Cremazie

How about Buick forgets the tagline and just build a great line of cars. People will create their own tagline for the make.

^ Nice pics, I love winter!!

Yeah, Try this one, I did a search and found it:

http://jalopnik.com/5120037/2010-buick-lac...ing-at-old-navy

^ Well, if it all falls through, we will be cemented in a long hard recession/depression. Bennett buggy's anybody?

This morning's frost was the heaviest I've ever seen. It was actually thick on the hood of the truck. And, it made the blacktop of the driveway actually slippery.

If you haven't already, expand those pics to max size and check out the crazy patterns. It almost looks like a satellite image of mountain ranges.

Most likely that it is frost as a result of light drizzle. It looks amazing though, great pictures!

^ At first the schnoz looked odd, but it has grown on me. An AWD model would do fine when my lease is up on my truck.

^ Don't count on it... I have a feeling GM will be there. They will just roll the cars in on the carpet and that will be the show.

^Rick had better fly coach if he doesn't drive.

There is going to be a news conference at 2:30 regarding the auto makers bailout.

I would buy a volt regardless, it is a cool car. My boyfriend could commute to work without ever having to buy gas!

^ wow, the ugly stick that touched the MKZ slammed right into the 3.

^ That may not even cover the lawyer's fees!

Forecast rattles auto industry

GREG KEENANAUTO INDUSTRY REPORTER , From Tuesday's Globe and Mail

http://ctv2.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/st...BN/ctv-business

A collapse to a 25-year low in U.S. auto sales next year could imperil not just the Detroit Three but also scores of suppliers and thousands of dealers.

The forecast of sales plunging to 11.7 million vehicles next year comes from beleaguered General Motors Corp., but it illustrates the dangers for all Detroit auto makers and every other entity in the industry.

The GM forecast would represent the lowest level of sales since the industry was climbing out of the recession of the early 1980s.

“That will have a catastrophic effect on the industry,” said Bill Pochiluk, president of auto consulting firm Automotive Compass LLC.

The sales figure of 11.7 million translates into vehicle production of about 10.7 million units, Mr. Pochiluk said, and could doom some auto parts makers.

Michael Robinet, vice-president of forecast services for consulting firm CSM Worldwide Inc., is slightly less pessimistic than General Motors, calling for U.S. sales of 12.7 million vehicles and production of about 11.5 million cars and trucks.

“It presents the most challenging environment they've seen probably since the [second World] War,” Mr. Robinet said.

Indeed, GM said yesterday that it would lay off 1,900 more workers at North American parts plants, following production cuts and layoffs of 3,600 people announced Friday.

In conference calls and reports yesterday, Wall Street analysts dissected the impact of a potential bankruptcy of GM, which said on Friday that even before the dismal forecast for 2009 comes to pass, it may run out of cash to operate its business.

Rod Lache, auto analyst for Deutsche Bank AG, wrote that the value of GM's shares has reached zero, sending the company's stock plunging on the New York Stock Exchange to a level not hit since the 1940s.

“At this point, without external government intervention, GM may no longer be able to fund its U.S. operations beyond December,” Mr. Lache wrote.

He also pointed out that the plunge in U.S. sales to a forecast 12 million next year from a peak of 17.4 million in 2000 will create a disaster for the entire industry.

The U.S. government may need to provide GM with $10-billion (U.S.) to keep it afloat next year and in 2010, he said, or as much as $25-billion to finance its cash burn and a restructuring.

Such a restructuring would strip it down to the Chevrolet, Buick and Cadillac brands, eliminate another 19,000 unionized employees through the shutdown of five assembly plants, buy out a few thousand dealers and defer money owed to the United Auto Workers in 2010 as part of the union's takeover of GM's health care plan.

But the $25-billion figure for GM alone matches the amount the Detroit Three as a group have asked Washington to provide to help them survive the credit crunch and the collapse in the market.

The best solution for GM is probably a bankruptcy backstopped by the U.S. government providing debtor-in-possession financing that permits a company to keep operating while it's in bankruptcy protection, John Murphy, auto analyst for Merrill Lynch, told investors during a conference call yesterday.

“We do believe it would be best if natural evolution were allowed to run its course,” Mr. Murphy said and the Detroit Three were allowed to scale back, possibly becoming the Detroit Two.

He noted that the 1980 bailout of Chrysler Corp. by the U.S. and Canadian governments meant that excess assembly capacity in North America was kept in place and “zombie-like” auto makers continued operating for another 25 years.

