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So GM has Isuzu, a part ownership in Subaru, and now a Daewoo plunge. As well, we have some joint ventures with Toyota and FIAT. From the west, we have a reported investment (but not confirmed by GM) in KaMAZ Russia. We have rail links going through N Korea from S and poised to link with Russia on an expanded Trans-Siberian railway.
We have a middle class in India bigger than the whole population of the US. I think you go where you can sell cars to people who don't yet own them.
While everybody would like to have a 3 year payout, these GM guys are thinking 5-10-15 years out the piece. If they pick up plant cheap, and cross-link design and manufacturing globally, they can lower the cost and can set up profitability for the future, no matter the present situation. Risk is what you take if you want to make money.
Anybody seen the reviews on the Hundais lately? Makes me think of how we used to crap on "Made in Japan", only to see "Sony" (etc) everywhere within 15 or so years.
A rising tide lifts all boats. While the leaks in the boats may need to be fixed as you produce cars, like GM-Spain, you get in early with plant.
I'm a little concerned with Saturn. It seemed like a good idea at the time and, like Saab, has a very, very faithful ownership group. These are the kinds of owners to die for; something like Saab (but not as faithful as Saab) and not as faithful as Toyota or Honda. Ford has no faithful ownership group that even comes close.
With all that GM money going into Saab and with the dealerships in Canada all Saturn-Saab-Isuzu, can it be long before Saab and Saturn link up? Since the source of this article was Ford, I'd give it a credibility factor of 3.
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