FUTURE_OF_GM

Last 10 songs: 1) "Monsters Of The Deep" --- DevilDriver (The Last Kind Words) 2) "Clouds Over California" --- DevilDriver (The Last Kind Words) 3) "Head On To Heartache (Let Them Rot)" --- DevilDriver (The Last Kind Words) 4) "Burning Sermon" --- DevilDriver (The Last Kind Words) 5) "Tirades Of Truth" --- DevilDriver (The Last Kind Words) 6) "Cannibal" --- Static-X (Cannibal) 7) "No Submission" --- Static-X (Cannibal) 8] "Behemoth" --- Static-X (Cannibal) 9) "Chemical Logic" --- Static-X (Cannibal) 10) "Chromamatic" --- Static-X (Cannibal) P.S. Yes, I do have the leaked copy of the new DevilDriver CD

You have tons of friends here at Cheers and Gears!

I hate Nissan, but this is just ridiculous. Of course the filter will catch fire if you basically light it on fire.

This is going to sound horrible... But that's one of the main reasons I wanted more than one classic car. If I get pissed off at the '73, I can go work on the '68 and feel like I'm getting something accomplished (Or vice versa)

A few of you might remember my recent story about the escaped convict and how our neighborhood dogs helped to keep him at a safe distance. ( http://www.cheersandgears.com/forums/index...mp;#entry284714 ) And you might also remember my mentioning that we lived at the edge of one of the largest Black Bear sanctuaries in NC. SETTING THE SCENE: So I came home from work tonight and picked up my mom at around 10:30 to go to a local ice cream place and after satisfying our cravings we headed back home at about 11:00. I'm driving up our road with my bright lights on (As I always do because there are no street lights and most people turn off their porch lights when they go to bed) in the pitch black dark when I see this spot of brown flash in front of me, low to the road. After seeing the flash a couple more times as I'm approaching it my eyes wander upward to make out a big black figure. I immediately knew what it was and said "Look, there's our bear that the dogs have been barking at." This bear was massive; probably one of the biggest bears I've seen and probably every bit of about 400-450 lbs. If it were to stand beside my Focus, it's spine would probably be at about the side mirror height wise. Anyway, it ran on down the mountain through the woods away from our neighborhood, so we chalked it up to another cool experience. So we get home and proceed to tell my dad about it, then I decided to go next door to my girlfriends house. My dad says; "Be careful walking out there, sometimes bears like to back track." I didn't think much of it until about 15 minutes later when I received a phone call from my mom who said "Do NOT go outside, that bear is in our front yard heading over to where you're at." TIME OUT: All but 2 of the 12 dogs (Mentioned in the last story) in our neighborhood are kept up at night and one that roams free is the neighborhood Beagle named Buddy that we've adopted and who happened to be the first one to sight the convict a couple of months ago. Half of the time he stays at my girlfriend's house and half of the time he hangs out at my house. Upon receiving my moms call, my girlfriend fearing for Buddy's safety, sprints out the front door (While I'm detaining Bowser, her Chow/Sharpee mix --- he can open her screen door on his own) and catches him just before he runs off of the porch to confront the bear. (Who by now is making his way very "so-what-if-you've-seen-me-I-don't-care-slowly" into the woods at the end of the road (Where the trail is that we spotted the convict on) By this point in time ALL of the dogs in the neighborhood are just flipping out and at least 4 of the 7 neighborhood houses are either VERY lit up with exterior flood lights or have their corresponding families on the porches. TARANTINO REWIND TO BEFORE I GOT THE CALL FROM MY MOM: My parents were off to bed for the night and just settling in when my dad heard a loud crash outside. (We sleep with the windows open) My mom gets up to see what it was and says "There's something out there." So my dad grabs the trusty shotgun (You know, the same one that camped by the door in the last story) and heads for the porch thinking someone is trying to break in to our storage building (By now the dogs are barking big time). Not 25 foot from our front porch is the bear, perched on his hind legs just shredding the hell out of our bird/squirrel feeder (Which is built out of 4x4 and 2x4s). Upon hearing the door slam when dad came out, it meandered right through one of our flower beds and over towards my girlfriends house (Where I was at) THE VERDICT: 1) We apparently have a VERY big bear that IS NOT affraid to at least be in the presence of humans. He walked right up to our feeder with the dogs raising cane and both our porch light and carport light on, not to mention with a few of the other neighbors porch and driveway lights on. 2) I have one bird/squirrel feeder with A LOT of battle damage, god knows what else it'll destroy tonight. And 3) I'm sitiing here at 1:30 in the morning with a bunch of dogs that are now content to bark in unison everytime a leaf falls. One of our big dogs is a pit/chow mix and he'll bark at anything that moves. But the other is mostly Akita, and anyone who is familiar with that breed knows that Akitas only bark when "There is something to bark about." So, when the Akita starts barking, I'm fairly sure SOMETHING (Bear, Coon, Possum, Convict LOL) is out there. *** Ya know... My college friends always ask me why I'd rather be here than in the city (Charlotte) and why I enjoy coming back home every other weekend so much... YOU CAN'T FIND EXCITEMENT LIKE THIS AND MY OTHER STORY IN THE CITY. I'd much rather be looking out my window at a black bear than a light rail anyday.

