UPDATE… BOGUS STORY: GM To Put Chevy Volt Program On Hold, Cut Engineering Staff Tomorrow

Published on November 7th, 2008

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.

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# 1 bobbo said, on November 7th, 2008 at 1:09 am

Didn’t they just get $25Billion Loan/Bailout/Whatever and they are asking for more? Further, I thought the Fed $$upport was to allow them to “retool” for energy efficient cars?

Well, with the other bailouts going for Bonus Programs, Dividends, and Buy Outs==there is no reason not to sink the Auto Bailout Money into a revised more powerful Hummer!

Makes me wonder if a brick wall won’t eventually break if enough heads are run into it?

# 2 nomadwolf said, on November 7th, 2008 at 1:38 am

Well, come on, they’re losing their ass even on the conventional cars.

And I bet that research dollars go down in all industries, not just “new energy”.

# 3 VC said, on November 7th, 2008 at 2:22 am

“In late 2003, GM officially canceled the EV1 program.[12][13] GM stated that it could not sell enough of the cars to make the EV1 profitable. However according to GM Chairman and CEO Rick Wagoner, the worst decision of his tenure at GM was “axing the EV1 electric-car program and not putting the right resources into hybrids. It didn’t affect profitability, but it did affect image.”[14] According to the March 13, 2007, issue of Newsweek, “GM R&D chief Larry Burns . . . now wishes GM hadn’t killed the plug-in hybrid EV1 prototype his engineers had on the road a decade ago: ‘If we could turn back the hands of time,’ says Burns, ‘we could have had the Chevy Volt 10 years earlier.’”[15] In 2008, GM is suffering massive deficits, eclipsing the value of the company, [16] in a market with high demand for electric vehicles.”
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/General_Motors_EV1

We could go to wagons and all be wagoners. Rick Wagoner has failed as an executive.
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2101/2129419503_a94d1c890b.jpg?v=0

# 4 amodedoma said, on November 7th, 2008 at 2:27 am

While on the face of it I must agree with bobbo, this might be a good thing. They’ve been really pushing to get this ‘volt’ thing out, however in the time they were developing thier project storage technologies have been advancing quickly. Most notably, ultracapacitor technology is really making headway. The time isn’t right for the big guys to get involved cause they move to slow. By the time they get something designed and ready for mass production years can go by, and a few years can make a big difference when technological advances are making leaps and bounds.

# 5 VC said, on November 7th, 2008 at 2:34 am

Here’s an ev-1 pic:

GM had it figured out and then sold the public out to the oil industry. Now GM is screwed and somebody else will get rich building electric cars. All this after they built the thing to begin with. I’d never buy a new gasoline powered car.

# 6 VC said, on November 7th, 2008 at 2:56 am

“1990 — On January 3, GM had a press conference at Hughes Corporate HQ in Los Angeles to announce the Impact EV and let the press ride and drive. This was tied to the LA auto show. It was a smashing success. Surveys taken at the show indicated the market would accept a production version so Roger Smith (CEO at the time) announced on Earth Day, April 22, that the Impact would go into production. This was an astounding announcement that caught the Japanese by surprise and that CARB used as a signal to move toward a ZEV mandate for California.”
Entire timeline here:
http://www.evworld.com/article.cfm?storyid=1053

“Clearly, the film presents a problem for General Motors and the California Air Resources Board, especially the latter’s former chairman, Dr. Alan Lloyd, who admits he was a strong supporter of hydrogen and fuel cell technology. General Motor’s duplicity becomes painfully apparent when a spokesperson contends that the 1,100 recalled EV1 will be donated to museums and universities; and those that aren’t will be recycled.

“But they certainly won’t be crushed,” he states emphatically.

Aerial video shot from a helicopter over a remote section of GM’s expansive desert proving grounds in Mesa, Arizona showed hundreds of crushed EV1s, stacked like corpses in a Nazi death camp.”
http://www.evworld.com/article.cfm?storyid=1054

Goofy GM corporate think and bad book keeping. GM is screwed and they screwed themselves and now they want a big bailout from Washington. They want to stack up more corpses, those of the American people. In effect, GM wants to build death camps for U.S. taxpayers.

