[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.

[LT4Firehawk]

The UAW has done an amazing job tying the Big 3's hands behind their back to make sure they can't dynamically change their company quickly in the face of changes in the marketplace.

I think this is probably the biggest issue with the big 3. It's truly amazing to me that the US auto makers have to look at moving production to places like Mexico to be competitive when foreign auto makers are moving production to the US. The difference? The foreign auto makers don't have to put up with the outrageous UAW contracts that the big 3 do. I'm not against people getting paid a fair wage, but I think most of us would agree there are some outrageous $$/benefits being provided to UAW workers. If the UAW doesn't wake up and get realistic about what's happening, the big 3 are going to dissapear along with all those UAW jobs. I thought it was rather hilarious a few several years back when I saw a news story that said the UAW had basically given up on getting into the Japanese manufacturer's American plants and was now going to focus on the European's American plants. I never really saw a follow up, but my guess is they didn't have much luck there either. My guess is that while the workers in those plants realize they'll never get the outrageous $$/benefits that UAW workers for the big 3 will, they also realize that if they let the UAW in the Japanese/Europeans would just close the plants and move somewhere else.