GM "Proud" Commercial

[mustangsallysdad]

Has everyone seen the GM commercial that features Ed Whittaker boasting that GM has repaid it's Federal loan with interest, 5 years ahead of schedule...amazing what a tourniquet can do for a profusely bleeding wound...here's hoping they don't loosen it too soon and end up in the same situation...of course, the Fed still owns controlling interest in GM, so who would we have to blame if it happens again? Ourselves, I guess, since we (tax payers) collectively still own them. Also, as a matter of personal opinion, and as a Ford stock holder, I would like to see Ford drop the Mercury line of products...they've already ceased marketing them for the most part and according to the quarterly report, the market share is such that it doesn't seem feasible to continue to produce them. Of course, I'm not a "Blue Oval" bean counter, so I don't know if or when that will happen. By the way, I saw the GM commercial on HLN (big Robin Meade fan) a full 4 hours ahead of the Fed announcement confirming the pay back.

 

[955er]

Look closer. The problem is that they are paying it back with taxpayer money. Additionally, GMAC is nowhere close to, and likely will never pay back all the tarp money they took.

This is just propoganda so that GM can start issuing stock again.

 

[mustangsallysdad]

Look closer. The problem is that they are paying it back with taxpayer money. Additionally, GMAC is nowhere close to, and likely will never pay back all the tarp money they took.

This is just propoganda so that GM can start issuing stock again.

Oh, I know that...I just find the "spin" that GM placed on that fact amusing. In fact, my part of the post regarding GM was typed with the utmost of sarcasm in mind.

 

[bp fick]

Don't drive GM. However, I do wish them the very best. They need to come back, and as Americans, we should wish them the very best. (My "vote" would have been to let them go away a year ago.) But now, I find the commercial a reasonable attempt at saying to their consumers, "you can buy a car or truck from us." Nothing wrong in that. They will need all the salesmanship they can muster. BTW, Toyota's "feel good about us and commitment to safety and to you" is virtually the same, and for the same purpose. I'm fine with it. Want to talk about catheter ads? Now, those disgust me mostly. I'd watch the GM ad 10 to 1 over that stuff.

 

[oldnslo]

Problem with the ad is that there are "LOTS" of people that will take this at face value and think, hey this is great so the NEXT time we have to bail them out it will be even less fuss and concern.

The wall street mess and Auto mess is FAR from cleaned up and "we" the tax payers are going to paying this bill until we die....

Roy

 

[ToadHill]

I've bought my last GM and Chrysler product. I told the wife next car for her, when her Caddy gives out will have to be a Lincoln, ( that woman likes the comfort of heated seats in her old age.) I've owned Ford trucks for more years than I care to count and they have always been very reliable.

No matter what GM says or how much they tout themselves for paying back this loan, I always will remember the company that made poor decisions to get them in trouble to begin with. They were too inbred, car guy hires car guy hires car guy etc. They need to get some blood from other industries in to get a new perspective on how to do things.

Just my opinion.

 

[mustangsallysdad]

Problem with the ad is that there are "LOTS" of people that will take this at face value and think, hey this is great so the NEXT time we have to bail them out it will be even less fuss and concern.

The wall street mess and Auto mess is FAR from cleaned up and "we" the tax payers are going to paying this bill until we die....

Roy

Agreed...there seems to be this mass thinking in this country; if it was seen on TV, in the paper, or on the Internet, it just has to be a fact. No allowance for the "spin" each media outlet has placed on the story under their Constitutional protections...even on TBN it seems that everytime someone wants to lend credibility to their opinion or story they post a link to Wikipedia or some other internet resource...the media has become the "darling" of big business and politics...in my opinion, the media has become the trailer park of the new millennium.

 

[beenthere]

I think the hype is all smoke and mirrors. Trying to make the public feel like the Gov't can fix anything (warning to me for what is going to come).

If it were not for the inflated payments to GM employees doing nothing for their pay, there would be no need for the taxpayers money to support them. Should fail if the company can't make money on their products.

I have driven GM (on my second Trailblazer) and they have a very competitive product. I too have bought my last GM product. No more from Government Motors for me.

I just hope the 2009 TB performs as well as the 2001 TB that I drove 160,000 miles with zero trouble and near zero maintenance (other than tires and one thermostat).

 

[dmccarty]

resource...the media has become the "darling" of big business and politics...in my opinion, the media has become the trailer park of the new millennium.

The "media" has always been the media. If anything the "media" is better today than yesterday. I know that is hard to believe. :laughing:

The difference in today and yesterday is that many decades ago you had multiple newspapers in a city so you got different viewpoints. If you wanted a different viewpoint. But then the papers merged so you only had one paper in an area. Now the papers and magazines are disappearing and we have the Wild World of the Web.

But at least on the WWW we have different opinions and we are not stuck with the trash that our local media monopoly throws at us. We now have choice.

Later,
Dan

 

[jinman]

Seems to me that I remember GM going bankrupt and liquidating. My shares of GM stock sold for pennies on the dollar while my Ford stock soared. GM may have paid back some of it's gov't loans, but they haven't paid me back my loses and never will. I'm insulted everytime I see the new GM commercial. Through all this time, Ford has rewarded their shareholders greatly by thier decisions, and even to a lesser degree, so has Toyota since their stock has risen in recent months. It will be a long time before the bitterness in my mouth with GM goes away. This commercial ain't doin' it for me.

 

[mjarrels]

Use to have a $40,000 dollar GM bond... Glad we cashed that in before the GM mess!

mark

 

[Chuck52]

I don't know how to feel about the auto bailouts, but I do remember all the angst about the loss of steel manufacturing in this country. What to do? What to do? When in trouble when in doubt, run in circles, scream and shout! It's someone else's fault anyway.

