okay... so Wayne, are you saying no cadillac and lincoln trucks or no, don't cut the trucks?

what you said about the corvette is what i was trying to say about those cadillacs. hadn't thought about mercury.. but have they not been anything but a ford with a chrome package for the last 15 years? i'll give you the cougar, but can anyone tel me a car that has been solely a mercury in the last 15 years, not basedon a Ford?

the UAW is shooting themselves. they refuse to take any cut in pay or benefits. they're already being payed ridiculous salaries. they won't take even a small cut in pay or benefits to save their own jobs. their too stupid to realize they need to think about the fact that they're looking at being out of a job in 5 years, if they take a small cut in pay and benefits, they could stand a much better chance at having food on their tables in that same 5 years.

 

"If you can pay $120K for a ZR1, wouldn't you be willing to pay another $5-10K for full leather?"

What? Are you kidding me?
I don't want to pay another Dime for the Leather.
I want it in there; Standard.
Plus, if you are taking an order for the car and the thing ain't built yet ... I want that Leather embroidered!
In any design that I can possibly imagine that can be reproduced by an embroidering machine.
Multi-colored.
And I want to be able to design what I want embroidered on the Leather by simply logging-on to the Corvette Web Site and using the Sites software to create the design or dialing an 800-Number and speaking with a talented artist from Design who will assist me in creating the design and let me see it getting done, in real time, as I watch it taking form on my computer.

That's what I want for $120,000 Dollars.

That, ... and a book of 24 Cupons for the Full-Service Maintenance Plan (including everything) ... Valid at Chevy Dealerships Worldwide and on other Planets; too!

 

Rick... i dont' think you get that for the $300,000 Aston Martin

 

NO to Cadillac and Lincoln trucks. GMC, Ford, and Dodge. We don't need Buick SUVs, nor Saturns. Or Pontiacs. Stick to what they do best. Here's a saying you've probably heard before: "Jack of all trades, but a master of none." That's the problem with the big 3 in a nut shell.

As for the $120K ZR1 with little leather, I agree it should be there not as an option, but as standard equipment. But if it turned it into a $125K car instead, so be it. Be the BEST OF THE BEST! The Vette at that level is competing with cars costing WAY more than that.

It all has to come back to the fact that QUALITY HAS to be a given, and not a forgoten. Someone mentioned that they didn't know how the Lexus service was because they never had to use it in the 100K+ they drove the car. THATS the kind of quality Detroit needs. A Volvo holds the most milage record. 1,500K or something like that. Try doing that on your Cadillac! OR a Chevy, or ANY of the big 3 cars or trucks.

But, should they stop selling vehicle lines cold? NO! They are tooled up and running. You can't stop a line before it's time. You need to finish amortizing the cost of the tooling, unless that line is such a losing fiasco that there is no choice but to close it early. Case in point: The Pontiac Solstice and the Saturn Sky. I said keep the Pontiacs RWD, and make Saturns economy cars. BUT, the Sky is running from the same plant in Wilmington DE as the Solstice and the Opel GT. They need to make every penny they can on tooling all ready in production. STOP the design process on anything new and in development. I believe the Camaro is too far along to cease production, for example. If the Lincoln truck is breaking even, or close, keep running it awhile longer to cover costs of tooling, as another example. This has to be a transition, not a complete shutdown. Just fire ALL of the management, make the new management DRIVE to where they're going in THEIR OWN COMPANIES cars and trucks. No corporate profit, no bonuses. This isn't rocket science, it's simple economics.