I think publicly the attitude is "wait and see" at best; however, privately, it looks like KK is steering the ship a lot more than most people would expect. From a big picture standpoint, why wouldn't GM want to align itself with one of the leaders in the industry? Realistically, the alliance concept is something that is going to become more prevalent in the world going forward as companies come to grips with the issues of overcapacity, and in the USA, retirement benefits. (As a related aside, have you seen the new BMW ads that trumpet its independence and its ability to hold itself to a higher standard as a result thereof? The fact is that even BMW, by way of Mini, uses non-BMW engines in the Mini Cooper. No big deal, but it's often cheaper to buy than build. True independence is a fallacy in today's auto market.)
I think we all know GM has a long way to go to close the gap, but there are a few encouraging, albeit small, bright spots. Corvette, for one. The new small convertibles (Sky/Solstice/Opel/Saab et al). Merging some of Saturn and Opel's product lineup. The new SUVs are very good, perhaps world-class, but they're still too big and too thirsty and they aren't really pertinent outside of North America. On a bigger scale, the new GMTs are getting good previews. GM really needs them to be successful in a big way, but with ever-rising fuel costs and a new full-featured Toyota Tundra in the wings, it might have its hands full.
We all know that hybrids, for all the great
PR they receive, are a niche product whose benefits are best extracted in an urban environment. Fuel mileage benefits are negligible for most in highway driving. At this point in time, a REAL hybrid GMT with real tangible benefits in the Urban Cycle might be a real hot seller, as opposed to the most recent GM truck hybrid that had limited hybrid features and offered very little real world benefit for the added cost and complexity. Along those lines, the GM E85
PR machine is making a lot of political hay, but realistically, how many of us have an E85 station down the street? And based on current rates, regular unleaded gasoline is still less expensive (and less-subsidized) than E85 on an efficiency basis.
Small successes make a good foundation for greater success. But it's hard to avoid falling back into bad habits when things start going decently, IMO.
I wish GM the best. I hope they pull out of the dive before it's too late.