Rumor: GM To Put Chevy Volt Program On Hold, Cut Engineering Staff Tomorrow — Nobody has substantiated this, but it is possible. Every time the oil prices plummet, as they are doing, all these “alternative” concepts die overnight after someone runs the numbers and realizes that they are going to lose their ass if the project continues.
UPDATE: GM says this story is a ludicrous hoax. And, indeed, nothing happened. (see comments)
Rumors of tomorrow’s “important changes” at GM have approached a fevered pace, but the latest one we’ve heard is coming directly from someone who’s directly related to someone who could be directly affected if the rumor is true. So, it must be true, right? Anyway, we’ve just been told by the family of a Chevy Volt engineering team member that not only is the untouchable Volt program on hold, GM’s even letting some of the engineering team, aka “the chosen people,” go.
Found by Aric Mackey.
# 60 faustus said, “#58… huh? whats your point… my point is we actually know how to get somewhere… lets work at getting there.”
I’ll tell since you are not familiar with the space program at the time.
The gov’t poured $ into Von Braun’s design as it could be accomplished with minimal new technology. It was unfortunately too costly and was not practical for continued usage.
Typical. Gov’t programs have almost never resulted in new viable technology. Majot advancements almost always come from the private sector, hence the US being the patent capital of the world…
#61 Paddy-O,
Just curious Paddy, how’s that private sector lunar landing program going? We got to the moon in 1969. To my knowledge, the private sector hasn’t made it to LEO yet.
So, maybe there is a place for government sometimes.
Yeah. I know we haven’t been back since, but isn’t that also largely due to a fickle population that didn’t even bother to turn on the TV and watch, let alone want to fund, the space program by then?
How do you define the cost effectiveness of science anyway? We didn’t go to the moon to make it into Aruba. We went there to learn, and learn we did.
Now we have a tendency to do so with unmanned probes. That’s not “profitable” either. But, we keep learning. Ditto for hubble and other large telescopes, few (zero?) of which are owned by the private sector.
Wait a second…
People still buy GM cars?
Typical. “Oh we’re eco friendly. we’re making a car that has no emissions.” Now that we’ve suckered them to looking at us, let’s give them a ,2000 break on a 40,000 POS avalanche aka Hummer H2 in a different skin. Oh well. Looks like my money will go elsewhere.
# 62 Misanthropic Scott said, “#61 Paddy-O, Yeah. I know we haven’t been back since,”
Thanks for making my point.
BTW, have you figured out what a transformer does yet?
They put stock trading on hold. The stock is next to worthless so I expect people will just dump it. I was at a dealership and a salesman was saying how he was holding all this GM stock and expecting it to climb. He seemed a bit delusional. It looks like GM is holding out until the big change in government comes and the magicians in Washington can make the company perform well and profit again.
“Lucille Morton tried to convince her investment club, which owns 100 Ford shares, that at it’s a good time to load up on Ford.
The club bought 25 shares in April 2006 at $7.65 a share and 75 shares in March 2008 at $5.75 a share. Average: $6.22 a share. So Ford at $2 is cheap. The club didn’t budge.
“It’s a better deal than going to the casino as far as I’m concerned,” said Morton, who turns 81 this month and lives in Pleasant Ridge.” Detroit Free Press
I doubt that they would budge on GM at two bucks.
“Jim Cramer, host of “Mad Money” on CNBC, told me via e-mail last month that Ford and GM bonds were trading at such low levels that the bond market was predicting “almost a 100% chance of bankruptcy.”
“Today, Cramer told me he’d put the odds of a bailout for autos at 100%.
Cramer said on his show that Obama must fix the auto industry on his second day in office.”
All these people who have spent decades in the business can’t fix it and Obama is going to fix it on his second day in office. Yeah right. Maybe it’ll be a stimulus deal and everybody will get a government rebate for buying a new Chevy or the government can do like Oprah and buy a bunch of people new cars to get to work before they lose their jobs. Our whole public transit system is on the verge of collapse. Why? They don’t have the money to run the system, so now the government is going to fix GM with the money it doesn’t have because it went to Iraq or was wasted bailing out AIG after AIG couldn’t save itself from itself. It’s lunacy.