# 7 bobbo said, on November 7th, 2008 at 3:10 am

“In effect, GM wants to build death camps for U.S. taxpayers.” //// hah, hah. Too close not to call “Hitler” on this one.

You know, one might start to wonder just what in the heck America does do right?

How long can we keep coasting, slower and slower until we stop and start rolling backwards?

For grins–I said something much worse than “death camp for taxpayers.” Just not as catchy.

# 8 John Paradox said, on November 7th, 2008 at 3:13 am

I’d just read the WIRED blog about how the Volt would save GM
http://blog.wired.com/cars/2008/11/the-chevy-volt.html

J/P=?

# 9 Glenn E. said, on November 7th, 2008 at 3:39 am

GM dumped the EV1 in favor of buying the Hummer line. Then coincidentally (sure it was) we had this little war over in Iraq. And the US Army chose to replace Jeeps with Hummers. So GM basically got corporate welfare for adopting the most fuel inefficient vehicle design, and abandoning its electric vehicle line. Ten years later, GM pretends to be going green again with the Volt. And after a well timed decline in gas prices (thanks to how the gas refineries do business), they now have an excuse to back out of that too. I expected that this would happen, only not this soon. It was probably the Japanese car maker entries into this line, that spooked the gas industry to drop prices early. Not only will they kill the GM Volt and the Tesla. But all the hybrid and pluggable lines to come.

# 10 VC said, on November 7th, 2008 at 3:49 am

“Analysts on average expect GM to post a $3.51 per share third-quarter loss before charges. The largest U.S. automaker lost $51 billion from 2005 through 2007, and posted losses of more than $18.7 billion in the first half of 2008.” economictimes

Let’s see, $51 billion in losses in two years and $18.7 billion in 6 months this year. They are opening a new plant today. “MOSCOW/ST PETERSBURG, Nov 6 – U.S. automotive giant General Motors will launch its first wholly owned Russian factory on Friday, as foreign car makers hope for rapid growth despite the financial crisis slashing demand.
As the crisis has choked off the flow of credit in recent months, many Russian banks have stopped granting car loans.” I predict that will cost them billions of dollars to lose billions of dollars even faster than they are losing them now.

Hogan: The driver says it’s water, Schultz says it’s water, now Klink says it’s water.
Newkirk: What do you think it is, Colonel?
Hogan: With those three men of integrity, I know one thing.
Newkirk: What?
Hogan: It ain’t water.

GM could fuk up water.

# 11 Glenn E. said, on November 7th, 2008 at 3:54 am

Let’s face it, GM and Ford will never go out of business, no matter what. They do too much for the US Military, to be allowed to fail. They’ll get bailed out, just as Chrysler once did. These major automakers would rather risk near financial ruin, than to switch to making all electric cars. Because they know that one they did that, they’d virtually kill their “after market” sales of parts and lubricants. Electric cars don’t grime up or wear out parts as fast. And don’t need brake, steering, or transmission fluids, brake linings, exhaust pipes or mufflers. And that stuff is all gold to their bottom line. They only want to sell you a car, that keeps you coming back for more stuff to keep it running. If they built electrics, and made the batteries right, they may not see you again for ten years.

# 12 Deep-Thought said, on November 7th, 2008 at 3:55 am

That’s just typical.
The one time the US car industry (at least GM) seems to have a lead, they screw it.

I was looking forward for their success, because europes car manufactures are getting lazy and need some kick in the butt from overseas.

# 13 VC said, on November 7th, 2008 at 4:00 am

Oil for the lamps.
Hogan convinces Klink that there is oil underneath the camp in order to discourage the Germans from building a synthetic fuel plant there.

Klink: This move is General Burkhalter’s idea. He is a General of the Third Reich, the Fuhrer’s right hand man. Are you suggesting that he is a liar?
Hogan: How do you think he got to be the Fuhrer’s right hand man?

A bunch of GM liars are now roaming around Washington looking for fast cash to keep GM floating as it tries patching holes in the hull. It’s a Titanic so forget about it. It’s headed for the ocean bottom. It’s worthless and the Russian plant is a total loss. Wagoner should be put on trial.

