Apparently, someone left the ivory tower over at General Motors, picked up a newspaper, and scurried back to alert the bigwigs that they should re-tool to stay competitive in the coming 4 buck a gallon market. I remember being very pissed off when they acquired Hummer, possibly the stupidest vehicle ever created (for civilians). That truck was marketed to people who wanted to play dress up like real soldiers!
Well, better late than never. They have, in true corporate-speak, scuttled the Hummer brand. Even though I am a card-carrying America Hating Liberal, it pains me to think of how many people will lose their livelihoods as a result of these plant closings. I will continue to believe, though, that had GM made some tough choices, bitten the proverbial bullet, and re-tooled long ago, these people could be part of a thriving, competitive company. Instead, they sought to maintain their market share by buying our elected leaders, and even then, they had to creatively finance their own products.
Heres my favorite part of that article, from CEO Rick Wagoner:
Wagoner announced the moves in response to slumping sales of pickups and SUVs brought on by high oil prices. He said a market shift to smaller vehicles is permanent.
tick tock tick tock.
3 responses so far ↓
GingerSnaps // June 3, 2008 at 9:16 am
I Remember When Hummers Were Something Good
*snork*
jim voorhies // June 3, 2008 at 10:09 am
Jaynesville, one of the plants they’re dumping, is GM’s oldest plant, originally built in 1919. Maybe they will survive despite being decades late to the fuel efficiency game. Maybe.
democommie // June 3, 2008 at 10:51 am
If GM had stuck to building cars and not thrown money into all sorts of other ventures over the years they might have noticed the market erosion. As is, I won’t hold my breath waiting for them to gain consciousness.
Doesn’t the ad copy read, “nothing beats a Hummer!”