So, most knew that GM is pondering buying Chrysler, but now it seems Ford is also maybe getting into the mix too. Either as a mega merger or alliance. Who knows if it would even be legal, but what car lines would you think would remain?

I can see F series trucks remaining, perhaps the Malibu and new Camaro, Jeep. etc. Who knows who has the best small car. The Viper and Hummer would certainly go the way of the dodo.

I think the Chrysler minivan would definitely survive.

The Corvette and Mustang would definitely survive.

If I had to guess, Hummer, Buick, Mercury would all be gone. Maybe Lincoln and Dodge (though I doubt Dodge). Saturn would probably be gone too.

The Corvette and Mustang would definitely survive.

If I had to guess, Hummer, Buick, Mercury would all be gone. Maybe Lincoln and Dodge (though I doubt Dodge). Saturn would probably be gone too.

I highly doubt Saturn would be gone.

One car company. One bank. One airline...etc etc

Soon everything will be Taco Bell and owned by a small group of investors from Dubai.

As for the new car maker...they would primarly have to either focus on one upping the savy Asian automakers who already have a huge grasp on what the global market wants.....or just peddle Americana retreads that reflect the long gone days of the 5 cent tank of gas.

To combat the asian market, you probably only need 10 models of car and a few trucks that have a good mass market appeal. Leave the high dollar stuff for the Germans and the Italians where the US never really had a solid competitor. Which means you could dump Pontiac, Caddy, Lincoln, all of the Dodge line up including trucks, Mercury, All SUVs other than Jeep, All trucks other than F series. Turn Chrysler into a mid to higher end brand. Saturn into a small car/economy brand. Chevy can stay what it is minus trucks and small cars.

See also: Idiocracy.

One car company. One bank. One airline...etc etc

Soon everything will be Taco Bell and owned by a small group of investors from Dubai.

As for the new car maker...they would primarly have to either focus on one upping the savy Asian automakers who already have a huge grasp on what the global market wants.....or just peddle Americana retreads that reflect the long gone days of the 5 cent tank of gas.

To combat the asian market, you probably only need 10 models of car and a few trucks that have a good mass market appeal. Leave the high dollar stuff for the Germans and the Italians where the US never really had a solid competitor.

But at that point in the future we'll also have a frozen Sylvester Stallone to save us from evil.

Idiocracy is a 2006 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2006_in_film) American (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States) dark comedy (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_comedy) directed by Mike Judge (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mike_Judge), and starring Luke Wilson (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luke_Wilson) and Maya Rudolph (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maya_Rudolph). The two main characters sign up for a military hibernation (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hibernation) experiment that goes awry, and they awaken 500 years in the future. They discover that the world has devolved into a dystopia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dystopia) where marketing, commercialism, and cultural anti-intellectualism (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anti-intellectualism) run rampant and dysgenic (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dysgenic) pressure has resulted in a uniformly stupid human society.
Despite its lack of a major theatrical release, the film has achieved something of a cult following because of its satire of the “dumbing down” of contemporary society and the breakdown of individual responsibility and consequence...

stolen from Wikipedia.

Well, thank you, Globalization, for making us stupid. Frozen pizza and World of Warcraft was only just the beginning.....

a small group of investors from Dubai.


Halliburton FTW!

I was more referencing how everything had consolidated in the future, in Idiocracy.

If you haven't seen it, you should. It's hard to know whether to laugh or cry during some parts.

Well perhaps on the upside if Humanity ever wants to explore space and find another planet to live on, it might have to be a total team effort. it would be easier if there was not so much effort duplicated for the sake of saying so and so nation did it first.

We really need another planet. If everything is one company, then who would it trade with?

I highly doubt Saturn would be gone.

GM has said recently that Saturn has never been profitable, and there was consideration of discontinuing the brand. This was before any of the merger talk, and obviously some brands would have to be discontinued. If Saturn has never been profitable, why would they keep the brand around after a merger that none would have thought possible ten years ago?

Maybe I was misreading but I thought Saturn was one of their few profitable divisions. Some difference in corporate bean-counting depending on whether or not they had to "re-buy" the engines or somesuch?

I thought Saturn was doing better than most other divisions, with customer satisfaction and loyalty scoring high. I know I bought a Saturn VUE a couple years back and have been consistently pleased with both the purchase and the service provided by the dealership, which was never the case with previous new car purchases.

I also have noted that most of the folks on my mail routes over the years who had Saturns always kept buying Saturns when it was time for new cars.

If they are indeed struggling, it would be a shame.

I feel dirty sometimes for buying an import, but when i sit down and look at what Chevy wanted to sell me for the same price I remember why. I think one of the biggest problems with most of our domestic car lines is they ask so much extra for the brand name. Even a lot of the Asian imports are getting that way =\

of all the motor vehicle accidents i've responded to, i've never seen a serious injury in a Saturn(Dodge Intrepids either). We'd get on the scene expecting to be doing a recovery and the person would be standing next to the car going "aw shit"

I love my chevy for the money I paid for my truck I definitely got the quality I wanted. Now ford and dodge not so much even though their trucks are slightly cheaper. Chevy trucks are great and they have come back some in their car lines like the Malibu, equinox and cobalt hell I was just looking at the 09 Traverse and the quality of the build and ergonomics is just as good as a similar import for about the same price.
Yes they may not be as good on fuel economy although on long trips my truck gets about 25mpg for a V-8(slightly upgraded). And for as big a family as I got no fuel sipper will work for 3 kids with one more on the way. I think I may buy the Traverse.

Chevy isn't as bad as Dodge and Ford when it comes to pricing, but still when I look at the pricing between my car at fully loaded and everything that came with it vs a Chevy, I usually had to step it down a notch or two from the fully loaded one, and even if I had gone for the more expensive Chevy, I wouldn't have had as many cool things in it.

