Official Car Thread :: Vol 2 :: Now with More Bikes!

[Tones]

Without the Solstice or G8, Pontiac is pretty much back to the 90's-early 00's. At least Buick seems to at least be doing well in China; Pontiac isn't going to have anything in a few years. Get rid of GMC while they're at it.

[Josh]

No way, what will the world do...

your mom.

[stormy]

When GM buys Chrysler on October 27th, the Pontiac or maybe the Buick brand is going to be useless.

I'm rooting for Nissan/Renault. At least it could bring some new products to our market and possibly improve quality/materials.

[Type Ryan]

Pontiac... They may as well just kill the brand.

If they do that, then who will think it's a Cadillac?

[Advocate]

I'm rooting for Nissan/Renault. At least it could bring some new products to our market and possibly improve quality/materials.

Nissan/Renault is probably getting Dodge and Jeep.

[Advocate]

General Motors is seeking upwards of $5 billion to assist funding a so-called merger between the Detroit automaker and Cerberus Capital Management’s Chrysler LLC. GM’s chairman, Rick Wagoner, was in Washington, D.C., late last week to discuss his company’s desire for quick federal funding with representatives of the U.S. Treasury Department.

Though GM representatives have been mum on the deal, an anonymous government employee quoted in the Detroit News confirmed that GM was seeking “around $5 billion.” Other reports have said the figure is as high as $10 billion.

GM says it needs federal help to cover the $10 billion in Chrysler debt it would inherit. The Chrysler debt would have to be refinanced.

It’s unclear just where the $5 billion or more would come from, but some analysts say that GM wants to pull some of the cash out of the $25 billion loan from the U.S. Energy Department. That loan was to be used for retooling factories and developing more efficient vehicles in the future.

Two other possibilities involving the U.S. Treasury Department are circling the rumor mill. One is that the $5 billion would come directly from the Treasury - just as the $700 billion bank bailout came from the Treasury.

The other scenario, which would have seemed far-fetched just a year ago, is that the Treasury would actually acquire a stake in GM - in exchange for $5 billion.

In the latest development of The Incomprehensible Union, General Motors is reportedly asking the U.S. government for $10 billion -- on top of the $25 billion loan approved recently -- to help it merge with Chrysler. The supplemental infusion would give the government, i.e. you and me, a stake in the merged company in the form of preferred stock, would see the government taking over pension obligations and provide a credit line for operations.

The government is weighing the request since it's likely that no federal official wants to be on the watch that saw the instantaneous vaporizing of two American icons and hundreds of thousands of jobs. The government has asked that as many jobs as possible be spared, and GM said "Sure!" Yet for a merger where cost savings and redundancy elimination have been the headlines, we don't know why anyone believes GM-Chrysler wouldn't jettison a whole bunch of the 11 brands, 10,000 dealers, and 100,000 union jobs. And that's just for starters.

Which is one of the (many) reasons we still don't understand the GM-Chrysler union. The additional $10 billion we can swallow -- after all, the government spends much more than that on projects that could be considered far more dubious than trying to save an astronomical number of jobs and businesses. And we know what Cerberus gets from the deal. We'd like to find out what the GM guys see that makes this merger attractive... other than the fact that Chrysler has $11 billion in cash.

[Bojack]

Ford may end up getting TON of dead cat bounce (if I'm using the term right). Having the whole domestic market to themsevles right as their new product plans start taking hold would be great luck.

[stormy]

370 Z revealed. These are official production shots.

[Klonoa]

overall design is pretty nice, i think it looks better than the 350z, looks a bit more elongated and skinnier. the ass looks alright too.

good to see nissan give it the same engine as the g37.

[stormy]

it's actually shorter than the 350z, not longer. I think it looks better, but I'm still not a Z fan.