Rueters: GM Cuts '05 Earnings Outlook by 80 Pct

[stopbush]

GM Cuts '05 Earnings Outlook by 80 Pct

DETROIT (Reuters) - General Motors Corp. (NYSE:GM - news) on Wednesday warned its 2005 earnings will be as much as 80 percent below its prior forecast due to slumping North American auto sales, sending its shares down 12 percent to a 13-year low.

"GM North America is, simply put, our 800-pound gorilla, and today's announcement shows how important it is that we get this business right," Chairman and Chief Executive Rick Wagoner told analysts and reporters on a conference call.

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=580&ncid=580&e=1&u=/nm/20050316/bs_nm/autos_gm_dc

[havocmom]

1. So when do they figure out it is the middle class that runs the engine of

the US economy and stop outsourcing work?
No decent paychecks = no shoppers. It is that simple

Folks, do not buy anything you don't absolutely need until the CEOs get that basic equation through their fucking skulls. Cut comsumption to the bone and let them understand what it is to loose THEIR jobs!

[mhr]

2. Bingo K-Mart Shoppers - No Middle Class - No Robust American Economy

eom

[jayfish]

8. It's Worse Than That.

I have a full-time job and make(i think)decent money. I haven't bought a discretionary item in over two-years and believe me, I have wanted to.

Jay

[BrainRants]

3. That, plus tired automotive design minus innovation equals another US

automaker that doesn't have a clue.

[CindyDale]

4. Bad karma for making Hummers n/t

[n2doc]

13. not just Hummers

but also Suburbans (12 mpg in city!), Tahoes, trailBlazers, and the ever lovin' Caddy Escalade's....Not to mention the behemouth Chevy and GMC trucks...They love em down here in Texas, but I guess even * lovers are running short of cash. Time for a new Tax cut!
:puke:

[PROGRESSIVE1]

5. Well between shrinking incomes and the fact that U.S auto makers...

are subpar against their Japenese counterparts, I understand what has happened hear. Though, I am concerned that one of the World's largest companies is having such trouble.

[CornField]

6. Damn... 80%... Damn!

[gratuitous]

7. Golly, you make a crappy, overpriced product

That breaks down long before it should, and nobody who can afford 20 mpg crapmobiles wants to buy them, and the people who might buy them can't afford them.

Why, it's an outrage, I tells ya! GM needs a government bailout!

Humorous, isn't it, that the week after Congress imposes fiscal responsibility on little folks with the new bankruptcy bill, the major corporate citizen of the country turns up with empty pockets. I wonder how many advocates of personal responsibility will rush to bail out this arrogant, out-of-touch corporation?

[BrainRants]

9. Bingo. Bingo. And Bingo.

Well said.

[billbuckhead]

10. GM's trying to save Buick by giving it's new cars French names

and putting in big 5.7L pushrod V8's sideways driving the front wheels. LaCrosse, Lucerne, Rendezvous, Lausanne, Ranier, what's next? LaChirac? They're a farce of a car maker.

[BrainRants]

11. Buick = old fart car (with aplogies to other old farts out there)

GM screwed up big time when they let Olds languish then killed it in favor of keeping Buick. I know a lot of young people and families who bought and liked Olds (me included) and couldn;t see owning a Buick because it's an old man car.

Car & Driver described the new LaCrosse best when ti said "This car will feel right at home doing 10 under in the left lane"

Disclosure: I'm in my 40's and own an '01 Aurora...It's one of the best cars I've ever owned and a BLAST to drive. Modern hot rod!

Shame on GM for getting rid of Olds.

[oc2002]

12. GM needs to make a better car.

There was a big story in the Detroit News. While GM officials try to paint the story as being the result of high production costs, the more fundamental problem is product. None of GM's new bread n' butter cars (Impala, Malibu, G6, Cobalt) are particularly good. They are decent and an improvement over their predecessors but not as good as their Japanese counterparts. They got fat on easy to make SUVs (pickups with a new shell and fancy interiors) and have lost the car market. If you make a product the customer wants then sales will be good. Dealers can't keep the Chrysler 300 Sedan and the Ford Mustang on the lot for more than a day. In contrast the backlog from some of these GM dogs is nearly 300 days