GM Sales Rise 6% In August

While most U.S. automobile companies continued to see year over year sales of there vehicles drop, General Motors (GM), bucked that trend and turned in a 6% increase in sales for August. The jury is still out as to the future survival of the U.S. car business as top heavy pension and medical insurance promises, made years ago during the good times, are now dragging down the industry because of increased competition from Japan and Korea. Also, new 'CAFE' standards being proposed by the U.S. Congress could put additional pressure on Detroit because the vehicles that make car companies the most money, also get the worst gas mileage.

I am happy that General Motors (GM) was able to see a small increase in August sales and I hope this good news will be repeated in the months to come. However, there is so much competition in the automobile business these days that the old giants of GM, Ford and Chrysler are going to find it difficult to keep their heads above water as new companies, with fewer financial obligations, compete with them in the American marketplace. When I was a kid, my grandfather told me that I could tell how well the U.S. economy was doing by checking the health of General Motors. While those days have come and gone there are still hundreds of thousands of people that would be in serious financial trouble if the big three of GM, Ford and Chrysler were not around anymore.

I'm proud to say that I drive an American made car (Ford Taurus) and I intend to do so in the years to come. There was a time when cars made in America were not built to the same good quality standards as imports from Japan like Toyota and Honda. Those days are gone, thankfully, and the new vehicle offerings from GM, Ford and Chrysler are now the same or even better quality than the competition from Japan. I still have my doubts as to the likelihood of the U.S. Big Three (3) surviving in the long run without some kind of merger with healthy Japanese automobile companies. To me, it would be wonderful if GM, Ford and Chrysler were able to pull themselves back up without a merger, but the worst possible thing that could happen would be for them to close up shop for good.

Read more about the Big Three:

Chevrolet Volt The Future Of Cars?
US Automobile Business
Chrysler Pink Slips
Toyota Leads GM
Ford Motor Troubles