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Coinciding with the release of General Motors' Viability Plan, the automaker has disbanded its High Performance Vehicle Operations team, the crew responsible for the line V-series Cadillacs, the Chevrolet Cobalt SS, HHR SS and the V8 version of the Colorado. According to Vince Muniga, a spokesman for the General, "All high-performance projects are on indefinite hold. The engineers are moving into different areas of the organization, and they will work on Cadillacs, Buicks, Chevrolets and Pontiacs." Muniga went on to say that there are no plans for high-performance versions of upcoming plans, but once (if?) GM is in a better financial position, the team could be reinstated.
I knew this was coming. Goodbye SS Chevys. Goodbye V Caddies. Goodbye Camaro Z28. It was fun while it lasted.
The cobalt SS is good performance wise. It is just the inside and outside that need an overhaul. I have said it a million times before that if the Cobalt had better looks I would buy one in a heartbeat.
FORGET GIRLS GONE WILD WE HAVE GOVERNMENT SPENDING GONE WILD!
Funny thing, when Nissan canceled the 300ZX and 240SX in the 90's and just produced boring non-performance/non-excitment cars people ignored them and they fell 700-billion in debt. teetering to the point of bankruptcy and possible extinction Renault took a chance and baought them. As soon as they returned to building fun to drive fast VQ powered cars and the return of th 350Z they became players again.
I think GM is making a bad decision in abandoning performance vehicles, this idea nearly killed Nissan. But i guess in the advent of Scion, Toyota, and Honda's success GM might be doing the right thing. The future...it would seem, is in aftermarket performance. They supply the platform and YOU make it go fast. It will be interesting to see if this works. If GM would loosen the strangle hold control they enforce over aftermarket companies it would help. They make it too hard for aftermarket companies to make stuff for them. They want complete control over R&D and licenceing of products. They need to learn from the imports...cooperate with the aftermarket and you'll see sales explode.
Scion should be GM's playbook. They build the Astra/Camaro/Cruize...whatever, and you can customise the sh*t out of it. And they should help these aftermarket companies with full GM backing with vehicle specs and everything they need to make the parts right. And not just for the Camaro and Corvette. All their cars.
Think of how well the Aveo and Astra could do if they had the kind of aftermarket support Hondas get. And GM could sell them for less because all they are doing is providing a blank canvas. You could leave it stock and drive it into the ground or go crazy and outfit it with Spoon, DC Sports, Jackson Racing parts. Not just cheesey pep boys bolt ons, but really go fast goodies. If the New Cruize had the same aftermarket support as the Civic they could dominate the small car market in much the way Honda did throughout the 90's and early 21st century.
GM needs to wake up and see the light.
"Formerly known as Jammit - JBO member since 1998" JBOM | CSS.net
GM JUST TANKKKK already.
Gm must be playing the "How many wrong descions can we make a quater" game. Word on the streets is there pretty guuuuddd..
" Aint nothin' but a Peanut!"
Im guessing that if they dont shut down the performance operations the wonderful government we have in office (including the same asshats we had last term, and are still in office) will bitch about it. Same as the "how did you get here" BS. Just because it is productive or in some cases cost saving, the government will bitch about it in the same hypocritical manner they always do. If it looks like you are cutting costs (we all know the UAW will not make appropriate concessions) it will make bean counters happy, regardless of the end result.
I was talking to a guy who worked in a GM plant, and he was telling me that if GM made a $50K investment in one operation it could save them about $500K every year. However if GM were to have spent the $50K it would have raised flags when they asked about some loan money.
sad sad day
1989 Turbo Trans Am #82, 2007 Cobalt SS G85
very sad
__________________________________________________________________
Where I work:
HP
What I take for Memory and Focus:
Focus Fast
GM is full of retards. Why the hell would they kill off a brand and type of vehicle that can actually do something good for them. I don't see GM making it past 2015 with there @!#$ty ideology right now.
This is the death of the company right here. What got GM into this mess were the Bland un inspiring cars of the Nineties, and early 00's...
My Cav
I give up...
i'm buying a VW those people love trees, so they should love eachother too... "Andy"
Short Hand wrote:This is the death of the company right here. What got GM into this mess were the Bland un inspiring cars of the Nineties, and early 00's...
QFT!! @!#$ GM! They've messed up too many times, now a large population has to pay for their mismanagement mistakes. Let em burn, and let a new company take it's place. GM falling isn't all bad, it's only all bad for now (I think, I'm no economist or nothing...I just have faith in the "free" market). They failed. It's time to move on.
wysiwyg wrote:i would say they bang, they don't really pound so much. but if
you want to bump, then they will bump and hit real hard and a lot good. 
LOL
How come there is Cobalt SS picture in the High Performance vehicle thread. lol j/w
back on topic... Why would the government save their asses? If I take wrong decisions like taking all my money in my savings accounts and go to the casino and lose all of it, will the government help me out with a plan too?
GM is just out of luck. Even if we give them 50B$ they'll still find the way to @!#$ it all up once again.
