🚀 go-pugleaf

phxbrd@pop.phnx.uswest.net wrote:

> Steven Fisher wrote:
>
> > >> They aren't buying Chevys?  GM is still the top automaker.
> > >
> > >World-wide, but not in the U.S.!
> >
> > Why do you say that?  Who sells more cars & trucks in the US than GM?  I
> > don't think I'm quite that behind the times.
>
> All I know, I hear on CNN.  They have repeatedly said that GM has lost over
> 40% of its' market share in the US in the last two years.  Their tit would
> be in the wringer were it not for foreign sales.

I don't trust numbers from the Clinton News Network. They don't check their
sources. Just like the Vietnam chemical weapons flap last week. They just keep
repeating the same old lies.

Last year GM had 28.5% marketshare, this year they have 31.1%. Looks like a
marketshare gain to me. Over a longer period of time, they have lost  about 20%
of the market in the last 30 years. Chrysler currently has about 16.0%
marketshare(Down .5% from last year), and Ford has about 26.0% marketshare
(very close to what GM had last year).  The Big Three has 73.1% marketshare. I
think for the most part they are crying over spilt milk, they still command the
market. Source: Wall Street Journal, July 7th, Page A4.

Marketshare is meaningless, When most companies try to grow marketshare they
cut prices, which is a stupid practice - it causes price wars or diminished
profits. Build good products and watch costs. Marketshare will follow. Alot of
industries follow marketshare like a religion. Automotive, Beer, Colas, etc. I
call it the Wall Street sickness. They fight over marketshare, cutting prices,
and when they try to raise the price again, the few people you gained go back
to the cheaper product. You don't sell Budweiser for the same price as
Milwaukee's Best, but it's been that cheap lately. What did they gain, 2%
marketshare?  What has it cost them?  Alot. Lesson is, brew up a different
brand and just stuff it in the stores. You're Anheuser-Bush, you can push crap
on retailers. You're the king fish. If it's cheap enough, you'll capture that
extra few marketshare points you want - no marketing required. Idiots.

GM's international sales are down, they are getting hit hard with the Asian
mess. Their International operations had a 181 million dollar profit last
quarter, compared to a 383 million dollar profit in the same quarter in 1997.
Source: Today's Wall Street Journal, Page A2.  I guess their tit is in a
ringer.

Hey, where's all the news stories how the UAW is loosing a ton of money on
union dues.. Hey, I have a question, do unemployed GM UAW members, which are
collecting state unemployment benefits, still paying union dues out of pocket?
Do you pay union dues when you're laid off? I thought GM had a no layoff clause
in their contract, and had to supplement up to 90% of the wage that
unemployment doesn't pay. There hasn't been alot of talk about any of this in
the papers or magazines I read.

Another stupid question. If GM was REALLY loosing seventy million dollars a
day, why don't they just have a supplier make the parts.  They have billions of
dollars in the bank, if they were REALLY loosing this money, wouldn't ya think
they would spend a billion to get up and running again? I mean, a BILLION
dollars goes along way! I am sure there are people making these instrument
panels for Ford and Chrysler that could add a line, even if it was reduced
production quantity. Enough to make Jimmys, Surburbans, and Pickups. I know
they will have some labor unrest in certain plants using these "scab" parts,
but hmmm, isn't a scab just something that helps heal a wound? I never did
understand unionisms like "scab" anyways. Oh well...I imagine most of these GM
workers would be happy to be back to their miserable jobs, sweating to death in
the summer heat, collecting their paychecks, feeding their kids, making their
house payments, and paying the insurance. What I find amazing reading the paper
is how many people bringing home $1,200 a week live paycheck to paycheck. Alot
of people did not expect this strike. Where does all the money go? Casino
Windsor? Blah.

-Ron