Government Motors and More

Good day kiddos! More and more former GM dealers are closing their doors. My dealer is essentially closed, having only about six USED cars remaining on their lot. The service department is open through this week doing oil changes and such, but a thriving, healthy dealer that employed almost 100 people is dead. Other dealerships are either already closed or are in the process of being "turned down" by GM.

September was always an exciting time for me. Hockey was just a month away, college football was ramping up, baseball was winding down and the new cars were unveiled at the local dealership. In the town that I grew up in, we had the "Big Three," GM, Chrysler and Ford. The anticipation was exciting as the cars would be delivered to the dealerships COVERED. You couldn't see the new cars, what they looked like, what changes were made, or the new designs. The showroom windows were covered with brown paper and if you walked in the showroom before the "unveiling" date, the cars were still covered.

It was a big deal.

Now it's not a big deal. The 2010 models come out sometime after January 2009 and they are "mixed" in with the 2009 models. In most cases, you can't even tell the difference between years.
GM brought out some new cars this year. Above is the new 2010 Chevclown.

In addition to closing existing GM dealerships, they are terminating whole divisions. The latest victim is Saturn.
Saturn was launched to be a "different" car company. Good quality cars without the hassle of haggling with the price. What was on the window sticker was the price you paid. Every now and then, Saturn would have a sale but again, you did not negotiate the price. If you talked to people who bought a Saturn, they mostly liked the car and Saturn had some loyal repeat customers.
But this is a NEW GM. Downsized to become a sleeker, leaner, more viable car company.
Introducing the NEW 2010 Chevrolet Corvette.

So after selling four million cars and unable to reach a deal with Roger Penske to take over the company, we bid farewell to other GM Nameplate. In addition to Oldsmobile which was killed in 2000, we now add Saturn to the list with Pontiac and Saab.
Speaking of clowns:
A new Quinnipiac University pool reveals that Republican Pat Toomey and Arlene Specter are in a virtual dead heat. Toomey holds a slim lead with 43% , while Specter has 42%. This is significant because in March, Specter held a 20 point lead!

Hopefully this will signal the end of Specter who has been suckling off the Republican teat since 1980. What is really sad is that every six years Specter would come around and tell the Republicans he was one of them and the party would support him. When Specter realized that he would loose the Republican primary he bolted saying he wasn't going to let his career be judge by the Republican electorate. What a pathetic piece of excrement!

This corespondent had previous stated after the G-Nothing, he was taking a few days off. That never happened. I am planning to take Saturday and Sunday off this week, however, depending on events, I may SACRIFICE (see Thursday's post) and post as needed.