Cool Ads Coming

I've often complained that GM's ad agency is stinky. They produce stupid commercials and never get the word out about all the good GM's doing. For example, does anyone know that Sean’s plant is a Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) gold-certified automobile plant? It’s the only car factory in the WORLD to receive this certification. But no one knows because the ad guys don’t seem to think it’s important to let folks know that GM’s newest North American assembly plant is the greenest assembly plant in the whole pickin world. Yeah, in this age of global warming alarmism the ad boys sure as heck shouldn’t tell anyone that GM’s leading the way in reducing their manufacturing carbon footprint.

Anyway, just as I was sure there was no hope for GM’s advertising Sean sends me these pictures that will be billboards for Chevy:








And my personal favorite:


Maybe there's hope for the GM ad guys after all.

Good GM News

Sean sent this bit of good news to me this morning. It's from the June 23 Delta Daily, the newsletter from his plant. Any good news for GM these days is worth shouting from the rooftops!

J. D. Power 2009 Initial Quality Survey Results

We are pleased to announce that overall, GM outpaced the industry with 10% improvement year-to-year (industry improvement was 8%). It’s the first time since 2002 that GM is above the industry average.

The results are very interesting this year and further confirm that perceptions and reality about product quality do not align. The results mirror our internal quality performance and prove our cars and trucks are competitive with those perceived to be the best in the industry.

Fast Facts:
The quality gap is history. Ranking for high volume brands, including Chevrolet, Toyota, Honda and Ford are so statistically close that there is no quality gap. Cadillac, our flagship brand, ranks 3rd with a solid 19% improvement.

Thirteen GM models placed in the top three of their segments, which is one less than Toyota. Twelve of the 13 represent the four core brands in New GM.

Two segment awards - Chevy TrailBlazer and GMC Yukon/Yukon XL

Chevy Corvette – highest ranked in segment. Corvette is also the 5th best model industry-wide

We maintained solid footing in the ultra-competitive Midsize Car segment – Pontiac G6 & Chevy Malibu in top three, again beating Toyota Camry, Honda Accord and Ford Fusion

We had a Clean Sweep in the Large Multi-Activity Segment – GMC Yukon/Chevy Tahoe/Chevy Suburban

Some Good GM News

Despite all the bad news about GM there is a bright spot for the carmaker: China. Thank goodness GM was forward-thinking overseas:

In the first five months of 2009, GM's sales there increased 33.8%... They were up 75% in May over the previous year. While the company shutters factories and lays off workers by the thousands in the U.S., it has announced plans to build a new factory in China and unveil 30 new or updated models, with the goal of doubling its sales in the country to 2 million vehicles within the next five years.

Oh, by the way, who was the brainchild behind that? Rick Wagoner, GM's CEO forced out by Obama.

And yes, I know I was mad at Wagoner for the private plane fiasco. But I wouldn't have fired him for it, despite my big talk. It's interesting to note what Wagoner was able to accomplish overseas; perhaps if he'd been allowed to do that here we'd all be writing about something else right now.

Odds and Ends

About a year ago I signed up with Google’s AdSense program which places content-related ads on blogs. I get a cut of whatever the advertisers take in from referrals from my blog. Year to date the grand total is $12.34. I’ll be able to support the family in no time…

Anyway, when I signed on last night to read the (very comical) comments about my yearly physical I looked at the ads – here’s what they were:


I’m in love with the ExamFootsies. Those would definitely have made my appointment more comfortable. Because we all know stirrup covers make all the difference when your hoo ha is exposed.

And speaking of me supporting the family, thankfully Sean still has a job. For how long – who knows? That’s our little joke that’s really not so funny anymore… GM continues to be in the news. A crew from 20/20 will be at Sean’s plant this Thursday. Thankfully the good communication manager is back from maternity leave because the girl who handled the Greta Van Susteren interview completely bungled it. The guy she stuck in the car to give Greta info on the Buick Enclave was a moron – he chewed gum during the entire interview and didn’t know Oldsmobile’s slogan was “This is not your father’s Oldsmobile.” This is from the Fox News transcript:

VAN SUSTEREN: -- I sound like a Buick ad. Pretty soon, I will be on TV. Buy a Buick. It is not your grandmother's car.

