"Eisboch" wrote in message
...

"hk" wrote in message
. ..

Eisboch wrote:

"Reginald P. Smithers III, Esq."
wrote

I guess Harry just enjoys seeing others hurt.



I sincerely don't think Harry wants anybody hurt.

He's in warm-up mode for November. Happens every four years.

Eisboch


Reggie is an idiot. I don't "relish" GM's bad news. It means more bad
news for its remaining workforce.

Thank god the Bush-GOP plan to "privatize" social security so individuals
could invest in the flim-flam game called the stock market
got nowhere.


Thank God most people realize they can't rely on social security alone in
their retirement.

Eisboch

But those that don't become democrat/socialists. And then target the moneys
of those that saved. Taxation for redistribution of wealth
(institutionalized government theft).

Democrats promises are dangerous.

On Sat, 02 Aug 2008 11:30:28 GMT, "Canuck57"
wrote:

snipped

a prime example of what is wrong with corporate
management in North America.


No generalizing there!

"D.Duck" wrote in message
...

"hk" wrote in message
. ..
Eisboch wrote:
"Reginald P. Smithers III, Esq."
wrote in message . ..

I am trying to figure out why Harry is relishing the fact that any
company is having a downturn.

It has a negative impact on individuals who have stock in the company,
retirees who depend on dividends for part of their income,
it has a negative impact on the employees and the local and/or
national economy.

I guess Harry just enjoys seeing others hurt.



I sincerely don't think Harry wants anybody hurt.

He's in warm-up mode for November. Happens every four years.

Eisboch


Reggie is an idiot. I don't "relish" GM's bad news. It means more bad
news for its remaining workforce.

Thank god the Bush-GOP plan to "privatize" social security so individuals
could invest in the flim-flam game called the stock market
got nowhere.


Historically the "market" returns an annual average 10% return. Is that
flim-flam?

I don't think so either. I average 12%. Have 80% in cash right now looking
for a bottom. But should have put out more shorts.

It really comes down to this. If the democrats win, the market will have a
short term gain until the democrats will have to come clean on how they will
pay for promises. Then the market will continue losses until people figure
out credit-card-debt-print-money management does not work. Which is really
what this downturn is all about. Someone put a pin in the debt balloon.

And to make it worse, we have a credit card generation flat broke out there
that want those that saved to pay for it.

"Larry" wrote in message
...
"Eisboch" wrote in news:
:

Automakers build what the consumer buys.

Eisboch



This consumer is trying to by a DIESEL Smart ForTwo but Smart USA doesn't
want to sell me one....dammit.

I may toss caution to the wind and fly to Canada and buy one, even used.
They're plastic so the salt doesn't eat them up there. The diesel is
important to me as I want one to burn on Vegetable oil like my other
diesels do.



The "Smart" car's availability in the USA is a little confusing. For
several years a company (forget their name) have been importing them,
modifying them to meet US safety standards and selling them. This was done
without the blessings of Mercedes, who owns the Smart car product line.

Mercedes has introduced "official" Smart cars to the US market, but as you
have discovered, only two models are currently available. If demand
warrants, they plan to make available other models, including the diesel.

That's how I understand the current situation. I also heard or read that
Mercedes was going after the company that was importing and modifying them
to curtail their business.

You need to make sure you are buying from a dealer who is officially
authorized by Mercedes. Otherwise, warranty issues may not be honored.

I've also considered buying one, just for fun. Still thinking about it.


Eisboch

"Canuck57" wrote in message
news:UgXkk.51647$nD.26502@pd7urf1no...

"Eisboch" wrote in message
...

Although dismal financial results, the bulk of the "losses" are write
offs and charges to re-tool for the manufacture of more smaller, fuel
efficient cars for the US market.

Sounds horrible, and I am not making light of the problems, but it's not
as bad as the media (and you) are making it out to be.

Sounds worse actually. Posting a quarterly loss that is more than twice
as much as your market cap well, in my books is serious bankruptcy coming
on. GM's troubles are understated, and in fact it is probably too late for
GM as we know it to come back from this.

My guess is GM will be broken apart. The US side will just go bankrupt
while if GM has any profitable divisions off shore they will be bought
piecemeal by others.

Target price, $0.20 as a speculation buy.


Time will tell.

Eisboch

LOL.

I too, GM can kiss my @$$. So can Chrysler. Anyone notice their dealers
too have their lots full? Too full actually? That is a lot of depreciating
plastic inventory out there.