# 14 Auto Blog said, on November 7th, 2008 at 4:01 am

Look at where one of the most major us industries now that was the underpinning of American prosperity
Between the clueless upper management that was a legend in its own mind and union leaders look where G.M. is now
In the 1970’s fuel economy issues and opec’s abuse became more than apparent
GM’s answer – lets load up old trucks with options , evade rules of safety , pollution and gas mileage , call these vehicles SUVs
Then use our marketing machine to sell these
They both aught to be shot
You would think that between the unions and upper management that the functions of the american auto industry was to provide retirement benefits to unionized workers and huge bonuses to the auto execs – as opposed to building quality , reliable vehicles that consumers want to purchase

# 15 VC said, on November 7th, 2008 at 4:09 am

“They do too much for the US Military, to be allowed to fail.” Funny, the military needs resources to win battles and now losing is akin to winning. GM can support national security by losing another $50 billion and we’ll all be safer and more secure too. We can all be useful idiots as well. Let’s just build concentration and work camps while we are at it. Hey, a new use for empty GM plants. Maybe Wagoner can land a job running the nationalized auto plants as director of human resources and we can put skulls on the crash test dummies to see how crashes impact real bone heads while we are at it.

# 16 Glenn E. said, on November 7th, 2008 at 4:18 am

The only way we’re going to see electric cars mass produced in the US, is if their production is government mandated (as California tried to do). Like how the safety feature we all enjoy today (safety glass, seat belts, airbags) were mandated. We didn’t get those out of any generosity of the major automakers. In fact they’ve fudged on total safety glass use, just to save $2.50 a window.
http://tinyurl.com/6adrfs

# 17 VC said, on November 7th, 2008 at 4:24 am

The federal government is going to get stuck with the busted corporate (AIG, GM, et al) pension obligations. It’s like England, with U.S. treasury funds leaving the U.S. to prop up bankrupt corporate fraud around the world and everybody acting like it’s good for America because it’s good for GM. Obama will be forced to release billions of dollars to GM to support a failed auto plant in Russia and the Russians will laugh all the way to the bank as GM goes bankrupt and loses billions in treasury funds. It’s a corporate police state with the U.S. media as PR firm. They’ll get billions for telling the public about the need for CHANGE.

# 18 moss said, on November 7th, 2008 at 4:40 am

Looks like none of you have ever been tracking the Volt through Doc Lyle’s blog – not an industry “analyst”.

http://tinyurl.com/5m87l4

He’s at least halfway confident the Volt and future gen EV’s will be somewhat insulated from the cuts to be announced, today. And it’s pretty much a finished product, already.

# 19 VC said, on November 7th, 2008 at 4:47 am

“John Zachary DeLorean, engineer, car maker and conman, born January 6 1925; died March 19 2005″
http://www.guardian.co.uk/news/2005/mar/21/guardianobituaries.usa

It’s funny how things work out. DeLorean sees how screwed up GM is, quits and builds a better car and the media and GM PR machine chases him to the grave to deliver insult after insult. Now the newspapers are facing huge losses along with infamous GM. GM is running Washington Post ads promoting products they aren’t making, but will according to their vision and the Post is losing half of its stock value in a matter of months. It’s like Alice in Wonderland and anybody with a brain who decides to use it and create something better or functional is systematically destroyed by the media and PR aholes for creating job and products that are functional and sensible. DeLorean was working on some other technology that was ahead of its time. The guy who invented the GTO is portrayed by the media as an idiot and con by Christopher Reed. http://www.guardian.co.uk/news/2005/mar/21/guardianobituaries.usa

GM is portrayed as visionary. Whatever.
“He was the only GM guy I know who told jokes,” says spy photographer Jim Dunne.
The joke is now on GM, which is a joke.

