I'm proud to be American. I'm pro-business, although opposed to federal tax code giveaways to big corporations and whole industries. I'm Republican, but not very keen on all the state tax breaks allowed by Rs and Ds for business in Washington state, where I live. I loathe Wal-Mart bashers. I believe in the free market.

And I'd love to buy an American car the same way I'd love to send my kids to Seattle public schools. But no sale, because in each case, the product stinks. I wouldn't buy a GM car if they paid half. GM lost me sometime in the 70s with a hideously unreliable new Olds 88 my dad owned (I was often the one who took it in for repairs); and then again with an absurdly dysfunctional Buick he bought in the 90s. The American cars I rent are very nice to drive because they're all fresh from the factory. Then I see the same models broken down on the side of the road a few years later. Great cupholders, though: the Japanese just don't get cupholders.

I owned an American car once; made back in the days when they still did things right. It was a '69 Ford Thunderbird, with butterfly doors. But foolish youth that I was, I ruined the thing (not in a wreck).

I've been a Honda guy ever since I grew up. Reliability is what matters. And so I don't expect that GM's big job cuts, announced today, will make a whit of difference. They'll still be out there peddling third-rate product to the public, with the sychophantic hacks of the American auto press still pimping for them, just like always. The main concern at GM will remain the care and feeding of the union and union pensioners, and moving enough product to get some numbers that investors and analysts like. But not making good motor vehicles.

American Cars are for suckers.

Tom Rekdal: The Honda cars you buy were probably made in America by American workers, too. Just not unionized ones.

Kirk Kerkorian's 9% stake in GM (bought at about $32 per share) probably means that there are still enough assets left in the company to save it, if the right set of corporate "raiders" can get their hands on it.

Bring back the corporate takeovers, and you will bring back the American car.

UPDATE, 11/22/05: The ever-insightful Chaz Hill has more, at Dustbury.com. 11/24/05: And here's the Subjective Scribe.

TECHNORATI TAGS: GENERAL MOTORS, GM, JOB CUTS, QUALITY, RELIABILITY

TO COMMENT: The regular "comment" feature is not in operation. E-mail comments to address under "Contact" on main page masthead, and I'll add them, here.

Posted by Matt Rosenberg at November 21, 2005 09:30 PM