Ford and GM get trashed!

With the world coming to grips that we are on the DECLINE of world oil production, we've seen the end of inexpensive oil and gas prices. you can like it or not...that is a fact. Soooo....in light of that, what does GM and Ford do? they spend the last few years building a business model centered around giant, gas guzzling trucks. As the second part of their double pronged business attack, they've avoided alternative/hybrid technology and really downplayed its worth in general. GM was the worst culpret, actually running Saturn ads putting down hybrids. yeah.

BRILLIANT!

so what does this genius plan produce? well, in their effort to avoid 'tree hugging' and create the ...i dunno, what to call it...? market segment that says "Hey, i need RANCHER vehicles in the CITY!"...they've managed lose $1.1 BILLION in one quarter (GM alone). i hope to god this gets these idiots to start making better cars that are cheaper to run...otherwise it'll be the 1970s all over again and detroit will be kicked in the teeth...again.

Salon.com News | Hummertime blues: "At the end of April, G.M. reported losses of $1.1 billion in the first quarter of this year. The company's market share has fallen to an 80-year low. This week, G.M. announced a recall of some 2 million vehicles, including some of their most popular SUVs. Meanwhile, Ford Motor Co.'s first-quarter earnings fell by more than one-third, with sales of the usually popular Ford Explorer falling 25 percent in the first quarter."

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DETROIT (AP) - A New York rating agency declared billions of dollars of debt owed by General Motors and Ford to be "junk" on Thursday, a significant blow that will increase borrowing costs and limit fund-raising options for the nation's two biggest automakers. ...

The numbers involved already are enormous: GM paid about $12 billion in interest on debt last year and Ford's tab totaled about $7.1 billion. GM's consolidated debt as of March 31 was $291.8 billion and Ford's totaled $161.3 billion, S&P said.