"Larry" wrote in message
...
hk wrote in news:2JudnbY7
:

General Motors Corp. (GM) posted a stunning $15.5 billion second-
quarter
net loss,

They should have told their dealers tough **** when the dealers
complained that the EV-1 was too reliable to be profitable for their
service departments. But, alas, they crushed them all, rather than give
America its first working electric car in 70 years that the people they
loaned them out to just loved. They loved them so much they followed
the repo crews around and found the storage lot their previous cars were
sent to until the salvage yards could crush them, after removing the
batteries.

This stupid company gets all it deserves. When my father died, I
inherited a 1996 Chevy Caprice Classic barge. Every time you tried to
put down the electric windows, something happened. The 30A breaker in
the panel would trip at times after a blink of all the lights and engine
computer reset. I traced that to a cut in the insulation of the HOOKUP
WIRE the damned car was completely wired with. HOOKUP WIRE! I had no
wiring harness and looked like it was wired by some kids building pedal
carts in dad's garage! The wires were simply wrapped in vinyl electric
tape, loosely, and laid against the sharp, BARE, UNPAINTED metal edges
the doors and anyplace the customer couldn't readily see, was made of.
The cheap thermoplastic simply wore through and shorted the circuit to
ground.

TWO other times, the windows simply fell out of their tracks into the
bottom of the door. Taking the doors apart revealed the scissors jacks
the windows ran up and down on, that looked like those punching jokes
out of an old movie, probably where GM's "engineers" got the idea in
1947, were made with plastic parts that MELTED IN THE PARKING LOT!
Nylon costs too much money to put in the flagship of the Chevy fleet.
We used cheap thermoplastic that melts around 150F. I emailed GM hoping
there was some kind of update parts made of nylon or better stuff. I
have the GM email which said:

"Dear Mr. Butler,

Thank you for contacting the Chevrolet Customer Assistance Center. We
appreciate you taking the time to write us in regards to your 1996
vehicle.

I'm sorry that the runners are warping and your windows are falling out.
If replacing your vehicle is not an option, I suggest keeping it shaded.

Try parking under cover or in the shade as much as possible. You may
want
to invest in a cover for your vehicle to prevent direct exposure to the
sun.

If you should need to contact us in the future, simply reply to this
message or call our Chevrolet Customer Assistance Center at
1-800-222-1020. Customer Relationship Specialists are available Monday
through Friday from 8:00 a.m. to 11:00 p.m., Eastern Time.

Again, thank you for contacting Chevrolet.

Sincerely,

The Chevrolet Consumer Support Team"

This is the EXACT text of the stored email on my hard drive. I kid you
not, they wanted me to PARK IT IN THE SHADE!

I hope GM goes completely bankrupt and Toyota, or some Japanese company
with more sane people running it, takes over the plants to build TINY
cars that get 80mpg and TINY trucks testosterone-charged American males
are going to have to learn to live with, now that they've come to the
realization they can no longer afford to drive those Chevy penis
extension pickups with the 500hp engines to the shop for constant
repairs.

GM can kiss my ass......(c;

hk wrote:
Larry wrote:
hk wrote in news:zrednWQ0jPFAjA7VnZ2dnUVZ_h-
:

Apparently the management at Yamaha is a bit more attuned to
customers than to paying that 25-cent quarterly dividend. Oh...I'm
not claiming that the Japanese outboards are "flawless," nor are the
companies that produce them.


Your Yamaha is about as Japanese as the Japanese steak house over by
the mall. Your Yamaha was made HERE. His Evinrude was made THERE....(c;

No, I don't know where the Yamaha plant is for the Northeast....



The company is Japanese. I have no idea where the motor was "made." I
suspect its pieces and parts were collected from around the world and
the engine itself was "assembled" in one location. Or something like that.

There are no more new Evinrudes, just as there are no more new Indian
motorcycles. The lineage of both is dead and buried; just the name
survives.


Remember when you talked disparagingly about anyone who would buy a
Japanese car or engine when someone was talking about a Honda 4 stroke?
I think you said someone about "From the people who brought you Pearl
Harbor".

"Eisboch" wrote in message
...

"Canuck57" wrote in message
news:RROkk.50596$nD.3370@pd7urf1no...

"Eisboch" wrote in message


Although dismal financial results, the bulk of the "losses" are write
offs and charges to re-tool for the manufacture of more smaller, fuel
efficient cars for the US market.



They have been retooling for 4 decades.

WTF.



