Filed under: EV/Plug-in, Legislation and Policy
GM-Volt founder pens open letter in support of GM aid package
Perhaps one of the biggest fans on the planet of the Chevrolet Volt is Dr. Lyle Dennis, a New York city neuro-surgeon. Immediately after originally seeing the Volt concept in January 2007, Dennis launched GM-Volt.com. Ever since then he and his readers have been cheerleaders for GM's extended-range EV. Dennis set up a waiting list for people to register their interest in the car, and over 45,000 people have signed up. With the financial crisis that's engulfing General Motors right now, the Volt has remained the only upcoming product that hasn't seen its development dollars cut yet. However, even though the engineering teams are still working on the Volt, the car is ultimately dependent on the survival of the company as a whole. Lyle Dennis wants to maker sure that GM, and thus the Volt, survive. To that end he has written a letter targeted at President Bush, Congress and Treasury secretary Henry Paulson urging them to provide financial aid to GM as soon as possible. If you're interested in expressing your support you can print out the letter from the site, sign it and send it to your representatives.
[Source: GM-Volt]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
Anth 11:37AM (11/14/2008)
It wont work though. That's the problem.
GM, Ford, and Chrysler need to go into bankruptcy and reset the wages and benefits of their employees. The airlines have done this the past 15 years - going Ch. 11 and cutting wages and benefits to pilots, flight attendants, etc. The employees might not like it, but its better than the entire airline shutting down. Same goes for the big three. They're going to have to slash wage costs and then hope the economy rebounds over the next two years.
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Stan 11:37AM (11/14/2008)
This makes no sense to me. They should develop this car like their life depended on it - and it does. If they enter bankruptcy I imagine they will have certain research money protected or ask for a loan just for the volt. The volt will not make GM money anyway for a long time. Giving up on the Volt would be like Apple asking for aid in 1998 when it had not yet made great products. What did it do? It innovated like - this is our last chance. Why do we want GM to keep making the same crap and be a sloppy behemoth?
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Fred 9:12PM (11/15/2008)
The Volt is a poor excuse for a car. You need a garage with an outlet to charge the battery before starting. What about those people without garages who need to park their cars in the street. Toyota has perfected their hybrids. The engine starts the car. Period. The battery is charged while driving.
Volt engine kicks in after driving 400 miles. Oh yeah? Wanna bet? Short hops prevents that. You GM want a bail out. If it was left up to me you would not get one. You'd receive a dunce hat instead.
John Rowell 10:44PM (11/15/2008)
Fred, your post shows that you know absolutely nothing about the Volt. Please do some research before posting next time. (1) The Volt does not need to be recharged, you should recharge it for maximum MPG but if you don't it acts much like a regular hybrid. (2) The Volt's electric-only range is not 400 miles, it's more like 30 miles. And if there's not enough juice in the battery, it runs on gas like any other car.
Alric 11:59AM (11/14/2008)
I think that after mismanaging so badly their business while receiving millionaire salaries the companies should be left to their own devices.
What the government should do is create equal footing for new visionary companies like Tesla and Vectrix to market their products without the regulations that guarantee the monopoly of the big three.
Just like bankers these people believe they are entitled to their companies and salary even in the face of incompetence.
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bailout 12:15PM (11/14/2008)
The Volt isn't enough to save the US auto industry, and the reason to bailout the US auto industry is not the Volt.
Acting like the Volt justifies the past wrongs of GM is the same kind of blind ignorance that got GM into trouble in the first place.
Chearleading is followers. Reading GM-Volt is like reading the new bible where GM is god and has never done anything wrong. Follow along ye mindless sheep. blahhhhhh
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Tim 12:16PM (11/14/2008)
I can NOT support socialist redistribution and central planning over the Constitution.
When federal bureaucrats override market forces and choose winners and losers, we ALL lose!
Why? REAL free market competition reduces costs and spurs innovation. Central planning kills competition which destroys innovation and increases costs for everyone. Look at what it did to the Soviets!
If GM (or any other corporation) is so poorly run that they face bankruptcy, then just throwing MORE money at it will only encourage malfeasance. You need only look to the financial bailout for proof as they are keeping the money for themselves. GM need to be bankrupted and liquidated so room is made in the market for better run companies with products that the market WANTS to buy.
Sometimes even lions become old and weak. When this happens, they need to die and feed the next generation. The circle of life happens in business too. It’s only natural.
