What Would Happen If Apple Decided To Buy A Controlling Stake In General Motors?

Simply a tale of two companies or a marriage made in heaven or hell?

General Motors is shaking up their whole organization from top to bottom.  New leadership and innovative thinking are high on the agenda.  The Wall Street Journal quotes that GM is worth around 50 Billion dollars give or take a few.  So we have a 50 billion dollar company that needs strong focused leadership, aggressive innovation, and the determination to be the best.  A Phoenix that needs to rise from the ashes.

Now we turn our eyes to Apple.  In a time where PC makers are pushing low profit netbooks to Walmart, CEO Steve Jobs has convinced countless consumers that moving upscale is key to quality and success. In the face of the worst economic market in recent times, Apple has maintained momentum, innovation,  and moved customer service to the forefront of the computer industry. To many, Apple represents everything the PC is not known for, and they like it.  They have suceeded in cultivating an almost cult like status. The reward for this effort is an unheard of  stockpile of 40 billion dollars cash, double digit increases in sales, and an determination to do "something big".

So what would happen if Apple to decided  to strike a deal with Washington, and bring "Government Motors" under their wing?  If Steve Jobs wants to do something "BIG", here is it baby!

Don't think for a minute that it takes automotive leadership to succeed.  Alan Mulally led Boeing before taking over Ford, and he is doing just fine, thank you.  For heavens sake he was even driving a Lexus when he took over and never had owned a Ford product!

What would GM look like if Steve Jobs took over arguably the biggest flop in the industry, and applied his leadership skills?  What would he do to the market and what would the products be like?

Think about it Spies, and have some fun telling us what it could be like!








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ThierryHenry14 - 3/12/2010 4:49:55 PM

+5 Boost

Apple + GM = Pissed off Apple Shareholders!!!!

Steve - 3/12/2010 4:53:44 PM

+3 Boost

This one smelled so much like a "00R" posting, I just had to confirm my suspicions. No surprise :-(

I'm waiting for "If the Big Three were super-hero characters, which would be Lex Luthor?"

Agent009 - 3/12/2010 4:54:49 PM

-4 Boost

OOOhhh good idea!

Steve - 3/12/2010 4:55:00 PM

+4 Boost

Mu appology to "00R". Looks like "009" is elbowing into your turf.

Agent001 - 3/12/2010 5:20:32 PM

-2 Boost

Well I know they wouldn't use terms like AMG for performance stuff, they would go with Corvette Pro ;)

001

AgentOrange - 3/12/2010 5:38:52 PM

+5 Boost

Apple should stick to its core business..

uhn2000 - 3/12/2010 5:51:22 PM

+3 Boost

Apple is an interface mastermind of a company. Cars won't be like cars anymore :) "Kit, meet me at the store front now" :)

Bmw8ter - 3/13/2010 6:37:55 AM

+2 Boost

TURBO BOOST!!!!

Agent009 - 3/12/2010 6:28:47 PM

+2 Boost

Touch screens? Maybe...
Simple and sleek design? Of course...
Need for a owner's manual? Nope all intuitive..
Control freak secrecy and manipulation of the media? Oh yes!

Joe_Limon - 3/12/2010 6:39:52 PM

-3 Boost

If apple bought a controlling stake in general motors I'd never buy gm again.

Joe_Limon - 3/12/2010 6:48:23 PM

-4 Boost

I guess I should state why... to me apple is a downscale low quality product packaged in a fancy box and then sold at an upscale price. The very thought of an icar makes me want to gag, just imagine, you spend $45,000 on a car, everything is glossy and fancy to look at, but then you look under the hood and there is a 1.3liter inline 3 pushing barely 80hp. But if you want the 250hp 2.0liter turbo four in it you're going to have to shovel out $60,000 for it.

t_bone - 3/13/2010 2:08:13 AM

+3 Boost

This is nonsense. Have you ever opened a Mac and looked inside? They are a masterpiece of mechanical, thermal, and electrical design. Everything from the wiring paths to the component layout is incredible. Open any other computer and watch your hands because you might cut them on unfinished sheet metal. I actually wish they would sell their cases and power supplies to us PC DIY'ers. Oh, and that's just the desktops. Don't even think of comparing the laptops...built out of solid aluminum instead of my ratty Lenovo that twists an inch in every direction.