Welcome to the world of classic cars, my friend. One minute you'll love them, the next you'll loathe them and want to sell every last one.

Adjusted slightly so that I could use it. My goal is to be out of debt by the time I get out of college, and then it's time for me to finance a new Camaro Z/28, a new G8 GXP (or preferably GTO Judge) or a new Corvette Z06 (Yeah right!) I'll never save up the money to pay cash (Since I'm still in school and working bitch jobs.)

I do remember seeing the "pass it on" ads (no pun intended; remember that horrible old Pontiac campaign) but not enough. As for the "side by side" ads, I've seen a total of one in my area and I haven't heard anything on the airwaves either. I know my observations don't mean much in the grand scheme of things. But in comparison to the Toyota ads I come across and the quality of the marketing GM does as opposed to say someone like; Ford or Nissan, GM still hasn't got it. They need game changing marketing to go along with the game changing products. Shuffling and exchanging division dollars from clueless firms, to other equally clueless firms for even worse, watered down marketing (As GM has done lately) is not a good idea. These consumers are not even CONSIDERING GM when buying a car. Something DRASTIC needs to happen to 'snap the consumer out of an asian car induced trance' and the message needs to be epic and well conveyed. EXAMPLE: "Life, Liberty and The Pursuit." <-------- Give me a break! It's so generic, gee wonder where I've heard it before? It conveys NO message at all, really doesn't even have meaning and doesn't relate to the brand in any way. Compared to the "Breakthrough" campaign or even some of the campaigns of the brand management era, the new 'messages' if that's what you want to call them are WEAK at best. Maybe Caddy could use "Drive Beautiful" oh wait, that equally lame tagline has already been reserved

ABSOLUTELY a hybrid Tahoe is needed!!! More so than a hybrid cracker box such as the Prius. Larger vehicles should be the largest market for hybrids simply because it yields the biggest savings, not to mention multiple other reaons. Just because people buy a large vehicle and then complain about the price of fuel doesn't mean they don't deserve a hybrid options. For example: My parents daily drivers are an F-150 and a Silverado, both 4X4 with the respective V8 engines. The price of gas is really hurting their budget, but downsizing is not an option. My dad has to drive a truck for his job and most of the time works out of it and my mom drives her truck because we can't afford a 3rd primary vehicle, yet we own horses and a large camper so the truck is a nessecity. 4X4 is a nessecity because we live in the mountains. They both are looking forward to the day when they can buy either a hybrid or diesel in a light duty pick up. See, that's what pisses me off so ba about Congress and all the eco-morons chanting the small car chant (this isn't pertaining to you cletus, it's just an overall comment) Not everyone lives in the city and not everyone works an office job They STEAL the blue collar workers jobs in the name of "cheaper goods/ cost savings/ globalization" then expect us to get "Service jobs" that require trucks and travel, YET they try to take the trucks and energy we need to survive away for the sake of an idiot like Al Gore's agenda to let a few more trees grow in a city park.

