General Motors Goes Apolitical

"Son of Detroit" Mitt Romney will have to provide his own transportation to and from the Republican National Convention this year, as General Motors (NYSE: GM) has decided to end its 30 year run of providing cars to both the Democratic and Republican National Conventions.With General Motors stepping down, other automakers now have the opportunity to replace the busing systems that the parties have hired in light of the lost transportation.The Detroit News reports that General Motors typically provided around 400 cars for each of the two parties. However, the automaker has decided to rescind its offer this year, as it does not want to affiliate itself with the tumultuous political realm. The company has cut ties with the campaign, despite the fact that more funds from General Motors employees have been contributed to President Barack Obama than Mitt Romney.President Obama, however, will continue to be escorted in his beastly Cadillac limousine, as is tradition. General Motors is up around 4.69 percent year-to-date, with the company only recently making its mark on the recall frenzy with the best-selling Chevrolet Volt and retired models the Chevrolet Trailblazer, GMC Envoy, Buick Rainier, Saab 9-7X and Isuzu Ascender from 2006-07. What does all of this recent news indicate for the automaker? Despite negative attention, General Motors is on track to repair mistakes and surge ahead. The company has attempted to tread lightly, (despite the negative press still lingering over its government bailout), while trying to release models that will make it more competitive among loyalists to foreigners like BMW.Conversely, Ford Motor Company (NYSE: F) is taking on General Motors' Buick as the top U.S. luxury brand in China -- the world's largest car market. Henry Ford's namesake plans to start selling its Lincoln brand beginning the second half of 2014 in order to establish itself as a superior vehicle to the Buick lineup overseas.Up until recently, Ford had no intentions of expanding its Lincoln brand globally, but has since decided to join other automakers that are already doing so. In 2012, Lincoln sales have been down slightly (1.8 percent). However, the brand plans to reveal a redesigned MKZ this fall, a release Ford remains positive about aside from the model's rank (along with the Ford Fusion and Explorer) as highest in durability by J.D. Power and Associates this year so far.The Chinese love their Buicks, but will they take to Lincoln in the same fashion? Surprisingly, Buick outsells Cadillac as the U.S. luxury brand of choice in China, (Buick outsells Cadillac in China exponentially, Q1 2012 showed 57,082 Buick units vs. 2,745 Cadillac units sold), so Ford has its work cut out in regards to Lincoln. Buick has only been sold in China since 1998, and has since obtained a "second life" status, selling over three million cars since the debut.Year-to-date, shares of Ford are down 1.05 percent and the company has been slowly losing value ahead of its fall 2012 model releases, (think Ford Fusion, Lincoln MKZ, recently debuted Ford Escape and the upcoming Ford EcoBoost Explorer Sport). High quality rankings and best selling models are positives for Ford and for its Lincoln offerings in China, but success is not guaranteed.After all, who would rather ride in a Buick over a Cadillac? China has made it clear that brands are not important, only preference.