Well I think the problem with them more was that they essentially went all in on SUV's and ignored their other brands/designs. I don't think they was anything wrong with having brands as they did, I just don't think they invested in them enough. I also completely agree with what Michael Moore said back in '89 in that they were a company far more concerned with short term profits and their stock price then building a company that could be successful in the long run. Say what you want about him politically, but he was 100% correct with that criticism of GM. We're turning record profits but we need to cut back on the number of employees and plants we have in order to survive. That I look at as the number one reason why they went from being the largest auto company in the world to being bankrupt within two decades. It wasn't done to make the company better, it was done so the investors could make a quick buck and then dump the stock. It was corporate raiding from the inside out. I have worked at a GM dealer for 14+ years. And I still don't understand some of the things they do. The place where I work at one time had Chevrolet, Buick, Oldsmobile, and Pontiac. When Oldsmobile went away, GM gave our dealership a $10,000 for losing a franchise. When Pontiac went away, we got nothing. We had to pay for the new signage. And......and.......you had to agree to renovate your building up to GM's new standards, after completely renovating the showroom 5 or 6 years prior! I have talked to a dealer who lost his Chevrolet franchise when "old" GM went through the bankruptcy and didn't get picked up with the "new" GM and he said, that knowing what he knows now, he would have dropped the franchise himself a long time ago. He continues to be successful and a used car dealer and a repair shop. No more "requirements" to buy anything. Here is a good example of GM not making any sense at all. The Chevrolet Volt, the plug in electric/hybrid car is a really great car. They cost about $40,000 and can get the equivalent of 93 miles per gallon of gas. Now, as you can imagine, there isn't a big market for these yet, and in 2 years, we have sold about 4 of them, and really, if you make a $1,000 profit on one, you did pretty well. Here is the kicker, there is a battery diagnostic tool for this ONE vehicle that our service department is required to have. The cost: $6,000!!! So, just generalizing a bit and not adding in the cost for other things like training and what not, that is a $2,000 loss on 4 cars! Sorry to throw my rant in there. LoL.
