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Talk of the bay

GM's gas guzzlers fueled losses, retirees say

By KRIS HUNDLEY
Published October 24, 2005

Funny how a little distance from Detroit can give you a whole different perspective.

Skip Downs and Bob Pharis used to work for giant General Motors Corp.; now both are retirees living in Homosassa. And when the automaker reported its fourth consecutive quarter of losses last week - $1.6-billion for the three months ended Sept. 30 - neither man had any problem pointing out what was killing their former employer.

"For a long time, GM just kept pushing big gas guzzlers," said Downs, a 30-year GM union man. "They're paying top people huge salaries to know trends, and I think they dropped the ball."

For the record, Downs drives a 2004 Pontiac Montana, which he said gets 26 miles per gallon on the highway.

Pharis, a 32-year salaried worker at GM, said there's no question that as gas prices have risen, consumers are demanding better mileage.

"And you can't get that out of a big V-8," he said.

Pharis, meanwhile, is quite happy with his latest GM product, a 2005 Chevy Impala.

"I get close to 30 miles per gallon on the highway," he said.

Which leads to this question: If these guys can find fuel-efficient cars from GM, why is the company's market share deflating?

[Last modified October 20, 2005, 19:16:02]