How GM Can Fix Itself

With labor costs bogging it down and Toyota in the passing lane, the world's biggest automaker is in trouble. Will its CEO do the overhaul it needs?

[This article contains a complex chart -- Please see hardcopy of magazine or PDF.] Standing under a fading blue sign that says BIRTHPLACE OF THE AMERICAN V6, Allan Taylor gestures at the factory behind him and grimaces. "Everything in there is obsolete," he says of the Buick engine plant. Taylor has spent 30 years there, and at 59 he's nearing retirement. It's a good thing too, since the plant won't be running much longer. General Motors plans to shut it down in 2008, one of nine factories the company aims to close, eliminating 30,000 jobs. Taylor is surprised the plant has lasted...

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