Artificial life like what you propose always leads to destruction and pain.
Did you ever see the movie Frankenstein’s Monster? That abomination was (or any other company) GM under federal bureaucratic control.
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Supersoul 12:25PM (11/14/2008)
Just let these mismanaged corporate dinosaurs die the slow death they so richly deserve. They learned nothing from the Arab oil embargoes of the '70's. The Japanese auto manufacturers have been eating their collective lunches for three decades. And don't think for one minute that just one overpriced, not-ready-for-primetime electric car will save GM. We will be providing financial life support for the big 2.5 for years and years. Just pull the plug now an put them out of their misery.
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Jason Sander 1:01PM (11/14/2008)
It's fashionable to hate on GM because of the way the company has historically been run. I'm not advocating admonishment of their sins, as GM certainly has made a lot of bad decisions, but at the same time, the problem with simply letting it die is the affect it would have on the rest of the economy. Many smaller suppliers are supported by GM, from whom GM buys parts. If GM simply folds, many of these companies will also fold, and the unemployment rate coule skyrocket. Things look bad now for the economy, but if that happens, I wouldn't be suprised to see The Great Depression No. 2.
These are the coices as I see them.
1: Let GM die, put thousands and thousands of Americans out of work until some other company restarts the American car industry.
2: Help GM get back on its feet, perhaps put it under new management, and move forward.
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Richard 3:53PM (11/14/2008)
As true as your statement may seem, it's very shallow. The slack brought on by the demise of GM would be swallowed up by the competition. Which, if they survive, would bring better products to market and make a better case for survival than GM's antiquated thinking. Let's face it, Toyota, Honda, and a few foreign companies would step in and buy up any inventories, and new companies would set up shop in Detroit and offer work. GM's death IS NOT the end of the world. GM and the other 2, would have us believe that they need to be supported in order to save the work force and economy. Truth be told, if they cared, they would have done things right in the first place.
Anth 5:00PM (11/14/2008)
It used to be that America had FOUR large aircraft manufacturing companies:
Boeing
McDonnell
Douglas
Lockheed
What happened? Well, McDonnell merged with Douglas in the 60s, and became McDonnell-Douglas. Lockheed dropped out of the commercial aircraft arena (they still make military aircraft). In the 90s, Boeing acquired McDonnell-Douglas.
Now we have 1 manufacturer of large commercial aircraft in the US. They compete on a worldwide level with Airbus, and to a very small extent, Embrarer and Bombardier.
I'm thinking its time something similar happened - even if we just go down to 2, GM/Chrysler and Ford, I think that's a huge improvement.
noz 1:05PM (11/14/2008)
TIM:
"""I can NOT support socialist redistribution and central planning over the Constitution.
When federal bureaucrats override market forces and choose winners and losers, we ALL lose!
Why? REAL free market competition reduces costs and spurs innovation. Central planning kills competition which destroys innovation and increases costs for everyone. Look at what it did to the Soviets!"""
Absolute bullsht....the "FREE MARKET" and deregulation got us into this mess.
Try telling countries that have socialist hybrid systems which offer their citizens far better quality of life than you could dream of here that their systems don't work.
Why do people in this country fear socialism so much? Is it because it'll cut into your greed?
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Tim 5:08PM (11/15/2008)
Noz #10
You’re obviously ignorant of the facts, so I’ll try and help you…
It was CRA (socialist central planning) and Fiat currency that caused the malfeasance which created the bubble in the first place.
The CRA forced Fanny and Freddy to buy substandard loans given to those with bad credit so that everyone who could fog a mirror could own their own home. This created a marketplace (Fanny & Freddy) for the bad loans and coupled with cheap credit (the Fed adding liquidity of their fiat currency) and weird mortgage products (“2/28” “3/27”, 80%/20% etc.), due to the bank's attempt to comply with FEDERAL CRA public policy LAW which flooded the market with bad mortgage loans which ultimately collapsed.
Use your brain, Noz! NO bank wanted to make these bad loans and lose money so the liberals in gov’t forced them to! Wall Street greed was a SIMPTOM, and NOT the cause! The CAUSE was socialist Central Planning.
If you wonder which came first, it was Socialist Central Planning (CRA) PLUS cheap and easily available credit which caused the unintended consequences of bad loans which hyper inflated the market creating the bubble which burst when the 2-year balloons began to mature and people could not refinance or sell their over leveraged property so they just abandoned them.
