» Publishers, Monetize your RSS feeds with FeedShow: More infos (Show/Hide Ads)
Referenced articles
emptywheel: Biden To Announce Fisker Auto Plant In Wilmington Delaware
F O U R H U N D R E D B I L L I O N Y E A R S
Sounds like Wall Street should be behind this one! Actually, it would take two years to generate $600 million in sales… but that's not including the cost of the car itself. So, yeah, 400,000,000,000 years to pay this loan back.
There is no reason Koenigsegg Group AB should buy Saab. The division should go away.
Referenced articles
Automotive News: Saab loan-guarantee decision months away
He [GM Vice Chairman Bob Lutz] says consideration for GM vehicles is up 15 percent and says its market share in September, 20.5 percent, is the same as last year.Consideration, eh? We wonder how sales are doing this Oct…
But back to our first point… And it was an exchange, not a real return? Man, that sounds fishy. Also sounds like a good story that is just told to get picked up and retold… Damn you, GM!
Referenced articles
autoweek.com: A Chevrolet Corvette the only ‘authenticated' return under GM's 60-day guarantee, Lutz says
4,500,000
All the way back to when Clinton was in office! Sweet mercy that's a lot of Fords. There's a good chance the tech that'll repair your car was 8 years old at the time some of these beasts were made.
Referenced articles
CNNMoney.com: Ford recall hits 4.5 million vehicles
That car helped kill Pontiac and Saturn. No, it did not single car-ily kill both companies, but it was a great example of why both companies failed.
Why DeLorean would want any part of this… Feels like a lot of car companies are just grasping at anything.
Referenced articles
Autoblog: Rumormill: DeLorean Motor Company considering rescuing Pontiac Solstice?
Who knew we needed a DeLorean category?
Is Chrysler going to spin off the Challenger, too? Oh, look, the Challenger brand is up 100% (when they sell their second car).
Seriously, we almost started the WTF category when Penske was going to buy Saturn but we scrapped it when Penske scrapped their plans. We decided we'll move ahead with the WTF category if Konenenishooterglavenberg makes the Saab purchase official, but now we're wondering if we should do it now.
WTF!
Referenced articles
PickupTrucks.com: Dodge Trucks To Be Separated From Cars Under Ram Brand
*We're just kidding, trucks. We hear Alison likes her some trucks. Oh, that picture is from Dodge. Copyright Dodge.
Specifics? Sure, in August and September Saab sold 19 cars a day. Two months in a row! July? 22. Come on, Saab is totally, totally over. And there is no way any sane company is going to buy it. Just for comparison's sake, in the time that Saab sold 960-some cars, Toyota sold 300-THOUSAND (cash for clunkers helped this, sure, but come on! Saab sold fewer during the cash for clunkers shenanigans).
Anyway, Saab dead. Let's move on.
Referenced articles
Autoblog: By the Numbers - August 2009: Cash for Clunkers Edition
Autoblog: By The Numbers - September 2009: Post C4C, We're All Alright Edition
During the same two months in which Saab sold 960-ish Smart sold over 2,200! And how many Smart Cars have you really seen?
So what happens now? Saturn just closes and "the dream" dies. GM never gave Saturn a solid shot. Oh, they started to but never followed through properly. The cars never really improved and the competition became better and better.
We're betting the same thing happens with Saab. GM took a niche, but well-loved, brand and made it so very mediocre (No hatch? It's not a frickin' Saab if there's no hatch, duh!).
Referenced articles
The Detroit News: Penske calls off Saturn deal with GM
The New York Times: G.M. to Close Saturn After Penske Pulls Out of Deal
How did Honda fall so far so fast? With the release of the photos of the Crosstour, one has to wonder who quit in the last few years since the original Acura TL was released.
Seriously, how many ugly vehicles does Honda (we're including Acura) make now?
- Accord
- Crosstour
- Pilot
- Insight
- Element (which we sorta like, but it's not a pretty thing to look at)
- Acura TL
- Acura RL
- Acura TSX
They don't make too many more vehicles that those... All we know is that it's time to bring back the NSX. Yeah, the one from 1991. That was damn near perfect.
