Chevrolet Impala SS and Cobalt SS Sedan: Dead for 2010?
Chrysler is bankrupt, General Motors appears to be close, and all anyone can think about is how much they're taking in loans that will never be repaid. But along the way, we're losing icons - like the Impala SS, which won't be returning for the 2010 model year.
Admittedly, the Impala is an aging car on a not-quite-modern platform, but it's a nameplate that carries a history that many people identify with. Along with the Impala SS, the Cobalt SS Sedan will also be taking a permanent retirement for 2010.
The cancellations, revealed through GM's online ordering guide and caught by the fans at GM Inside News, are being assumed because there are no order codes for either the Impala SS or Cobalt SS Sedan for the 2010 model year. The Cobalt SS Coupe is still available, however.
With all that's going on both in the public eye and behind the scenes at GM, it's not really a surprise, but on the flip side, GM hasn't announced the deaths of either car yet. Still, it's likely a business decision based on order and sales figures, so it's hard to argue that GM is abandoning its fans - if the cars were selling, they'd probably still be available.
This story originally appeared at The Car Connection
No Tears For Wagoner’s $20 Million In ‘Retirement Benefits’
Former GM CEO Rick Wagoner is set to receive $20 million in retirement benefits after being summarily ousted from his post at GM. Yes, he's dedicated a huge chunk of his life to GM, and it's typical to reward big American CEOs on their way out their door. But do you really think he deserves the sum?
An ABC News blog explains that although the Treasury Department has "barred GM from paying severance to Wagoner or any other senior executive," the former CEO may claim millions in retirement benefits. GM financial filings show the company plans to shell out benefits of about $20 million to Wagoner.
Given GM's performance under Wagoner's lazy watchful eye, which John Voelcker said was characterized by Detroit News as "unfulfilled promises, massive corporate losses, destroyed credit ratings, the insignificant value of GM shares, tens of thousands of jobs lost and the gutting of GM's sprawling operations," should Wagoner be getting any more GM money at all?
Whether you take the pro-business capitalist side and decry the Federal government's use of might to oust a CEO, or take the stance that government needs to exert a stabilizing force at the moment by making bold decisions that might infringe upon the rights of crumbling companies, $20 million to Wagoner strikes me as unjustifiable.
Couldn't this $20 million be doled out to, say, struggling GM workers or perhaps put toward the company's recently announced "GM Total Confidence" April sales booster, helping to bring monthly payment assistance closer to Ford's $700 per month?
This story originally appeared at The Car Connection
