GM + Renault + Nissan, What's everyone's thought on this? Options

[saleeka]

I think for everyone who hasn't been following this, its just easier to post up the news links-

2 Automakers weigh buying into GM

GM board votes to start talks

I think that this is a very interesting senario, to say the least. Its been common knowlege for some time that GM is in bad shape and that change has been needed, but how out of left field did this come? I personally don't have a strong opinion against a possible alliance, however, I don't forsee it as somthing that would strongly bennifit Renault or Nissan. Nissan has made great strides in making a comeback from near bankrupcy as of late, but I don't see how an automaker that hasn't been able to truely turn itself around would give Nissan a gain. Not only that, but it seems Nissan's strong comeback has become stagnant in some sales markets, like the US and Japan, so it might not be such a good idea to praise nissan so highly just yet. Also, from my understanding with Renault, they are also trying to stem sliding sales due to overly eccentric designs that the mass public haven't embraced in Europe... The alliance would no doubt boost the strength at GM, but for how long, and at who's expence? If they do form an alliance, I could expect to see common platform sharing between Opel/Vauxhall and Renault for the european marketplace, and see platform sharing with Nissan and GM here in the US (much along the lines of ford/mazda). The one thing that sticks in my head, however, is the relationship that GM and Fiat tried to form a few years back. If I recall correctly, GM bought into Fiat for cheap because of fiats woes (much like the state GM is in now), and GM then realized that it was better off dumping the Fiat connection because it was dragging GM down, and they in turn gave fiat a huge chunk of change as a parting gift, so to speak... I guess only time will tell, but I don't see this as GM's big break.

[jgreening]

GM has all the tools but really makes some poor decisions when it comes to models they bring out:

Examples:

SSR
Aztec
Avalanche
They havent been able to make a car that competes with the accord or the camry in 20+ years.

And my personal favorite, the soon to be extinct Pontiac GTO. How many do you think they would have sold if they had produced them with these body changes and wheels (less than $1k more expensive to build)?



This post has been edited by jgreening: Jul 7, 2006 - 11:11 PM

[Fastbird]

GM has all the tools but really makes some poor decisions when it comes to models they bring out:

Examples:

SSR
Aztec
Avalanche
They havent been able to make a car that competes with the accord or the camry in 20+ years.

And my personal favorite, the soon to be extinct Pontiac GTO. How many do you think they would have sold if they had produced them with these body changes and wheels (less than $1k more expensive to build)?

I'd have pimped the sh*t out of that concept/sema GTO if they'd have produced it. That said, I have a buddy with a 05 GTO and it's a great car, but it's not a sports car like GM was hailing as. It's more of a sport touring car, which made a lot of the gm performance enthusiasts not like it.

BTW, have you looked at the new 06+ avalanche??? WIth the nose redesign and deletion of the body cladding, that thing is NIIIIIIIIICE......

You hit the nail on the head though. GM needs to do less telling us what we want and more listening to what we want.