Auto Racing & Performance

I tend to stay away of political issues, but this time I must speak up.

I understand the desire to help GM and keep all the jobs that they create. To loose GM now would be a huge blow to the economy. That said, GM has been a failing company for quite a long time. We can prop them up now, but we will just be delaying the inevitable.

Serious change is going to be needed for GM to succeed. They are burdened with huge labor unions, huge pensions, many over paid union workers, many poor products, too many factories and more. Either way, as hard as it is to say it, they will need to cut some of the work force. GM does not have the market share it once did, and I think it has failed to realize that.

I don’t understand the big 3’s choice in building the new cars they do. As a car guy I love the fast and hugely powerful cars that they come out with, but they are not practical. GM Saturn line is a good start in the right direction and that is because they are all imported from Europe. Small, efficient, but still fun to drive cars that have a pretty good build quality. The only downside is that they come from Europe and that makes them somewhat expensive.

Remember that filing for bankruptcy protection does not mean the company is going to shutdown and go away. It will hopefully give them a moment to breathe. Going in to bankruptcy protection might actually help the company. It will give it some room to maneuver and shed some of its burdens. GM needs to become a lean, mean, flexible, fighting machine. It needs to build cars people love, cars that are built better than the imports and car that hold their value.

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