HANKERD: Right.

VAN SUSTEREN: Or was that Oldsmobile that did that.

HANKERD: That was Buick.

VAN SUSTEREN: Buick?

HANKERD: I think it was.

Sean and I were nauseous watching the whole interview.

I wish they’d put Sean on with these reporters – his love for the company and vast knowledge of all things automotive would make him a great interview. But the news crews only want to talk to union folks. Makes me a tad ticked but there’s not a whole lot I can do about that. Although I did consider protesting outside the plant – waving big poster boards with catchy slogans like, “Talk to someone who went to college” or “My husband actually knows something about these here cars!” because camera crews cannot resist a protest with placards. Sean would die and not speak to me for a very long time so I nixed that idea. Just because I’m right doesn’t mean I have to go shouting it to the world. Now there’s some personal growth I tell you.

More "free" money for non-producers

Well, well, well. Looky here – the government is going to hand over even more money to AIG. This is from the AP:

WASHINGTON– The government on Monday unveiled a revamped rescue package to insurance giant American International Group and will provide the troubled company with another $30 billion in taxpayer money on an "as needed" basis.

Too bad the car companies – you know, the companies who directly employ millions and millions of Americans not to mention the millions of others who are employed as suppliers to the Big Three – weren’t extended this kind of help.

The money they’ve had to grovel for is a loan that must be repaid ASAP and the government certainly wasn’t revamping any kind of “rescue package” to keep the producers of our country producing.

Now for a bit of transparency: I am opposed to the government doling out any money to anyone, be it a person or a company. I believe the economy should be allowed to run without government interference. That is awfully naïve, however, because we all know the government interferes with commerce in a bazillion ways, from taxes to laws made to encourage or hinder trade. But in the perfect little world I live in when I close my eyes, the government acts like this:

The only proper role of government in the economic realm is to protect property rights, adjudicate disputes, and provide a legal framework in which voluntary trade is protected. All efforts by government to redistribute wealth, or to control or manage trade, are improper in a free society.

Does that sound good to you? Maybe you’re a libertarian, too! You know, those crazy people who believe in freedom?

I digress: all this to say even though I disagree with the bailouts I wish our congressmen and women had shown they have an inkling of where wealth comes from. It comes from people making stuff. If there’s no stuff, there’s no need to insure anything and AIG won’t be needed, anyway.

Things really are bass ackwards these days.

Not a good day to work for GM

Posted: 10:04 AM Jan 26, 2009

"General Motors will have workers at the Delta Township plant alternate shifts starting in February. The first shift will report for regular production February 2. Second shift workers will report February 9, taking over the first shift's hours. Crews will alternate until March 30, at which point GM may drop a shift all together, depending on sales.

Employees will be on layoff for the weeks their shift is not working.

The changes at Delta are part of a nationwide production cut at GM. A formal announcement is expected this morning."

Maybe it’s time to dust off the résumé?

Bridge loan to nowhere

Sean and I decided to stop listening to the news. We can only hear, “GM’s dying” so much and we realized hearing all the negative (and often ignorant) newscasts was really bringing us down. But tonight I was watching ER (I still cannot believe this is its last season – although after tonight’s lousy episode I’m less sad than before) and a teaser for the local late news came on, announcing the bailout bill was DOA in the Senate, so I kept the TV on.

I really wish I hadn’t. But I did, and I heard Mr. Messy-hair-anchor-guy say the bridge loan bill stalled in the Senate over UAW wage concessions.

I cannot listen to this any more. And by “this” I mean seemingly uneducated senators and congressmen and news anchors with great hair waxing poetic about the car industry, having no clue what losing a manufacturing base would do to our economy. You want to see a major disparity between the rich and the poor? Get rid of manufacturing. Actually producing a product is what brought a massive middle class population to America. You want the middle class gone? Get rid of manufacturing.

