Death of the GM Corvette?

Oh great, another Honda is bringing jobs to the US vs. the money is going to a Japanese corporation argument.

[NEON DEON]

Originally Posted by GT182

Nope, Dodge and Chrysler are no longer owned by Dalmer-Benz. DB sold it. A US outfit now owns them and it's one of the reasons the plant in Newark, DE is closing. The most advanced plant in the US that can build and vehicle Chrysler/Dodge makes is shutting their doors in 2009. Actually DB started the closing and the fools that now own it are continuing on with the closing. They also have a great track record of shutting down buisnesses they buy. So in a few years you might only see GM and Ford..... the Big Two..... no more Big Three.

Hay I didnt say the above quote that was subman.

I said this:

"Dodge is made by Chrysler which is no longer owned by Daimler. Cerberus Capital Management now owns Chrysler after buying it from Daimler."



Yes it could be the end for Chrysler. Before Daimler bought them they had made themselves very attractive to be bought because of the huge amount of money they had for R & D. I wonder what kinda shape they would be in had they remained independent.

[SUBMAN1]

Originally Posted by NEON DEON

No spin.

Just facts.

Some people here sometimes have a hard time with facts.

Exactly - my thoughts too. As someone said above, it is not black and white, but still, who owns the money? WHo owns the profits? This is money that was once American, but no longer is.

-S

[NEON DEON]

Originally Posted by SUBMAN1

Exactly - my thoughts too. As someone said above, it is not black and white, but still, who owns the money? WHo owns the profits? This is money that was once American, but no longer is.

-S

I agree that not all is black and white and that some money flows out of the country.

But cars are big ticket items that require huge infrastructures.

Honda does not make 85% profit on their businesses in the US it is more the reverse. Probably 15%. The rest is tied up in costs. Their are over 26,000 car dealerships in the US accounting for over $684 billion and almost all of them are owned by Americans.

This is a real interesting article showing how muddied the waters can be.

"For example, there is the confusing issue of ownership. Chrysler is now DaimlerChrysler. General Motors owns 49% of Isuzu, 20% of Fuji Heavy Industries, which produces Subaru, and 20% of Suzuki. Ford has a 33.4% share of Mazda, and DaimlerChrysler owns 37.3% of Mitsubishi. Ford Motor Co.’s portfolio of vehicles also includes English-built Jaguars and Land Rovers as well as Swedish-built Volvos."

and this on content:

"But the Kentucky-built Toyota Avalon ranks higher than the Chrysler PT Cruiser in domestic content, with 70% U.S./Canadian parts content and the 2004 Saturn VUE, the first General Motors Corp. vehicle to be offered with a Honda-built engine, will be more “American” when it hits the streets than the 2003 VUE that doesn’t have the Honda engine."


http://www.charlestonbusiness.com/pu...ws/2930-1.html


Notes:

The Article was written before Daimler sold off Chrysler.

Also:

Honda also has a 22 year old engine plant In Ohio which now produces 1.15 million engines a year. The plant has produced over 15 million engines.

http://www.honda.no/sw3938.asp?Pid=8162

[bradclark1]

I look at it like this. Which cars have paint falling off them? Which new cars do you see broke down on the sides of roads. Which cars spend a good deal of time at the dealership for repairs? The ones that aren't on this list are the one's I'll buy.

[SUBMAN1]

Originally Posted by bradclark1

I look at it like this. Which cars have paint falling off them? Which new cars do you see broke down on the sides of roads. Which cars spend a good deal of time at the dealership for repairs? The ones that aren't on this list are the one's I'll buy.

I've had good luck on my SAAB. I'm on SAAB #7, and no real issues (knock on wood) other than a blown tranny. I of course was running 300 ft/lbs of torque through it, but thats a minor point. I guess it was designed for about 200 ft/lbs of torque! Peice of metal shot right through the metal casing. Good thing that didn't hit anybody, since it must have had tremendous force. It held up for about 5 years under that stress though, and I wasn't real nice to it if you know what I mean.

