1 Boring Old Man

Closer to Bailout, GM Prints Candid Apology
By Kendra Marr
Washington Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, December 9, 2008

Step one on the road to recovery: Admit you have a problem.

General Motors, the world’s largest automaker, yesterday candidly confessed to the blunders that has led it to near-collapse in a full-page advertisement in Automotive News.

"While we’re still the U.S. sales leader, we acknowledge we have disappointed you," the company said in the magazine ad. "At times we violated your trust by letting our quality fall below industry standards and our designs become lackluster. We have proliferated our brands and dealer network to the point where we lost adequate focus on our core U.S. market. We also biased our product mix toward pick-up trucks and SUVs. And, we made commitments to compensation plans that have proven to be unsustainable in today’s globally competitive industry"…

• leading the reinvention of the automobile based on promising new technology
• meeting appropriate standards for executive pay and corporate governance
• reducing U.S. dependence on foreign oil
• protecting our environment
• paying you back the entire loan with appropriate oversight and returns

^{GM’s one millionth car…}