The price of gas depends. The worse the economy the less gas costs to buy.
If it gets better then the price of gas goes up. Of course if the economy stinks then people may want to buy economy cars if they buy anything at all….
Guess wrong and you are bleeped.
Give the 50 billion to Aptera instead! They have a 200mpg car all ready to go right now, none of these half measures, no we decided not to, bullshit. And they have decided to base their decisions on what is best for the future, rather than what the bean counters like assuming a steady state in their always wrong models.
Pfffft. GM has 22 (or more) different “models” of cars in North America alone, dog shit every one. No wonder they’re losing money.
They should develop a couple of models that people actually want to DRIVE now, invest in the future, and when it gets here they’ll be cooking with gas.
In the meantime, buy a Prius.
Here’s an idea. Lower your prices to a point where the market responds.
I agree with #59 it’s a bluff to get the government and/or public to react with a big wad of cash.
“GM said it lost $2.5 billion in the third quarter, but more important, it spent $6.9 billion more than it took in — nearly double the spending rate of the second quarter.” Reliable Sources
It’s shaping up to be another Enron and “Both the heavy-duty and medium-duty lines will be shut down the weeks of Nov. 10 and Nov. 17 due to overall economic conditions, said Kevin Nadrowski, GM spokesman for the Flint Truck Assembly Plant.” “David Cole, chairman of the Center for Automotive Research, said GM had to respond quickly to the economic downturn.
“Doing something quickly is a matter of very high urgency,” Cole said. “If this gets away from us, the cost of cleanup — after the whole automotive industry collapses — is much greater than the cost of prevention.
“The data is scary. So scary they can’t let it happen.”" Mlive
The worst time to introduce a new product is during a crisis. As for GM doing anything quickly, the layoffs will be about all they do quickly. Wagoner will join the ranks of executives like Ken Lay who let the company go to hell while promoting advanced concepts.
“A new Flint plant being built near Flint Truck Assembly will make the engine for the Cruze and the Volt — a move that retains some 300 Flint jobs and includes Flint in all the buzz over GM’s development of the electric car.” Mlive
“Let’s get something straight. If it runs on gasoline it’s an engine. If it runs on electric it’s a motor.” Old auto shop instructor.
ET via Washington Post
2004
Nov. 8: Lawyers for former Enron chairman Kenneth L. Lay agree to turn over documents sought by the Securities and Exchange Commission, averting a courtroom fight.
Oct. 10: Former Enron senior accountant Wesley H. Colwell agrees to pay a $500,000 fine to settle government charges that he and other executives fraudulently manipulated the company’s earnings, shifting energy-trading profits in California and other states to hide more than $1 billion in losses in 2000 and 2001.
Sept. 10: Former Enron treasurer Ben F. Glisan Jr. pleads guilty to conspiracy to commit securities fraud, becoming the first executive at the scandal-ridden firm to go to prison. Glisan also will forfeit $1.3 million in profits and penalties from a transaction that allegedly swindled his own company.
July 29: JP Morgan Chase and Citigroup agree to pay for their roles in Enron’s manipulation of its financial statements.
2002
Oct. 31: A federal grand jury indicts Andrew Fastow on 78 counts of fraud and conspiracy, four weeks after he surrendered to the FBI and was released on $5 million bond.
Oct. 2: Former chief financial officer Andrew S. Fastow is charged with securities, wire and mail fraud, money laundering and conspiring to inflate Enron’s profit. Fastow is the highest-ranking Enron officer to face criminal charges for his alleged role in the company’s collapse into bankruptcy last year.
Sept. 13: Three British bankers are indicted on wire-fraud charges related to the Enron case.
Aug. 23: Millions of dollars in assets held by Andrew Fastow and his family are frozen.
Aug. 21: Michael Kopper, a former Enron executive, pleaded guilty to money laundering and wire fraud, becoming the first Enron official to be convicted.
The data is scary for a good reason. They swindled their own company and instead of being prosecuted they want a bailout. They want the Obama administration to send them billions of dollars to save the company, when clearly the company has no internal controls on cash and spending. Dear Lord, it’s just amazing how these people think.
