Less than two years out of bankruptcy, Government Motors has a shot to reclaim world sales title..

[DCBob]

You think Drudge or Faux would dare report it that way? They sure had fun with it when GM was down and nearly out a couple of years ago.

==================

Tom Krisher, AP Auto Writer, On Monday January 24, 2011, 6:48 pm EST
FLINT, Mich. (AP) -- General Motors has a shot at being No. 1 again.

The resurgent automaker reported Monday that its worldwide sales last year came within 30,000 of beating Japanese rival Toyota, which took a big hit because of safety recalls.

GM is hiring, producing more and basking in a better reputation for quality. It expects to sell even more cars and trucks this year, putting it within reach of the title of biggest in the world -- an honor it held for 76 years before losing it in 2008.

Regaining the global lead means a lot to workers on the assembly line in Flint, a town devastated by years of auto industry job losses. Just two years ago, they didn't know if their factory or even their company would survive.

Dana Rouse, a union official at the pickup truck factory here, called overtaking Toyota the Heisman Trophy of the auto business.

"We're going to take Toyota on, and the people in Flint are going to be a part of that," he said. "This is the birthplace of General Motors. We kind of take it a little more seriously than maybe some other towns."

GM executives say they are focused on keeping customers happy, not on the title. They remember the company's disastrous recent history, when it sold cars at a loss just to hold on to market share.

"Satisfying and retaining our customers and delivering world-class products is pretty much the fundamental business that we're in," GM North America President Mark Reuss said Monday at the factory. "The rest of it may come, may not."

Now GM is outselling Toyota in fast-growing China, and its U.S. business is bouncing back. To overtake Toyota, it needs a sales increase of half a percentage point, about the number of Chevy Silverado pickup trucks it sells per month in the U.S.

more: http://finance.yahoo.com/news/Resurgent-GM-nips-at-Toyotas-apf-3376775320.html?x=0&sec=topStories&pos=main&asset=&ccode=

[wilt the stilt]

1. We should have let them dissolve according to the tea partiers

morons

[vaberella]

4. Tea Partiers?! Are you relatively new to DU?! Many DUers wanted them to fail.

There were long standing DUers who even defended Tea Partiers who wanted the car industry to fail. The TPers weren't along---they had a good number of support. I think the people who supported this move on DU were mainly those who were called Obama's "cheerleaders". Most everyone else wanted it to go down. Much like the crowd on DU who wants the HCR bill to be repealed or wanted it to fail in Congress. This is not limited to the TP. You have a broad brush to include under the title of morons.

[girl gone mad]

6. Where?

I never saw that here.

[vaberella]

13. Post 11. n/t

[Kdillard]

2. So happy that GM is doing well. Hopefully things continue to improve.

[vaberella]

3. There is seriously only one person to thank for this...PRESIDENT OBAMA.

I remember when there was post after post of DUers who wanted GM and Ford to go down----Let them fail. Why are we bailing them out. Thousands to millions of people would have been out of work. But no one gives a fuck because they didn't want to bail them out. Obama made the decision and bailed them out. Now they're moving ahead of the game. Good deal.

Good luck GM. I'm glad you're back on your feet and that means a lot of the Americans workers are back on their feet. Keep up this great news.

[DCBob]

5. Yeah, he was getting bashed from the right and the left but he did the right thing..

but somehow I doubt he will get any apologies now from those morons who wanted to let GM go down.

[vaberella]

14. No way. He barely even gets credit for things he does right.n/t

[girl gone mad]

7. Seems like you are really desperate to bash DUers.

I was around every day during the bailouts. I do not recall DUers wanting GM and Ford to "go down".

I do remember people being frustrated that the auto companies were forced through the ringer while the banks were handed unfettered cash.

There may have been some disagreement at the margins, but there was absolutely not widespread support here for letting our auto sector fail.

[Cali_Democrat]

10. Yep

Most people on DU wanted to help American auto companies and were mad that the banks had it easy. It was the bank bailouts that people were opposed to.

Historical revisionism for the purpose of attacking Progressives is becoming a specialty on DU.

[vaberella]

12. Please...I don't waste my time on revising history.

I know very well what I read. Please guide yourself to post 11. I don't think there were not some DUers who do not fit what I stated---within those posts. ~sigh~ People can believe what they want. But I remember for each and every post about the car industry be it Ford, Chrysler, GM---there were 1-2-3 posts, if not more wanting them to fail.

DU is a mixed bag of people. There are people for the war and people against the war. There are people who support changes to SS and there are those who don't. There are those who were for HCR and many who wanted it to fail. So no, I'm not revising anything.

[vaberella]

11. Where did I bash DUers? I stated a fact about some. You were? Then let me refresh your memory.

In each of the posts here---and there are many more during that time period of November 2008----people wanted the car industry gone. And many from long standing DUers. So for you to tell me that you don't remember DUers basically advocating their collapse---is a bit shocking for me.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x5076621
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x4525712
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x4500533
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=132&topic_id=7872822&mesg_id=7872822
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=132x7855436

I won't deny that some people thought that Obama was extra harsh with the treatment of the automobile industry and more lenient with the banking industry. That was never my point of debate though. But there were a lot of posts, a lot both mainly in the GDP section---which I don't remember many of your posts---since I practically lived in this section of the board. In any event...there were a lot of posts...and when a new car debate started there would be a few people who didn't want the bail out to happen. If someone doesn't want the bail out of the industry--that to me is advocating demise and wanting them to GO DOWN.

[mikekohr]

8. Damn Socialists!

:sarcasm:

[Festivito]

9. So, who took the bad housing loans? Oh, crap, it's US isn't it.

But, on the bright side, they got the bonuses. If you call that a bright side.