I think in the end what we'll see is more realistic pricing rather than enormous prices that get "discounted" down to something more sane, then smaller discounts. Which will end up benefiting consumers.

I love my Jeep, and am in the market for another before the end of the year.

I won't consider an import. Watching friends in turmoil due to the GM plant closure here in Atlanta and seeing the IT outsourcing craze first-hand has influenced my opinion on the importance of buying local/domestic.

Buying cheap/foreign might seem like a good idea in the short term, but lowers the quality of life for everyone here eventually. The world is only as flat as we make it.

Right but on the other hand should I buy something that has less value for more money just to buy domestic? Or should I take my business elsewhere so maybe they get the hint and stop charging extra for their brand name?

And as a side note, so far as I know Suzuki is owned by GM anyways...

You're throwing money at a depreciating liability either way. I think much of the intrinsic value in that case is subjective.

I don't begrudge anyone who buys foreign, because I do understand the reasoning.

I have just come to believe that the upfront savings aren't worth the long-term harm attached to them. A few extra dollars spent buying something that my neighbor made will come back around sooner, rather than later.

I have an Isuzu Rodeo. Best vehicle I've ever owned. great on gas for an SuV. It's eight years old and other than tires I've put $136 in it for repairs. She's a bear in the snow too.

My last vehicle was a Chevy Blazer. I put more into it in repairs than I paid for the damn thing in the first place.

Hi, Welcome to Costco. I love you.


(WRX STI ftw. Boo American cars)

I have an 06 Jetta 2.0 T, and my next car will be a used Audi A6. I prefer the body style and the way the cars fit my body. Add to that, I like what I get for the money, and I've never had any major problems with a VW before. My last American car was a 96 Sebring, and I had nothing but problems with it. It was basically dying at 94,000 miles, and the maintenance had always been kept up on it. My entire life, I've had nothing but problems with American made cars.

Add to that American made cars (not trucks, SVUs, etc.) have horrible resale value. It's a no brainer to me. I want to enjoy what I drive with as little inconvenience as possible, with the fewest repairs possible, with losing the least possible in depreciation. Add to that gas mileage is horrible compared to the competition with Ford and Chrysler (GM has several higher gas mileage cars), and that makes the difference even more pronounced. Add to that the known quality deficiencies that GM admitted to for the prior decade a couple years ago, and I'm obviously leery of giving them another chance on a high dollar product where I can't afford to go wrong. Chrysler's quality is HORRIBLE right now. Ford's quality is getting better, but I've never been a fan of Ford. GMs quality is getting better, with better mileage, etc. If I were to buy an American car right now it would be a Cadillac CTS, and if I could get a good used CTS-V a couple years from now I would probably buy it at a reasonable price.

As far as buying foreign and our job markets, well there's a Honda plant close to here. Sure some of the money goes overseas, but it employs the workers locally. I know Mercedes, BMW, and other foreign car companies do some of their production here. Add to that the "American" car companies making some cars in Mexico and Canada, and that basically removes any motivation I would have to buy "American." As of a few years ago, there was only one car company where everything was American made/Assembled, and that was Saturn. I want more from my next car than what a Saturn can offer me, so anything I would be in the market to buy isn't strictly "American" any longer.

I think we've had a thread about it before, but it's a mistake to think that where the car's manufactured counts as much as where the profits end up.

In fact, I've read Toyota shareholder reports where they explicitly talk about how they need to keep just enough employees here to mitigate public opinion against buying foreign. In the end, the net exchange of wealth between our countries benefits them by billions, and those jobs here will last only as long as they can continue to milk us.

If I have time, I'll try to dig up some of my past research on it and start a new thread.

I think we've had a thread about it before, but it's a mistake to think that where the car's manufactured counts as much as where the profits end up.

In fact, I've read Toyota shareholder reports where they explicitly talk about how they need to keep just enough employees here to mitigate public opinion against buying foreign. In the end, the net exchange of wealth between our countries benefits them by billions, and those jobs here will last only as long as they can continue to milk us.

If I have time, I'll try to dig up some of my past research on it and start a new thread.

While I have not bought Toyota, I have read some interesting reports on how they invest their profits and I am impressed with their long range outlook.

I have never owned but one new vehicle. A Nissan hardbody p/u. Great basic truck that was so low tech nothing really could break on it. Still, its value tanked and it was reflected later when I had to sell it a few years down the road. Everything else has been used and I currently still don't believe in buying a new vehicle. I have my two Harleys (bought used) and my 1990 GMC 'burban 4wd that never gets driven but once a month, typically not even by me. The truck was one of those rare low millage stories that never left town since being bought new at the local dealer in Port Angeles. 60k on the clock and everything is virtually new for 3 grand cash.

Since I buy cars used, I typically don't see a country of origin. I just see a good deal and the money is going to my neighbor. By then all the bugs are out and anything remaining I can repair myself.

As for the American car thing, once they learn to be more receptive to a buyer that wants more than just styling and marketing and want *gasp* quality, reliability and good resale value as well as being good on fuel then perhaps more buyers might be swayed. I bought my pop's 91 Honda CRXSi in 1998 and drove that thing until it was falling apart around a perfectly running engine in 2007 and seldom was it a problem. I am not saying it never broke down because it had 200k almost on it and it doesn't matter who makes it as that point. Things will wear out. Still that was the standard to beat. The person who bought it got it with the original clutch, which had some play in the pedal but it wasn't slipping.

Right now some consolidation in the US car industry would be a good thing, because there are just too many models to choose from from too many brands/makers. It almost seems like in order to compete globally we have to almost remove domestic competition completely. Its that or get on with the tariffs and trade barriers.