Well the news is out that GM will close the Okla City plant early next year if not sooner. This plant makes some of the larger SUV's that have fell on hard times of late.

Other plants in a few other states were going to be closed also.

The local news station interviewed a GM employee as he was leaving for the day. They asked him what he thought of the closure of the plant. He said it was all of the imports fault. He stated that if more people would buy American cars and trucks he would still have a job. He forgot to mention that the SUV,s that he builds gets crappy gas mileage.

 

If only GM would build SUVs that got good mileage, they'd not be in so much trouble! I feel for the workers, of course.

 

I hope that everyone is nice in this thread. GM employs A LOT of people, and this is going to be a very sensitive issue for a lot of families (many connected to this site in one way or another) :smile: Nothing to be gained by rubbing salt in wounds with the Holidays coming up :smile: .

 

How about they build better quality cars overall with a warranty that's longer than a sneeze. I'm sick of those people whining about imports. Most imports these days are built in America by Americans. This excludes the luxury crowd but they aren't buying GMs anyway. Good riddance to GM, Ford and Chrysler. I hope they all go under. I do feel bad for people losing their jobs so hopefully they will find work elsewhere.

 

I do recall over the years that when the big three fell on hard times, the imports got blamed for their woes. Alot of the problem has to do with that when sales and times were good, the unions struck a great deal on health coveage and other perks for current and retired employees. Now when sales go south, they take have to find ways to stay in the black.

But I also remember it was just a few short years ago that the big three could not build SUV's fast enough and reported record sales.

Bottom line is...people tend to vote with their pocket books in both good and bad times.

 

Quality, efficiency, and value aside, the Solstice and the most recent Vette are the first GM products that I feel have functional panache and originality. I hope they can honor these car's designers with more input into the entire company.

 

Yeah, we were looking into the Solstice/Sky considering it was designed as a front engined version of the Opel Speedster. Too bad we currenty have a Honda Insight, MCS, and Chrysler van . The van will go and I'll have the MINI at college. Another 2 seater might not work for my parents. I'm hoping they can hold off an get an '07 turbo MCS instead...as long as the van doesn't break anything else

p.s. menace, your sig is way too big

 

We may think that as MINI owners we will not be affected by problems with GM and Delphi, but look at this: a pic of some MCS suspension components clearly stamped with the Delphi logo. . . .

I have family employed by GM, but even without that I do understand that problems at GM are detrimental to our country's economy as a whole

 

It is always sad when something like this happens. I truly feel for all the people that will loose their jobs and others who will be affected by the closing...

Donna

 

If you look at new GM products such as Lacrosse, Lucern, G6, and the new Tahoe and Yukon, they have better gas mileage than the competitors.

This was a plan implemented quite some time ago, GM is very fat, they need to get a little smaller to be more profitable and competitive.

 

Careful about wanting to see the US 'Big 3' automakers go under. Besides being a rather ignorant and ill-willed wish, it totally ignores the interconnectedness of the global automotive industry. Parts in our MINIs come from companies which supply parts to and are sometimes subsidiaries of the Big 3 themselves. Failure of any of the Big 3 can impact those suppliers, driving them under and causing problems for other companies who utilize their parts. This also does not take into account the foreign-based car manufacturers under the umbrella of the parent Big 3 corporation.

Let's also consider the economic impact of such a wish. Millions of people out of work in areas all over the country and abroad. The chain reaction effect rippling through the economy would be devastating. It can even go so far as to eventually affect you directly.

Careful what you wish for, you just might get it.

 

what greatbear said!

 

yes, this is very sad to hear and watch on the news.

 

News here in OKC is that the plant will close down on or before Feb 5 2006

 

dang...that's almost like tomorrow.