General Motors

Back to EV1 main menu

Definitive analysis of GM's failure.
Originally published on opednews.com

GM is a failure. Imagine, the biggest and most symbolic of American companies, the bellweather of our industrial might back in 1958, has been brought low by 5 decades of inept and failed policies, criminal management and just plain ignorance, dumbarse arrogance and inertia.

GM is a failure, even if it survives in some eminently identifiable format, that is, the ghost of itself under some other rubric.

But it's not surprising to Electric car drivers: we were would-be buyers of a GM product, the EV1, which GM refused to sell to us for cash money.

Even more bizarre, GM had would-be buyers arrested, jailed and convicted, with fines and sentencing, for blocking the sidewalk, trying to purchase their product.

As you can imagine, we, like many other former GM customers, moved over to Toyota, which was happy to take our money and sell us the Toyota RAV-EV all-electric plug-in car, which is still running nicely on the same batteries it was issued in 2002.

Our bitter experience with losing the EV1, made in America and fueled here, is a microcosym of GM's overall "strategy": drive away all customers but those buying gas-guzzlers, and the result, build overpriced cars that are not in demand.

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=JoTXvvll1io

GM bought control of the NiMH batteries needed for all EVs -- even for the Prius gas car -- in 1994, refused to use them until forced, then refused to sell the EV1 to willing buyers, then sold control of NiMH to an oil company (Chevron), then, when buyers refused to get out of the way, had them arrested.

GM's failure has nothing to do with the UAW directly; it has to do with a huge block of deadhead overhead, non-productive office types that are the main source of GM's problems. It was there, in the sterile, expensive offices of GM HQ at Ren Center, that the self-stultifying polices that brought GM down were syncophantically
echoed by legions of overpaid, non-productive "yes-men" and brown-nosing bimbos of all sexes.

Amortizing these deadheads over the number of cars shows a loss; but the deadhead solution is to cut the number of cars and issue non-funded early retirement buyout packages to get rid of productive workers, which then eliminates some of the margin that paid for part of the deadheads.

These facts are not my invention; they were pointed out to me as parallel to the problems of AMTRACK, where a central core of deadhead execs also are inviolate from dismissal -- and when they cut a train, it just means that the loss from allocating their "services" over fewer trains deepens.

Exactly the same things are happening at GM. The problem isn't just Wagoner and the other inept managers; it's the bad policies trumpeted by corps of hangers-on, report-writers, "smart young men" in their 50's, and the profligate ways of bonehead management divorced from feedback or the real world.

For example, GM is accustomed to flying its far-flung "managers" from plants all over the country back to Detroit for "focus meetings" every six months, with no productive result, no revenue stream or value-added to justify the expense.

So even with better cars, it's unlikely that GM's picture will improve unless

"...those who are doing the cost cutting...get 'rightsized' first!".

That means, zero-budget accounting starting at the top, where the problem originated. Each of the failed policy makers of this failed company must account for their pay, what their actual function is, why they should not be prosecuted for malfeasance, what revenue or actual value they bring to the company, why they should not be personally liable for their failures, and so on.

Failure to investigate GM, and why it blames the line workers for management failure, would be in itself just as big a failure as GM.

Blaming the UAW for GM's failure would be tantamount to the captain of the EXXON VALDEZ blaming the engine room for running them into the rocks.

Linda Nicholes gets her Tesla: http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=2Lal1ReL0Ss

It could have been a GM product, except for GM's perfidous and unaccountable lies.

But those lies came back and destroyed GM, which is now disgraced by begging for money from the public purse to repay it for all those over-priced gas-guzzlers it sold to poor credit risks.

Money better spent would be for the government to require GM, and other members of the evidently criminal "Auto Alliance", to SELL plug-in cars. Just a simple requirement to offer them for sale, and let the market decide.

But the Auto Alliance still refuses to sell even ONE plug-in car, and still is suppressing existing EVs, under the false pretense and the lie that they will make fuel cell cars.

Note, there are more Toyota RAV4-EV on the road today (1100), more owned by the public(326), than ALL the fuel cell cars that exist (140); and fuel cell cars can't be sold, ever, because the fuel cell stack alone costs $200,000 and only lasts 3 years (due to corruption from HxCx in the air it uses to combust with the technical-grade Hydrogen that it carries).

