97regalGS

have u noticed a performance improvement with the new exhaust? how much improvement in hp is expected with the Corsa?

i personally had a the same thing to happen to me as a 16year old. i was driving a 1980 chevtte and the floor slipped over the accelerator. as a rookier driver, (with half a brain and some common sense) I popped the console gear $h!er into neutral, the engine revved like hell, then i reached down, grabbed the floor map and pulled it back (took a few seconds to figure out what the problem was).

was a little scarry for a minute.

I seem to recall when the audi scenario played out, it was indicated that a car's engine system can NOT overpower a car's braking system (in the short term untl the brakes get cooked).

anyone got any examples of companies that went into ch 11 and emerged victorious and have been massively successful afterwards?

l;

some of you will enjoy reading this assessment on the book as well.

http://www.christonium.com/automotive/ItemID=12398018222811

Interesting thing.....yesterday, on my day off, I was perusing through old Car & Driver magazines from 1987. What struck me was the road test of the then new Pontiac Bonneville SE.

The article was overwhelmingly positive, as were the "CounterPoints" at the end of the article. All the editors were praising Pontiac for building a car that Honda and Audi customers would truly "feel comfortable in."

More than one of the editors made the comment that out of all five GM divisions, Pontiac was the one truly in line to be the most successful GM division in the long-term based upon their superb product portfolio (at the time.)

How ironic we find Pontiac today, 22 years later, in the position it is now........????

in the 1990's the Aurora, Intrique and Alero were the answer to honda/toyota

You poor, poor thing.

despite the constant minor repairs, it was a fun car to drive for 2+yrs while I was in University. (moved into a 2-dr 1986 Grand Am - two tone, blue on top, gray on the bottom)

I believe the original zeta plan was cancelled cause GM realized that it could not sell enough of them in NA to justify the expenditure and plant costs. hence, zeta focus for NA shifted to Camaro and the G8 was brought in as an import.

the plant capacity for the G8 is a complete red herring, if the plant could make 10x as many as they could, the sales numbers would not change one bit.

the fact that the Charger outsells the G8, when they are both large RWD NA built sedans, presumably similarily priced, is pathetic.

I'll give credit to the G8. it's a great car, and one I'd conisder were I in the market. but, while the sales are decent in the current economic times, it doesn't hide the fact that the Charger, several years older, outsells it.

I owned a 1980 Skyhawk!

to read the preamble and analysis click here. http://www.christonium.com/automotive/ItemID=12363409028356

to get right to the point, just read the following.

I continue to believe consolidation is necessary to improve the viability of the industry and that includes the terminations of brands and companies. It is time for governments to coordinate a restructuring of the business model prior to recapitalizing the industry. For example does it really make sense for the US government to aid both GM and Chrysler and end up with three weak companies including Ford or for France to bailout both Renault and PSA? Does the market need both Opel and VW or BMW and Mercedes-Benz? Is there really a demand in the market for 10 Japanese manufacturers competing in the same markets? Is there really that much of a real difference to the consumer between a midsized Toyota Camry, Hyundai Sonota, Nissan Altima, Honda Accord, and the seven or eight vehicles offered by the US manufacturers in that segment? For the most part the functionality is identical as far as the consumer is concerned.

Competition and free markets of course are valid arguments but not when industry operating margins in a good year are historically 3% to 5%. The entire industry with few exceptions was running on fumes prior to the collapse and in an environment with little room for error. This environment also reduced innovation and risk taking because good intentions could quickly lead to sharp losses. For these reasons the time is now ripe to dynamite and rebuild the global automotive landscape. The automotive industry is a capital intensive business with high opportuinity costs and will become more so as governments demand more environmentally friendly but expensive vehicles and the economics of scales will not be the same in a much smaller global market.

I will finish with this. How many commercial aircraft manufacturers are out there?

something to think about

http://www.christonium.com/automotive/ItemID=12358563534419

General Motors on Thursday reported their long expected 4th Quarter and 2008 full-year financial results. For the 4th Quarter, the company’s consolidated loss was $9.5 billion for a total of $30.8 billion in 2008. Revenue in the last quarter dropped 34% to $30.8 billion and for the year fell 17% to $179.9 billion (Figure 1)......

Opel-SAAB-Saturn. The world's newest automtovie conglomerate.

Maybe Cerberus should pick them up to add to the mess they have with Chrysler.

