Democratic ticket by their union bosses and who are not represented by corrupt union bosses who absolutely LOVE marxists like Hillary Clinton, Al Gore, John Kerry who funnel millions and millions of dollars into their campaign coffers.
I think I'd go for a Suburu instead. Haven't followed the car industry for years since I've bought Nissan's specifically, but I owned a Suburu (bought it used...less than 10,000 miles) several years ago and had nothing but good luck with it. How are they faring now? I know they're expensive, but...
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