GM and Corvette

[Steven B.]

Re: GM and Corvette

'No matter what happens a 400 HP car with highway mileage of 26-28, a friend just got 30 going from Dallas to Chicago, is a heck of an accomplishment, not to mention acceleration and top speed! That is something that most of the Govt. and population are unaware of!

[Clem Z.]

Re: GM and Corvette

Clem, I keep hearing from local dealership owners that as soon as Chevrolet gets a diesel without the problems that have plaqued GM diesels since they were introduced, the gasoline V8 will disappear from the pickup truck line. One guess that as early as 2010, no gasoline powered V8. They say that Congress is pushing this behind closed door meetings.

here is all about it. http://64.233.169.132/search?q=cache...lnk&cd=1&gl=us PS are you any relation the ken w kayser the racing historian ?

[Larry E.]

Re: GM and Corvette

Hello:

Only way out is to keep Chevrolet and Cadilac only.IMHO It looks like the
CEO is giving himself "wiggleroom" in not saying he will kill Pontiac and
Saturn. Both worthless division along with GMC. I am a Chevrolet fan not
GM (there is a lot of difference) How many years has Luntz screwed Chevy by putting in countless millions into Pontiac and Cadilac that can't
give them away. If I found out that any of Chevrolets profit went into this
worthless adventure I would sell all my GM stock which is not worth
nothing now. They have always been very secretative about reporting the
profits of the divisions as you know.

Thanks; Larry

[Kenneth B.]

Re: GM and Corvette

Clem, I keep hearing from local dealership owners that as soon as Chevrolet gets a diesel without the problems that have plaqued GM diesels since they were introduced, the gasoline V8 will disappear from the pickup truck line. One guess that as early as 2010, no gasoline powered V8. They say that Congress is pushing this behind closed door meetings.

AGREE I should have stated the obvious. The only V8'S will be deisels. This was discussed on a earlier post.
KEN

[Ridge K.]

Re: GM and Corvette

Clem, I wish I could say Ken and I were related, as I admire his work very much in research related to Rochester fuel injection, and it's racing heritage. I just a poor ole, dumb, big block guy myself, never knowing much about that new-fangled FI.
So far, I haven't been able to sit down with Ken and discuss a possible kinfolk connection. I haven't had the pleasure of meeting him.
Thanks for the interesting link. Ridge.

[Loren S.]

Re: GM and Corvette

If the gasoline V8 gets the axe, how about a turbo-diesel V8 powered Corvette? Sounds better to me than a six cylinder jobby.

[Donald T.]

Re: GM and Corvette

If the gasoline V8 gets the axe, how about a turbo-diesel V8 powered Corvette? Sounds better to me than a six cylinder jobby.

If Nissan can build a production V6 with 480 HP, then GM should be able to do the same for the Corvette. A big departure from the legacy of the Corvette, but I would settle for 480 HP.

[Robert R.]

Re: GM and Corvette

Why not think way out of the box and make a "Tesla - Vette".
For added effect, digital sound recordings of your choice of engine sounds can be produced through the sound system. And you could even keep a very small jar of gasoline with a wick for that raw gas smell all of us carb cars have.
Bob

[Clem Z.]

Re: GM and Corvette

Clem, I wish I could say Ken and I were related, as I admire his work very much in research related to Rochester fuel injection, and it's racing heritage. I just a poor ole, dumb, big block guy myself, never knowing much about that new-fangled FI.
So far, I haven't been able to sit down with Ken and discuss a possible kinfolk connection. I haven't had the pleasure of meeting him.
Thanks for the interesting link. Ridge.

i have talked to ken and domenico his pardner in these endeavors.

[Clem Z.]

Re: GM and Corvette

If the gasoline V8 gets the axe, how about a turbo-diesel V8 powered Corvette? Sounds better to me than a six cylinder jobby.

i don't think the gasoline V-8 will go away soon because the diesel engine will make the cost of a base pickup very high. getting them in the fleet will help GM CAFE same as the VOLT. heard today the experts ? say crude could reach $25 and this will open the door for BIG increases in gasoline taxes both state and federal

[Lawrence G.]

Re: GM and Corvette

If Nissan can build a production V6 with 480 HP, then GM should be able to do the same for the Corvette. A big departure from the legacy of the Corvette, but I would settle for 480 HP.

The new V6 in the soon to be produced Camaro is slated to have a base HP of 300

[James G.]

Re: GM and Corvette

i have talked to ken and domenico his pardner in these endeavors.

If I am not mistaken, Domenick is no longer associated with Ken. There are some financial disagreements that need to be resolved.

[Martin T.]

