The "American Leyland" News Thread

I can see why you are pissed. But I have to say losing power steering is much less of an issue (imo) then having the electronics go wonky on you and the ECU fuck up or cars randomly accelerating.

I mean you can still drive the car, it is just harder to turn.

Exactly. Plus we don't exactly know how widespread or common the actual fault is, just the models affected.
(what was wrong with hydraulic power steering anyway ????)
 
I can see why you are pissed. But I have to say losing power steering is much less of an issue (imo) then having the electronics go wonky on you and the ECU fuck up or cars randomly accelerating.

I mean you can still drive the car, it is just harder to turn.

Exactly. Plus we don't exactly know how widespread or common the actual fault is, just the models affected.
(what was wrong with hydraulic power steering anyway ????)

Okay, I think you guys aren't really seeing this.

First, most of these cars were purchased by women. In fact, my mom is stuck with one as a rental in Houston right now.

Second, women are not noted for being strong of arm in general. There are many exceptions, true, but most of the female US population doesn't have a lot of arm strength.

Third, what do you guys think is going to happen if the power steering goes out in the middle of a turn at a corner? The car's going to swing wide, way wide, because the female driver isn't going to be able to hold the turn (in general) and then look out. Even if they do have the arm strength to hold it, the surprise may render them (or a male driver) unable to recover in time. Remember also, the car likes to torque steer and power steering helps the driver counteract that a bit.

As someone who almost got killed a few years back by someone who lost their power steering in a turn, I am distinctly underwhelmed by the response from GM, and how long it's taken them to get their heads out of their asses. That case was when some woman in a Sentra almost plowed my motorcycle because the serpentine belt came off just as she started to make a right turn. She ended up running way wide and if I hadn't been on guard I would have been a hood ornament.
 
It's become really quiet around this topic.

Is it only my personal sensation or has the current relaxation on petrol prices given GM and Chrysler some undeserved slack?

And if that is true, what happens when petrol prices rise again? I see no promising future model range, no change in worker's ethics, none of the necessary restructuring seems to happen either. Only some shrinking of the companies in size.

Is it really "Thank God, people are buying pickup trucks again, so we can relax and breathe deeply and go on like before", which will surely lead to the next bankruptcy sooner or later?

Or am I completely wrong in my perception and a silent revolution is happening behind the scenes?
 
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Mostly they're still making losses and the US mass media is keeping quiet about it because this is a midterm election year and they're hoping their friends won't lose and get kicked out of power.

For example, CDR had this article earlier.

List: Top 10 Cars of 2010; Ford Only American Company to Show Gains; Chrysler and GM Dead Last

Two of last year?s picks, the Toyota Highlander and RAV4 SUVs, were passed over this year because of Toyota?s decision to cease production on the vehicles.

For individual cars, the top picks are the best all-around models in their categories, based on their performance, reliability, and safety.

BEST CAR MAKERS

In ranking manufacturers, only Ford improved over last year. It scored one point better to pass Mitsubishi for 11th place in our rankings. GM and Chrysler, dead last: By contrast, Chrysler is again in last place and dropped two points since last year. And General Motors placed right where it did last year?second from the bottom?even though it eliminated half its brands and about one-third of its models.

Honda and Subaru, both Japanese car makers, tied for first with an overall score of 77 out of 100 points in Consumer Reports? ranking.

They were followed by Toyota and Hyundai. Nissan and Volkswagen tied for with a score of 72.

1. Honda (77)
1. Subaru (77)
3. Toyota (74)
4. Hyundai (73)
5. Nissan (72)
5. Volkswagen (72)

Ford: Ford graded out as the 11th best automaker and was the only American manufacturer to improve its score since last year.

General Motors: Just as it did last year, Consumer Reports gave General Motors the second-worst grade amongst automakers.

Chrysler: Chrysler finished dead last in the rankings. Again. The automaker?s overall score dropped two points from last year.

But not a peep about this from the major news networks.
 
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As someone who almost got killed a few years back by someone who lost their power steering in a turn, I am distinctly underwhelmed by the response from GM, and how long it's taken them to get their heads out of their asses. That case was when some woman in a Sentra almost plowed my motorcycle because the serpentine belt came off just as she started to make a right turn. She ended up running way wide and if I hadn't been on guard I would have been a hood ornament.

You sure have a lot of first hand knowledge of varying things that go with any random news article. Power steering failure mid corner, right behind Reginald Denny during the 92 Watt's riots, signing of Magna Carta (and the consequent economic results of which you noticed causing you to move Texas to gain some freedom)...
 
You sure have a lot of first hand knowledge of varying things that go with any random news article. Power steering failure mid corner, right behind Reginald Denny during the 92 Watt's riots, signing of Magna Carta (and the consequent economic results of which you noticed causing you to move Texas to gain some freedom)...

This would be because when I don't have first hand knowledge or at least what I believe is a solid understanding of a subject, I usually SHUT THE HELL UP and don't post. Go check, there's an awful lot of topics that you might expect me to post on that I haven't.