Sounds horrible, and I am not making light of the problems, but it's not
as bad as the media (and you) are making it out to be.

Worse, bankrupt GM.

GM is toast.


I'll try again.

Automakers build what the consumer buys.

Eisboch

Can GM build these?

http://jalopnik.com/343003/the-2500-...eiled-in-india

Doubtful, they would have to price them for $25,000 not $2500. Easier to
import them. Once the India market is saturated, maybe they will. I also
hear China has a 4x4 SUV for under $10K.

I think given people are not making more, the expensive cars are over priced
Dodo birds. Because people are on to this, if I buy a GM piece of crap, why
pay the price when a Tata piece of crap will do?

GM has been out of touch too long. Looking at the Chrysler lots here in
town, I suspect Chrysler too is in deep - deep trouble. Too much expensive
inventory. And local market conditions are relatively good.

GM is just waiting for chapter 11. The time has come like computers and
TVs, to import cars as North American made is just too expensive.

The thing is, Tata has the same attitude as Henry Ford did.

Mind you, all that being said you will not get my F150 out of my hands, it
pulls the boat. Just facing the facts that most people can't afford the
expensive depreciating iron/plastics any more.

"Calif Bill" wrote in message
m...

"Wayne.B" wrote in message
...
On Fri, 1 Aug 2008 21:57:26 -0400, "Eisboch" wrote:

I'll try again.

Automakers build what the consumer buys.

Eisboch

That's true up to a point but GM and Ford pigged out at the party.
They knew very well they were making much higher margins on their big
vehicles, and as a result, put way too little funding into R & D for
fuel efficiency. The handwriting has been on the wall for quite
awhile for anyone who cared to look, but GM and Ford had their head in
the sand. Is there any doubt that they could have produced high
quality efficient vehicles, similar to Toyota and Honda, if they had
put an effort into it?


And Toyota and Honda have also taken a bad road. Looking at new vehicle
for SWMBO. Liked the Acura MDX. People complaining about mileage. 12-18
mpg. Look at the new Tundra. Same size as an F150. 14 mpg highway.
Toyota Highlander Hybrid. $49k. Like the look and feel of the Saturn
GreenVue. 32 mpg highway, 20+ around town. $25k. My daughter bought a
new Sequoia last year. $48k, and probably gets the same crappy mileage as
the same size Ford Expedition. About 14 around town, and 16 highway.
Look at all the ads for the Japanese cars. Touting the performance.

In the year I bought my F150, there were more foreign parts in it than the
Tundra. Both assembled in the USA. I like my F150. More of them on the
road for cheaper parts when it gets older. But I get better gas mileage
than above, guess it depends how you drive it.

I don't subscribe to the Japanese myth any more. Sure, once they were
better but had a imported Nissan Pathfinder changed my mind.

"Larry" wrote in message
...
"Canuck57" wrote in news:IQOkk.50593$nD.27486
@pd7urf1no:

At least if I buy a Tata Nano for $4000 I know I am getting a cheap car.



Dave, do they have Nanos in Canada, yet?

Haven't seen them yet. But Canada once had the Lada from Russia so I expect
maybe someday. With all the green hype, and big 3 over pricing in the
Canadian market I bet the people are asking.

We do have "SmartCars". Over priced too. See them for 2 seasons a year.
Trouble with any of these mini cars, add -30C and 8" of snow and they stay
in the garage until spring.

I'm seriously considering flying to Canada to buy a Smart ForTwo DIESEL
they won't sell me in South Carolina. I found out I can import it as it
is
on the EPA list of excluded cars way back to 2004 Smart Cars so bringing
it
home isn't a problem.

You might be able to get a used one cheap if you go to the snow areas. Many
buy them, then discover the heaters are no good in winter as is the
traction.

Each year we do our Christmas shopping in Montana as many Canadians do.
Last December the only people who got home on time were 4x4 and trucks. A
friend with a Vette and hybrid eco type contraption had to stay in Great
Falls for 3 unanticipated days. Both now have a 4x4.

They sure don't lose their value very much. Used 2005 Smart Diesels are
$CN12000 in Toronto.

If it was in ace shape, offer them $9 or 10K? Also consider Winnipeg.

Canadians are just figuring it out, while it is nice to have one vehicle
that is "green" and efficient, the other still needs to be a 4x4 V8 or V6.
Where I live, every 3rd vehicle is a truck, SUT or SUV. They don't plough
my road in winter and only see the Smart Car up the road from May to early
November. Makes more sense in SC, nice state BTW.