AlleVier - 3/13/2010 2:22:14 AM

0 Boost

"...downscale low quality product packaged in a fancy box and then sold at an upscale price."

I'm not sure what you're talking about, Joe, but I'm quite confident that you have never owned an Apple product in your life. And to use "fancy" to describe Apple products shows that you don't have a clue what the word means. Have you even seen a MacBook? Two pieces of unpainted, milled aluminum and a simple logo on the lid. Take that MacBook, make the logo oversized, add lots of chrome trim, and throw in some fake port holes and you've got the GM version. That is fancy, my friend.

Joe_Limon - 3/13/2010 4:07:15 AM

-4 Boost

Look at the most expensive Macbook pro you can get, it costs $20,000 I can fully option out an effing laptop running windows to be more powerful and faster than it. If you don't believe me check out eurocom, imagine this... having four 512gig ssd's arranged in RAID fashion. The read/write speeds are almost biblical let alone have that in a laptop, I don't even think apple knows how to use solid state drives yet... This laptop can have one 2 gig graphics card paired up with two one gig graphics cards meanwhile that same mac book pro doesn't have a single graphics card at one gig! Then processor speed! hah, Apple still doesn't have a 3ghz quad core yet.

I'm sorry but they are over priced and outdated. They may be shiny and glossy, but that doesn't affect their performance in the least. And frankly the last thing I want to be doing is opening a computer, a car sure, mechanical components are lovely, but a computer... I'll leave that to somebody who won't void my warranty.

Joe_Limon - 3/13/2010 4:08:34 AM

-6 Boost

mac book pro = imac pro* sorry, I really meant the highest end fully loaded desktop.

Joe_Limon - 3/13/2010 4:19:45 AM

-3 Boost

"I'm quite confident that you have never owned an Apple product in your life."

also... sorry for the triple post, but yes, I bought a brand new 80gig ipod when it first came out. The highest I have ever regarded apple when I was opening that shiny packaging, which they are so good at doing. From that moment on it was downhill. Things I hated.
1. The fact that it had to update for 15 minutes every time I plugged it into my computer and I wanted to put new songs on it.
2. That once shiny chrome back plate lasted about 2 days in my pocket before my keys gave it a brushed look.
3. Every 15 songs or so it would crash.
4. Itunes... loaded it up on my computer and it took 30 seconds longer to load my computer, every time since installation.
5. Itunes... I had an 80gig laptop, and an 80 gig ipod, I couldn't use my ipod as a storage device for my music, because itunes won't allow you access to your own music!
6. The first time it died, I figured out the manual reset trick and all was good. The second time it died, it kept restarting without anybody touching it, I couldn't even turn it off, only watch hopelessly till it ran out of juice. And with it running out of juice, my music collection going adios.
7. I opened it up, inside was a mockery, there was nothing to it, how could they make such a simple device last only a year and a half? All it has to do is play music!

No, I have had my fill of apple, I'm just glad I didn't have to waste my money buying one of their computers before figuring out how useless they are for work, let alone solid modeling cad work.

222max - 3/14/2010 6:26:51 PM

0 Boost

Maybe you need to get your facts straight before unloading with rants like this. First, there's no such thing as an iMac Pro. The iMac is Apple's consumer desktop. The Mac Pro is their professional level machine used by everyone from medical and scientific research labs to high end recording studios to Hollywood Special Effects companies.

The only way a Mac Pro comes anywhere near $20,000 is to option it out with every upgrade available. Otherwise, the most expensive Mac Pro comes well-equipped, out of the box, for $3,300. Mind you, we're talking about a high-end professional grade computer. Most people will NEVER need that kind of firepower so an iMac 21" is easily obtainable for $1,200 or so.

And I can attest to the fact that Mac hardware far outlasts most PCs. We have both Macs and PCs running in my office and the Mac's have far fewer hang-ups and run just as well after years of use as the day they were new. Our PCs, not so much.

