Tuesday, December 10, 2013

GM No Longer Government Motors

According to this article the government sold the last of their shares in the recovering automaker.  Apparently we citizens invested $49.5 billion to help stabilize the company and protect the union employees, and we recovered ~39 billion. CNN Treasury Sells Last Shares

The article notes that it could have cost us much more if the company had failed.  Thoughts?

On a related note.
CNN GMs New CEO

8 comments:

jerrye92002 said...

Baloney. "We" are out $10B. If GM had gone through a normal bankruptcy, "we" would have lost nothing at all. The question was asked elsewhere if those who refused to buy "government motors" cars will now be coming back. I'm guessing that the large majority of us are saying no.

John said...

Now that sounds like a non-Conservative thing to say given the cool vehicles they offer.Are you next going to cut off your nose to spite your face? GM Models

So are you denying that there would have been additional costs incurred if GM had failed completely and normally. Either additional costs or lost tax revenue.

jerrye92002 said...

One of the things GM was forced to do was to eliminate the Pontiac brand entirely, and I have driven Pontiacs all my life. I not only won't buy another GM car, I CAN'T because they aren't making them. Had they gone through normal bankruptcy, someone (there were offers on the table) would BUY the brand lock, stock and 4-barrel, and I could have bought one.

And yes, I AM denying that there would be "costs" to the bankruptcy, because there is nothing that would have cost ME or the taxpayers. And the actual owners, the bondholders, wouldn't have been shafted to transfer ownership to the unions that caused the calamity in the first place. Had the unions been shafted, it would have been a far fairer and more sensible outcome.

John said...

Oh come now... Just put a Pontiac emblem on this really cool 2014 SS. Likely it is based on this Holden like the Pontiac G8 was.

Would you really prefer to buy a "Pontiac" from a foreign auto firm like Fiat, or a USA auto firm like GM?

jerrye92002 said...

I would prefer to buy a Pontiac from Penske, who was the one who made the offer, and I can tell you from long experience that a Pontiac and a Chevrolet, despite outward appearance in many cases, are NOT the same. And yes, I would buy the brand from a foreign owner if GM quit producing it. Obama has prohibited that option.

John said...

I'll say you sure are brand loyal...

John said...

By the way, what Pontiac did you prefer?

jerrye92002 said...

Bonneville, Le Mans, Fiero, Tempest, Montana, Grand Prix. All good.
I should say that I tried Dodge twice and both times, after 60,000 miles, they were dead. I get two or three times the longevity out of a Pontiac, with better performance and gas mileage. Eventually, you go with what works for you.

OTOH, I can understand people have different experiences in life. My uncle was a Ford man. He said, "you either swear by 'em or you swear at 'em, nothing in between." And others said the only way to have one is to have two, so you have one to drive while you're fixing the other.

Just think how happy all of us would be if the "Gummint" hadn't stepped in and loused up the free market choice? For a brief time, Ford was even advertising that they were the only car company run by their customers and not the government.