Back to the Future 2001
Oct. 23 – Lay professes support for Fastow during conference call with analysts.
Enron Laid-off employees wait for rides home.
Oct. 24 – Enron ousts Fastow.
Oct. 31 – Enron announces the SEC inquiry has been upgraded to a formal investigation.
Nov. 8 – Enron files documents with SEC revising its financial statements for past five years to account for $586 million in losses.
Nov. 19 – Enron restates its third-quarter earnings and discloses it is trying to restructure a $690 million obligation that could come due Nov. 27.
Nov. 28 – Enron shares plunge below $1.
(BTTF: GM shares take plunge 2008?)
Dec. 2 – Enron files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. Over 4,000 workers will be laid off.
Need a ride, go home
http://images.chron.com/content/chronicle/special/01/enron/photogalleries/smith.jpg
Hearings
http://energycommerce.house.gov/107/Hearings/02072002hearing485/hearing.htm
Cuff ‘em…
http://images.chron.com/content/chronicle/special/01/enron/photogalleries/cuffed.jpg
…and stuff ‘em…
“I wish the Bald Eagle had not been chosen as the representative of our country: he is a Bird of bad moral character: like those among Men who live by Sharping and Robbing, he is generally poor and very often lousy.
The Turkey is a much more respectable Bird and withal a true original Native of North America”
Benjamin Franklin
Men who live by Sharping and Robbing, those are the men at General Motors and the birds are coming home to roost.
“Every blogger has a unique voice, audience and perspective. By speaking to their readers on topic about an important issue we can discuss global issues like poverty in a new and hugely multi-faceted way. And from discussion springs action.
While poverty is undoubtedly one of (if not the) major global issues, we’re going to focus today on poverty in America. Every other day of the year, our blog talks about how people in America (and around the world) celebrate a multitude of holidays. Some of these holidays are full of religious or national significance, some of them are just fun or even silly.
Today, Americans have a chance to celebrate their bounty in a different way. By talking about poverty and committing to do something about it — in our very own backyard — we can elevate ourselves to a much more joyous celebration during this upcoming, fall holiday season.
When more than 37 million Americans live below the poverty line, our country has a long way to go before we can truly enjoy the plentitude of Thanksgiving.
When 12.6 million American children go hungry every day, our country should be praying — and working — for a miracle of sustenance on Christmas, Chanukah or Kwanza.
In America, the next two and a half months are a time traditionally filled with frivolous merriment, lavish dinners, heartfelt prayer, and community-wide gatherings. Let’s make these holidays extra meaningful this year by committing to do our part, as individuals, as families, and as communities, to alleviate the burden of poverty and to eradicate the scourge of hunger.”
http://www.holidays.net/thanksgiving/blog.htm
12.6 million American children go hungry every day. GM will surely help increase this number, but hey we’re getting these cool new expensive electric cars in 2010 so it’s going to be just great (GM style spin). Instead of rewarding fraud with billions in Wall Street bailouts or Detroit bailouts, how about taking care of the kids first. Maybe the Volt equipment can be used to make electric chairs for GM executives who busted out their own company. No, they want to feed the poor people to the wolves. First you, “hide more than $1 billion in losses” then you pay yourselves bonuses for the work and then you all fall down. The losses got out of control and now if we can just hand the ball to the government, they can run GM out of the ground. We have High Volt Age rock & roll. My girlfriend has me ringing hells bells here. There’s no way to fight it.
END IT QUICKLY
1880 – Most state laws provide for capital punishment, usually by hanging.
Unfortunately, hangmen’s ignorance produced horrific scenes of slow strangling deaths and gruesome decapitations.
1881 – Dr. Albert Southwick, a dentist and former steamboat engineer, sees elderly drunkard touch terminals of electrical generator in Buffalo, New York. He is amazed at how quickly and apparently painlessly the man is killed and describes episode to friend State Senator David McMillan.
1881 – McMillan speaks to Governor David B. Hill. Hill asks state legislature to consider how modern day electricity might replace hanging.