But the thing that most people overlook about Macs is the operating system and integration. That's where PCs have always been less satisfying for me. I run both OSX and Windows 7 on my Mac at home. While Win 7 is a big improvement over previous Windows OS it is still a frustrating user experience compared to OSX.

Joe_Limon - 3/14/2010 7:20:49 PM

-2 Boost

wow... somebody got offended by a name mishap. lol I'd say I'm sorry but I think it's funny, and will for now on call it an imac pro.

And yes, I was comparing the absolute best apple has to offer, because sadly it's competitors can do better for the same price... in a laptop! hahaha. Also, the only professional offices using imac pro systems are ones that don't need to run anything aside from the microsoft office suite! hahaha.

HarryA - 3/12/2010 8:21:08 PM

+2 Boost

I don't know about you, but I can't wait to get an iCamaro Pro.

uaw_lax - 3/12/2010 8:22:26 PM

-4 Boost

I see an entire electricle dash that can personalize the gauages and info to my liking when i drive and once my wife hopes in the car boom they turn into a differnt color different style just the way she likes them. This will sell and if Apple and GM or BMW did this it would be huge,

TrueAutoSpy - 3/13/2010 1:32:23 PM

+3 Boost

Yes, A HUGE FAIL!

You've obviously never owned an Apple Anything if you think Apple gives a darn about user customization.

Apple products do not allow for hardly any user customization (without jailbreaking), they even force you install/buy software only from iTunes for their hand-held devices - lots of user freedom there - LOL!

If Apple's so 'Bleeding Edge' technologically, then where's my Intel i7 powered MacBook Pro already? Other manufacturers have had Core i7 laptops for over 7 months now yet Apple has none, even though they still charge upwards of $2500.00 of thier 17" laptop.

What about the iPhone/iPod Touch's archaic 320x480 screen resolution that's not even OLED yet, when all other leading handset manufacturers have long moved on to 480x800 and beyond.

What about the fact that the iPhone/iPod Touch doesn't even support the universally accepted Adobe Flash? Where's the logic in that, except for the fact that their devices lack the processing ability to handle anything outside of their own lackluster/proprietary formats/codecs.

Need further proof, just look at their 'Magical New' iPad which is nothing but an over-priced, freakishly over-sized iPod Touch absolutely with no USB ports, no web camera, no expandability, a screen resolution circa 1995 (1024x768), no hand-writing recognition, and a locked-down operating system that looks like some old 1970's sticker book.

Their philosophy is what's good enough for Stevie J is good enough - PERIOD, and IMO - Stevie J's seriously out of touch these days.

Bottom Line: Apple is all catchy commercials and (some think) pretty design, but there's really nothing of real substance going on with them, and they have very little to offer GM or any other automotive company - IMO.

stone - 3/12/2010 10:21:28 PM

+3 Boost

It depends on how much cash Apple would be willing to sink into the General. The electronics would be top notch, that goes without saying but if Apple were serious, they would hire the best interior designers available and definitely try to take the GM sheetmetal in an entirely new direction. I don't think Jobs has the cash or the cajones but if Apple did it, they would surely try to turn GM into a better VW competitor.....

pchera01 - 3/12/2010 10:43:14 PM

+1 Boost

well, they will get rid off stering wheel, they will have touch screen for sterring wheel and pedels... and only plung in cars

rubenkincaid - 3/12/2010 11:38:18 PM

+4 Boost

Is this Fantasy Auto Company Ownership? Apple isn't stupid enough to buy GM - that would be like investing in blacksmithing.

g2ok - 3/13/2010 4:22:55 AM

+2 Boost

It wouldn't happen because the lines of business are so different. Auto manufacturing on a scale of GM or Toyota is not easily done. FoxCon doesn't make cars. On the corporate leadership issue - his style of management would not fit.

mpls - 3/13/2010 4:34:59 AM

+1 Boost

lipstick on a pig springs to mind

TheDepressingTruth - 3/15/2010 3:45:06 AM

+2 Boost

Apple/GM would modify all New GM Cars Sold to run on Only One Brand of Gasoline...
And every few years they Would Reformulate the gasoline...So that older cars would be Obsolete

carguy68 - 3/15/2010 11:36:43 AM

+1 Boost

I would never buy a apple product again!!