My libertarian leanings make this situation hard for me to swallow. I do not want GM bankrupt – I enjoy Sean bringing home a paycheck, after all. But is giving loans to businesses the proper function of government? Of course the answer is no. But it is also not the proper function of government to impede businesses from running their businesses and that is exactly what has happened to GM and millions of other companies as a result of an onerous tax code and unfunded mandates passed by representatives living and working in their own ivory towers.

This wake-up call is long overdue. Perhaps the situation with the Big 3 can provide the alarm that is needed to let Congress know that regulating and taxing companies is not helping anyone.

There has never been a greater need for the FairTax.

Nor have I ever needed my iPod more. I’ll just keep cranking out the Christmas tunes and go back to ignoring the news.

I guess so

So GM's returning two of their leased jets... a good move but a week too late.

I found this tidbit interesting:

....the company has not decided on what mode of transportation Wagoner would take if had to travel to Washington again.

Wagoner and Ford CEO Alan Mulally are required by their companies to fly by private aircraft for security reasons, according to company documents filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

Hmm... these guys are in the auto industry. I guess they could take, oh, I don't know, a car? If driving is good enough for John Madden I think it should be good enough for the car guys.

Fire His Ass

I was willing to cut Rick Wagoner, GM’s CEO, some slack. He has an unbelievably difficult job and I’m not one to pile on. That charity ended yesterday when he flew to Washington D.C. yesterday in GM’s private jet instead of flying commercial.

His little commute to D.C. in GM’s Gulfstream IV cost $20,000. He could have flown on Northwest for under $1,000.

Apparently Rick Wagoner thinks nothing of using a private jet to fly his sorry self to Washington D.C. to beg for money. Apparently Rick Wagoner is a moron. Doesn’t he have a board member or VP or administrative assistant who would kindly question that move? At the very least his wife should have said something! And if he’s surrounding himself with such lily-livered advisers then he needs to be gone. Like yesterday. Maybe like a year ago.

Don’t get me wrong: I am all for big pay for big work. But leading by example goes a long way and if Wagoner wants anyone to think he’s serious about saving a company that directly and indirectly employs a gazillion people he needs to park his jet and open a Delta Frequent Flier account.

No good night kiss tonight...

Oh my. Sean is not happy with me. Michael is not happy with me. I am not entirely happy with me.

We had the, “Should the government give loans to the car industry?” talk a few minutes ago. “If GM doesn’t get the money it will go bankrupt. Who’s going to buy cars from a bankrupt company?” said Sean. “And they have to keep making the Corvette!” said Michael. “Nowhere in the Constitution does it say the job of government is to float loans to car companies,” said I.

A brouhaha ensued. I will not recount the gory details here, but suffice it to say my boys are not speaking to me.

No one wants to see GM, Ford or Chrysler go out of business, least of all someone whose husband works for one of them. It would be devastating for the country’s economy and the personal economy of nearly everyone I know. Millions of people would be out of a job and the ripple effect would be felt far beyond Detroit. And there is a humongous part of me that wants to see Congress give the loans to the Big Three because I don't want to see the once-mighty GM file for Chapter 11.

But when I unemotionally (and believe me, that’s a trick) look at the issue there is no way I could support the loans. I don’t think Congress should have given the loans to Chrysler in the 80’s, I don’t think they should have passed the $700 billion bailout last month for Wall Street, and I don’t think they ought to do it for my husband’s beloved industry. What in the world is Congress doing messing around in private businesses? Like they’ve ever solved anything or done anything with great efficiency…

If the loans go through one way I’ll soothe myself is knowing that Congress is partly to blame for GM’s demise. Their complete lack of gumption to do anything about Japan’s manipulation of the yen, the passage of onerous laws (CAFE standards, anyone?) and a refusal to address the corporate tax rate have done little to help the domestic auto industry.

The bottom line, though, is the government has defined roles and giving money to companies on the brink of bankruptcy isn’t one of them. I know that view won’t win me many friends at GM, but it might make America a better country for my children.


___________________________________


Michael Barone's wrote an interesting piece about this yesterday.