Kathryn A. DeLorean, John’s daughter, founded in Texas. Kathryn’s daughter has a rare heart condition, Hypoplastic Heart Syndrome With Upstairs/Downstairs Orientation Pulmonary Stenosis, and her charity benefits families of children with this life threatening condition. Plaques are $114.95, which includes shipping and handling to the lower 48 states. Orders should be placed three weeks in advance of an award presentation (add $20 for rush orders). About $30 of the cost is donated to G.I.F.T.S.
http://www.gtoaa.org/newspage.cfm?article=16

The DeLoreans help people and GM can’t help anybody. It’s a disgrace.

# 20 LinusVP said, on November 7th, 2008 at 4:49 am

What a disgrace. This had better not be true. If it is, we’re doomed.

# 21 jescott418 said, on November 7th, 2008 at 4:54 am

Hey, it makes me wonder how much free enterprise we have in this country. Big business is not allowed to die even though it makes really bad decisions? Even in bad times the little guy loses and the big guy gets bailed out! What kind of free market is that??

# 22 VC said, on November 7th, 2008 at 4:58 am

We’re not doomed. The people losing the billions of dollars are doomed. Buy a Ford or Mopar and the liquidation of GM means nothing. It’s worthless. It’s beyond worthless in another way, it is morally bankrupt and corrupt as the numbers prove. Ford could be next, but I believe Ford can survive because it has a different corporate culture. If the government gives GM a dime, then we are doomed. At least that didn’t happen. Well not yet at least.

# 23 Mike D said, on November 7th, 2008 at 5:08 am

Profit profit and more profit at all cost.

Seems we reward bad (overly greedy) management decisions which are usually motivated by personal desires of wealth and power. As to the health of the companies involved, I really do not think those responsible for the bad decisions care. In the end the workers loose everything – pension (what’s that?), 401K (need money to live on and pay the bills while finding another job – after the government(s) take their cut plus early withdrawal penalties), savings, etc.

As an earlier post mentioned, we reward bad corporate decisions with large bailouts at taxpayer expense while the little people get screwed again.

I hope there has been some very productive research in personal lube, we’re going to need it when the bill comes due.

# 24 bobbo said, on November 7th, 2008 at 5:08 am

I have driven a DeLorean. Cramped, noisy, underpowered piece of crap. Styling was good, stainless steel was “interesting” until you needed any body work.

Failure.

# 25 VC said, on November 7th, 2008 at 5:11 am

“When schemes are laid in advance, it is surprising how often the circumstances will fit in with them.” Osler

Merge AIG and GM. Call it AIGM and MSNBC can tell everybody how swell it is and they can do a global IPO and Warren Buffet along with Dairy Queen can invest. “We’ll be bigger than GM.” Get some Sandhill VC cash and we can build an electric car. It can be a bundled product with a search engine, insurance and drive train run on Energizer batteries. With a Google Map built in the dash, you’ll always be able to find a Dairy Queen and Burger King. You want fries with that? Maybe we can run it on hamburger grease and french fry oil. Coneheads!

# 26 ChuckM said, on November 7th, 2008 at 5:13 am

I don’t get it, I thought Volt was ready for production. That’s when you let go of some of the engineering staff (especially the crappy ones). Then you decide what their next projects will be.

I’d think that GM hasn’t lost it ability to release a car and keep putting new year labels on the same hunk o junk (The all new 2009 Volt, 2010 Volt, 2011 Special Edition Volt…)

# 27 tcc3 said, on November 7th, 2008 at 5:30 am

Glen, your timeline’s a bit out of whack. AM general has been making Humvees for the US military since 1981. GM bought the civillian Hummer brand from AM General in 1998. The EV1 was killed in 2003.

The two seem to have little relation and it was never a nefarious plot for government contract. AM General still makes the military vehicle, though a next gen program is under way to replace it.

# 28 Dallas said, on November 7th, 2008 at 5:32 am

If they cancel the program they are as shortsighted as they are accused of being.

The Japanese, Koreans will just continue to eat their lunch.

# 29 Ron Larson said, on November 7th, 2008 at 5:51 am

The best and most honest coverage of GM’s demise is, and has been, the “GM Death Watch” series of editorials over at “The Truth About Cars” blog. They call a spade a spade over there.

http://www.ttac.com

# 30 Grandpa said, on November 7th, 2008 at 5:52 am

Don’t you just love it when our government bails out the outsourcing assholes that created this recession? If we keep this up we might find ourselves unable to print enough money fast enough to keep up.