There was absolutely NOTHING “free” about THAT market. The FREE market would have required a larger down payment, more interest, and a stronger credit rating that the CRA allowed them to BY LAW.
If you don’t understand this you are truly a FOOL!
noz 2:38AM (11/17/2008)
WTF are you talking about TIM....it was the freaking Bush administration that asked the banks to lax the lending laws.
Last I checked, Bush Co wasn't liberal....
Get your head out of your ass. Learn what a good working socialist system can do for its people. Stop the BS fearmongering.
Ping 1:43PM (11/14/2008)
Let one die so that the others may survive.
If GM falls, demand for Ford and Chrysler vehicles will go up, and they will be able to get out of their crisis with minimal assistance, and the employees at these companies would be saved from cuts. At the same time, the GM's allowed failure could act as a warning to the other automakers, forcing them to innovate.
The R&D on the Volt would be purchased by Ford or Chrysler, who would then produce the car.
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anoldbikeguy 2:02PM (11/14/2008)
Sam -
You need to get your facts straight if you want creditability.
"the Volt has remained the only upcoming product that hasn't seen its development dollars cut yet."
Stop repeating what you have heard others say and do some basic research before making statements like this.
Basic information on the Volt includes that it is being developed on the same platform as the Chevy Cruze.
Meaning, as GM has said several times to stop this mindless repetition of blatantly obvious hogwash, just on this one vehicle alone - the platform tooling is in process, the engine plant has the same engine in two different displacements for the Volt and Cruze respectively and myriad other systems are shared because THEY ARE ON THE SAME PLATFORM!!
If you have a statement to make about something it is your right, but since you are claiming to have journalistic integrity, check your facts first.
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oollyoumn 2:22PM (11/14/2008)
Giving Rick and Bob money for doing a poor job is what got GM to this point. Rick has been with the company for ever and had been largely in charge for the last decade. Coincidentally that is about the same amount of time that GM's stock has been steadily declining in value. Any effort to save this company needs to include these two being axed.
In bankruptcy these two would most certainly be out, but if the public bails out GM they will likely get bonuses for their ability to con the government.
I don't but the argument that all these hundreds of thousands of people will be out of work if GM fails. While the car market is shrinking, and would likely shrink further, that demand will not just disappear. Many jobs may move to Ford or someone else. I think there is a lot of exaggeration going on here.
Also, if GM is so broke, why are they buy stake in Chinese companies, and building factories in other countries?
I don't want my money wasted this way, and I may print out the letter as a template for an opposing letter to my representative.
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Sasparilla 2:46PM (11/14/2008)
This is a tough choice...not only does GM need to shed alot of jobs (10's of thousands - which they can't by union contract until 2010), but they also need to drop medical coverage of union retirees (they just shifted their nonunion ranks over to mediscare), dramatically reduce their brands and dealerships and get rid of alot of management. They need to do this just to be a going concern in the future - let alone have good product.
Few of these things can be accomplished by a handout from the US government. All of these things would be accomplished by going through Chapter 11 bankruptcy where GM would, presumably, emerge a leaner/meaner organization.
I'm actually inclined to wanting to help GM and their workers, but I don't see any help the government could give them as helping them solve their problems. Reluctantly, I say let them plan for and work things out in Chapter 11.
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gorr 8:57PM (11/14/2008)
Gm is just a high financial compagny. They are no car guys. they are money for money guys like the banks and your truly in charge of the world trade center They happen to destroy everything that they steal like any criminal do. And their volt is just a political statement, nobody will buy that car with 2 limp propulsion system. It's a flop concept. It won't work good and it cost billions and billions to start production. They won't steal customer from honda civic and toyota corrolla that cost 17 000$ vs a volt at 40 000$. Only sony with their gran turismo video game have a good product in the car business these days.
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gerrrg 3:09PM (11/17/2008)
I don't think a Volt fan has any additional credence above anyone else.
For starters, I think GM is milking the Volt for publicity first and foremost. And then to top it off, the design has grown less appealing after the makeover from the original.
While Toyota and Honda are contemplating the expansion paths for their hybrids and bringing their smaller cars over from Europe to the US, it seems like the Big 3 are stalling their efforts to bring smaller vehicles to the US market, and their hybrid production is so small, you can barely see it with a magnifying glass.
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