Gohard777

Since the last post on GM's future, Rick Waggoner has just announced GM's future predictions and the way GM is to run the 'Business'. 1st, the C7 is still on hold, since that is what this section is for, and it doesn't look like it will start anytime soon. 2nd, for those who just want to insult GM's cars, it really doesn't do you any good from that, as for every one that has had a bad experience, you can find 10 that have had a good or even great experience, me included, that is why GM is still number one although many here think that Toyota is passing the General, No Chance!
Rick Waggoner has just told Wall Street to go ^%*# themselves, Wall Street says GM needs money and low and behold, GM says that we will restructure and have just come up with 15 Billion dollars, AMAZING isn't it? They said today that 'They' needed 10 Billion so they raised 15! So much for those that said GM was going under!
Oh, and by the way, on the other GM's Future post, I 'Hinted' at the Chrysler Station Wagon for the Caddy division, and guess what, GM has just shown it to the public today, and they said that the Cadillac division is Financially strong and is doing great, even over seas, and GM showed a few of the New vehicles coming out and even said what I posted the other day about the new turbo 4 cylinder engines coming. They just announced a few minutes ago that they have a vehicle coming out soon that will get 9 more miles per gallon than the Cobalt, which gets 36 MPG Right now. GM hurting, I think NOT! No. I don't get paid by GM for PR work, in fact, I just retired from the Tech Center in Warren, Mi. as a lowly hourly worker, which is how I get my information to share with my Forum Brothers, I don't want a pat on the back, nor do I want to get into 'heated' discussions on GM, or what I'm telling my 'Brothers'. If you don't believe me, that is fine, but as I proved to many times, I am just trying to share info with fellow Corvette enthusiasts, which almost cost me my job early this year. If you want, ask my friends, MAJZ06 or NemesisC5 for details, too long to post here, which I'm already guilty.
GM just said that out of 19 new vehicles coming out, 18 were with the latest and greatest technology for good gas milage. Can GM do better, What do you think?! They just came out with ZR1 which, at a third of the price of most Supercars, they blew away the competition! And as for the regular Corvettes, almost 30 MPG and still capable of 190MPH! GM doesn't tell you everything, and they never will. But, be sure of one thing, they will beat the competition everytime, always do. And thanks to Wall Street who has got everyone scared of GM's future, I can now invest my buyout money from GM, right into GM stock, Thanks Generous Motors, I see another Corvette in my future, this one for my wife......

WhiteDiamond

"Restructuring." Didn't GM just do that, or weren't they still in the process of doing that?? More proof that the top brass needs to go. I'm glad they can get the money and I actually agree with your comments, but top brass at GM still needs to be cleaned....

Gohard777

Oh, I agree with that, but I doubt that it will happen. Can you imagine the top brass saying... "Well, I think that to save GM money, maybe we should get rid of some of us."
I just don't think that it's going to happen. They eliminated as many hourly as they could, but I didn't see hardly any salary employee's going. Yes, they did get rid of salary Contract workers, but Not GM salary.

lt4obsesses

I agree that GM is going to be fine. I belong to a family that has a long history of GM loyalty. If we go back to the Seventies, we find the "reorganization" there as well. Well, time has brought us full circle again. For the last decade, we have seen a dedication to performance vehicles across the board, ala "sixties". Now, we come to new E.P.A. regulations, higher gas prices, which will no doubt, see $5 per gallon by next summer. The increase has been about a dollar a year for the last three running now.

While gas prices have caught many of us by suprise, I am certain that those in the automobile industry have had this vision for some time now. They were just waiting for public demand to change the gears, so to speak. Point is, that from the first go round in the seventies, while GM may not have been the first on the gas sipper market, when they got there, their product was comaritively better than those of the other domestic manufacturer's. Today's public reflection concerning reliability is soley based on those first few models back then. Today, I would put the Malibu, Cobalt, Impala ... up against any Honda or Toyota. While GM's been developing their performance vehicles for over a decade, you can bet that they have seen this coming are going to be the one to deliver performance and efficiency. I wish I had the cash to invest in GM right now.

TBIRD57

do they have a sketch,clay model,computer model,etc of a possible c7?
if they are on "hold", it could mean pushing a c7 back to 2013 or later.
some loyal customers will be wandering off the reservation by then.

gm stock is a buy right now.....bargains to be had out there for the
adventureous.

lt4obsesses

They probably have several, at least, computer models. My bet is that they are holding off to see the result of several factors. The overall performance of other vehicles and their effect of CAFE regs, public opinion on possible designs, such as some that may be posted in this forum, and of course the direction of the prevailing market. Sure, some potential Corvette owners may wander, but probably not too far.

Gearhead Jim

I think they're also waiting to get enough money to develop a C7, that isn't cheap. Right now, all the money is going into development that will keep GM alive; the fun stuff will have to wait.

Gohard777

The C7 is on hold. Period.
Sorry, since this is supposed to be about the C7, maybe some magazine can give us some and we can talk about that for awhile.
When I hear some good news, of course, I'll share it with my Forum Brothers. I hope others will do the same.....

-vet

There is "hold" then there is hold... were some in the Corvette group continued with work beyond their official mandate. At one point before an audit turned up several million dollars; that had gone missing technically. It was later accounted for in the Corvette program.
Pushing back the C7 program is very short sighted. The C6 program is one of the few bright spots that has continued to deliver. Time lost on the C7 program will be more expensive to gain back later to.

lt4obsesses

This is possibly true. However, with the state of the current economy, as well as the future demand of the automobile market, putting this change off makes good business sense. Breaking out a new Corvette, when the C6 is still doing well is a huge gamble. If they roll it out now, and their predictions are correct, yes, the C7 will be a windfall. Yet, if their predictions are wrong, and the model they choose does not fit the market demand, then it could very well be last Corvette. I think they're holding off because there are just too many variables out there right now.

djpatrick35

I liken what's going on now to what happened to the Corvette program in the early 90s when the C4 generation was stretched out... If the C7 needs to be put on hold for money while C6s get better and better and better, then that's fine by me.

So long as GM's still making Corvettes, I'll still love 'em, no matter what generation!

WhiteDiamond

The first sentence of the qoute is the correct one, IMO. The rest is the same old GM crap that keep the C4 around well beyond its useful date. The C7 program should be sped up if anything. With D.I. and some VVT, they can get MPG estimates up several over the current model and move foward as the new CAFE mandate closes in furthor. The Corvette is low volume for GM and it does make them money. Get a fresh one on the market, even if it is again a refreshed C6/refreshed C5, it will do well for several years. The Vette also is one of the few programs, IMO, that GM can get more manufacturing experience with lighter weight/mass saving materials(higher price point to work out the kinks) that will be ESSENTIAL in the rest of the GM line up.

lt4obsesses

I personally think that to put a new Corvette out just to put a new Corvette out would be a major mistake. The next generation Corvette is going to need to break new ground in technology and design. The competition is just too tough for a "refurbished C6". I think we have seen the last of the "big cube" Corvette engines. Next summer gas will be $5 a gallon. I know it, you know it, and they know it. While that price won't phase a few, it will most. We are going to see a shift to smaller cubes, superchargers and smaller chassis. Carbon Fiber will play a role, yet it is a very expensive material. As the c3 was state of the art for the time, the c4 was a revolution of body and chassis design, the c5 bought us the LSx engine, and the c6 brought us the most powerful as well as stylish Vette to date, the c7 is going to have to be something very special. Perhaps waiting to see who wins the "alternative fuel" battle. Perhaps planning a high powered hybrid. Most importantly, it must be the cutting edge yet available to the average American, because that is the allure of the Corvette.