[stovt001]

My biggest hope as GM approaches bankruptcy is that they will use it to fix the mistakes made over the years. Building high-quality, competitive, unique vehicles and little brand overlap are two corrections that should be made. Unfortunately, if an editorial in the issue of Motor Trend I just got in the mail is correct, it looks like GM is fully embracing all the bad ideas that got them into this mess in the first place.

Angus Mackenzie wrote a very good article lamenting the timing of this crisis, hitting just as Detroit delivered not only the best cars it has built in decades, but some of the best cars on the market, period. However, he notes that as financial pressures rise, the penny-pinchers are back in power pulling out quality and value in favor of a very short term gain. One example, he notes, is the death of Alpha (ok, indefinite hold on Alpha) and the 3-series rival it would have provided Cadillac. Instead of having a world-class small RWD car to go head to head with the best Germany and Japan have to offer, another feature in the same issue details plans for an Epsilon II based entry-level Caddy with 3.0 and 3.6L DI engines with FWD or AWD. OK read that again. Epsilon II, 3.0 and 3.6L DI V6s, FWD and AWD. That, my friends, is a 2010 LaCrosse. Yup, GM's solution to this problem is to kill off a proper car for Cadillac and instead do a quick and cheap badge swap on a Buick. Of course those two models won't compete with each other at all right? Mark my words, if this is accurate and this trend continues, GM will be headed to Ch. 7 as soon as the power balance in our government shifts to become less union and nationalization friendly.