ON THE TABLE #465

October 1, 2008

GM. Publisher's Note: "We have to get our U.S. business turned around in order for GM to succeed." That was GM CFO Fritz Henderson talking to reporters today in Paris at a media thing on the eve of the Paris Auto Show. "We must. There's no other choice. And with the U.S. as it stands, I think it's going to be difficult for us." How many times have we heard a GM executive say something like this about the U.S. market in the last five years? Plenty. The fact remains that GM continues to manage its downward spiral, grinding to a future that consists of just two primary divisional entities - Cadillac and Chevrolet. Yet here we are near the end of 2008, and it's the same old - same old coming from GM. GM management refuses to accept that they have too many divisions, too many models and too many dealers. They continue to try to justify a corporate layout that was obsolete 25 years ago. The market is in shambles, the economic climate is grim, and dealers are folding up like lawn chairs. And yet here GM is still - still - hammering the fact that they have to "fix" North America to succeed. Well, guess what, North America doesn't get "fixed" for GM until they step up to the grim realities of doing business in the 21st century. The first 100 years for GM were glorious and memorable. They won't make the next 25 unless they get real. I'm still waiting. - PMD

Detroit. From "Actually, the Sky IS Falling" File comes word that September auto sales are the worst in a decade (Porsche sales were down 45 percent, Nissan down 37 percent, Ford down 34 percent, Chrysler down 33 percent, Toyota down 32 percent, BMW down almost 26 percent, Honda - Honda - down 24 percent, and GM down 15.6 percent). Not Good can't even begin to describe it, as a matter of fact. We've gone from bad, to worse, to grim, to inconsolable around these parts. But the fight continues, against ever mounting odds...

Toyota. How bad is it in the U.S. market? It's so bad that Toyota, after its worst sales performance in 40 years, is offering 0 percent financing - from 36 to 60 months depending on the model - on 11 models through Nov. 3. It's U-G-L-Y, folks.

Nancy Pelosi. The Speaker (aka "The Shrew") distinguishes herself yet again as the grandstanding, belligerent politician she truly is. It's never about what's good for the country with Pelosi, it's only about the custom built tunnel she peers through every day. Out of touch, out of time and petty to a fault, she now can be considered the leading candidate for the Worst Speaker in History. The Wall Street Journal nailed it when they dubbed her as "Tom Delay - minus the charm" in their editorial yesterday. Ouch, Baby - but truer words were never written.

Bill Heard. The wheeler-dealer finally runs out of juice as his credit evaporates and he has to shut down the 13th largest dealer group in the country. Judging by the overwhelmingly negative reaction from around the country, no tears will be shed for Mr. Big Volume. His dealers were run with every stereotypical Stone Age dealer sales tactic in the book, and he left a lot of furious customers in his wake. Good riddance.