Well, Gm must be out to prove that they can recall more cars in 30 days than anyone ever has.
Last month it was 2 million in a series of massive safety recalls that covered virtually all 2003 - 2005 SUV's and crew cab trucks. You can read more details by going to this web page: (click here).
This month, it's another 305,000 SUV's for bad tail light systems being recalled. This time its 2003 and 2004 model year vehicles, including Olds Bravada and Chevy Trailblazer vehicles.
Last year Gm had the most recalls (in fact they started off 2004 with a massive recall in January of 824,00 vehicles) and this year Gm's off to a good start to stay #1.
Is it any wonder that last quarter Gm reported a $1.1 billion dollar loss? So how do they plan to cope if these kind of losses continue? Very cleverly, apparently. They seem to be reading a page out of United Airlines' bankruptcy court playbook ...
The Detroit News is reporting: "Should GM continue to burn cash, the automaker could withdraw up to $6 billion in cash over the next 18 months from a $20 billion fund set up to provide health care for retired U.S. union workers and their dependents, Chief Financial Officer John Devine told reporters and analysts on a conference call. An analyst with Sanford Bernstein said in a recent report that GM could use the threat of refusing to pay for retiree health care to force the United Auto Workers union to pay more for health-care costs." Oh, that's just great. Blue collar pays for white collar mistakes?
To paraphrase Wharton, whatever the U.S. car companies have learned in the past, they have learned the hard way. The opening sentence of GM's 2003 annual report seems to have predicted both 2004 and now 2005 for GM: "Here's what's new about GM's strategy this year: Nothing."
But don't worry, says BusinessWeek. GM is not in danger of going bankrupt while it still has a huge cash stockpile. The fact is Gm has a ton of ready cash. Gm's got $19.8 billion in cash, marketable securities, and money it can tap from a pre-funded retiree benefits fund. That doesn't even count $8.3 billion Gm has available from bank credit lines and probably another $5 billion GM could pull out of profitable General Motors Acceptance Corp.
Once upon a time quality mattered ... but then again so did the customer. Worse yet, employees used to matter too. When those things matter most again, Gm's prospects can probably change.
For now, if you've got a lemon Chevrolet, lemon Buick, lemon Pontiac, lemon Saturn, or any lemon GM product, email or call us 1-888-331-6422 Toll Free. Getting rid of lemons and getting your money back, that's what we do. Every day.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Known nationwide as a leading Lemon Law attorney, Ronald L. Burdge has represented literally thousands of consumers in "lemon" lawsuits and actively co-counsels and coaches other Consumer Law attorneys. From 2005 through 2018, attorney Ronald L. Burdge has been named as the only Lemon Law Ohio Super Lawyer by Law and Politics magazine and Thomson Reuters Corp., Professional Division. Burdge restricts his practice to Lemon Law and Consumer Law cases. The Ohio Super Lawyer results are published annually in the January issue of Cincinnati Magazine. Ronald L. Burdge was named Consumer Law Trial Lawyer of the Year 2004 by the National Association of Consumer Advocates, the nation's largest organization of consumer law private and government attorneys. "Your impact on the auto industry has been magnified many times over because of the trail you blazed for others," stated NACA's Executive Director, Will Ogburn. Burdge has represented thousands of consumers in Ohio, Kentucky and elsewhere since 1978 and is a frequent lecturer to national, state and local Bar Associations and Judicial organizations. Burdge is admitted to Ohio's state and federal courts, Kentucky's state courts, and Indiana's federal courts. Other court admissions are on a "pro hac" temporary, case by cases basis.