CARBIZ

These charts are very enlightening and depressing to view. The same chart from 25 years ago would be full of American name plates only. When the top selling car only rises to 336,000 units you know you are in a fragmented market.

This is totally off topic, but Canada's national debt, as a percentage of gross domestic product is one of the lowest of the G-8.

Nothing new here. Just rehashing everything everybody already knows.

J30, Nissan was formed by the military, financed by military banks and set up in Manchuria when Japan invaded that area. I covered this in a thread on the old C&G; however, I will look up the source material and get back to ya. that is why Nissan was named Datsun here for years - because American GIs wouldn't have bought the vehicles in the '60s.

Although it certainly is your perogative to take your business elsewhere, you shouldn't take this laying down. Service advisors aren't liars; most of them are over worked to death and, being human, often take the easiest route out. You will probably get a service survey from GM. Make sure you fill it out. Make sure you are honest. Don't just be nasty for the sake of revenge. If GM is to thrive in this competitive market, it needs direct, honest input from its customers. If you are suspicious about the oil plug, take it up with the service manager. That is what he is there for. If he is having a problem with a particular technician or service advisor, he needs to know.

This negative advertising doesn't help. It is becoming a self-fulfilling prophecy. Customers smell blood in the water and will circle for the kill. Dealers often become their own worst enemy. They need to hold price and not worry that the customer will shop them. Of course the customer will shop! So what! Right now, customes are just testing the waters, seeing if GM is serious about the end of employee pricing. GM had better hold the line or we will lose any semblance of credibility.

Countries like the UAE are only in the limelight because of their oil money and their ability to buy outside ideas. Foreign nationals are not allowed to own anything in these countries. Can't even become direct citizens. With that kind of attitude, these countries will always be backwaters on the world stage. The true world leaders are ALL western democracies because we encourage individual freedom and excellence. We promote outside ideas and encourage dissent. What terrorists view as our major weakness is, in fact, our greatest strength. Hell, if for no other reason, the West shall prevail just because we embrace the other half of the world's population - WOMEN.

Ever since the manufacturers stop making a big deal about the Fall model launches (and vehicles carried over the same for years on end!), September/October stopped being good months. If a model launch is strong, then dealers can't get their hands on the vehicle; if it is slow, it doesn't help sales. Clearance sales on '05s continue, but product is running out. Automakers collectively hold their breaths on the '06s to see what will sink or swim on its own, before they have to step in with incentives. The only good October I ever remember was October '98 because GM was dumping a lot of '98 product that had been stuck in the pipeline during the strike. We had fire sales on Malibus and Astros and sold a ton of them.

Well, considering Nissan was formed in the 1930s by the Japanese military to build military vehicles in Manchuria using slave labor, the song is probably appropriate. I am just surprised that Nissan would want to remind us of their glorious past.

I don't know how Canada got dragged into this increasingly silly argument. Delphi's troubles have nothing to do with us. GM builds a lot of cars here, but then we BUY a half million GM cars every year here, too. Funny, you talk to a lot of Canadians who are against Free Trade, and they think all our manufacturing jobs are going to Mexico and that American companies are taking us over. Eatons was Canada's oldest and biggest department store chain and they are now gone, largely thanks to Wal-Mart. I watch South Park, too - DON'T BLAME CANADA

What exactly does that mean "focus on your core business?" If GMAC is the only profitable division of North American operations, what sense does it make to jettison it? Other than short term, fat profit, that is. Sears and The Bay are doing that in Canada with their credit divisions, then giving their shareholders a fat cheque. Where will the money come from in the future? If it means bankruptcy or selling off GMAC, that is one thing, but what if this is just another short-sighted shareholder binge?

But that is the problem with RECALLS. The media and public see them as BAD things. So when GM does a recall, which can be nothing more than just good service to their customers, the media carps all over it. Toyota prefers to lay the blame elsewhere, figuring they can avoid the bad publicity. Just like they did for years with the coking problems in their V6s.

THe Civic or the Sonata will win - and we all know why one of them will win. The Ridgeline for truck, for the same reason.

Bowtie, you are right on the money, but Razoredge's comments are valid, too. You are happy that you made the correct career choice a few years ago - great for you, but what about those tens of thousands of people with mortgages, 3 kids and 20 years at the same place. Do you have any concept of how scary it is to be facing a pink slip at 40 or 45 years of age? I completely changed my career at 35 years of age. I gambled and lost. I lost my home, my car - everything. It has taken me 9 years to climb out of that hole. Not everyone can go back to university or college. Money stresses are the number one cause of marriage break up. Change is good and it is easy when you are in your early and mid-2os with lots of options in front of you. When you get to your late 30s, let me tell you from experience, your entire world changes. So let's show a little compassion for these people who may be losing their jobs over the next few years. It isn't easy going from $60k to $30k I know. I was there once.

TKR, I couldn't agree more. I look at what Opel and Vauxhall gets and ask myself: why the hell don't we have those products here? Does Detroit think everyone wants a gas guzzling SUV? We all laughed at the Prius a couple years back, now Detroit is scrambling to become relevant again. Frankly, I think Oshawa would be better positioned to attack Toyota and Honda is Oshawa was aligned with Europe, rather than Detroit!

The LS Malibu has not been DECONTENTED. As the new base car, cruise control and keyless are now STANDARD, formerly they were part of a package. The LT can be had just with the V-6 and ABS together, without going into alloy wheels, etc. - as it should. A lot of older people don't like alloy rims. Also, in the hinterland, there are still a lot of people who remember bad experiences with early rims 25 years ago and still refuse to have them. The Malibu is the ultimate "downsize" car for these people so I am glad to have the option of ordering them without alloys. Personally, I don't see the reason for the SS Malibu. Once lease rates/payments approach that of the LTZ Impala - well, which car would you rather have?