June 4, 1888 – New York Legislature passes Chapter 489 of Laws of New York of 1888 establishing
electrocution as the state’s method of execution. Medico-Legal Society of New York is designated to
recommend how to implement new law.
June 5, 1888 – Inventor Harold P. Brown writes a very compelling editorial letter to the New York Post,
describing the death of a boy who touched a straggling telegraph wire running on AC current. Brown
recommends limiting AC transmissions to 300 volts, which negates economic advantage.
July, 1888 – Brown goes to Edison’s West Orange, New Jersey lab to do research.
Spring, 1889 – Joseph Chappleau, convicted for poisoning neighbor’s cows, is first person sentenced to death under Electrical Execution Law. His sentence is commuted to life imprisonment.
May, 1989 – William Kemmler is sentenced to death.
1889 – 1890 – Westinghouse funds appeals for Kemmler on the grounds that electrocution is cruel and unusual punishment. Edison and Brown are witnesses for the state. The appeal is denied, as are two subsequent appeals to the U.S. Supreme Court.
1890 – Edwin R. Davis, Auburn Prison electrician, designs an electric chair model which closely resembles our modern device, as well as elaborate testing procedures involving large slabs of meat.
August 6, 1890 – Kemmler is executed in the electric chair at Auburn Prison, the first person ever to be executed by electrocution. The first application of current is botched and Kemmler does not die until the current is fired up a second time.
“Strong men fainted and fell like logs on the floor.”
New York Herald
http://www.ccadp.org/electricchair.htm
New technology and a crisis always creates complications that can’t be avoided. Your new Volt breaks down and all the engineers are gone and the mechanics can’t figure out what’s wrong. Hell the dealership is closed, so good luck getting parts for the damn thing.
PR Spin
Ironically, for many years people referred to the process of being electrocuted in the chair as being “Westinghoused”.
Edison’s plan to bring on the demise of Westinghouse failed, and it soon became clear that AC technology was vastly superior to DC technology. Edison finally admitted years later that he had thought so himself all along.
Today you are Mortgagehoused and GM is going to get you into a new payment plan for a high voltage ride on the wild side 2010. Electric utility shutoffs are up 20% around here because people can’t pay the sky high electric bills.
COHOES, N.Y. (AP) – Utility shutoffs are up in all or part of dozens of states thanks to rising prices and a shaky economy.
Michigan, which has been especially hard-hit economically, is seeing a 22 percent increase.
In New York state, utilities are reporting 17 percent more shutoffs than last year, affecting a total of more than 230,000 residential customers through August.
Other states with increased shutoffs include Pennsylvania, Florida and California.
With winter coming on and the economy still sinking, it’s feared
the problem will only get worse.
Give GM and Wall Street billions of dollars after they screwed the whole country? Sick. Bush is busy nation building in Iraq. AIG got billions for insuring the global fraud and the government rewarded them with billions more to keep the fraud going strong. GM is not going strong, it’s going to hell. With a big enough bailout, the entire country can go to hell with GM and go there in a spiffy new Volt!
Detroit) – AutoMonthly – November 7th, 2008
In a stunning concession GM executives today have conceded there is no natural market for the much ballyhooed Volt electric car. The base design of the auto allows for 40 miles per charge and cannot be taken on trips or other family uses. At $40,000 per vehicle, the market is much more likely to opt for hybrids in suburbia and scooters and public transportation in purely urban markets. GM made the announcement after being pressed for details about the yet to be created lithium-ion batteries to power the vehicle. In addition, GM stated that they would not make a profit on the vehicle and its narrow market would be relegated to second or third vehicles in affluent families.
Put a fork in this turd.
GM would do better making golf carts with Volt technology or selling the rights to do so to somebody who makes golf carts. Kids go carts would be fun along with jetskis and electric fishing boats. Cut down on the noise, catch more fish. They could bail themselves out instead of waiting for the strapped federal government to keep them floating. What’s the national debt? They ran out of numbers on the national debt clock, so who can say. Maybe they can build Volt bikes in partnership with Harley Davidson. Put a speaker on it and make it sound like a regular HD.