GM still has the Bullmoose attitude

GM, threatened by Toyota, vows to 'fight for every sale'
http://www.breitbart.com/news/2007/0....w9nxb3pt.html

General Motors boss Rick Wagoner insists the US company will not give up its
position as the world's top automaker without a fight.
Speaking ahead of this weekend's press opening of the North American
International Auto Show, the GM chairman and chief executive said he was
well aware of the seemingly unstoppable threat posed by Japan's Toyota.

"I like being number one, and I think our people take pride in it. So it's
not something we're going to sit back and let somebody else pass us,"
Wagoner told reporters on Friday.

"We're going to have to fight for every sale and do it in way that is
consistent with building the enterprise," he said.

"If as a result of that we get passed, it won't be a happy day for me. But
I've lost basketball games before, and as a result of that you get ready,
you learn and go back and play the next day," said Wagoner, who played
college basketball at North Carolina's Duke University in the early 1970s.

"We're going to fight to keep the position, and if we lose, we're going to
fight to get it back."

Last month, Toyota said it planned to make 9.42 million vehicles worldwide
this year. That would exceed the 9.18 million GM expected to have made in
2006.

This year, GM's production looks likely to fall with the company, like its
Detroit rival Ford, laying off thousands of workers and shuttering plants.



--
The brave might not live forever but the timid do not live at all

"JIm Higgins" <gordian238 (AT) hotmail (DOT) com> wrote in message
I hope he is right and they do fight and win. They have to do it by making
a good product, not just offering rebates.

Another good strategy is to lay off some of the workers and use that money
to give raises to the executives.

If GM wants to fight for every sale, they should start by not screwing me
over by cancelling analog-only OnStar systems sold in the 2001 model year.
I'd pay for an upgrade kit, but instead the company is acting arrogant about
this, telling us it is impossible to make a digital upgrade kit, and to buy
a new car as the workaround.

"cufliflox II" <vervix (AT) microsoft (DOT) com> wrote

I have no knowledge of the OnStar system, but I find it hard to believe that
there cannot be a changeover. It is contraintuitive.

It may not be worth it for GM or anyone else to develop such a system for
such a relatively small number of applications.

<HLS (AT) nospam (DOT) nix> wrote in message
Third party would probably not profit very much from it as the market gets
smaller every year. GM wants you to buy a new car so they will not do it.

I read that interview and it was a joke. GM plans to "fight for every
sale" ?????? What total BS. The strategic actions and tactical moves
GM are making all point to lower sales volume while everything Toyota is
doing points to higher sales volume. Actions are far more important
than words.

HLS (AT) nospam (DOT) nix wrote:
This issue has been discussed at length in other threads. GM is indeed
being completely pig-headed about this and a large fraction of the
Onstar equipped vehicles on the road are soon to be obsoleted in a which
is unprecedented in automotive history. What other feature of a new car
has ever stopped working in an unrepairable way six years after purchase?

"John Horner" <jthorner (AT) yahoo (DOT) com> wrote

Have a cassette player, John? Try cramming a CD into it. GM isn't the ones
who decided to do away with the Analog service. You are just jealous that
Toyota isn't smart enough to come up with something such as OnStar.

I didn't have to sell the house in order to upgrade to satellite TV.



"80 Knight" <NOMORESPAM (AT) hotmail (DOT) com> wrote

"80 Knight" <NOMORESPAM (AT) hotmail (DOT) com> wrote in message > Have a cassette
player, John? Try cramming a CD into it. GM isn't the ones
I have a cassette player, and it will still play a cassette, 80.

By the way, it was announced yesterday that Ford outsold GM in the USA for
the year 2006
due to a good fourth quarter. Mike Hunt should find that something to
gargle about.