…and in 4 to 8 years we will forget who did this to us and vote them in again for another round.

# 31 SparkyOne said, on November 7th, 2008 at 6:00 am

Suicide, built Chevy tough

# 32 VC said, on November 7th, 2008 at 6:01 am

Interesting choice John made. Ireland. The Titanic was built at the Harland and Wolff Shipyards in Belfast in Northern Ireland in 1912.
He wanted the plant near the port to speed up shipping. They forced him to put it out in the field someplace, so there it sat like a new outpost on some ancient battlefield.

The car. Backbone chassis, standard Lotus design practice. ERM (tough stuff) technology, used in boats and aircraft. Smart. Slippery with Cd of 0.35. Suspension, independent all around and no power steering needed so one less power wasting belt. Stainless panels bolted rather than bonded to make repairs easier.
http://www.entermyworld.com/cat/articles/motortrend/mtmay81c1×1.jpg

GM builds to make bodywork as costly as possible as the car is also designed to rust out and be a disposable item to keep consumers locked into monthly payments. They could make more on financing than the crappy cars and trucks themselves. The Lotus suspension made it handle well. GM answered with the Fiero, a more modern Corvair which handled like, well like a Corvair.

Half Baked in Spin City
Dave M. :
April 17th, 2007 at 8:42 pm

Hold on….before y’all drown in your tears while waxing nostalgic, keep in mind that GM CHOSE to sell the Corvair half-baked, just like they’ve done time and again. Fiero, anyone?

While the Corvair may have been tremendously innovative for it’s time, after so many incredible engineering victories post-WWII, this may have been the first evidence of the future for GM. If I’m not mistaken, the Tempest of this era started as a platform for innovation, soon to be abandoned for the same old, same old.

45 years later and they still haven’t learned their lesson…..
Styling wise GM was a real leader in the 1960s. Many of the other vehicles from that era look just horrible, but GM made some of the nicest looking cars ever then. The Corvair will always be a classic design. The regret is that GM didn’t really get it quite right the first time. Counting on underinflated front tires to force a car into understeer is hardly great engineering.

Corvairs handling issues, the old Copper Cooled Chevrolet disaster (1923, they recalled all of them!), the Vega linerless aluminum block, the buggy original Cadillac V4-6-8 (which was the first displacement on demand engine), the horrible V-8 diesel of the the 1980s and so on. Why such a large company with so many talented people has such a long history of releasing almost but not quite there products on the market should be a business case study in itself.

Of course history was repeated with the Fiero many years later, which in V-6 form was also one tail happy beast. In my nearly 30 years of driving only one car ever got away from me, and that was a Fiero which I had borrowed while my car was in the shop. Damp road, slight curve, bump in the road while accelerating from a stop (though still under the speed limit) and whoosh, spin city. Nobody was hurt, but the car was nearly a total loss.
http://www.thetruthaboutcars.com/in-defense-of-the-chevrolet-corviar/

The Caddy V-4-6-8, now there’s a classic case of the computer controls running the asylum.
“Coming on the heels of the ill-fated V-8 diesel was another equally problematic engine. This was the variable-displacement V-8-6-4, and it was another costly stopgap prompted by government Corporate Average Fuel Economy mandates (CAFÉ). Note:(Ironically, GM revived the idea in the early 2000s — though not for Cadillacs — as “Active Fuel Management,” which interim technical advances made utterly reliable and virtually invisible to the driver.)” How stuff works site.
Formerly DOD
“Active Fuel Management (formerly known as Displacement on Demand) is a trademarked name for the automobile variable displacement technology from General Motors. It allows a V6 or V8 engine to “turn off” half of the cylinders under light-load conditions to improve fuel economy. Estimated performance on EPA tests show a 5.5%-7.5% improvement in fuel economy.” Wikipedia

Flip it and ship it. What an idea this was.
“One innovation of the original Vega was that it was designed to be shipped vertically with its nose down. For example, the battery had fill caps at the back to prevent leakage during transit. Special rail cars known as “Vert-A-Pac” cars were built with hangers to carry the first Vegas to market in this vertical arrangement. One of the notable locations where these cars were unloaded was at the now defunct Sawtell Auto Ramps in Atlanta, Georgia, located on the former Southern, now Norfolk Southern mainline to Macon.”

