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Discounting Kirk and Lutz, GM has improved quality tremendously in the past five years. They have lagged in putting out what people want, but that is changing; not as fast as I and many others would like, but it is happening.
I believe they do sell more vehicle models, with over 30 mpg, than any other manufacturer, the new designed 900 trucks, in my opinion are sharp looking and practical for trucks.
The new Saturn Aura appears to be a big winner, and the G6 (which I personally do not like) is selling great. The Cobalt is a big seller, and that fugly HHR is also selling great (don't ask me why). Their sales in Europe are starting to rise again, and in China, they are now the largest selling manufacturer. Latin America, Africa and the Middle East are also showing signs of rising sales.


The legacy costs GM has is hurting them, but they are working on that. Just look at the reductions in UAW workers and their changes in benefits. They have basically frozen all non-UAW workers retirement benefits as of Dec. 31 of this year.

I bet the negotiations next year with the UAW will be very interesting, and the world will see how flexible the UAW can be. If they are not flexible, GM will continue to have problems. If they prove to be flexible, GM will benefit as well as all other manufacturers.

We can all condemn GM for some bad decisions (hell, I do and I work for them), but if they went out of business tomorrow, or were forced out or split up by someone like Kirkorian, believe me, there are few on this site who would not feel the results. Thousands of dealerships would close and their employees would be gone, truckers would see serious layoffs, port workers, suppliers, tire companies, etc. will all be affected, and with this number of people unemployed, it will also affect the professional arena such as Doctors, Lawyers, Dentists, etc.
Some states would be devastated such as MI, OH, IN with this large of a tax base suddenly gone. This would cause cutbacks in service, or more likely a raise in taxes.

I'm not sure how many people have jobs due to GM, but I would bet it is over a quarter of a million directly, and can't even fathom how many indirectly.