Anyway, the current SAAB has a lot of GM influence I see. For example, I have expensive Italian brakes with 6 piston calipers on the front, but crappy GM one caliper on the rear. I guess it works, but I might change that at some point. This one needs it's 300 ft/lbs of torque too. That ECU upgrade gives me 287, so close enough I guess (388 nm).

Last I checked (some Forbes report), SAAB as a corpration was number 6 on the list of cars least likely to have 'major problems'. This list does not include minor problems, but I haven't had really much of that either. Lexus and Infinity take spot #1 and #2 respectively. The oddball out was that Buick took the 3rd spot (who would have guessed?), followed by Cadillac and Lincoln. #7 was BMW. GM in general was in the top half of 41 (SAAB is a GM company for example). Worst was Kia, followed by VW. Toyota was still in the top 10. Honda wasn't though (don't they own Infinity though?). They were in the teens or so. Can't remember.

-S

[Chock]

What I don't understand is why someone called Subman would want a Corvette? I thought Corvettes and Subs were enemies:rotfl:

Chock

[SUBMAN1]

Originally Posted by Chock

What I don't understand is why someone called Subman would want a Corvette? I thought Corvettes and Subs were enemies:rotfl:

Chock

I'm just trying to corner the market on enemies. If I own the enemy, it is no longer an enemy now is it?

-S

[GT182]

Sorry Neon Demon, my mistake. And you are right.... it is Cerberus Capital Management. I've been told they shutdown everything they buy. Right now they're getting ready to offer a bigger buyout for employees than they did for the first buyout here in Newark.

[NEON DEON]

Originally Posted by GT182

Sorry Neon Demon, my mistake.

QUICK! CALL AN EXORCIST!

NP GT666

[GT182]

LMAO...forgive the typo please. I was in a hurry... the "Warden" was yellen to me.

And a Merry Christmas to ya Neon Deon... and to all here at SubSim too.

[NEON DEON]

Originally Posted by GT182

LMAO...forgive the typo please. I was in a hurry... the "Warden" was yellen to me.

And a Merry Christmas to ya Neon Deon... and to all here at SubSim too.

Merry Christmas to you and your family GT182.

[bradclark1]

The oddball out was that Buick took the 3rd spot (who would have guessed?), followed by Cadillac and Lincoln. #7 was BMW. GM in general was in the top half of 41 (SAAB is a GM company for example). Worst was Kia, followed by VW. Toyota was still in the top 10. Honda wasn't though (don't they own Infinity though?).

Buick is the poor mans Cadillac. They are doing major business in China. Large chunk of Buicks business believe it or not.
Kia is a suprise. Owned two and never had a problem. My son owned a Kia Spectre and put 160k on it with no services except to change the oil. Blew his timing belt and brakes were gone so it was cheaper to buy a new one then repair that. Course mommy and daddy had to supply the down payment . Parenting never ends . Now I try and buy only American (Insert flag waving here)but I won't buy crap so it was a choice of Buick or Jeep. Because of where my wife works and me having to go to West Haven every two weeks in whatever weather and other factors I chose Jeep.

In 2006 Buick sold more cars in China than the US. Which is a little surprising since their current lineup is much better than what they made in the 90's. Also, GM's effort to improve interior quality might actually make it feel somewhat like a luxury car.

I've never seen a used car guide give Saab a good review for reliability though. They are regarded as euro-junk.

Blew his timing belt and brakes were gone so it was cheaper to buy a new one then repair that.

Really? That sounds like an inexpensive repair.

[bradclark1]

Originally Posted by Kraut

Really? That sounds like an inexpensive repair.

160k + belt + brakes + never getting it serviced = not worth it.

I've never seen a used car guide give Saab a good review for reliability though. They are regarded as euro-junk.

I know the Saab 900s had a crappy reputation some years back.