Alan Baum
Alan Baum
arriving good huge saturn segment
I don't think the SUV will be a huge success. It'll be arriving in a very glutted market. While the midsize segment is not glamorous, that's a good place for Saturn to be.
carrot closing
That's part of the carrot you put out with communities as you're closing a plant.
problem sports temporary until utility vehicle
My sense is what they'll do is rework the distribution of work. They've got a temporary problem until the sports utility vehicle (SUV) comes on board.
demand segments underlying vehicles
The underlying demand is there for the Asians, in the attractiveness of their vehicles and vehicles in segments they've not been in or were under-represented.
biggest gm year
GM may not be the biggest automaker a year from now.
becoming demand fuel hybrid less overall prices role spike starting
There may have been some overall softening of demand this year, but fuel prices are going to play a role in overall hybrid demand. We're starting to come to the realization that the fuel-price spike that we thought was seasonal is now becoming less so.
biggest definition gm include liberal sales using worldwide year
Using the liberal definition of what you include in worldwide sales, GM may not be the biggest automaker a year from now.
point question whether
We're at a tipping point. We're getting to the point where there's some question whether this is seasonal or long term.
backlash developing hard negative obviously prestige reverse technology toyota work
Toyota obviously has staked a lot of its prestige on this technology, so if there is a developing negative backlash in the U.S., they are going to work very hard to reverse that.