Opel-SAAB-Saturn-Chrysler-Dodge-Jeep-Fiat

and the new COO could be PCS.

Ah yes, "shelved"-gate.

It was Shelfgate!

some additional thoughts, which include where GM might fit in the picture.

http://www.christonium.com/automotive/ItemID=12319465221657

the new SRX will appeal to chicks. which is why most of you don't 'get it'

as for evok, well, who knows what he's thinking!!!

(for what it is, I like it too. but, personally, I'd prefer the current model)

I stumbled across this. It's an interesting read and there are articles that go back to June.

http://www.christonium.com/automotive/ItemID=12296890443662

here's a snippet.

December 19, 2008

With GM and Chrysler in dire need of cash, President Bush announced a little after 9:00 this morning a bailout for both auto companies. The President said given the current state of the auto industry a disorderly failure was not an option given the potential fallout to the already fragile US economy. Under normal economic conditions, the President would have preferred a Chapter 11 bankruptcy restructuring.

Blame was also placed on Congress for not acting earlier and as a result the President will allocate money from the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) to prevent a collapse of the industry.

The auto companies will get 3-months to develop and present plans to restructure. If not, the loans will be called and the companies will face certain bankruptcy............

Entire contents © 2008 The Automotive Lyceum All Rights Reserved

looks like Ford will have the show to themselves with Honda and Toyota after GM and Chrysler go bankrupt by then.

but GME can continue with the two cocktail lunches and ordering pencils by the carton

The 20th century was the century of the American Empire. The question is who is going to dominate this century? China?

ask that question again in 2100.

I say do it. With Chrysler's $11 billion in cash they can pay off all the dealers to close. Close down GMC brand, and put Jeep (Wrangler, Liberty, Grand Cherokee, Ram) in its place. Chevy gets a minivan, the 300C could go to Buick or Chevy and everything else dies. GM would get a few products and factories that have value, and clear out one competitor in the market.

i think GM needs the $11B to keep out of bankruptcy, not to give away to Chrysler dealers.

If things get bad enough, (I hope to God I'm wrong here) it would take a lot less

than that.... thank God (existent or not) for the second amendment, because we

as Americans need it more than ever. Thanks to big brother and many of the

bizarre twists and turns of the past two decades, we just might see an age when

the government get so corrupt/out of touch that only some horrific bloodshed

will put us back on course. While that would be insanely tragic it's a lesser evil

than the current "sit back and just say F*** it attitude" of the typical American.

Somehow, sometime, somewhere... probably not in our lifetime but in the not to

distant future, the damn has to break. Either it will be WWIII, a second civil war,

or civil uprising, or else.... the USA will, just as Rome did 17-odd centuries ago,

fall from the greatest power in the world to a mere has been.

America is on the downward decline as 'the' world power. Because you are living it, you can't see it. But history will show the USA reached it's peak in the world many, many years before 2008. As with the Roman Empire, the British Empire, Gengis Khan and every other 'empire' this one too will end.

Getting Hummer one more step to being gone is a good thing. I don't think Jim Taylor had done such a hot job with Cadillac over the past few years, so I am glad they are getting someone else. The renaissance that LaNeve started stalled badly when Taylor came in.

i think history will show that LaNeve inherited a 'renaissance' in progress.

2007 Chrysler LLC European Sales:

Chrysler - 48k

Dodge - 25k

Jeep - 46k

Total: 119k

I do not know if I would call Chrysler or any of their brands global. Well, maybe they are if you factor in the 3,000 vehicles they sold in Australia last year.

let's just call them 'niche global'

Oh, I certainly miss AH-HA and evok, but aatbloke isn't even in the same league. The first two actually knew things, and shared that knowledge with the site. I never saw aatbloke really contributing to the site other than to pick fights and nitpick other posters to death...and he really did not know as much as he thinks he knows, as thegriffon repeatedly pointed out.

thegriffon doesn't know as much as he thinks he does.

i miss him.

he's one of the few people that actually lend some credibility to this site, not that everything he spoke was gospel. and he certainly had a british way about him that was amusing. but let's be honest, this site is far less interesting without AH-HA, evok, and aatbloke calling out the ludicrous, the insane, the stupidity and the just plain wrong info that many others post.

it's also funny that many don't miss him, yet you're quite happy, for example, to keep a guy on the board who blatantly lies about about some things (that red LS7 zeta roaming around the UK comes to mind), and is an annoying arrogant prick in his own way.