That would be all well and good in regular capitalism. However, now that the companies have consolidated they have formed an oligopoly and will not hesitate to CONTROL prices (Just as they have not hesitated to do so for 2 years now) Gas is still hovering around $2.85 here in NC (Which I'm fine with) but I do remember when I was 16, In 1998, regular unleaded (87 Octane) being $0.99.

A.K.A. They'll buy the Camry. But it's not. That statement should read: OUR PRODUCTS ARE BETTER ON EVERY LEVEL. Only through July?!?! They'd better... But what are the chances of getting yuppies into "eww... Cheverlet dealers" Oh, wait, they'll be there to buy a new Tahoe anyway... Carry on. Isn't it always? GM has been battling it's way to the grave for 20 years now. That's because NONE of them know it exists because of GM's &#036;h&#33;ty marketing... Either that or we've reached the point where GM will in fact finally go out of business. Yet has not marketed that HUGE accomplishment one bit... But then again, the media has damaged Detroit so badly over the past 3 years that it really doesn't matter what awards they give the automakers... They've already sold the public on an asian dominated future. Of course it will.... It's not about the product (especially with people who generally buy Toyotas) it's about the NAME and REPUTATION They'll buy the Camry without consequence over ANYTHING BETTER offered by Detroit simply because they've been told to do so for 20 years now. *** GM needs to learn how to inform the consumer... This war isn't about product alone, especially since GM is starting from negative territory as opposed to zero. Unless GM can get it's names/brands/divisions/lines on equal footing with the asians, we'll see a dead Detroit in 5 years. It's not hard to do either GM, the model has been set by the Koreans. Why not take a few pages from their playbooks?

*GASP* The perfect car... For me... TO DRIVE?!?!(Much sarcasm implied) But then again, what are the chances of that happening? You'd have to not have a pulse in order to like the Camry over the Aura. It's about damn time. Believe it or not, I think there might be quite a few people like this. This is the kind of second chance we need. No surprise there... The Camry has butt ugly literally written on it. LOL, haven't been in too many REAL cars there junior, have ya?

Here we go again... One "off" month and the cynics are coming out of the woodwork with their "woe is me" stories about how the whole damn turnaround is a myth. How many of the turnaround products have hit the road; The 900s and Lambda? Sure, we also have the Aura which should be doing better and the Sky/Solstice which was never high volume anyway. However a lot of the new product isn't even on the road yet (Malibu, G8, CTS, Astra, Vue is just rolling out, etc.) I'm sure it's only a matter of time before we have NO domestic auto industry thanks to trendy, self loathing americans and worthless money fueled politicians. But at least these "experts" could let us have our last moments in peace.

Excellent post! Cadillac should modify it for marketing use. Seriously GM; excellent job but PLEASE inform the consumer about this and all of your other accomplishments (This year especially has been a watershed year for accomplishments)

I agree 100%... According to our local Toyota dealer, they are the "largest Toyota dealer" in either the region or the states. And I can see why, the Southeast has ALWAYS been strong for Toyota not to mention this area is "I hate Detroit/I hate big business-liberal" capital of the east coast. Guess how many Auras ads I've seen.... I could probably count them all on two hands. Guess how many "side-by-side" ads I've seen.... ONE! The lack of advertising for the Outlook is even worse... I'm dead serious when I say this; GM will not survive unless they LEARN how to market, inform the consumer and CONQUEST sales.... It's that simple. They could've had TONS of conquests here, yet they completely missed the boat. And all this while I'm seeing 1) More and more Tundras every day and 2) More and more braison Tundra ads that WILL conquest YOUNG buyers from the big 3. I guess some things never change; Detroit sitting idly with it's head in the clouds, giving up yet another dominated segment without so much as a fight.

But of course... The hybrid Aura was too much of a threat. I think it's a very handsome car and if anyone thinks the Camry or new Accord stack up ANY better in the styling departments, you're crazy. These are vanilla family sedans, not Corvettes and Camaros. The details are what make the sell, which is how the Accord and Camry have sold for years. I even remember articles about how the asians were so much "better" because they looked at the car up close, apparently like they have to do in Japan since the place is so small (No kidding, it's what the author said) and that's WHY they were better... The back of the car does need work though and the HORRIBLE wheels make all the difference in the world too.