Build all new rail cars to ship the cars vertically. Who came up with this idea?

“Although outsold most years by the Pinto, Chevrolet sold over two million Vegas during its lifetime. Consumer Reports rated a 1971 Vega above the Pinto and the Gremlin, but had reservations about the Vega’s workmanship with similar reviews for subsequent Vega tests through 1974 and a subsequent test of a similar Pontiac Astre in 1975.” Wikipedia

It was better than a Pinto, but those blew up when rear ended and the Gremlin was, “Time magazine noted two definitions for “gremlin”: Defined by Webster’s as “a small gnome held to be responsible for malfunction of equipment.” American Motors’ definition: “a pal to its friends and an ogre to its enemies.” The mechanics stayed busy!

Too dangerous denim.
“Gremlins also received the option of a Levi’s interior trim package, which included spun nylon upholstery made to look like denim (fire safety regulations prohibited the use of real cotton denim). Details included removable map pockets, burnished copper denim rivets, and red Levi’s logo tabs.” Wikipedia
Nylon doesn’t burn you until the car sits in the sun all day and you sit on hot nylon and wish the seat was real denim.

Maybe we can make blue jeans at the empty GM plants.

# 33 Angus said, on November 7th, 2008 at 6:09 am

That’s BS! I was so looking forward to looking into one!

# 34 smartalix said, on November 7th, 2008 at 6:14 am

This, if true, is idiocy.

If GM is cutting back because fuel prices are down, they are idiots, because oil prices will come back with the economy.

If GM is doing it because they are short of cash, they are idiots because they should cut something else, as this technology is what will save them.

Frankly, we need to move awy from oil for energy as much as humanly possible. I would rather give my money to an alternate-energy startup in New Mexico than some f**ktards who are trying to kill me all the time.

The consumer public has demonstrated time and again early adopters will accept “growing-pain” shortcomings in advanced technology (hell, that’s Apple’s business model) if the design philosophy is compelling and the product performs within the envelope of its competition.

As long as the Volt delivered on most of its promises at a reasonable price point, there will be those who would buy it for the statement, if nothing else. (I was in Los Gatos last week and there were so many hybrids around I thought a Prius was being raffled off each week by the town.)

GM is being penny-wise and pound-foolish if they truly decided to put the brakes on this project.

# 35 bmachia said, on November 7th, 2008 at 6:15 am

That’s it GM. Stop new product development to stay with a product line that got you in trouble in the first place.

Now I understand why these executives deserve their millions.

It’s time to let them manage themselves out-of-business.

# 36 green said, on November 7th, 2008 at 6:20 am

Does this mean GM and it’s accompanying wrench monkeys will be leaving Oshawa? Best thing that could ever happen to any town.

# 37 VC said, on November 7th, 2008 at 6:22 am

Photo of the week. Vert-A-Pac.

http://www.trainboard.com/railimages/data/886/Car_11.jpg

GM flipped before it finally flopped.

# 38 JimD said, on November 7th, 2008 at 6:22 am

GM with BOTH BARRELS IN MOUTH NOW !!! Cancel the Volt ??? WHAT ARE THEY THINKING ??? If they are thinking at all !!!

# 39 gquaglia said, on November 7th, 2008 at 6:23 am

This vehicle was never going to be released anyway. Just another PR stunt by a completely out of touch GM.

# 40 Paddy-O said, on November 7th, 2008 at 6:30 am

I’m not too worried. It will a while before ANY company puts out an electric vehicle that is actually a viable replacement for my primary gasoline vehicle.