Back to EV1.org main menu Top of page

Back to EV1 main menu
Definitive analysis of GM's failure. Originally published on opednews.com
GM is a failure. Imagine, the biggest and most symbolic of American companies, the bellweather of our industrial might back in 1958, has been brought low by 5 decades of inept and failed policies, criminal management and just plain ignorance, dumbarse arrogance and inertia. *GM is a failure,* even if it survives in some eminently identifiable format, that is, the ghost of itself under some other rubric. But it's not surprising to Electric car drivers: we were would-be buyers of a GM product, the EV1, which GM refused to sell to us for cash money. Even more bizarre, GM had would-be buyers arrested, jailed and convicted, with fines and sentencing, for blocking the sidewalk, trying to purchase their product. As you can imagine, we, like many other former GM customers, moved over to Toyota, which was happy to take our money and sell us the Toyota RAV-EV all-electric plug-in car, which is still running nicely on the same batteries it was issued in 2002. Our bitter experience with losing the EV1, made in America and fueled here, is a microcosym of GM's overall "strategy": drive away all customers but those buying gas-guzzlers, and the result, build overpriced cars that are not in demand. http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=JoTXvvll1io GM bought control of the NiMH batteries needed for all EVs -- even for the Prius gas car -- in 1994, refused to use them until forced, then refused to sell the EV1 to willing buyers, then sold control of NiMH to an oil company (Chevron), then, when buyers refused to get out of the way, had them arrested. GM's failure has nothing to do with the UAW directly; it has to do with a huge block of deadhead overhead, non-productive office types that are the main source of GM's problems. It was there, in the sterile, expensive offices of GM HQ at Ren Center, that the self-stultifying polices that brought GM down were syncophantically echoed by legions of overpaid, non-productive "yes-men" and brown-nosing bimbos of all sexes. Amortizing these deadheads over the number of cars shows a loss; but the deadhead solution is to cut the number of cars and issue non-funded early retirement buyout packages to get rid of productive workers, which then eliminates some of the margin that paid for part of the deadheads. These facts are not my invention; they were pointed out to me as parallel to the problems of AMTRACK, where a central core of deadhead execs also are inviolate from dismissal -- and when they cut a train, it just means that the loss from allocating their "services" over fewer trains deepens. Exactly the same things are happening at GM. The problem isn't just Wagoner and the other inept managers; it's the bad policies trumpeted by corps of hangers-on, report-writers, "smart young men" in their 50's, and the profligate ways of bonehead management divorced from feedback or the real world. For example, GM is accustomed to flying its far-flung "managers" from plants all over the country back to Detroit for "focus meetings" every six months, with no productive result, no revenue stream or value-added to justify the expense. So even with better cars, it's unlikely that GM's picture will improve unless "...those who are doing the cost cutting...get 'rightsized' first!". That means, zero-budget accounting starting at the top, where the problem originated. Each of the failed policy makers of this failed company must account for their pay, what their actual function is, why they should not be prosecuted for malfeasance, what revenue or actual value they bring to the company, why they should not be personally liable for their failures, and so on. Failure to investigate GM, and why it blames the line workers for management failure, would be in itself just as big a failure as GM. Blaming the UAW for GM's failure would be tantamount to the captain of the EXXON VALDEZ blaming the engine room for running them into the rocks. Linda Nicholes gets her Tesla: http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=2Lal1ReL0Ss It could have been a GM product, except for GM's perfidous and unaccountable lies. But those lies came back and destroyed GM, which is now disgraced by begging for money from the public purse to repay it for all those over-priced gas-guzzlers it sold to poor credit risks. Money better spent would be for the government to require GM, and other members of the evidently criminal "Auto Alliance", to SELL plug-in cars. Just a simple requirement to offer them for sale, and let the market decide. But the Auto Alliance still refuses to sell even ONE plug-in car, and still is suppressing existing EVs, under the false pretense and the lie that they will make fuel cell cars. Note, there are more Toyota RAV4-EV on the road today (1100), more owned by the public(326), than ALL the fuel cell cars that exist (140); and fuel cell cars can't be sold, ever, because the fuel cell stack alone costs $200,000 and only lasts 3 years (due to corruption from HxCx in the air it uses to combust with the technical-grade Hydrogen that it carries).
Back to EV1.org main menu	Top of page