Chuck
05-31-2009, 12:07 AM
http://www.cleanmpg.com/photos/data/2/AmericanFlag.jpg The slow bleeding began with the two oil shocks of the 1970s and GM's woeful response to the Japanese invasion of North America and takeover of the small-car market. But it really started to gather steam during the reign of chairman Roger Smith in the 1980s (http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/can-the-volt-recharge-gm/article1159844/)
http://www.cleanmpg.com/photos/data/501/detroit_be_back.gifBarrie Mckenna and Greg Keenan - THEGLOBEANDMAIL (http://www.theglobeandmail.com) - May 30, 2009
Also a good account of GM's decline --Ed.
Bankruptcy is a word heavy with stigma. It's a sign of defeat, and typically of retreat.
But don't tell that to Tony Posawatz, the General Motors Corp. (GM-N0.75-0.37-33.04%) executive in charge of producing the auto maker's first electric car for the masses. For Mr. Posawatz, GM's current crisis is just a bend in the road. He's focused on the horizon – years out – when the humiliation of a government bailout and filing for bankruptcy protection is just a bad memory.
In Mr. Posawatz's vision of the future, GM has leapfrogged archrival Toyota Motor Corp. in the race to produce the world's greenest car, re-establishing its global technological lead among car makers. And his baby, the electric-powered Chevy Volt, is creating such a buzz among buyers that it casts a halo over everything else the car maker sells, from Camaros to Silverados.
“The Volt is really about setting up the future, and how we can win and compete,” Mr. Posawatz, a lifelong GM employee whose father also worked at the car maker, said in an interview. “We want it to be viewed as an iconic technological marvel, a remarkable machine.”... http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/can-the-volt-recharge-gm/article1159844/
http://www.cleanmpg.com/photos/data/501/detroit_be_back.gifBarrie Mckenna and Greg Keenan - THEGLOBEANDMAIL (http://www.theglobeandmail.com) - May 30, 2009
Also a good account of GM's decline --Ed.
Bankruptcy is a word heavy with stigma. It's a sign of defeat, and typically of retreat.
But don't tell that to Tony Posawatz, the General Motors Corp. (GM-N0.75-0.37-33.04%) executive in charge of producing the auto maker's first electric car for the masses. For Mr. Posawatz, GM's current crisis is just a bend in the road. He's focused on the horizon – years out – when the humiliation of a government bailout and filing for bankruptcy protection is just a bad memory.
In Mr. Posawatz's vision of the future, GM has leapfrogged archrival Toyota Motor Corp. in the race to produce the world's greenest car, re-establishing its global technological lead among car makers. And his baby, the electric-powered Chevy Volt, is creating such a buzz among buyers that it casts a halo over everything else the car maker sells, from Camaros to Silverados.
“The Volt is really about setting up the future, and how we can win and compete,” Mr. Posawatz, a lifelong GM employee whose father also worked at the car maker, said in an interview. “We want it to be viewed as an iconic technological marvel, a remarkable machine.”... http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/can-the-volt-recharge-gm/article1159844/