Robert Hall

To the layperson, does it make any difference? It's still 3 distinct brands... just like Lincoln-Mercury---one division, 2 brands. The combining of multiple brands into one division might have cost savings on many levels, but it's pretty invisible to the consumer. The distinction is one of those 'inside baseball' things...

Yes, 1 entity (division, sales channel, whatever the term du joir is), 3 brands. It's like Lincoln-Mercury--one division, 2 brands. Even though there is one division, there are still 3 brands, which is what people see... it's not a BPG Sierra, BPG G8, BPG Enclave, after all...

The way I understand it, PBG is 1 division, 1 dealer structure, 3 brands.

You should be able to cancel the bid, block that bidder, and relist it....it has to be fake with the 0% feedback, wierd 'my client' language and the UK address (why would anyone in the UK would want a wrecked US-spec minivan?).

Ya...I know a couple of serial (over 20 years) GM owners that have moved on in the last 2 years...both married, around 40, originally Midwesterners... one guy that had had a Grand Prix, a couple Camaros, a Blazer, a Trail Blazer, now has an Eclipse and a Pilot. Another that had a couple Cutlasses and most recently an Intrigue and a Silhouette now has an Accord and an Odessey. Sad.

Maybe they can do a new RWD Impala on the cheap by slapping a 4dr sedan body on the Tahoe platform (replace the rear cargo area with a trunk)..would make the BOF fans and police departments happy. Speaking of Tahoes, I've been seeing a lot of them lately used as police cars here in Phoenix..

I've been seeing them at a rate of 1 every two weeks or so the last ~6 months... never sure if I'm seeing the same car or not multiple times when I see a black SRT8 in a certain area.. I've seen a couple silver ones, a couple orange ones, a red R/T, a black V6 w/ aftermarket 22" rims, a black R/T w/ silver stripes, and at least one black SRT8 several times. Pretty limited color palette. I've seen them more frequently than I've seen G8s--saw a white G8 GT today..looks great in white.

It will be interesting to see where '09 ends up...15-18%?

Was that an annual or monthly loss rate? I would assume 2-3% per year loss of market share would be more realistic.

Couldn't see that happening..all the Senators/Representatives from the states w/ import plants would block any kind of tax change like that.

Very few outside of the Midwest, I would think. So many car buyers in the mainstream today are content w/ the modern 'Big 3' brands--Hondas, Toyotas, Nissans...not to mention all the other Japanese brands, the Koreans, Volkswagen, etc.. if GM goes into Chapter 11, who besides the faithful will seriously consider buying from them?

I've long thought an '86 Caprice coupe (last year of the coupe, and only year w/ that front end/headlight combination) with a late model LS1 crate motor would be a fun project car.. Also, I always liked the early '80s Electra Park Avenues, esp. the coupes. I like the Delta 88s of that era a lot also, crisp clean lines.

This afternoon's freeway sightings--- a yellow Chrysler TC by Maserati---haven't seen one of those on the road in probably 10 years, in clean shape, a maroon Panoz Esperante convertible--don't think I've ever actually seen one in person before, and the strangest being a Wal-Mart semi w/ a Freightliner cab and a Hyundai 53' box trailer. I didn't realise Hyundai made trailers, I'm used to seeing brands like Freuhauf, Trailmobile and Utility International.

Yeah, GMC just seems completely redundant...all it's models have Chevy, Saturn, and Buick equivalents. At this point, I'm not sure how to save GM besides Chapter 11... and even that, what will come out of it?

Odd to see a UPS Caravan. The badge removal seems to be a standard UPS thing--every UPS truck from their usual parcel vans to Econolines to International semis that I've noticed has the badging removed. I guess they have a fear of ornamentation and branding...just like some people won't wear clothes with brand logos.

They did a restructuring under Rodger Smith 25 years ago, Chevy/Pontiac/Canada, Buick/Olds/Cadillac, Truck& Bus. That didn't seem to be successful. I started reading a new book yesterday--- 'GM: Why it Matters'...about 50 pages in, I've seen a few errors, but so far it's an interesting read.

Well, it's certainly not been remotely succeeding as GM with it's traditional brand structure in recent years... In the past decade, GM has lost double-digit percentages of market share, billions and billions of dollars, and a huge amount of stock price...

He can replace the V-crest badges with the blue & white propeller badges..

Cool...though I know some people that tweet while driving now, via their iPhones. This would be safer... I could see my morning commute tweets being like this: backed out of driveway, missed hitting recycle bin stuck at light stuck in middle lane behind hypermiling Prius driver there's a tie up on the SB 101 but the 202 is clear blah blah blah blah blah blah

Good luck with your new position. As a past BMW owner, it's company I still have a lot of respect for, as they are committed to RWD, straight 6s, driver involvement, and all that is good in a world of FWD genericism.

heh-heh...a 20s-30s car would be ok to haul to car shows, but the '80s Buick is new enough to be a daily driver.

Riiiiight...look how many decades it took for cars to have seatbelts standard..or safety glass...or padded dashes...or disc brakes..or breakaway steering columns...etc. Detroit usually never did anything related to safety unless it was regulated. Now it's a different story with Mercedes and Volvo, they actually thought about safety decades ago w/ the development of crush zones, etc.

How can management not be a significant part of GM's current crisis? Decades of mismanagement got them where they are today, going back to Roger Smith & co. From 35% market share in '90 to 18% today says they aren't building the cars that the buyers want..that is 20 years of mismanagement of the direction of the company..bad choices on products, bad choices on union agreements, etc. Not to lay all the blame on Wagoner, but he is part of the problem...look how market share and stock prices have tanked during his years at the helm. Someone has to go down for this, and as would be expected in any business, the CEO has to go when it's been this bad for so long.

Well, if GM is going to get more loan guarantees from the government, then it's reasonable to expect the government to request that GM get rid of the deadwood. Rick has proven incapable of running the company profitably. He's incompetent and part of the problem, not the solution. Ford is doing pretty well a leader than came from outside the auto industry. GM has been hurting for so long by having the same old, same old lifers running the company with no vision outside of the gray, dying Detroit area.

I remember in high school really being interested in the '80s Coupe de Villes and Fleetwood Brougham sedans... even though my Dad drove Town Cars that I occasionally drove.