Some peole are just dumb

A simple trip to the pharmacy shouldn’t cause high blood pressure. Seems like a simple enough comment, but today’s trip to my local drug store nearly caused my heart to jump out of my chest.

Sean and I were waiting to pick up my prescription when we heard the woman in front of us say, “Thank goodness for the union pays for my pills. Rick Wagoner makes millions and he wants to cut health care? I could do his job!”

A loud gasp escaped before I could help it and Sean, cool as a cucumber (how did that ever become a saying?) said, “Just let it go.”

I couldn’t; I was steamed. I imagined me sticking my leg out and tripping her as she walked by. When we saw her getting into her car I wanted to run up to the window and ask just exactly what would she do to improve GM other than make ignorant comments to the pharmacist so everyone in the drug store knew she was an imbecile?

Ugh. What a way to start a Saturday.

Tough news from Wagoner

Sean and I are listening to GM's CEO Rick Wagoner's press conference. It is not a pep rally.

From the AP:

DETROIT - General Motors Corp. said Tuesday it will lay off salaried workers, cut truck production, suspend its dividend and borrow $2 billion to $3 billion to weather a severe downturn in the U.S. market.

GM said the moves will raise $15 billion to help cover losses and turn around its North American operations.

"In short, our plan is not a plan to survive. It is a plan to win," GM Chairman and CEO Rick Wagoner said in a broadcast to employees.

Chief Operating Officer Fritz Henderson said GM wants to reduce its total salaried costs in the U.S. and Canada by 20 percent.

A large chunk of the reduction, he said, would come from cutting health care benefits for salaried retirees. Those people would get a pension increase from the company's overfunded pension fund to help compensate for Medicare and supplemental insurance, the company said.

Several thousand jobs will be cut through normal attrition and retirements, and through early retirement and buyout offers, Henderson said. The company could resort to involuntary layoffs but does not want to, he said.

Wow. More bumpy roads ahead.

Lemmings

One would think, in this state and in this economy, the United Auto Workers at Sean’s plant would thank their lucky stars to have jobs with above-average pay and excellent health benefits (in many cases, better than the salaried folks have). One would think. One would be wrong.

The UAW morons at Sean’s plant are on strike again. They went out last Thursday. They aren’t getting paid by GM, obviously, because it was their choice to walk. They won’t get paid by the union until they’ve been on strike for two weeks. And then they’ll only get $200/week, which is a far cry from the nearly $1200 they earn when they actually work. The downside: GM’s losing money. The upside: Sean got home before 6.

Let me see if I got this straight: In Michigan, in the middle of a serious recession, they decide it’s better to not get paid than to work while negotiating… As an engineer from the plant said, “Someone should try explaining to the UAW leadership that GM pays wages and benefits with the money collected from selling vehicles. Selling them is difficult if we don't build them.” (I won’t identify the engineer because I don’t want him to incur the wrath of the union he has to work with daily. Although knowing this engineer, I’m not sure if he’d care. I wonder if my husband wishes I'd grant him the same privacy...)

Check out these pictures of group-think on the UAW picketline:



These are the workers employed by GM at the plant that is selling every car they can build. I believe this is called biting the hand that feeds you. But there’s the rub: they don’t think they work for GM. They think they work for the union.

Until they figure out that GM writes their paychecks, nothing will be solved.

Protected by Angels (and an Acadia)

Sometimes when people correspond with GM about their cars the letters get back to the plant where the car was made. That’s exactly what happened with this letter and pictures.

Seems a man was driving a brand new Acadia and was involved in a serious accident. Here’s what he said:

"The Acadia is built very well - very thankfully on my part as I walked away without a scratch. There was no damage or penetration to the passenger compartment other than glass. I do not recall the exact circumstances but believe the vehicle I hit was coming at me and had spun out so that it was broadside directly in front of me. I think I was going between 60 and 65 mph and only had a second or so of braking before impact. And yes, OnStar works - they were in touch with me immediately."

I'm sorry the guy had an accident, but I'm thankful my husband helps make a quality product that very well could have saved this man's life.

This now-loyal GM owner bought another Acadia, by the way.