My Rant on GM

I'm sure most of you know that GM, and Ford's, credit rating has been downgraded to Junk. Surprise, Surprise!! As a somewhat avid automobile enthusiast, alright, I'm an addict, but don't even start me on Subarus, seeing their credit score plummet through the floor is no surprise. I think the problem can be directed to a few causes.

1. Uninspiring design. Seriously, who thinks the new Chevy Malibu is a smash hit? Fleet cars, here we come!!! Again. And what about the incredibly hideous, almost on par with the Asstek, Uplander . Until GM beefs up its design, they ain't goin' nowhere. Cadillac simply can't carry the whole company. (At least they are moving in the right direction by removing their underperforming brands like Oldsmobile.

2. Too much overhead. Now, I'll admit, I haven't pored over their financials, however, GM spends in excess of $3 billion a year on advertisements. That's advertisements alone. OK, now I understand that they are the World's Largest Automobile Manufacturer, but come on, that's $3.5 billion trying to push crappy product on a consumer that won't buy it. Not to mention the current ad campaign pushing the 1 million+ people that rely on GM (retirees included) for an income. But, if they have 1 million relying on them, maybe the problem was developing long before now. Management just failed to figure things out.

But, alas, the U.S. government will probably bail out the Big 3, or 2, if necessary. Though, Bush recently said that he wouldn't help because "the big 3 need to learn how to compete with the competition" (this is paraphrased, as I can't find the article where I read this). But, and I can't remember where I read this, over 10% of the U.S. population's jobs rely on the automotive industry. Which means that the Government, for sake of national security, would probably do something to help out the ailing big 2. At a minimum, Kudos to Chrysler for having such a successful smash with their 300C and Magnum. I mean, this stuff is bling, it's even showing up in Rap videos.

All together now, "Hip hop culture is here to stay and a veritable force for fashion, trends, and lifestyle." At least most marketers are now realizing this.