Why didn't this happen six months ago?

In the last few days, GM has announced the sale of Saturn to the Penske Group, announced a buyer for Hummer and started running PR ads about the 'reinvention'. GM will still make the cars but Penske will sell them and (hopefully) maintain the dealership network. I think this is a win-win for both sides. Saturn has some potential and GM gets to shed a cost structure it couldn't maintain. If this is successful maybe they can follow suit with GMC .

I don't really understand why GM is keeping this GMC 'line' of duplicated trucks...it seems to fly in the face of what they advertise to strive for-smaller, leaner and more focused. Or perhaps they'll shed the Chevy trucks and focus that division on cars.

Hummer, as a brand, was a mistake, plain and simple. The idea was to run it like a niche brand, like Jeep...but GM got silly with it and turned it into something bigger than it could ever sustain. Fail. It'll be interesting to see what the Chinese company does with it...and what the 'ProAmerica' rednecks will say once they realize that the US military is riding around in vehicles manufactured by a Chinese-owned company. Holy shit, it's going to be epic!

I already get a kick out the 'ProAmerica' rednecks with regard to GM...I had a guy in a class a few years ago who was wearing a HD tee shirt, Levi's and spouting about how he only buys 'American' products...after a brief discussion, we (the class) discovered that he maintains a savings account with a Chinese bank and drives an 'American' car with an engine made in Japan and a transmission made in China. Turns out his shirt was made in Bangladesh and his Levi's were made in Honduras. Two countries I'm willing to bet money he couldn't find on a globe. For once in my life, I was glad that I didn't know CPR...dude, seriously...think before you speak.

The PR ads are cluttering up the airwaves-along with a website to explain what they're doing...I wonder if GM employees are reading this site. Maybe they can all get on one page finally. Ahh, my tax dollar hard at work-running advertising for a company that can't build and sell a decent car at a profit. It'll be another move in the right direction when GM announces additional dealership closures.

I wonder how much more effective GM as a company could have been if Fritz had been shuffled into the CEO position sooner...or if he's simply reaping the rewards of a prepackaged plan from the days of Wagoner. My boss is doing the same thing but nobody cares because he's getting shit done that the previous four didn't bother to address.

If GM can reduce dealership numbers, focus the last four brands with a quality product at a reasonable price...and provide service on a level of a non-domestic dealership...they might have something.

I still think a 30-60 day return from bankruptcy is a pipe dream...