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Thought on the Government Bailout of GM (and a merger with Chrysler)
5 thoughts on “Thought on the Government Bailout of GM (and a merger with Chrysler)”
Don’t get me started (and I’m an unrepentant liberal).The part nationalised BL ruined the British car industry in the 70s. First and foremost I never forgave them for dropping the Mini Cooper. And then one by one all the proud marques BL incorporated disappeared: Triumph, MG, Riley etc. Others had their names tarnished for decades because of crap build quality (30 years later Jaguar is still paying for this). And then we had the proliferation of rubbish models built to a budget e.g Austin Princess (the UK’s equivalent of the AMC Pacer), the Allegro (All Agro) the Triumph Stag (not a bad concept but a good example of what happens when drive train parts are made from coat hanger wire) and others. The UK Government didn’t save any companies that were not going to disappear anyway and buggered up the remaining good stuff. The difference in case of Chrysler and GM is, is there anything worth saving in the first place. Surely not Chevy Suburbans or Chrysler Sebrings…?
Time for my medication: are we still good for the Stumbling Monk this evening?
The Monk? Certainly.
I’m planning on it.
Let us not forget(ad I’m *no* huge fan of Chrysler or any American car company, for that matter) the loan guarantess that were offered Chrysler in the 80s were paid back, ahead of time, and we made money on the deal.
However, it’s a different time, Lee Iacocca’s not in the comapny, and I posit there are NO competent people in charge of the Big Three, nowhere near as savvy and as “American” as Iacocca was.
I think it’ll be a GM/Chrysler amalgam…I mean, Daimler and Chrysler worked out *so well*…..:(
I think Alan Mullaly (at Ford) is a smart cookie. Unfortunately he’s saddled with some exec-level idiots. If anyone survives this it will be Ford. (by the kin of their teeth however.)
But the Morons at GM? Or Chrysler? Pthhbbbt!
Triumph…. ahh memories…. my Dad had 2.0 litre Triumph sedan and then a new 1976 2.5 TC model – still see the odd one round here today… the cops of the day had 2.5 PI models….. they constantly had to maintain the PI system as it was real Lucas (?) crap – but they went very well when running right … an agile car for its day also… compared to the Aussie tanks that were everywhere…
Don’t get me started (and I’m an unrepentant liberal).The part nationalised BL ruined the British car industry in the 70s. First and foremost I never forgave them for dropping the Mini Cooper. And then one by one all the proud marques BL incorporated disappeared: Triumph, MG, Riley etc. Others had their names tarnished for decades because of crap build quality (30 years later Jaguar is still paying for this). And then we had the proliferation of rubbish models built to a budget e.g Austin Princess (the UK’s equivalent of the AMC Pacer), the Allegro (All Agro) the Triumph Stag (not a bad concept but a good example of what happens when drive train parts are made from coat hanger wire) and others. The UK Government didn’t save any companies that were not going to disappear anyway and buggered up the remaining good stuff. The difference in case of Chrysler and GM is, is there anything worth saving in the first place. Surely not Chevy Suburbans or Chrysler Sebrings…?
Time for my medication: are we still good for the Stumbling Monk this evening?
The Monk? Certainly.
I’m planning on it.
Let us not forget(ad I’m *no* huge fan of Chrysler or any American car company, for that matter) the loan guarantess that were offered Chrysler in the 80s were paid back, ahead of time, and we made money on the deal.
However, it’s a different time, Lee Iacocca’s not in the comapny, and I posit there are NO competent people in charge of the Big Three, nowhere near as savvy and as “American” as Iacocca was.
I think it’ll be a GM/Chrysler amalgam…I mean, Daimler and Chrysler worked out *so well*…..:(
I think Alan Mullaly (at Ford) is a smart cookie. Unfortunately he’s saddled with some exec-level idiots. If anyone survives this it will be Ford. (by the kin of their teeth however.)
But the Morons at GM? Or Chrysler? Pthhbbbt!
Triumph…. ahh memories…. my Dad had 2.0 litre Triumph sedan and then a new 1976 2.5 TC model – still see the odd one round here today… the cops of the day had 2.5 PI models….. they constantly had to maintain the PI system as it was real Lucas (?) crap – but they went very well when running right … an agile car for its day also… compared to the Aussie tanks that were everywhere…
Jerome