GM cancels L.A. auto show debut

General Motors has made the L.A. Auto Show shine a little less brightly.

The cash-starved automaker said today that it would cancel its only news conference at the annual event, originally planned as the North American debut of the Saab 9-X Air BioHybrid Convertible. The executive who was to conduct the reveal of the concept car, Vice Chairman Bob Lutz, also will not be attending the show, which opens to the public Nov. 21. The vehicle will be on display at the show, however, just without a flashy introduction.

The company described the cutback as a cost-saving measure. In the third quarter, GM burned through cash so quickly -- about $2.3 billion per month -- that executives predicted that, without outside help, it would run out of cash sometime in the first two quarters of next year.

Now the automaker is lobbying Washington for help, and Congress, as well as President-elect Barack Obama, is pushing for $50 billion or more in low-interest loans, or for other financing alternatives. Meanwhile, GM has dramatically cut back on production and other expenses and has reduced product-development expenditures.

The Saab concept car had its worldwide debut at the Paris Motor Show in October. Last year, GM debuted three cars at the L.A. show. The fact that it will officially debut zero vehicles in the single largest auto market in the U.S. is another reminder of the industry's dire situation.

-- Ken Bensinger

Photo: Saab 9-X Air BioHybrid Convertible. Credit: General Motors

Comments

[Edward Pita]

Former defense secretary - Mr. Charles Wilson - probably nobody remembers him - said - What's good for GM is good for America! - those were the days of snappy Chevys, great looking Pontiacs, inexpensive Oldsmobiles, comfortable Buicks, and the luxurious Cadillac was the standard of the world! It is hard to imagine how the executives (we can't blame the workers too much) allowed GM to get into this predicament where its stock will be good for wallpaper - It is so sad - but at least "stuck up Lutz" won't be able to afford corporate bodyguards any more - maybe he will be like the rest of us and have to work for a living and now will be forced to design cars with quality that GM can sell! E. Pita

[Mike D]

No new BioHybrid but I'm sure they'll be showing off the new Hummer H3T. The folks at GM are geniuses.

[celia]

I can't stand concept cars. They cost tens of millions, most of them are impractical for consumers, and they usually look like crap. How about spending all those millions on converting all current models into hybrids? Duh!

[R Tray]

Let them fail. They have had decades to get their act together and they haven't.
Make way for the new big three: Honda, Toyota, and Volkswagen.

[Chris]

Thank the labor unions for GM's troubles. Because these unions have bled the American car companies dry, in order to compete with foreign automakers on price they have had to compromise quality.

[Bird]

Volkswagen?! They have one of the poorest reliability records of any modern automaker! If it wasn't for upscale offerings from Audi and a corner on the European Market, they wouldn't even matter in the US. I'll take a Nissan, Mitsubishi or Suburu over a Volkswagen. Even a GM owned Saab beats most reliability and fuel stats of VW.

[Bird]

P.S. Chris is semi right

[daniel smith]

WHY DOESN"T THE GOVT JUST GIVE BIG REBATES TO PEOPLE WHO BUY GM AND FORD CARS< STARTING OUT HIGH AND THEN PHASING IT OUT. THAT WOULD RAMP UP SALES.

[Dion Kraft from Paramount, CA]

The problem with GMs concept cars are that the vehicles they show are NOTHING like the ones that they produce under the same name. The VOLT is a fine example of a car which excited the masses but let them go limp with the production design. You say that CONCEPT cars are only that? Well in this day of digital design they can readily be examined so that a vehicle can be produced with the given designs that are imagined in your brain! If GM is going to go under why not make something that is pleasing and breathtaking than something like looks like a warmed up B210! Im not knocking the B210 - it was a success!

[Roy]

The issue for American automakers is it's too little--too late. My roommate in college had to take an engineers ethics class, and one of the stories in his book was about how American automakers have repeatedly claimed how gas mileage standards set were too high and unrealistic. But while they were there complaining--riding their excuses and inferior products, foreign automakers have not only repeatedly matched those standards, but often times exceeded those standards.

A part of me would feel great sense of grief for the country if these companies are to fail, but another part of me feels great glee in watching them crash and burn... --that said, I think the repercussions would be great for the people, and if policy-makers were to step in with a save, I would not complain... --although I do not believe for a split second that they deserve it.

The era of half-measures and procrastination is over, we have to move beyond this industry if our country is to ever thrive again...

[Roy]

"Ford is bunk." *rimshot*

re: union's being at fault. partly. I would agree they are partly at fault. The other part would be the failure of our policy-makers to have the political will to help enact national healthcare.

[Major Variola (ret)]

GM = Epic Fail.

Dinosaurs go extinct. Get over it.

[lugosi]

To R Tray: The unions have nothing to do with it.

How come European car makers were able to change radically their cars during the 80's in order to compete successfully with Japanese car?

GM did not have a vision of the future (quality, reliability, high gas prices ...) and did not consider Japanese cars as an inspiration until recently (mostly Ford). I'm guessing it's not too late, but it's gonna be expensive for taxpayers...

[Lamorial]

I have a Chrysler product 115,000 klms, has been babied, hardly ever over the speed limit. The brake repair cost me $1000. Now, it needs major repairs to the drive axles - seals and all.
Had a Ford Ranch Wagon which rusted-through on me not even two years later.
Did some repairs to my mom’s Oldsmobile, the dealer wanted over 6 times what I could get the brake parts from another parts store - imagine!
Thx a lot. GM, Ford, Chrysler!