Guys, all this is water under the bridge. Japan Inc. is here. Free Trade is here. Either America learns to compete on the world stage, or pull up and go home - and if that happened, well, 1929 would look like a picnic. World commerce is too intertwined to undo at this juncture; however, offshoring all industrial production will kill this country, too. Somehow, these legacy costs will have to go away. GM is in shrinking market share and is still paying for more people off the line than on! Toyota and Honda don't have this problem. We can argue about whose fault it is, but union workers will be standing next to the white collar guys if GM goes chapter 11, of that we can be sure. Really, short term shareholder greed is the root cause of this mess. When a board is more afraid of losing their jobs than doing what is right for the company. The auto business is probably the worst place to be for short term thinking! Wall Street is the real problem here, but again - it is too late to worry about that. We have to move forward. The UAW has to face reality. If they want to exact revenge and demand Wagoner go, would that help things? Could someone better be enticed if the ship is going down? If GMAC is sold off, would that help things? One big mess. I only hope that somebody at corporate saw this coming and that they are a couple steps ahead of Delphi.

It is interesting to hear the complaints about the Malibu's suspension and steering. I had a customer hop out of a BMW SUV and drive the Malibu (for his son) and complain about the steering. "Not enough road feel," he opined. Really? What do I want power steering for, then? I countered. If I want road feel, perhaps I should go for an Echo, that has no power steering. Power steering, by definititon is supposed to make cornering effortless. In my Malibu, I can navigate 180 degree turns (in my underground garage) while still putting my card scanner back in its slot, or while readying my sunglasses. I can't do that with a Monte Carlo, or an Uplander, or a Grand Prix, or any of the other vehicles I have taken home recently. GM engineers claim 7/10 mpg better with the electric steering, because hydraulic steering requires power even while driving in a straight line. I had a Venture for a week and loved the softer ride, but it cornered like a beached whale. Engineers are constantly gaining and giving up when they decide how a vehicle should ride. People, understand one thing: your opinion of a vehicle is going to effected by your own beliefs, misconceptions, preconceptions, etc, for sure - but the biggest influence will come from what you just got out of. Your daily driver. Frankly, when I spin around the lot in non-elecric steering cars, I find the steering heavy and dangerous. There is a difference in the steering feel between an Equinox and the Malibu, but they are similar. Perhaps the steering isn't as light in the Equinox, but then it is a truck! Twenty two years ago, when I was a car jockey in a luxury hotel, I drove BMWs, Mercedes, Cadillacs and Lincolns every day. I always found the Bimmers and Mercedes to feel harsh. I found the Lincolns and Rolls of the day to be too mushy. I always found the Cadillacs to be just right. You need to drive a LOT of vehicles to realize they each have unique characteristics, not always bad, but when judging a vehicle it must be judged against who is going to buy it. Although it is fair to say YOU wouldn't buy it, don't just slam the vehicle because it isn't what you would buy.

While burn outs are fun, high insurance rates and speeding tickets are not. Twenty years ago, I was impressed with burnt rubber and squealing tires. Now, ride, handling and fuel mileage are more important - and I believe those things are more important to the "average" driver. It is nice to have fun, but if gas prices stay where they are, we will probably see a repeat of the early '80s where FUN was a convertible Dodge 600 with 90 hp. The Cobalts/Civics of the world will always outsell and outclass the RWD, gas guzzling dinosaurs out there. When (not if) the fossilized Washington gets off its arse and gets serious about fuel economy again, RWD will die a quick and sudden death. It may have advantages on the track or with towing, but there they end.

Good. Then maybe they can flood the market with cheap used Toyotas, thus dispelling once and for all the myth that imports hold their value better.

My father used to call GM "Generous Motors." Must have meant something 35 years ago. He also used: FORD Fix Or Repair Daily FIAT Fix It Again Tony MGB Motorized Garbage Bins or his personal favorite: FORD LTD Fix On Road Dead Left To Die

You are right - they don't get a natural sampling of the demographics, and so the spiral continues fresh again. This is the point, the negative feedback loop is feeding on itself. Even in the car business you can see them coming. We call them the "clipboard customer." They ask tons of silly questions, like what is the ground clearance (on a Malibu??), have a portfolio with dozens of brochures. I pull out JD Powers, they pull out CR. These people are impossible to win over because they are overwhelmed by information. Most salesmen just run from them. A lot of effort with these people, yet they are paralyzed.

GM announced on Thursday that they are pulling ahead all leases (in Canada) of leases coming due from November thru July 31 of next year. They will pay 3 months, if you go into a new GMAC contract (lease or finance.) Sorry, I don't know if Saab applies.

This is why long ago I stopped reading the car rags. I was an avid reader of MT and R&T until about 10 years ago. If you look at what they covered in the '70s, it was mostly American cars, probably because 90% of the market was American cars. Now, no thanks in part to their efforts, American cars are only 50% of the market. Their disdain and comtempt over the years has worked; they no longer have to drive those "crappy" American cars as much. You can imagine the agony, the horror when the editor tells the "writer" to get out of the Bimmer and report on the Cobalt. GASP!

I think GM is wise to be really pushing the Malibu. In Canada at least, we are looking forward to the $19,999 price point with the 2006 model. It isn't much more than a base Corolla. With all the quality awards and the general solidness of the vehicle, it has done consistently well in the Toronto area. Again, it won't set the world on fire with its looks or touchy-feely of its plastics, but with a lot of features packed in for under $20 grand it is a helluva deal!