Should our government have gotten involved when the steel industry tanked? Would the US be better off if it had? I don't know. Do you?

Chuck

 

[YanmarFever]

The loan was paid off with GM stock.

No money was exchanged, it went from 1 pocket to the other

 

[Bird]

I would like to see Ford drop the Mercury line of products...they've already ceased marketing them for the most part and according to the quarterly report, the market share is such that it doesn't seem feasible to continue to produce them.

Since the Mercury line seems to be nothing but rebadged Fords, I guess I'd agree. However, if they did that, I think Ford should come back with the Crown Victoria. I liked those big Fords as police sedans (yeah, I know they took a beating over bursting into flames when rammed from behind by high speed drunks) and I like our current 2002 Crown Vic. But now you have to buy a Mercury Grand Marquis since Ford discontinued the Crown Vic for individual sales.

when her Caddy gives out will have to be a Lincoln, ( that woman likes the comfort of heated seats in her old age.)

Aren't there plenty of car brands with the heated seat option? I'd have absolutely no use for it myself, but our daugher has a Chevy Trailblazer with that option.

 

[mustangsallysdad]

The "media" has always been the media. If anything the "media" is better today than yesterday. I know that is hard to believe. :laughing:

The difference in today and yesterday is that many decades ago you had multiple newspapers in a city so you got different viewpoints. If you wanted a different viewpoint. But then the papers merged so you only had one paper in an area. Now the papers and magazines are disappearing and we have the Wild World of the Web.

But at least on the WWW we have different opinions and we are not stuck with the trash that our local media monopoly throws at us. We now have choice.

Later,
Dan

I agree with you for the most part with the exception of one point about the media...back in the day (think Howard Hughes type media) the media did exercise some respect/restraint and turn the other cheek to certain types of dirty laundry (JFK's affairs, FDR's disability, etc,) and some things were off limits...today it's a free for all with all of them chasing celebreties hoping to get a snapshot of someone blowing their nose or to get Hollywood's take on politics...I'm still waiting for Alec Baldwin to move to France as promised at W's first election. I'd even pay his airfare (coach, of course).

 

[mustangsallysdad]

Since the Mercury line seems to be nothing but rebadged Fords, I guess I'd agree. However, if they did that, I think Ford should come back with the Crown Victoria. I liked those big Fords as police sedans (yeah, I know they took a beating over bursting into flames when rammed from behind by high speed drunks) and I like our current 2002 Crown Vic. But now you have to buy a Mercury Grand Marquis since Ford discontinued the Crown Vic for individual sales.



Aren't there plenty of car brands with the heated seat option? I'd have absolutely no use for it myself, but our daugher has a Chevy Trailblazer with that option.

Yes they do...my F350 and Expedition have heated and cooled seats. Same with my daughter's Explorer. Can you hear me whispering? Buy Ford, buy Ford, buy Ford! Sorry, I am even more so biased than ever.

 

[scootr2d]

It is all hype and mirrors ... here is what they did ...

GM received $49.5 billion roughly $14.5 billion pre-bankruptcy and roughly $35 Billion during bankruptcy. Of the $35 billion, 16.4 billion was placed in an escrow account. $2.8 billion in the escrow account was used to resolve Delphi´ bankruptcy thus reducing the escrow account to $13.7 billion.

In exchange for the disbursement of $49.5 billion, the government received 60% stake in the new GM. $7.1 billion in interest bearing debt ($0.4 billion was paid back in July 2009).$2.1 billion of preferred stock. Thus, the through TARP, the government gave GM $49.5 billion in exchange for a mixture of debt and equity. The government can therefore recoup its investment by selling shares of GM stock after the release of the IPO and through the repayment of the interest bearing bonds.

What GM has done is use the TARP money that was placed in escrow by the Treasury Department to repay the remaining interest bearing debt of $6.7 billion. Given that this money was not paid for with profits earned by the company it is effectively a debt-for-equity swap not a loan repayment. In other words, the Treasury approved the repayment of the loan with the escrow funds and the government therefore hopes to recover the remainder of their investment by selling common stock after GMC's initial public offering that is intended to take place this year

So In a nutshell here's what they did -

GM didn't pay back anything. If they used money from an escrow account, they essentially moved money around from one place to another, but their total amount owing is still the same. For instance, if I have a line of credit and a separate bank loan, even if I draw on my credit line to pay off my bank loan, I haven't gained anything other than maybe saving on interest charges if there is a difference between the two loans. It's like using your mastercard to pay off your visa. If you keep doing this, you actually will go further into debt as you aren't generating any real money to pay down your total debt.

Anyone feel like the little guy got the shaft again yet??

 

[Dmace]

So when is Ford going to pay back the billions of dollars that the government handed them...?

 

[AchingBack]

Seems to me that I remember GM going bankrupt and liquidating. My shares of GM stock sold for pennies on the dollar while my Ford stock soared. GM may have paid back some of it's gov't loans, but they haven't paid me back my loses and never will. I'm insulted everytime I see the new GM commercial. Through all this time, Ford has rewarded their shareholders greatly by thier decisions, and even to a lesser degree, so has Toyota since their stock has risen in recent months. It will be a long time before the bitterness in my mouth with GM goes away. This commercial ain't doin' it for me.

Perhaps the lyrics to the commercial should be re-written to read: Oh yeah, Like a Crock.

 

[mustangsallysdad]

So when is Ford going to pay back the billions of dollars that the government handed them...?

That wasn't TARP money...that was money targeted at the industry as a whole and not for an individual company. With the just announced 2.1 billion first quarter profit, I expect Ford will continue to take the high road and do what is best for the taxpayers, customers, and the industry in general. Comparing what Ford did to what GM and Chrysler did is really a stretch...like a BB gun to a Howitzer kind of stretch.