[Absolut Speed]

Last fall, GM announced a reduction in GTO production and had to offer large rebates on this brand new model to sell off inventory

In December, GM had a 301 day supply of SSR's on hand.

Then the XLR gets a production cut from 23 to 12 a day. There's a 200 day supply of them out there. Cadillac hoped to sell 6,000 annually, but through 18 months, sold just 4,744.

February, GM decides to cut $1500-$2000 off the sticker mid-year on Trailblazers/Envoys/Rainiers and currently has 0% for 60 months to get them selling again. TrailBlazer sales fell 46% compared with January 2004. Envoy sales were off 52% and Rainier 27% according to Autodata reports.

Then for March, the factory that produces the LaCrosse & Grand Prix is shutting down for a week.

Then the earnings forecast for 2005 drops 80%. Stocks drop to 8 year low.

I think this goes back to cutting the Camaro and Firebird out of the lineup.

[94bird]

Also GM doesn't have a low budget performance car (~20k) that the base Z28 was.

And neither does anyone else, nor will they ever again.

SRT4. Granted, not exactly the same market, but it's definitely a performance car when you look at the numbers.

BTW, for more reading about the history behind GM's woes, try this: http://www.detnews.com/2005/autosinsider/0.../A01-120183.htm . There are other links that cover their troubles, also in this article.

Eugenio, Toyota does a lot more right than just having good quality and finish. Their whole product development cycle is completely different, and much more structured than the Big 3. Toyota's whole philosophy is very conservative. They simply do not take risks. Their motto must be "slow and steady wins the race". Fact is, it's working. When I was working for Federal-Mogul a few years ago I flew to Japan a few times working on a Nissan engine program. Every time I'd also go to Toyota and meet with their engineering supervisors. Each time we talked the conversations became a little longer and they started letting me in on a little more information and giving us slightly larger "investigations" so we could prove ourselves to them. Cost was certainly an issue, but they were much more concerned that their suppliers had the right attitude and had the technical "know-how" to meet their standards. Go into GM looking for new business and the general perception is the lowest cost provider wins, regardless of technical ability. If you get the business on the basis of low cost and can't step up to the plate quality or delivery wise, then it's time to sic purchasing and the quality guys on you and beat you into submission. The differences between GM and Toyota are just so huge it's amazing.