I can’t remember as much hype over an initial public offering of stock as we’ve seen over GM. Analysts were touting the IPO as a sure thing. As we’ve learned the hard lessons through this difficult economy, nothing is a sure thing. GM hit the stock exchange with a bang, selling for $33 per share right out of the gate. But it wasn’t very long before it was a mere whimper. It rose a few bucks the first day settling back down to an anemic $1.19 gain then profit-takers started seeing the handwriting on the wall and got out while the gettin’ was good and the stock rose only 7 cents.

The Chinese, who were expected by some estimations to buy a third of GM, instead plopped down only enough cash to buy less than 1 percent. Chinese analysts took that as simply a courtesy buy, a favor to GM. However, it was more significant than that. GM has to have a Chinese partner in order to build cars in China. The Chinese company that invested in GM put down the bare minimum it would need to meet that requirement.

Remember this name: Baojun. That’s the new joint venture nameplate for GM and its Chinese partners. The Baojun 630 will roll out next year. If you think we had a hard time competing with Chinese-made electronics wait until Chinese cars hit the American market.

Now, to be clear, the Baojun is currently slated just for the Chinese market but how long will it be before they’re littering the streets of America? And what will that mean for the auto industry here? No matter the brand—Nissan, Ford, BMW—is there any way possible that they’ll be able to compete with Chinese slave and near-slave labor?

President Obama, just prior to GM’s IPO, bragged on the wisdom of the American taxpayers bailing out the company. “One of the toughest tales of the recession took another big step towards becoming a success story,” he said. “American taxpayers are now positioned to recover more than my administration invested in GM,” he added.

Not so fast. Even after the IPO, we—the people of the United States—still own 37 percent of GM. In order to break even, the stock would have to jump to at least $51 per share which is unlikely any time soon. Some analysts say the strike point is well over $100 per share.

Are GM cars really better than before the bailout? “Better” is a relative term. They may be better when compared to pre-bailout GM cars, but compared to all other cars, they’re still lagging behind. For example, Consumer Reports rates cars based on reliability, owner satisfaction and several other criteria. GM managed to break into the top 10 in a couple of categories, which is an improvement, but they got dusted by the Japanese imports.

Having owned many cars over the last 30 years, I can’t for the life of me figure out what’s so difficult about making a car as good, or better, than the Japanese. I’ve test-driven some GM products and I’ve wanted to love them, but they just don’t stack up. But the media are touting GM as a totally different company. Why? Because they’re sinking $40 million into solar panels for schools and other such “green” nonsense that has nothing to do with cars. They received The Michigan Chronicle’s “Legacy in Motion” award for their commitment to “community-facing initiatives” and “diversity suppliers.” Who gives a rat’s rump? How about concentrating on building cars that beat the Japanese and give us our money back!