I gave 'em hell.... X3

Everyone is going crazy right now around here... They're currently performing at one of the local clubs up town for like 9 nights in a row or something. They decided to play one venue on the west coast and one on the east coast... looks like trAsheville was the venue of choice for this coast.

Doesn't matter... The "we bash inefficient 4 cylinder" rule only applies to domestics. Thanks for playing!

Here's the setlist: Excellent opener! One of y favorite MetallicA songs! You know, I was just thinking the other day about how much I love Disposable Heroes and how much I'd love to hear it live. I bet it was awesome! Still haven't heard that one live. The song that started my love for MetallicA I'm VERY excited about the new album. 'TALLICA 4 LIFE!

The other side of this is: what if the C7 program actually will have a mid engined sibling that could come in the form of Cien? Maybe that would be easier to do and maybe that's why we're not getting the Sixteen.

1) BEL AIR: Who cares, the Bel Air sucked anyway. 2) VELITE: Never was a huge fan of the Velite, so no harm done there. Buick DOES need more and better products though, which we KNOW they will get since GM recently said it would be expanding the division. 3) SIXTEEN: On the business side of things this is a smart move. On the passion side of things, this is absolute bull&#036;h&#33;. F*ck the greenies and the media (which we all know the sixteen would be played up and spun into the new Cadillac or GM "stigma") But honestly; I think GM had no plans to produce the Sixteen in the first place _AND_ the new CAFE requirements will be the death of the project. (Thank you congress for limiting our choices by screwing detroit out of sales and $$$) Cadillac really does need to focus on it's current line up before it tries to challenge the likes of Bentley and RR though. I mean, the STS, SRX, XLR and DTS pretty much all need to be redesigned to be more competitive. I think Lutz is talking about the Alpha Cadillac which will be smaller than the CTS. Is it good for Caddy? Maybe, maybe not but it is good for GM and their CAFE numbers if it sells well. It seems that Cadillac had the magic a few years ago... But with the slow down of new products, HORRIBLE marketing and infusion of "old fart styling" from Lutz, sadly I think they might've lost their momentum. Cadillac, in it's glory days, was all about balls and being the best. Whereas now Cadillac seems to be suffering the "We're afraid to take a risk because everyone hates us" GM mantra of the 90s and present day.

Of course they do... They've wanted rusty old Detroit gone for years now. After all, the Lexus and Acura driving sellouts have no use for Detroit, or their patrons that no longer control the $$$ that the politicians desire. They've been winning since 2001 when the media *somehow miraculously all at once* decided to destroy Detroit and started printing propaganda overnight by the barrels (Hmmm, wonder how that happened?) WE do not matter... As long as the politicians are paid and can do/drive whatever they want (Most of them aren't car people anyway and don't care about the industry in the first place) then who cares? It's just like all of the hypocrits in Hollywood... They make their documentaries that tell us to conserve and be ashamed for driving SUVs, then they hop aboard their personal jet and fly to their 2500 square foot mansion to bask in the spoils of life. Which will be funny, since that will probably result in more and more americans driving older cars and trying to keep them running, which will probably result in even more polution after all is said and done. Not all americans.... Just the americans who make the decisions for the rest of us. All they know how to do is criticize their own and bend over for everyone else in the world. Simple bias... I could tell that by the author using the term "Detroit 3"

plane, have I ever told you that it's always an absolute pleasure to read your posts!

The same reason GM has allowed pretty much EVERYONE in the market to kick them in the face for years: THEY HAVE HORRIBLE MARKETING AND COULDN'T SELL WATER TO A NOMAD. (And that goes for Ford too) Prime example: Both the Titan and the Tundra have recently launched smear campaigns against the F-150 and Silverado, yet the only Silverado commercial I see is that "golly gee whiz" chrome edition commercial that the DEALERS finance. The Toyota "Not your fathers truck" commercial especially pisses me off.