# 41 VC said, on November 7th, 2008 at 6:31 am

The railroad is looking at building a new freight hub out my way. They want the state to pay millions of dollars to raise bridges higher up for taller rail cars or they won’t build the new hub here. I haven’t heard much more about it. The state can’t even fund repairs for the bridges we have and they just closed another bridge because a beam cracked. The whole country is going to hell. We’re rebuilding bridges in Iraq after spending billions to blow them up. The best days of the USA are over with folks. Bush screwed us and the grand kids on top of it. Look at leaving the USA or at least think about it. It’s going to become a big welfare state as the debt spirals out of control. You’ll get a stimulus check and then the welfare rolls will swell as more people are out of work.

# 42 The Monster's Lawyer said, on November 7th, 2008 at 6:31 am

sounds about right.

# 43 VC said, on November 7th, 2008 at 6:46 am

GM could cost the U.S. more than terrorism. It’s more like a bomb than a barrel in your mouth. You’ll end up with ashes in your mouth when this goes off. They’re losing something like $250 million a week and it’s not going to improve. It’s like big steel. They never closed a profitable plant. The problem was that the plants were not profitable and massive layoffs couldn’t be avoided. Steel was more strategic than automobiles and it went down hard. Two guys make a ton of steel in an hour with automation. Robots replace autoworkers and you get a cheaper product with less labor and waste. Build something like a Ferrari and go high end if you want to do handwork. There’s a new idea for the Corvette. All handcrafted and world class. It will take more time to build. A bunch of small shops making individual components that are high quality. More competition and less monopoly. Be your own boss vs. be a union boss.

# 44 brendal said, on November 7th, 2008 at 7:25 am

Michael Moore threw GM under the bus a looong time ago…it’s his fault.

In fact, everything’s his fault.

# 45 mliving said, on November 7th, 2008 at 7:26 am

Would not surprise me one bit.

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again. GM has been blowing smoke up everyone’s, including politicians asses for years with the VOLT and they are going to use every excuse in the book to ensure they don’t have to mass produce it.

If Obama is smart he would tie the total amount of bailout funding to total amount of actual alternative vehicle production.

That’ll shut’m up!

# 46 You Got Zapped Again said, on November 7th, 2008 at 7:45 am

I saw this coming a year ago.

HAHA you idiots that think the world is going to run on hot air.

Now you got 4 years of it coming.

# 47 The0ne said, on November 7th, 2008 at 7:45 am

If this does in fact turn out to be true, I say let the US companies rot and die off. I would like to see them rebuild from ground up with no Unions and what not but dying is fine with me.

If they continue to make these decisions there is no reason to support them. As others have already pointed out above this post, they could have had a lead but choose to “milk” the public on fuel base vehicles instead. And now that oil is dropping, they want to milk us some more. Only problem is there are so many things screwed up now most people are a different take on what is important.

# 48 Buzz said, on November 7th, 2008 at 7:57 am

Follow-on book, “Who Killed the Volt” expected soon.

# 49 Christopher Barger said, on November 7th, 2008 at 8:03 am

Hi. I work for GM PR. I can tell you that this posting, and this rumor, are categorically false. While our industry certainly is facing challenges not seen before, the Chevrolet Volt remains a high priority product program at General Motors. There is no intention to delay the development of the Volt program or reduce staffing. We remain committed to our late 2010 timing.

Unfortunately, Jalopnik irresponsibly chose to report a pure rumor without checking with any sources or confirming its facts. The fact that this site picked up the rumor and repeated it just compounds that error. But we do not plan on delaying development of the Volt nor are we reducing staffing. It just ain’t so.

[Christopher Barger is the GM Director of Global Communications Technology. - ed.]

# 50 Paddy-O said, on November 7th, 2008 at 8:09 am

#49 Christopher Barger:

From the sourced article: “We’ve put in a call to GM PR to ask them about the veracity of our tipsters claim, but we’ve yet to receive a response. We’ll let you know when we’ve got more to tell you”

So why haven’t you got back to jalopnik.com?

LOL!

# 51 Mark Derail said, on November 7th, 2008 at 8:15 am

I saw it coming too, which is why I bought the car with the world’s most advanced power train ever built for a car.

For all those holding out buying a Prius, the next generations will have better handling and style, since Toyota no longer has to worry about the little things anymore like transmission, motor, and batteries.

Many “teaser” pictures on PriusChat.com, it’s starting to look & feel like a Honda Accord.
IMHO, Honda’s VTEC is tech marvel #2, assisted by a electric motor is an after-thought (Insight).