Besides, weird things keep happening to me. Ask merp about the T-bone accident where I somehow didn't even swap paint with the other driver despite making actual contact, for example. He was there in the car with me when it happened and even he still can't believe it. I get a lot of WTF?!? moments in my life for some reason; I end up with a lot of weird and random experiences as a result.
 
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It just seems interesting that you're involved in so many events that are quite convenient for the discussion.
 
It just seems interesting that you're involved in so many events that are quite convenient for the discussion.

Um, wouldn't that be one of the prerequisites of joining a discussion?

Otherwise, you'd just wander in and post something like, "I have no point of view and no experience on the matter plus I don't want to learn anything about it, but I want to be a part of this discussion!"

Oh, wait....

:p

Besides, you must be really bored as you agreed that this protocol makes sense on AIM. :p
 
Just when it seemed like the gorgeous Cadillac Converj extended-range electric vehicle (ER-EV) was going to make it to production, it now appears that the program might be dead. Strictly speaking, although General Motors executives had indicated that the Volt-based coupe would be produced, it had never officially been announced as a production program.

Nonetheless, Bloomberg is reporting that the program has been canceled for business reasons. Apparently, Cadillac came to the conclusion that even as a Cadillac, the car couldn't be profitable with the level of amenities that customers would expect. The extra equipment would apparently have cut the electric range to only 20 miles, defeating some of the purpose of an ER-EV and its ability to cover most driver's needs without using gas. Given the slow sales high-end hybrids like the Escalade and Lexus LS600h, this may be the right move for GM.

According to Cadillac spokesman David Caldwell, there is "Nothing to be announced" and the program was "not to a point in which development would be occurring in earnest in any case." Caldwell goes on to say "There can naturally be a lot of careful review over an idea as big and ambitious as this. And that can go back-and-forth. Vehicle plans can be revised numerous times before reaching production, or being declined."

Instead of the Converj, Cadillac will reportedly focus on less expensive plug-in hybrids like the XTS concept that was shown in Detroit.


After spending all that money developing it and carting it around to shows. They even brought it to Pittsburgh, where the representative was saying it was surely going to be made. Government Motors does it again.
 
I guess there hasn't been enough bad news since March for Specter to bump this thread.

How about some good news then? I first saw this story a few weeks ago when it was released.

I meant to post about it then but kind of forgot about it till it showed up on Autoblog today.Study: Auto bailout saved over 1 million jobs


In before Communist, Socialist, Obama, pinko, union handout etc.

I don't think GM or Chrysler would have survived a normal bankruptcy as there was no debtor in possession financing during the time they needed it. No other company would have stepped in to buy their assets, or buy enough of their assets in one lump sum, to keep the companies going because no one had the money to do the deal. No one but the gov't that is.

Full PDF is here.

http://www.cargroup.org/pdfs/bankruptcy.pdf

press release here

http://www.cargroup.org/pdfs/prnov2010.pdf
 
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Yeah, massive numbers of jobs were saved (not to mention the economic ripple effects of having a company that large bite the dust), and both GM and Chrysler are on the rebound. GM's got the Volt and the Cruze for the fuel misers, and Chrysler's made vast improvements on their existing models to serve as stop-gaps for the next three years while Fiat makes some global platforms. Plus they've got the Cinquecento coming.
 
I dunno, how do you prove a job is saved or not? And talk to the dealers that got shut down about their saved jobs...
 
http://www.autoblog.com/2011/01/20/slew-of-big-personnel-changes-take-hold-at-gm/

It's musical chairs season at General Motors. The automaker has announced a rash of personnel changes in positions ranging from U.S. vice president to chief technology officer. Perhaps most interestingly, The General has appointed Mary Barra as the company's new vice president of global product development. That's quite a change from her previous post, where Berra served as the vice president of global human resources ? a position she's held since 2009. Berra officially takes the reins on February 1.

That's the same day that Linda Marshall will take up her new post as president of OnStar. Marshall is taking the place of Chris Preuss, who has left GM to work as a communications consultant. Marshall joined OnStar in 2010 as the company's executive director of business strategy and development. Before that, she held senior executive positions with both Verizon Wireless and Sprint Nextel.

GM has also cooked up a new position to handle the wave of new technology flooding into vehicles. Vice Chairman Thomas G. Stephens has been chosen to be the company's new global chief technology officer. Stephens will be responsible for investigating new "game-changing" technologies for the company's products. He most recently served as the company's vice chairman of global product operations.

On the marketing side of things, Chris Perry has replaced Joel Ewanick as the GM vice president of global marketing. The move allows Rick Scheidt to take over Perry's old duties as the U.S. vice president of Chevrolet marketing. Ewanick, meanwhile, has moved to become the company's global chief marketing officer.

Additionally, John Schwegman has moved from being the U.S. vice president of Buick-GMC marketing to just handling VP duties for GMC. Tony DiSalle will take over as VP of Buick marketing. DiSalle formerly held a position as the product and marketing director for the Chevrolet Volt. Hit the jump for a slew of press releases.

[Source: General Motors]

What? GM has had waves and waves of shuffling of the top brass. This isn't a good sign.
 
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