Does G.M. deserve to go out of business for the bad products they make?

Question

I think if we buy bad products we are hurting our selves.Because if we buy them thats what people will make for us.

Answer 1

i really dont think it is the product they are selling... they could improve it alot... but still... it is more they gave away the store to the unions a few decades ago.. and now with people watching what they spend. and the cost of doing bussiness they cant keep up with all the retirement packages they owe, they should start over.. just file bankrupts and start a new company. this time use a little common cent$ when dealing with employees... not saying you have to screw people.. but you cant pay the guy that sweeps the floor 55k a year and give him 100k worth of bens

Answer 2

It's not so much that they are bad cars. Most are reasonably dependable and get good gas mileage. The big problem is that they just don't measure up to their competition. Look at the interior in a typical GM cars. Mouse fur upholstery? Hard ugly plastics that look like they were made by Rubbermaid? Huge, ugly seams and poor overall design? Have these people ever even sat in a Honda Accord? Styling for the exterior has been bland at best lately and at worst it is downright ugly. Most of the quality issues were resolved in the 90's, but public perception has not changed. They are going to have to do much better if they want to stay in business. Many of their cars have changed little under the bodywork in the last 10-15 years. The competition is completely redesigning their cars after 4-5 years in production.
GM needs to come out with something revolutionary, not just evolutionary. Something that will change the entire industy for years to come. Maybe they could come out with the first practical all electric or hydrogen car. But they had better hurry. Honda and Toyota already have running prototypes for both.

Answer 3

Thats a very debatable topic.

G.M. is a huge part of our economy. The country cannot afford to let it go out of business, the adverse effects would be tremendous. However, if we continue to buy GM products for this reason, they have no incentive to improve their product and will continue on this downward self-destructive spiral.


I need to relate this to the marine industry, since thats where my knowledge lies. The US Merchant Marine is protected by this thing called the Jones Act. The Jones Act states that merchant vessels operating between US ports MUST be US built. This means anything going between Hawaii and CA, as well as the east coast and Puerto Rico, must be built here in the states.

This was a fine law when it first came out, and there are other more beneficial clauses to it, but a large portion is this builder protection.
Over time, shipbuilders started going over budget on these projects, and usually without much consequence. With constant Navy and Jones Act business, these shipbuilders had absolutely no incentive to improve their processes, and have spiraled down to a state where it's impossible for the United States to compete globally in the shipbuildling market.

The average Jones Act ship costs twice what an equivalent ship would cost built overseas. Hyundai Heavy Industries in Korea is famed for building entire ships from start to finish in a week. When a Jones Act ship is built, it is typically YEARS before it is completed.

Naval ships are usually grossly over an already sky-high budget, and have more problems than you can imagine.

My company was involved with the design of a recent smaller naval vessel. The project was cancelled because the 2nd of the ships was over double budget. That's apalling.


So, in short, GM needs to turn itself around, because it cannot be dug into the ground. I think they realize this, at least i hope so.

Answer 4

The market is the deciding factor, if GM can not sell it's product because of a quality problem then I would say so. But I think that after the US Government bailed out Chrysler then a precedent has been set. I do not think that at this time GM will go under but they really need to square themselves away. After all they are the worlds biggest car maker, and allot of people work for them and GM going under would not help the economy.

Answer 5

Hmm...bad products?
Matter of opinion.
My last 2 trucks were GMC (a division of GM), no problems at all.
My truck prior to them was a '87 Nissan (remember, Japanese quality) Hardbody. Piece of junk! Before I had 50,000 miles on it, I had to replace the alternator and throttle body (out of warranty), and before 75,000, had to replace alternator again! Also, in hot weather, after getting off freeway, check engine light would ALWAYS come on needing resetting.
I'll NEVER own another Nissan!

Answer 6

What about Ford and Chrysler? I didn't know they were perfect! Are you old enough to remember the Federal Gov't. bailing Chrysler out in the late 1970's because they couldn't build a car? Or how about the classic of all time-Ford Pinto?

Answer 7

Best thing for GM is to out of business and start up a new company from scratch.

sometime it is better to have revolution than evolution.