My figures were a bit off. The gov owns 60%, the UAW owns 17%, and I believe Canada and it's AU own around 12%. I could be wrong again, but I am fairly certain those numbers are correct. The last 10% or so belongs to private bond holders.

I am not seeing how this in any way resembles what happened in the 70's with Chrysler. Yes they were in trouble and the got assistance from the gov, but I think that was the end of it.

The government actually has say in how GM will be run. The gov owns part of GM. This was not some loan they gave them and then got out of the way. They are not done giving them money either. Another 33 billion has been set aside by the gov for them as a result of their bankruptcy.

I just don't see GM as a privately owned and operated company anymore. This is a company owned by politicians who have agendas.

 

Political Agenda to do List after GM take over:

Step1.------ Get a Corvette Zr1 for 20K !

Step2.------take a vacation to Montana! ..hmmm....do they still have no speed limits in some places there??

Step3...... introduce new increased speed limit amendment to the house.

 

looks like socialism, smells like socialism...

who all saw this coming when Obama got elected?

 

I did. Voted for mc cain...the lesser of two evils I guess. obama=socialism...mc cain= socialism lite....not much to vote for but i voted so i get to complain!!! until Americans start to turn off american idol and start paying attention to what's going on alot more is going to "change" and I "hope" people wake up SOON! I 2nd Zoilus' agenda.

 

I just hope people figure it out... or its gonna get alot worse

 

yeah definitely smells like socialism to me too...and the scary thing to me has been that people have been so arms-wide-open to it...

i also voted for mccain...this was the first election in which i was able to vote and seeing so many people now embracing this socialism has somewhat dimmed my hopes for the next 4 or 8 years, but obama is our president and as a future member of the armed forces i'm putting my trust in him to lead...i just whole-heartedly hope he doesn't turn out to be what i think he will and hope he can prove us wrong by representing all americans and promoting the free market system and competition upon which our nation was founded, but in these first few months where the government has "bailed out" the nation and become the owner of a few huge car companies i'm starting to wonder where this path is going to take us...

the scary thing too is that so many people don't realize the inefficiency plague that becomes associated with nationalized companies (look at PEMEX in Mexico and start taking notes...if you guys don't know much about PEMEX it is a completely nationalized oil and petroleum company and is completely inefficient, yet if you mention "hey why don't you guys privatize PEMEX and benefit from competitive efficiency and innovation?" in a political discussion you will either deeply anger the person with whom you're speaking or you will see them run away as fast as they can from the discussion...its reprivatization is an issue that will ruin any politician that mentions it and it honestly doesn't have any hope in the near future of being reprivatized and discovering innovation and efficiency)...

let's just hope that somehow the government can do the impossible by avoiding this innefficiency plague and somehow go against what has been proven time after time after time with nationalized companies and industries (like it was mentioned earlier...case in point in the United States was AMTRAK...which has been caught in that cycle since the 70's)

apparently GM already has commercials out advertising the government upgrade to efficiency and that it's on its way to getting better....from what i remember hearing in the commercial, apparently "the only chapter GM is concerned about is chapter 1"...

uh huh...why doesn't GM (and now subsequently taxpayers) actually focus on achieving these improvements by spending money on what it needs to do instead of spending money in the beginning to try and convince people that it will achieve it? does this seem right out of the bat a little off to you guys as well? why doesn't GM just let its improvements speak for themselves in the market and avoid expenses on nationwide advertising campaigns like this? (perhaps this will be one of the first lessons GM needs to learn)...we already know what happened and if GM has a nationwide-campaign ready a day or so after this happened stating that they know what they have to do, why couldn't they have put these efforts into action before bailout? this seems a little odd to me knowing all the answers a day or so into "chapter one"...

a little bit of hope though in this commercial for us camaro-lovers...there was talk in the commercial about having to improve efficiency in cars and stuff and shuffled through all the brands and cars they were keeping (well that i presume that they are keeping...all chevrolet's, cadillac's, and gmc's...) and that GM was headed towards a brighter, more efficient future and they did flash a picture of the camaro...so at least right now we still have a little hope in the camaro...

i just hope they don't end up making the camaro-a-la-obama...a 4 cylinder turbo and 6 cylinder turbo with a live rear axle or some other "cost-saving" upgrades that kill what the modern beast took so long to become...granted the 6 cylinder engine is frighteningly respectful, i don't know what camaro would be without the v8...this is why my ss order has been placed...if obama somehow does get his hands on the camaro plans i at least have my baby coming soon

now i do admit that improving efficiency is important to help sustain the environment...but while achieving this goal GM cannot run itself into the ground (again lol) by forgetting about economics and selling cars! the camaro is selling like hotcakes right now and if there is one car that can really be a big hit for GM it is the camaro and by keeping this car fresh without ruining it completely can do some major good for this company...i honestly don't think Ford stands a chance between the mustang and camaro sales war right now until they actually bring back the 5.0 to the GT and upgrade the v6's engine (the 5.0 has already been rumored and semi-confirmed to be in development for next year's model because Ford already knows what it's facing with the camaro...)

wow i jumped around a bit in this thread...but let's see what you guys think

 

I think the reason people have rallied around Obama is he is a VERY good speaker (as long and his teleprompter is working!). he is very smooth, alot like Bill Clinton (haha "I did not have sexual relations with that woman"). I talked with people before the election and it seems that people felt like it was more of a contest between Palin and Obama because many think McCain was too old. I kinda like Palin (not positive she is ready yet but...) I voted McCain because I don't hear Obama the same way others do... (I read it on the bottom of my TV if anyone is wondering).

I'm not sure what to say about the future of GM and others... in my opinion it doesn't look good at all. and contrary to what my wife thinks... if things turn out good I will be the first to step up and admit I was wrong... just don't see that happening