# It is 1943 in the US auto industry...



## Bushman (12 November 2008)

*Marketwatch - today:*

The greatest laggard among the blue chips was battered General Motors Corp. off 13.1% after hitting lows not seen since 1943 amid concerns the automaker might burn through its remaining cash before the end of the year. 


1943 ... wow. Nothing left to say apart from hang on to your Holden!


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## Glen48 (12 November 2008)

And the other Yank Icon Elvis was still at school


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## jonnycage (12 November 2008)

bye bye holden


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## Pommiegranite (12 November 2008)

I heard on a radio discussion this morning, that 10% of US jobs are related to the auto industry and are therefore in jeopardy. 

If this is true and the US auto industry isn't bailed out, it could be what tips the US economy into a depression. 

What implications does GM liquidating have on our auto industry?


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## MattB (12 November 2008)

Bushman said:


> *Marketwatch - today:*1943 ... wow. Nothing left to say apart from hang on to your Holden!



Awesome, so in a decade or so we'll all be driving 442 chevs!


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## jeflin (12 November 2008)

The situation is dire but I don't know if pumping more money consistently into Detroit's Big three will help. 

A shakeup of their set-up to make them more nimble against foreign car manufacturers may be inevitable.


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## Bushman (12 November 2008)

jeflin said:


> The situation is dire but I don't know if pumping more money consistently into Detroit's Big three will help.
> 
> A shakeup of their set-up to make them more nimble against foreign car manufacturers may be inevitable.




I would have thought consolidation amongst the 'Big Three' is inevtable now. Given they are Dems in power now, maybe a return to tariffs on imported vehicles. Obama won Ohio and Indiana - he has to save the auto industry! 

As for Australia, well K Rudd has stumped up $6.2b to fund R&D in the industry. They are pushing hard to save those jobs. 

Also there are billions of dollars of GM & Ford bonds out in circulation - imagine the CDS exposure amongst that lot. 

Are we about to enter phase three, and the most dangerous phase, of this metastising liquidity monster unleashed on us by the self-titled 'Master of the Universe'? 

Insolvency Phases (as I see them): 
Phase 1 'Cowboys' - Bear Stearns
Phase 2 'Growth Orientated Blue Chips' - Lehmanns, AIG, WaMu
Phase 3 'Real Economy Consumer Finance' - GM, Ford, American Express.


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## chops_a_must (12 November 2008)

Geez I wish Detroit would hurry up and die.

Christ I hate their Ice Hockey team.


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## awg (12 November 2008)

hey

i own a 1943 GM

has been a fully working truck up till 2001 (for Transfield)

is a WW2 GMC CCKW 353, 6 wheel drive

as seen in "Saving Private Ryan" and countless other war films and  docos

now on Vintage plates.

was years ahead of its time technologically, and they were the backbone of the trucking industry for many years after the war, especially off-road construction


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## kransky (12 November 2008)

i get the idea auto industry workers are highly paid for factory workers. probably due to their industry being high profile in the political sphere.

if their products cant compete then reduce wages down to normal!

instead they get a handout.. give my employer a handout and double my wage while your at it..


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## tronic72 (24 November 2008)

jonnycage said:


> bye bye holden




Holden are actually doing pretty well. One of the few arms of GM making money. 

That said, both GM & Ford deserve to be where they are. How a companies that are so backwards in their thinking could have got this far is beyond me. Americans put up with such cr@ppy cars for so long and finally, when oil prices rose (still nowhere near where the ret of the world pays) where forced to say "enough". 

Anyone who doesn't agree with me, take a look at "who killed the electric car". GM ditched the electric car and then built a hydrogen powered car. Which is great in theory, except is takes about a "bajillion" watts of electricity to make the stuff.

My 2c


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