[Jim]

The problem is not the company, it is the fault of the American buying public. For every Toyota, Hyundai, Lexus, Nissan, Subaru, Mitsubishi, blah, blah, blah you buy, that is one less job for an AMERICAN. An AMERICAN that is spending their salary on more American products and keeping the money within the shores of the good ole USA. When the big 3 go under, where are all those workers going to go to find jobs? They'll be after yours next and if they don't get it, we'll all be paying through the nose to support them on welfare. Regardless of the quality or design of the product you have to support your country or there will be no country left to support.

[Juanito]

"Thank the labor unions for GM's troubles. Because these unions have bled the American car companies dry, in order to compete with foreign automakers on price they have had to compromise quality."

What a bunch of bologna, I suppose the union leaders (while many are corrupt) put a gun to the manufacturers heads on a continous basis for the last 40 plus years. No one forced the big three to offer bad contracts time after time after time. If you realize you goofed, deal with it and solve it next time. It is hard to tell union workers that the awesome benefits and wages are not affordable while you are wearing $5,000 suits and carry around a small army worth of bodyguards and piss away money on grotesque sponsorships. No Chris, you are way, way off base by putting the weight of bad decsions from management on the shoulders of line workers. By the way, by your theory, I guess unions also decide what products should be designed/built/sold/etc...

As for Jim's comments, everyone of the companies you mention (without exception) builds a good percentage of cars here in the good ole USA. The american public is thinking rationally and purchasing vehicles of superior build quality and reliability. And since both my Camry and my Civic were built here in the US, I guess I am in a sense following your advise.

[356man]

I don't know, Bird, our new Beetle is doing just fine. Do you have any objective evidence to back up your claims?

[Juanito]

Jim:
The unemployed workers of the big three can go work at the plants owned and operated by "Toyota, Hyundai, Lexus, Nissan, Subaru, Mitsubishi, blah, blah, blah" here in the good ole USA. Those manufacturers do not import the labor force for their american plants do they?

[juan]

Detroit's plight is brought on by greed, pure and simple greed. They thought their product was better than it was. They thought the buyer could pay more than he could. The marketers sold the lie and the bankers financed it. The worker thought his work was worth more than it was. We would have been better off spending our money on mass transit.

[Steve]

The British car industry failed in the late 70s because they had inferior products that where poorly manufactured by an overpaid workforce. I think the same problem is afflicting the Ameican car industry.
The car manufacturers are myopic. Everyone with an ounce of knowledge foresaw the end of the SUV's popularity. All the Japanese and European manufacturers continued to develop good cars. They also built SUVs. The Americans just wanted to build SUVs because of the profit margins, they neglected cars with there smaller profit margins.
The government encouraged the continued investment in SUVs by not even demanding fuel efficiency.
The public has seen the writing on the wall and has stopped buying American designed cars. It was inevitable.
I drive a Honda that was assembled in Ohio. That is the future of the American car industry. Well designed products assembled by American workers in America.
My last car was a Ford that was assembled in Mexico. What is better an "American" car that is built overseas or a "foreign" car built in America.

[HarrisonC]

In the same time it took Hyundai to turn around its reputation in less than 2 decades, the Big Three have steadily lost ground. The auto industry is very important to the country, but if the Big Three cannot build cars that the people want, it's time to build something else. If the goverment wants to bail out this industry, offer the public a big discount. Don't put any bail out dough into the pockets of the Big THree execs!

[Mike]

American workers build Japanese cars in America. GM sells Saturns in America that are built by Eurpopeans in Europe. Ford owns Volvo. If you buy Big 3 products, some of your money stays here, some goes overseas - same with European and Japanese cars. The Big 3 don't deserve rescue, but it's a disgrace that the irresponsibility of their executives could result in massive unemployment for their workers and lost pensions for their retirees.

[Mike D]

You can't blame the American public. Toyota makes great cars here in America and Americans buy them. We look for value, style and quality. GM gives us Buicks, Ford gives us Taurus, Chrysler gives us Sebring. Boring, boring and boring.

Why doe GM still even offer the GMC line when every vehicle is also offered as a Chevy?

[Fiasco]

Sorry, Jim, but the American buying public shouldn't be expected to buy crap, year after year, without hope of it ever being improved. Japanese cars didn't take over the world overnight. They were laughed at in the beginning. It took decades of consistently crappy American cars to get to this point. So don't blame me or the unions--I bought American cars for years until I could no longer afford the costly repairs. Buying my first Honda was a revelation for me. I never had a single problem with it in the seven years I owned it. Compare that with my American cars being in the shop at least a few times a year. I'm a patriot--the US car makers should have been, too, and not expected us to buy their garbage simply because it's made here. That said, there are plenty of great American products that you will never get a chance to buy at Wal-Mart because Wal-Mart chooses to sell the cheap Chinese crap because Americans want to save a buck on tube socks. That, to me, is a greater crime that what has happened in Detroit.

[Matt]

Jim,

All of the automakers you mentioned employ AMERICANS in the good ole USA for manufacturing, research and development, sales, service, and finance. The Americans working for these companies spend their hard-earned dollars within the shores of the USA and yet the big three are still on the verge of going under. Why is this possible? Not because of the American buying public, but because of the poor leadership evidenced by the big three who think Americans still want huge SUVs and poor gas mileage. When the big three can produce a product that lasts as long as the competition, is as efficient, and shows the same or better styling and development, then maybe they will have a chance again. I think it's too late, though.