NFRs2000NYC

Just like NYC ports would never be allowed to be secured by an Arab company?

Thats the US of the past my friend....

rockville

No, Toyota will buy GM's R&D labs which they have long since respected as the best in the business. They will not take on the pension and healthcare debt which they were able to take advantage of. That will get passed on to the tax payer. Hell, if it's going to be passed to the tax payer why not at least force the other auto makers to cover the cost. This would be kind of like how all the surviving makers of asbestoses products assumed the liability of those who went under. I have not fully thought this idea out but it's certainly food for thought.

mdy

"Honda will introduce its smallest hybrid car and a new diesel engine in 2009 (but alas, no diesel hybrid). The company sees fuel-efficiency as key to growing sales in North America and is also investing in more production facilities here.

The new Honda hybrid will cost substantially less than the Civic Hybrid, and the diesel engine will meet the EPA's Tier 2 Bin 5 emissions standards. Honda says it will raise its 2005 CAFE mpg of 29.2 by 5 percent by 2010. Some of the efficiency will come from improvements in its four-cylinder i-VTEC engine and Variable Cylinder Management technology that will each reduce fuel consumption by more than 10 percent.

The current sales trends could foretell a day when Honda and Toyota employ more workers in the U.S. than GM, Ford or DaimlerChrysler.

Found via the Detroit Free Press. "

wired.com

TheDonEffect

GM will not go away, its that simple. Keep in mind that GM is still currently the biggest producer/seller of cars with Toyota on its heels; you just don't go from hero to zero overnight. Chrysler for over a decade laid in shambles (still do) and yet they managed to spark a small fire in the company as of late, desperation sparks ingenuity, as did Hyundai. Furthermore, GM is the largest seller in the Chinese marketplace, a market with vast potential.
As mentioned earlier, the two problems with GM (and the big 3 for that matter) are its management which is slowly coming around and the UAW. Fortunately for places liek Japan, with a culture of a high saving consumers/workers, the high demands of the UAW would be a pipe dream but here in America, UAW gets continued support by the American population. From an economic standpoint, the political pressures of the UAW is quite frustrating.
What's causing all this concern here in the US is the fact that once upon a time buying American cars was the established norm, you just did it. Consumers are now more educated on the market, more willing to stretch their budgets in order to attain what they want; a good deal now goes beyond the out the door price.
Also, just imagine what would happen if OPEC were to disband or the world understood that oil supply is not drying up...

yellow2001

tell that to enron

koala

enron pales in comparison to GM's size and resources.

GM will be around for a long time to come. They've been "going broke" for 30 years.

DISCO_J

And broke for another 30....

UAW and cars/trucks competing in the same segments are culprits, way too many models and brand IMO.

BPUKiller

Why not? They let the Germans buy Chrysler...oh yeah, they are white.

Sam

no_really

there's a difference. At the time, it was sold as "Chrysler and MB joint venture agreement" type of thing, that turned out as "Germans buying Chrysler," with associated lawsuits and pissing and moaning. And that has turned out as the kind of benefit to Chrysler as it was originally sold as, so whatever. There is bound to be more resistance to any foreign make purchasing GM as a result of the Chrysler/MB merger - i.e. you can't trust the buyer as far as you can throw them.

And I think it is a bit shallow to assume any resistance to a Japanese company buying GM is simply racism. A very large portion of this country can trace their heritage to Europe, and are predisposed to favoring their cousins more than people who are complete strangers. And obviously, we are defining "cousins" here on what you might call a racial basis, but is that unrealistic or unreasonable? Culture-wise, Europe is closer to the US than anywhere in Asia, so which continent would you expect to receive more favorable treatment?

As there has yet to be any talk of such a merger, I think one is simply looking for reasons to complain if the unlikelihood of a Japanese-American auto merger upsets one.

DISCO_J

That's nonsense ^^^^ my opinion of course.