GM parks the SUVs, squeezes into compacts -- Prices, Ohio, Gene...

Good. Get those fat-assed, gas-guzzling, exhaust-spewing, ostentatious, hulking pieces of American glut off the road.
Too bad about the jobs, though. Regular people simply trying to survive in a capitalist world.

Tom, that won't happen. They're worthless as a trade-in, even at $5/gallon it would take years to make up for the depreciation loss in fuel savings, not to mention the price of a new car, and interest on the car loan.

It would take the average SUV driver 10 years to break even on fuel savings buying a different vehicle, even more when you consider the interest they could get on that money keeping it in the bank instead of spending it.

And even if they DID get rid of their fat-assed gas-guzzling etc vehicles, someone else would buy them cheap ad drive them around anyway.

Like it or not, Tom, most of the vehicles on the road are SUV's, trucks and minivans. And that's not going to change until they eventually get old, wear out, and fall apart. And the folks at GM aren't stupid -- by that time they will come up with a more efficient fleet of fat-assed, ostentatious, hulking pieces of American glut to replace them with, because clearly, that's exactly what American's WANT to drive.

I suggest you get used to them, Tom. Cars have been big since the first cars were built up until the mid '80s, when everyone bought trucks and SUV's instead because they stopped making big cars.

Finally, the gas prices are having some clearly visible effects on consumption/production patterns. IMO, GM is making the right moves. Chrysler/Dodge, on the other hand, with gas price promotions, is hoping to capitalize on others' actions.

IMO, congress should make sure the gas is never sold below $4 a gallon to reward the consumers and producers that are making responsible choices. Any tax can go into a trust fund to offset income/FICA taxes as suggested by many others.

I am sorry that the people in WI and OH are losing manufacturing jobs again.
But I always wondered why a person would NEED a Hummer - SUVs , vans, pick-ups all have some use - but unless you are engaed in military action - why would you need a Hummer?
Then again - I always looked at my vehicle as a method to get from point A to point B when public transportation was not feasible ...

mjj, NOTHING in this country has been about what we NEED for the last 50 years, its all een about giving people what they WANT and making money off them.

I'll never understand why the tree-hugging crowd feel they are entitled to criticize SUV owners. It is your right not to drive one. It is not your right to take a holier-than-thou attitude towards those who do.

I also can't get my head around why it's so hard for Detroit to figure out how to make a desirable small car. Small doesn't have to equal crappy: just look at the Mini Cooper or the BMW 3-series.

This has been coming our way for literally decades. I moved back to Chicago from northern Michigan last fall. It's been truly painful to live in Michigan during its decline. Thanks, Detroit -- and all the support industries (including oil) that have put off this day until it has reached a crisis point.

Hummers ended when I got married.

mjj wrote:

I am sorry that the people in WI and OH are losing manufacturing jobs again.
But I always wondered why a person would NEED a Hummer - SUVs , vans, pick-ups all have some use - but unless you are engaed in military action - why would you need a Hummer?
Then again - I always looked at my vehicle as a method to get from point A to point B when public transportation was not feasible ...

I do believe that if I were again in the Army, in Iraq, I surely would NOT want to be driving down a road in a Hummer.

Jon wrote:

I'll never understand why the tree-hugging crowd feel they are entitled to criticize SUV owners. It is your right not to drive one. It is not your right to take a holier-than-thou attitude towards those who do.
I also can't get my head around why it's so hard for Detroit to figure out how to make a desirable small car. Small doesn't have to equal crappy: just look at the Mini Cooper or the BMW 3-series.

Sounds as though you want to have your cake and eat it too.

Irresponsible for GM to make it in the first place, and all the people that bought it were irresponsible. Then the government under the Republicans was also irresponsible for giving so many of these people business write-offs - essentially the tax payers subsidized these purchases that went against the public interests of safety (for others), fuel supply, and on some level the environment as these vehicles I don't believe had the same stringent catalytic converter requirements as normal cars.

Fortunately, the free market, karma, etc. intervened. Good luck selling your hummers folks. You'll probably have to take a big loss, unless of course, your purchased was subsidized by the taxpayers.

Jon's comment, "I'll never understand why the tree-hugging crowd feel they are entitled to criticize SUV owners..."

Jon, it's called the First Amendment, free speech. You guys have your Fox News/Republican mouthpiece people that spew venom and villify "liberals" and "tree-huggers" 24/7, 365 days a year. Then you say we can't criticize? You sound like a fascist.

Besides the right to speech, the right wing view is unreasonable -gas guzzling through commuting in big SUVs by a significant part of the public isn't good because of fuel supply issues, safety to others (fender benders leading to death, visibility for other drivers), economic harm in the form of unjustified tax payer subsidies, and possibly environmental harm due to SUVs not having the same emission standards.

If you can't take the criticism, don't call your politician. Call your therapist.

Let's not forget that the US government has already intervened on behalf of American carmakers. In 1981, they placed import quotas on foreign cars to allow Detroit's 'Big Three' to retool and become competitive.

What did the 'Big Three' do with that government-forced reprieve? They went on a merger/acquisition spree, buying unrelated companies.

What did the Japanese carmakers do? They accepted the fact that they couldn't flood the US market with low-cost, small cars. They then started 'premium' divisions to sell a fewer number of high-margin cars from Acura, Infiniti, and Lexus.

The moral of the story is that one group adapted and flourished, the other did not.

Concerning such big, huge, ugly, and virtually impossible to park monstrosities as the Hummer, if they were manufactured only for the US Army, and therefore the only way for a member of the general public to obtain one was to buy one used at a government surplus sale and at which they were offered for sale for five hundred dollars, a lot of the people who have been willing to pay the better part of one hundred thousand dollars for a Hummer would have refused to pay even two hundred dollars for one, or for that matter even take one for free.

However since they are for sale for outrageously high prices, therefore a lot of people decide that huge, ugly, and expensive monstrosities as the Hummer must be wonderful, and as a result decide they absolutely must and need to have one.

In other words, people being awed by and impressed by such ugly and useless phenomena as the Hummer is an excellent illustration of the fact that many boys never really grow up, it's just that as they get older they get a desire for more and more expensive toys.

I drive a Hummer (H3) and I love it. I would hate to see GM discontinue this vehicle. I know that it is not the most fuel efficient vehicle, but it is so comfortable and provides a smooth ride. If you're going to drive a Hummer you just have to know that you will spend a little more on gas, but it is worth it!

Instead of closing the auto plants, change the equipment to produce different types automobiles like smaller cars and hybrids. People always hollering about protecting the environnment; yet, don't use the brains to create jobs and make products that people will buy to protect the environment.

It sounds like Jimmy forgot his medication this morning. Save the "fascist" label for your next rant.

A Humvee in the deserts of the middle east is a tool. A city-dweller trying to wedge his behemoth into a parking space at 7-11 is also a tool.

I just purchased a Dodge Durango last week. The gas mileage isn't that bad (15-16 MPG) and I love the features, reliability and 4x4 capacity for the bad Illinois winters. I don't care if gas goes to $5 or $6/gal, a SUV is a great vehicle!