Optimist.
With an apology up front if the link is a faux pas, my bright outlook is because I figure things have improved, maybe, since the first GM/Peugeot collaboration… 
I love it Mike! Especially the part where "The Peugeots declined the opportunity to buy a piece of GM."
I think that says it all.
jtsanders-
If you’re buying a company, logic says the price should go UP, not down… but even then, they shouldn’t be overpaying by 35%… that’s a crazy price premium.
I regress to my earlier analogy of a compulsiveVegas gambler who goes broke and gets bailed out by his neighbor (who robs his children’s college trust funds to do so), then immediately upon bailing out heads straight back to Vegas.
Here’s the January China sales figures according to GM Inside News:
Top 10 cars in China from January:
China January 2012:
Pos Model Jan Dec Nov 2011 Pos
1 VW Passat 30,001 20 8 165,858 12
2 Buick Excelle 28,680 17 2 253,514 1
3 Chevrolet Cruze 22,711 8 5 221,196 3
4 Chevrolet Sail 21,439 5 3 197,874 6
5 VW Tiguan 20,408 65 49 129,172 23
6 Buick Excelle XT/GT 19,787 49 14 134,800 22
7 FAW Xiali N3/N5 18,390 15 4 196,522 7
8 Hyundai Verna 17,815 25 13 138,525 21
9 VW Lavida 15,718 2 1 247,475 2
10 Nissan Sunny 14,766 13 19 156,954 15
27 Buick Lacrosse 9,402
40 Buick Regal 7,760
66 Buick GL8 5,267
76 Chevy Spark 4,369
111 Chevy Epica 2,781
183 Cadillac SLS 559
Also, it was interesting that Fiat approached GM but talks ended. Maybe Fiat needed a couple more billion from GM again.
I’m generally not one into conspiracy theories but I am cynical due to the track record of upper echelon people, whether they be CEOs of a corporation or politicians.
Maybe this deal is part of a larger, behind closed doors plan already in the works to get more taxpayer money. A half billion dollars is chump change if it’s parlayed into gloom and doom which in turn nets you countless billions of dollars more courtesy of the taxpayers.
In retrospect, maybe my 5 year window was way optimistic.
I love the theory OK4450. I wish I’d thought of it.