ON THE TABLE
Tuesday, April 28, 2009 at 08:33AM April 29, 2009
GM. Is it just us, or does it seem more and more like GM is on a downward trajectory that they will be unable to pull out of no matter how "right-sized" they are? After months of sturm und drang in the media, the company is damn close to being written off by the American public. And now with the government owning 50 percent of the company, it's a giant container ship of Not Good.
The Automobile Dealer in America. Publisher's Note: It wasn't just a career being an automobile dealer, it has been a way of life for generations of families all across this nation. How many local events and Little League sports teams have been supported by the local dealer in your town? How many ads in various high school programs have been bought by local dealers? How many cars have been provided to schools for driver's education and trucks and vans to local charities in need? Automobile dealers are inexorably linked to their local communities from coast to coast in the U.S. and it's an absolute tragedy to see them being decimated by this Perfect Storm of economic calamity. - PMD
Toyota. Things are not quite rosy at Shiny Happy People Headquarters it seems. The Seattle Weekly posted an interesting article last week that has numerous accounts of scary, phantom acceleration and other bad behavior on the part of the saintly Prius hybrid. Sounds like a giant bowl of Not Good to us. Go here.
BMW. From "There's A Sucker Born Every Minute" File comes word that when the BMW X5 M and X6 M go on sale this fall as 2010 models, they will retail for $86,225 and $89,725 respectively (including $825 Destination & Handling). You gots to be kidding.
Porsche. Qatar is said to be in the throes of negotiating with Porsche to make a substantial investment in the company. We think a stretched six-door Panamera with triple sunroofs will fit nicely in Porsche's next-gen lineup, don't you?
Mitt Romney. As first reported by The Detroit News late this afternoon, Mitt Romney, aka "The Mittster," came out with pop guns blazing in a post on the website of the National Review magazine, which was then distributed by his political action committee. Romney, the son of late governor and American Motors CEO George Romney, blasted the latest GM restructuring proposal saying that "It would give GM to the UAW and the U.S. government and make taxpayers pick up the bills." "Of course, billions more from government would be drawn down right away," he continued. "But the UAW could also depend on the Obama administration to keep up the subsidy for years and years to come. Government and Union co-ownership: It would be as ineffective as it is un-American." Romney has railed against federal aid to the auto industry, staunchly opposing loans given to GM and Chrysler LLC. The only problem with Mitt is that he's never bothered to offer any realistic, workable solutions of his own. "GM must not fail: If its costs are brought in line with its competition, it can ultimately thrive and grow jobs," Romney said. "What is proposed is even worse than bankruptcy -- it would make GM the living dead." Bringing costs in line with the competition, Mitt? Do you plan on restructuring the nonexistent "balance" of trade in the global auto business that has been allowed to fester for years? Notgonnahappen.com. It's called "Dead Car Company Walking," Mitt. And you get our AE Quote of the Week, even though we find you to be really annoying at times.
Pontiac. Publisher's Note: I couldn't get all of the Pontiac stories in my column this week, so here are a few more. Remembering a bright red '59 Bonneville convertible sitting in our driveway in a home movie. Painting the lettering white on the sidewall of the tires on a bright red '61 Bonneville convertible (389 with 3x2's of course). The summer of '62 and having my mom's car be a gorgeous black Grand Prix with eight lug aluminum wheels. Driving around on Announcement Day in 1964 in a midnight blue Pontiac GTO and listening to the valves float when my brother shifted gears. Driving the famed Bill Mitchell creation - the '64 Pontiac XP-400 convertible - with cut-out exhausts, a fiberglass convertible boot cover, zoomy electric blue paint and interior, and a 421 cubic inch Mickey Thompson-prepared V-8 with a 671 GMC blower on it with something in the neighborhood of 600HP. That thing would burn rubber in all four gears - with five guys riding in it. A series of Grand Prix models in '65, '66 and '67. Taking a '67 421 Catalina 2+2 out and driving around without my license. Having a bright orange '68 GTO "The Judge" to drive around for a couple of weeks that summer. Announcement Day, 1969, and a green 428SJ Grand Prix. Having a blue with white stripe '70 Trans Am Firebird for a few weeks... There's more, but I'm saving it for another book. - PMD
Publisher's Note: Here's a look back at some GM publicity photos for Pontiac models over the years. - PMD
1954 Bonneville Special Concept (All photos courtesy of GM)
1963 Grand Prix
1964 GTO
1965 GTO
1967 Firebird
1967 GTO
1968 GTO
2009 Pontiac Solstice GXP
The Last Great One? The 2009 Pontiac G8 GXP.
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