General motors

Although General Motors saw a 2.5% slide in sales for the month of February, things are looking better for the automaker than they did just a couple of months ago. The biggest worry for General Motors in the 4th quarter of 2005 was the possible strike of Delphi workers. Delphi is

General Motors' largest parts supplier and a strike would cripple production and leave GM assembly lines at a stand still, almost certainly putting the worlds largest automaker into bankruptcy. However, as Delphi and the UAW continue to work toward a solution this seems far less likely than back in early December. General Motors has also made progress with the UAW in terms of health care and other legacy costs.

At a time when GM is aligning its production capacity with its market share, the General is investing more money into R&D. Clearly General Motors understands that the best long-term solution is to build great cars that people actually want to buy.

On the product front, the long anticipated Chevrolet Tahoe and GMC Yukon are selling extremely well. So well that General Motors is having a hard time keeping up with demand. This is a great sign for the new line of pick-up trucks GM plans to introduce later this year. Pontiac is riding high on strong Solstice sales, and Saturn is getting ready with a product offensive that should move the brand into a more up-scale position, while also attracting new buyers.

Of course some areas still need attention. GM is working to beef up its sedan offerings. The new Impala is a great start, though it lacks the design chutzpah that Detroit was once known for. The Cobalt and Pontiac Pursuit are a definite improvement over the Cavalier and Sunfire. However, the Cobalt and Pursuit benchmarked the previous generation Volkswagen Jetta which has been replaced with a more sophisticated offering.