The most likely outcome of the crisis for Chrysler, he said, is that it will be broken up.

you know, if GM goes bankrupt, or is using it as a threat to leverage cash from the US Govt.....

could you make a case to say

the CANADIAN GOVERNMENT should chip in also?

or can you use bankruptcy in the US as a threat to coerce some cash out of Canada too?

of if the ship sinks, does that mean all of the Canadian operations goes down too?

I am curious to hear how this affects the folks north of Pembina.

With the Canadian Government in Surplus territory and the relatively low debt I would love to see a large scale Canadian Bailout with an Equity share in GM with a guarantee that there would be no Canadian job losses.

^ Even though all auto manufacturers are foreign to us GM, Ford and Chrysler offer much more to Canada than Honda.

Me too. I can't imagine anything good being announced.

Anything shy of bankruptcy will be pretty good news!

I would be willing to see Everything else go to save Chevrolet, Cadillac and Buick.

^200 Ft stopping distance, that is huge!

I like the present Nox and Torrent better, especially the interior.

what brand of glue do you prefer?

BURN YOUR HYBRIDS, LIBERATE YOUR SUV!

I don't want to lose the Pontiac name, I couldn't care less if they have one model, as long as it was an amazing car.

Oh yeah, that front end is fugly!

They cannot blame the school for allowing their son to dress the way he did. His parents have no idea about the real issue... It is a hate crime and just because he dressed that way doesn't mean he was less of a person.

I think the FJ will disappear:

FJ CRUISER 1,577 4,128 -64.7 18,239 33,882 -46.5

CTV News Article

Canadian car sales post ‘gravity defying' rise

By Romina Maurino, The Canadian Press

TORONTO — Auto sales in Canada were up 5 per cent in July, with General Motors and Toyota posting increases despite high gas prices and pressure from a weak U.S. economy.

Passenger car sales were up 10.2 per cent, while light trucks were down 1.4 per cent, according to auto sales figures released by analyst Dennis DesRosiers.

General Motors Canada posted a 5.2 per cent increase, with dealers delivering 33,893 units in July, up from 32,205 a year ago.

Toyota Canada posted record sales in July, with 21,990 Toyota and Lexus cars and trucks purchased in July, up 18.3 per cent from the same month last year, boosted by fuel-efficient cars.

Chrysler, meanwhile, saw a slight decline of 7.6 per cent but was still up 2.4 per cent on the year, and Ford Canada sold 18,171 units in July, down from 21,097, with total truck sales off 12.2 per cent at 13,554 units and total car sales of 4,617 units mark.

Mr. DesRosiers called the sales increase “gravity defying,” saying the 2.7 per cent year-to-date rise comes “despite a recessionary quarter in Ontario, weakening employment numbers, a par dollar, a weakening energy sector out West.”

He attributed the increase to lower prices, which have been down in real terms all year somewhere in the three to five per cent range.

“Basic economics says that if you reduce the price of goods then consumers buy more – and buy more they certainly did in July and indeed most of the year,” he wrote in a commentary.

GM Canada parent General Motors Corp. posted a $15.5-billion (U.S.) second-quarter loss Friday, the third-worst quarterly performance in the company's nearly 100-year history. The Detroit-based auto maker is being hit by a drop in North American sales and expenses due to labour unrest and a massive restructuring plan.

The company also agreed to cash incentives of up to $120,000 (Canadian) for workers in a deal with the Canadian Auto Workers union this week to settle a grievance over the closure of an Ontario plant next year that will cut employment by 2,600 people.

“GM Canada's July sales continue to illustrate the ongoing shift toward cars and smaller crossovers and we have the vehicles and retail finance rates to satisfy that need,” said Marc Comeau, GM of Canada's vice-president of sales.

The Chevrolet Malibu, as well as the fuel-efficient Pontiac G6 and crossover vehicles GMC Acadia and Buick Enclave all had increased sales in July.

“When GM is up, the market is usually up since they are still the dominant seller in Canada by a wide margin,” Mr. DesRosiers said.

Still, as a group, GM, Ford and Chrysler were down 3.8 per cent while import brands were up 13.9 per cent. Import brands accounted for 53.7 per cent of the market in July, the single largest market share in any particular month in their history, Mr. DesRosiers said.

Honda Canada reported combined record July sales of 15,996 units by its Honda and Acura divisions, up 17 per cent. The auto maker said its Honda Automobile Division reported record July sales of 14,465 units, while the Acura division ended the month with sales of 1,531 units.

Nissan Canada, meanwhile, reported sales of 7,773 Nissan and Infiniti vehicles in July, an increase of 27 per cent over the same month last year. The Nissan brand accounted for 7,060 unit sales in July, while Infiniti sales totalled 713 units.

And Subaru Canada Inc. said its July sales totalled 2,002 units, up 62.2 per cent over the same period last year.

^ Happy Canada day btw!