Whatever wrote:Short Hand wrote:This is the death of the company right here. What got GM into this mess were the Bland un inspiring cars of the Nineties, and early 00's...
QFT!! @!#$ GM! They've messed up too many times, now a large population has to pay for their mismanagement mistakes. Let em burn, and let a new company take it's place. GM falling isn't all bad, it's only all bad for now (I think, I'm no economist or nothing...I just have faith in the "free" market). They failed. It's time to move on.
Have you ever stopped to think about what it is that has hurt domestic manufactures for so many years? Its not just the auto industry. If company A has a total employee package of $55/hr and company B is at $75/hr, who is going to be more likely to survive? When you have a labor union that pushes for every damn cent they can get when times are good, but drags their feet and cries like a little baby when the company wants concessions due to rough times, its hard to be competitive. The UAW always threatens to strike when they dont get their way, they even strike companies that get parts from a supplier the UAW has a problem with. Yes I am part of the IBEW and we are expecting some decent sized concessions during the next contract negotiation. The fact still remains that it cost more for an IBEW contractor to do the job than it does for a non union shop. However I have seen some non union electrical work and I would not trust most of it to be a durable installation. On that note I have also seen some really good non union installations. The same things apply to union contractors and non union contractors in just about every profession.
Yes there have been some management blunders but labor cost is huge for a company like GM.
Let them go on strike..is there a clause that wont let gm bring people in making $15/hour or whatever is lower? I can guarantee those jobs would fill up so quickly. MOST of the general laborers have no skill and can be easily replaced with someone who is jobless and would be more than willing to work for half of their wages.
OhForKavy wrote:Let them go on strike..is there a clause that wont let gm bring people in making $15/hour or whatever is lower? I can guarantee those jobs would fill up so quickly. MOST of the general laborers have no skill and can be easily replaced with someone who is jobless and would be more than willing to work for half of their wages.
Yeah, those people are called "Scabs" by the union. It would be a really good way to wake up the union I think, but I can guarantee someone will either get hurt badly or maybe even killed in that process.
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Watching you parade around my bedroom in a thong was a little like watching sea lions mate.
lone_wolf wrote:OhForKavy wrote:Let them go on strike..is there a clause that wont let gm bring people in making $15/hour or whatever is lower? I can guarantee those jobs would fill up so quickly. MOST of the general laborers have no skill and can be easily replaced with someone who is jobless and would be more than willing to work for half of their wages.
Yeah, those people are called "Scabs" by the union. It would be a really good way to wake up the union I think, but I can guarantee someone will either get hurt badly or maybe even killed in that process.
Which in turn would only further paint the union in a bad light. I say do it, so i can laugh at those union f*cktards as the burn for the crime.
2007 Corvette Z51 | Suzuki Swift GTi SCCA racer | 2008 Edge
Evol...??? wrote:lone_wolf wrote:OhForKavy wrote:Let them go on strike..is there a clause that wont let gm bring people in making $15/hour or whatever is lower? I can guarantee those jobs would fill up so quickly. MOST of the general laborers have no skill and can be easily replaced with someone who is jobless and would be more than willing to work for half of their wages.
Yeah, those people are called "Scabs" by the union. It would be a really good way to wake up the union I think, but I can guarantee someone will either get hurt badly or maybe even killed in that process.
Which in turn would only further paint the union in a bad light. I say do it, so i can laugh at those union f*cktards as the burn for the crime.
Once again the UAW @!#$ us all over. Not every union is bad, well really it seems its just the UAW that is greedy beyond greedy. As I said the IBEW local I am part of is expecting some big concessions in the next contract. When I am working (currently laid off due to plant work being postponed) I bust my ass all day. I work around things that could cause serious harm with just one little oops. I am going through an apprenticeship that will teach me how to do my job in a safe and professional manner that will be free of problems for the end user. It is a rather odd feeling to be in a substation with 13,200V power coming in and 480V going out. Has a nice hum/buzz to it, kind of comforting in a way.
Pensions and health care is all part of the labor cost as it is part of the UAW contract. My mom is a salary worker for GM and is actually worried about loosing her pension. The UAW does not give a @!#$ about the salary workers as they dont pay the UAW any dues money.
UNIONS are what is wrong with not only the auto industry but education as well. there are so many tenured teachers who are terrible, but they have union protection. Let the free market determine the price of labor. America guarantees the pursuit of happiness not lifelong handouts. These last few months make me sick.
Mike Demo (Civic Eater) wrote:UNIONS are what is wrong with not only the auto industry but education as well. there are so many tenured teachers who are terrible, but they have union protection. Let the free market determine the price of labor. America guarantees the pursuit of happiness not lifelong handouts. These last few months make me sick.
The most sane thing i've heard in months.
"Formerly known as Jammit - JBO member since 1998" JBOM | CSS.net
Without unions we wouldn't have the quality of life we do now.
I am a union boilermaker, our father and grandfathers fought hard to get us where we are today, the stories he had told me before he passed away make me appreciate the rights that we have.
