It's Boycott Time: GM Subsidizing Gas

GM knows this piece of information will not get aired on national television or most other large-scale media. They're probably thinking they have gained enough positive public sentiment from their "flex fuel" vehicle campaign to ride out these decisions for the next year or so.

Ha Ha Ha Ha!!!!

That's HILARIOUS! Go nuts SUV buyers!

GM's set themselves up for a big fall! Short-sighted buyers will giggle with glee when they buy their guzzler, and then when gas has gone up to $4-5 next summer, and that subsidized $40 tank of gas jumps up to $100, they'll get a big kick in the head! Ha Ha!

Maybe GM should also hand out helmets that say do not use till next May! HAAAAAAAA!

Next Summer, this is going to turn into the biggest fiasco GM has ever dumped on it's customers yet!

Boycott GM - you can't be serious! No, get serious! The only reason (most) people care about sustainability is because of the punch in the wallet gas prices cause. It’s about fuel (so it’s…) stupid. Have you really noticed a larger concern about the environment itself; I haven't. Like it or not, the free market still rules.

Before I sound any more like Neil Cavuto, here's why I think you should drop this: This has got to be the stupidist idea (gas rebates) I heard in a while. The republican plan to solve the energy crisis (give a tax rebate and a note saying to shut the hell up) doesn't hold a candle to this one.

What's my point? This idea is so dumb-- IT BOYCOTTS ITSELF.

If GM wants to die, it’s their right and this is their death knell. A boycott may give this issue attention and give it a 1% chance gaining momentum as opposed to .001% it has now.

Green business can save GM and other once great, now third rate companies. Instead of focusing energy on a boycott, focus energy on rewarding green businesses. At the same time, you might help others see the bigger picture and do the right thing for the right reason.

How will novice 'greens' know not to support GM (they do claim to have 'green' vehicles now) if someone doesn't make some noise and warn them?

Like I've said, you need the people who PUSH companies to act responsibly (those who cry foul), just as much as you need those who PULL companies (showing them a positive direction to take).

BTW: I've hosted the local Green Drinks for 3 years, and I wish I had a nickel for every person who's come in saying they've recently developed concern for the environment.

I believe it was Victor Hugo, not Oscar Wilde who, legend has it, had the "?" / "!" conversation with his publisher. Just thought it should be corrected.

Here is the news: Fuel Prices Are Going to Rise - and we want them to. Why on earth would we want fuel prices to rise? That is the only way demand for renewable energy will rise. If there is a big enough demand for green technologies, the demand for fossil fuels will decrease. It’s all about dollars. Forget what makes sense, think about what makes money. We need to make green cool.

The automobile is very entrenched in our society. As gas prices change – our way of life will change. The disconnected suburbs are not going to be an attractive place to live anymore. Large luxury vehicles aren’t going to be the cool status symbols they once were. Sell your white picket-fenced home and dump your SUV now while there’s still a market. Go out and buy yourself a hybrid and a condo. Set up a college fund for little Jimmy to attend MIT with a major in renewable energy. Dig in, because gas prices aren’t going to go down yet, and that isn't a bad thing - Team Green needs the momentum!

You know why GM is doing this? Right now GM is panicking because they can't get rid of their huge inventory of trucks and SUVs. Nobody wants them. All you have to do is watch the commercials on tv for the dealerships. All you hear about is crazy deals trucks and SUVs. They must be totally desperate to do something like this. They just want a return on their investment. Just stand back and don't be a sucker.

I say give GM a chance. Maybe after they get their money back for all the tooling and huge inventory of SUVs and trucks they'll start making more and more hybrids. They've just been a little out of touch with the needs of their customers. Now their getting their wake up call. I'm optimistic that they'll really turn themselves around in the coming years. They'll have to if they want to survive as business.

Word, i very much agree with your take on this (the clearing stock routine). I think though that GM has just lagged behind for too long and with china now pumping out cheap efficient cars on top of the japanese cars i dont see a bright future for GM.

FYI:

GM bought into China's largest automaker a couple years ago.

GM also bought Korea's Daewoo. Several of GM's new US models are actually Daewoos.

GM isn't worried about cheap Asian imports. They're going to be one of the big players doing the importing.

1955: "What's good for GM is good for America"

2008: "What's bad for America is still good for GM"

Actually, they still are worried about cheap Asian imports.

In China, though the GM business has been relatively successful (and far more successful than their US division), its quickly seeing more and more competition from other foreign car-makers as well as local ones (who sometimes steal GM designs).

Plus, to the best of my knowledge, the actual making of the cars aren't outsourced (am I right about this?) and the reasons they're worried ABOUT Asian cars is more because of the efficiency of the systems (no millions of retirees who have health benefits) and how fuel-efficient the cars are.

I'm surprised GM has any money leftover fighting their pensions to provide subsidies on fuel. I get the feeling they'd do better to just scrap their entire stock somehow...

Chuckles, "Is it me, or does GM seem to be trying to run in every direction? I think this is the death knell for GM, after all, how can they afford this? Right now gas is $2.99 at best out here in Phoenix, so lets say 1000 buyers go for this. Lets see, they save $20 a week (prolly more) for a year, handing GM a bill for a hair over one million dollars. That's not too bad, but I suspect that it'll be a lot bigger bill than that."

You have to buy a fullsize SUV to get the deal. GM's full size SUV's start in the mid 30s. So if 1000 people bought one, that would put $35 million in GM's pocket + service and parts down the road. So shelling out one million in gas is not so bad.

Most consumers would benefit more by just getting a cash rebate.
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Editor note: A 30k SUV isn't making GM 30k in profit. It's probably under a thousand depending on the model, that is if it's not one of the many models they're actually losing money on. The problem is that they're losing even more not selling them...

Here's an ironic twist: GM's ad for the Canadian version of the discounted gasoline scheme (screenshot [allyoucanupload.com]) was displayed right next to this story on the Toronto Star web site recently:
"How humans help brew hurricanes" [thestar.com].

I agree. This is bull. I'm boycotting GM until Lutz is gone. That Aveo I was interested in will have to wait.