tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2156536327610779049.post8362576704023511515..comments2024-02-23T11:23:45.971-05:00Comments on Lost Motorcyclist: Forget About the Price of Tea in China. Think Buick.Lost Motorcyclisthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08873504561959138792noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2156536327610779049.post-78209215941387299002011-01-27T07:59:49.401-05:002011-01-27T07:59:49.401-05:00You write, '[Pu Li] was the one who kicked the...You write, '[Pu Li] <i>was the one who kicked the Eunuchs out of the Imperial Palace</i>.' The (rather dramatized) story of Henry Pu Li is, of course, told in Bertolucci's 1987 epic, <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0093389/" rel="nofollow">The Last Emperor</a>. Bertolucci freights the eunuchs with dark symbolism, and paints Pu Li as more sympathetic, and the eunuchs less, than they historically were.<br /><br />GM, of course, has been a <a href="http://www.wikinvest.com/wiki/Holding_company" rel="nofollow">holding company</a> since its inception in 1908 - and Buick was its first holding.<br /><br />Over the past century, GM has bought and sold interests in virtually countless other businesses, buying when profits were good, selling when profits fell off, entering virtually every market in the world, generally by buying stakes in local producers.<br /><br />Over the years, GM has held interests in SAAB, Lotus, Bedford, Suzuki, FIAT and Isuzu as well as non-auto industrials such as Frigidaire and Fuji Heavy Industries. <br /><br />While many North Americans view GM as an <i>American</i> auto manufacturer with some foreign interests, the converse is actually more accurate: GM is a multinational conglomerate, with <i>some</i> business in North America.<br /><br />GM's North American sales for 2010 were in the order of <b>2.2</b> million. Globally, its sales amounted to some <a href="http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-01-24/toyota-s-reports-group-global-sales-rose-8-to-8-4-million-autos-in-2010.html" rel="nofollow">8.4 million</a> - almost four times the domestic volumes. <br /><br />As the North American economy continues to sputter along, GM actually looks to its Asian markets for the bulk of its sales, projecting not only increased sales in China, but increasingly tapping into the growing <a href="http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSSGE70Q02T20110127" rel="nofollow">Indian market</a>.<br /><br />And, more significantly, GM plans to source an additional $1 billion in parts from India. Another blow for the zealots of <a href="http://www.bnet.com/blog/electric-cars/the-top-8220american-made-8221-cars-are-8230-japanese/1846" rel="nofollow">'American' cars</a> <b>;-)</b>Madeyehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02593933575568389288noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2156536327610779049.post-10833007429349458672011-01-26T23:39:28.054-05:002011-01-26T23:39:28.054-05:00I suppose to save money GM could have killed off B...I suppose to save money GM could have killed off Buick in the USA and kept it going in China. Maybe keeping the name alive in America gives Buick more status with the Chinese car buyers.Lost Motorcyclisthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08873504561959138792noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2156536327610779049.post-72736710235230566522011-01-26T22:53:30.877-05:002011-01-26T22:53:30.877-05:00This is the reason why Gm got rid of the Pontiac b...This is the reason why Gm got rid of the Pontiac brand and kept the BuickUnknownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00307267256799215463noreply@blogger.com