# 52 The0ne said, on November 7th, 2008 at 8:30 am

Now $50 billion

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=aWj2UUIE4ofU&refer=worldwide

Sad.

# 53 smartalix said, on November 7th, 2008 at 8:33 am

40,

It’s always half-empty to you. It must suck to see the world through your eyes.

# 54 SamAbuelsamid said, on November 7th, 2008 at 8:41 am

This poorly sourced article is inaccurate. The Volt program is one of the only vehicles at GM that’s not being delayed. http://greenfuelsforecast.com/ArticleDetails.php?articleID=633

# 55 Paddy-O said, on November 7th, 2008 at 8:46 am

# 53 smartalix puked, “It’s always half-empty to you. It must suck to see the world through your eyes.”

No, just waiting for an electric car that actually replaces my existing car. Why would I want an extra car? Are you brain dead? Why waste resources to buy an expensive extra vehicle?

Go see the Wizard.

# 56 Misanthropic Scott said, on November 7th, 2008 at 9:38 am

Why are we bailing these morans out? They are deliberately and consistently engineering their own failure. Let them die. Give the money to Tesla Motors, a truly great American car company.

# 57 faustus said, on November 7th, 2008 at 9:52 am

if obama is a socialist at heart then he should go with his instincts and temporarily nationalize detroit. create a nasa type org, bring in caltech, stanford cal-b and begin to convert the transport sector to electric and natural gas vehicles… tax oil to pay for it. we can fart around with other technologies but just like when we put a man on the moon we need to decide on one way to get there and then get there asap… when the project is completed break up the org into several companies and sell them off. this is what nader was going to do if you nobos had voted for him btw.

# 58 Paddy-O said, on November 7th, 2008 at 9:57 am

#57 “but just like when we put a man on the moon we need to decide on one way to get there and then get there asap”

Funny, but you don’t see us on the Moon anymore…

Wonder why.

# 59 brm said, on November 7th, 2008 at 10:01 am

This is a strategy to get the bailout money.

Now they can go in front of a Democratically controlled government and say, “Unless we get bailed out, we won’t be able to produce electric cars!” The gov’t will freak out and hand them the cash, for this reason alone.

There’s been no indication that they’re mothballing this. They’ve printed ads, for crying out loud.

It’s a psych out.

# 60 faustus said, on November 7th, 2008 at 10:13 am

#58… huh? whats your point… my point is we actually know how to get somewhere… lets work at getting there. if obama is going to bring change… then bring it on… the national lack of urgency is really alarming… we can’t just keep limping from crisis to crisis. i’m not blaming obama on that 4sure… he hasn’t even taken office… but we need a leader that will get a little radical right now and get out in front of this mess… fix detroit, get us off oil and out in front of the green rev thats coming would do alot for this country to say the least… can he do it?? he said he will and nationalizing detroit would go along way in that derection.

# 61 Paddy-O said, on November 7th, 2008 at 10:20 am

# 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…

# 62 Misanthropic Scott said, on November 7th, 2008 at 12:46 pm

#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.

# 63 James Hill said, on November 7th, 2008 at 12:53 pm

Wait a second…

People still buy GM cars?

# 64 the answer said, on November 7th, 2008 at 1:34 pm

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.

# 65 Paddy-O said, on November 7th, 2008 at 3:30 pm

# 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?

# 66 VC said, on November 7th, 2008 at 4:20 pm

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.

# 67 deowll said, on November 7th, 2008 at 5:08 pm

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.

# 68 Li said, on November 7th, 2008 at 5:49 pm

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.

# 69 mister mustard said, on November 7th, 2008 at 6:05 pm

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.

# 70 rzwo said, on November 7th, 2008 at 10:10 pm

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.

# 71 VC said, on November 8th, 2008 at 3:24 am

“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.

# 72 VC said, on November 8th, 2008 at 3:55 am

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!

# 73 Hugh G Rection said, on November 8th, 2008 at 10:01 am

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.

# 74 VC said, on November 8th, 2008 at 10:26 am

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.

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