Referenced articles
autoblog: Officially Official: This is your 2010 Honda Accord Crosstour
Saab is dead. GM killed it. Long live Saab!
Referenced articles
Autoblog: By the Numbers
Referenced articles
gizmodo: How Many Folding Bikes Does It Take To Fill a Parking Space?
Anybody who can keep junior high school kids not only in their seats but focused on a lesson plan can deal with any supplier issue, boardroom dispute or labor-contract negotiations he's ever likely to encounter.Yeah, that's for su... What? This has been the secret all along? Not years in the industry but a couple of years teaching readin', writin' and 'rithmetic? Jesus.
Look out Mulally, Krabappel is comin' fer ya!
Referenced articles
autoweek.com: Henry III, Act I: Henry Ford's great-great grandson will soon enter the stage
Yes, technically Krabappel is Edna Krabappel. A female teacher. But we couldn't think of a dude teacher and, hell, Krabappel is a fun name! W00t!
Who in their right mind would buy a car company that sold 22 cars a day in July? But you say, "So what if they don't sell a lot of 'em. Profit it profit, dear Cars! Cars! Cars! writer." First of all, that's "writer." Second, doeth:
Trollhaettan, Sweden-based Saab has been unprofitable for most of GM’s 20 years of ownership and sold fewer than 100,000 cars last year.Oh, dear. We fear this won't turn out so good. Also, expect higher prices for a car that few seem to want. At least it'll really be Swedish now.
Referenced articles
Bloomberg News: Koenigsegg Reaches Agreement to Buy GM’s Saab by End of Year
This stuff scares the Alison out of us! Why not have OnStar just reprogram the nav to take the "bad" guys to the cops? Oh, why not have OnStar just reprogram the nav to take the Alison directly to us! W00t!1 Now that'd be some sweet OnStarActionTime.
Referenced articles
Engadget: OnStar debuts Remote Ignition Block to shut down stolen vehicles
(Bumping into GM)
Cars! Cars! Cars!: Hey, GM!
GM: Cars! Cars! Cars!
C!C!C!: Wow, you look fantastic. Did you lose weight?
GM: Billions worth!
C!C!C!: Nice!
GM: What's up with you? No updates?
C!C!C!: We forgot how to log in.
GM: Seriously?
C!C!C!: Let's move to another topic.
GM: OK, I'm thin and hot.
C!C!C!: True dat. (leans in) Is that a collar?
GM: What? No.
C!C!C!: What's it say? "If found, return to Prez." Wow, that's weird.
GM: It's a fashion thing. The big O got it for us.
C!C!C!: ... OK.
GM: So, you gonna start covering this again?
C!C!C! Yeah, maybe so.
GM: OK, gotta git.
C!C!C!: OK, good lucking finding your missing piece.
(moves on)
C!C!C!: Ford!
Ford: This is bullshit!
Referenced articles
CNNMoney.com: 'New' GM is born
WiFi in the minivan? A "VW" minivan? Will Brooke be there to make sure our IP addresses are correct? You know, nothing comes between us and Brooke.*
Referenced articles
Electronista: VW Routan gets in-car Wi-Fi
*Well, nothing that isn't sticky.
Scene: Walking along some street in Detroit
Cars! Cars! Cars!: GM!
GM: Cars! Cars! Cars!
CCC: Long time no see, how you doing?
GM: Doing OK. Long time no post, what up?
CCC: Eh. All's been eerily quiet on the auto front. Like nothing's going on.
GM: Uh... yeah.
CCC: What you been up to?
GM: Uh, nothing.
It's worth pointing this out: General Motors Death Watch 1: GM Must Die. From early(ish) April '05.
Scene: Taxpayers run into Chrysler after a long absence (no emails, txts, phone calls)
Taxpayers: Hey! C! Where you been?
Chrysler: Oh, hey. (looks around)
T: So, how you doing? I know things were looking tough.
C: Right. Well, we met someone.
T: Great! That's so... great!
C: Yeah. He's Italian.
T: Oh, wow! I'm so happy for you.
C: Thanks!
T: So... About that money we loaned you.
C: Yeah... about that...
Referenced articles
CNNMoney: Chrysler won't repay bailout money