Re: GM and Corvette

I guess I really don't get this. Comments have been made about the big 3 using this as an opportunity to shift production off shore, going to diesel only, and cutting production of all non-core lines. In my opinion this sounds counter productive. I see the issue as one of moving toward a closer fit between what the consumer is looking for in a car (not what the company wants to push at the consumer), moving the core cars toward more fuel friendly alternatives, and rethinking expenditures at all levels of operations. So this to me would mean use a car like Saab as a model for the rest of the company (it looks good, fits together well and is dependable); make a move to use the fuel we have here in abundance i.e. CNG; move toward renewable fuel technology perhaps in combination with CNG; move toward a management model that is not overloaded with overpaid execs; look toward a work force that is fairly compensated for their efforts in building a successful product that enables the company to survive and flourish.
Repeat business usually comes about from a good experience; passion in your efforts and product usually leads to financial rewards; looking toward the needs of the present and needs of the future usually ensures the continuation of the business.
We really need to keep the oil money here at home. An outflow of 700billion a year is like trying to save a sinking boat by pumping water into it. We may have to rethink the use of plastics as well. Bottom line is we can "Drill baby drill" but there isn't enough to drill for here at home.

[James G.]

Re: GM and Corvette

Seems like the 'Chevrolet' in America is headed for the same fate as the 'Television' in America. It will be sold here, by American Corporations that used to produce them here, but no longer will. They will be produced by foreign workers, in foreign lands, but the profits will be returned to the American Corporations. Sound familiar? Just like the Asian and European car-makers do with their production here now.

One hears a lot of chatter about the difference of cost-of-labor for the Big Three vs their 'Transplant' competitors, and it is significant. But what about the tax-incentives States such as Kentucky, Tennessee, So Carolina, Ohio etc have given to the Transplants to locate production facilities in these States in return for the jobs created??? In some cases, the 'pay-back' is decades out before the citizens of the State (or the U.S.) receive any tax revenue from these operations.

If the Big Three can negotiate similar deals with foreign governments, that would close up the cost advantage that Transplants currently have by producing in this country, without the tax burdens that traditional producers endure.

GM has an opportunity to become the largest exporter of vehicles. Or the biggest importer to other countries (India, China). Imagine the cost advantage (profit potential) of producing those vehicles outside the United States, with cheaper foreign labor, and similar concessions regarding taxes, cost of energy, infrastructure improvements, etc that local governments might give to get a plant [jobs] located in their country/town?

It's all business, folks. And the advantages of going through Chapter 11 to shed the labor contracts, thus placing the current pension obligations on the Pension Guarantee Fund (US Tax-Payer), moving production offshore, thus shedding huge costs here, while pursuing foreign markets for cars is hard to ignore.

The possibility that the American Auto Companies will be selling cars here that are only produced in other countries in the not-too-distant future, is hard to dispel.

Dave, you are so correct. We are in a world economy. BUICK is the #1 car being sold in China. Not all the world however, has our emmission and safety laws yet, so standards for many new emerging economies are less stringent than ours. I received the following this moring that I think says it all.

A Japanese company ( Toyota ) and an American company (Ford Motors) decided to have a canoe race on the Missouri River. Both teams practiced long and hard to reach their peak performance before the race.

On the big day, the Japanese won by a mile.

The Americans, very discouraged and depressed, decided to investigate the reason for the crushing defeat. A management team made up of senior management was formed to investigate and recommend appropriate action.

Their conclusion was the Japanese had 8 people rowing and 1 person steering, while the American team had 7 people steering and 2 people rowing.

Feeling a deeper study was in order; American management hired a consulting company and paid them a large amount of money for a second opinion.

They advised, of course, that too many people were steering the boat, while not enough people were rowing.

Not sure of how to utilize that information, but wanting to prevent another loss to the Japanese, the rowing team's management structure was totally reorganized to 4 steering supervisors, 2 area steering superintendents and 1 assistant superintendent steering manager.

They also implemented a new performance system that would give the 2 people rowing the boat greater incentive to work harder. It was called the 'Rowing Team Quality First Program,' with meetings, dinners and free pens for the rowers. There was discussion of getting new paddles, canoes and other equipment, extra vacation days for practices and bonuses. The pension program was trimmed to 'equal the competition' and some of the resultant savings were channeled into morale boosting programs and teamwork posters.


The next year the Japanese won by two miles.

Humiliated, the American management laid-off one rower, halted development of a new canoe, sold all the paddles, and canceled all capital investments for new equipment. The money saved was distributed to the Senior Executives as bonuses.

The next year, try as he might, the lone designated rower was unable to even finish the race (having no paddles,) so he was laid off for unacceptable performance, all canoe equipment was sold and the next year's racing team was out-sourced to India.

Sadly, the End.

Here's something else to think about: Ford has spent the last thirty years moving all its factories out of the US, claiming they can't make money paying American wages.

TOYOTA has spent the last thirty years building more than a dozen plants inside the US . The last quarter's results:

TOYOTA makes 4 billion in profits while Ford racked up 9 billion in losses.

Ford folks are still scratching their heads, and collecting bonuses, and going to Congress begging for billions in bailout funds...IF THIS WEREN'T SO TRUE IT MIGHT BE FUNNY

[Martin T.]

Re: GM and Corvette

Jim, I believe you have hit the nail on the head!! Hope you are doing well.