Or, more charitably (if equally egomaniacally), great minds think alike. Or, even less charitably (to both the Freep and TTAC), duh. First, let me get this off my chest. We've done the GM Attention Deficiency Disorder thing here, here, recently here and just about everywhere since ever I started this website. The fact that the Freep's Tom Walsh has only just reached this conclusion- after trying to reconcile J.D. Power's IQS rankings with domestic auto sales– is mind-boggling. As is the format of his treatise: "conversation with self." As are the simple-minded counter-arguments forwarded by his Detroit-loving half. "This [J.D.'s survey results] means that Detroit’s Big Two – General Motors and Ford Motor – are back in the game again. Right up there in quality with Toyota, Honda, Nissan, Hyundai, Audi and all those other foreign brands.” “Who cares?” “Whaddya mean, who cares? I care. We’ve got lots of trouble here in River City with plants closing, suppliers bankrupt, lots of people losing jobs. Better quality means our hometown companies will stop shrinking and start growing again.” Like Walsh's column, this realization is too little, too late. And too optimistic, too soon.
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Good to see that even the unflaggingly faithful are publicly faltering in their belief of a Detroit revival. Not.
In other news, the latest issue of Consumers Reports arrived yesterday and they reviewed a slew of small cars. They reported that they could not recommend the Chevy Aveo and Chevy Cobalt – the two small cars GM is offering to the fuel conscious consumer.
If not from product, from where will the turnaround start?
netrun:
If not from product, from where will the turnaround start?
Yes, of course. I didn’t really express myself properly. Text amended.
netrun-In that same report, CR did recommend the Focus, as well as several Asian models. But the Aveo tied (with the larger, and AWD, Subaru Impreza) for worst fuel economy-all the other compacts got better economy than the subcompact Aveo.
GM’s small cars simply aren’t competative with those from the Asian makes. The Focus is, even though it’s a warmed over old design.
DFP – D2.8 Fanboys of magazines…but it’s understandable as their salaries are mainly in part due to the D2.8 so why criticize them when they put food on your plate. But since they are “journalists” (used loosely) they should be more objective. If you don’t believe me go back and read the glowing review of the Saturn Ion. If that car didn’t scream criticizm of all that was wrong with GM back then then I don’t know what is (well maybe the Rendevoux or Relay – the rear windows on the Relay were a take off from an SUV and didn’t fit into the rest of the window style!).
The GMNA branding problem has to be fixed pronto. I know it’s more ADD futzing around but here’s a potential solution:
Move Buick (with only the Enclave and LaCrosse)to Cadillac where it has the potential to go head-to-head with cush FWD Lexus RX, ES at the low-end while giving it Cadillac-levels of customer service. Without that service, Buick has no chance of attracting new upmarket customers at PBG dealers.
Then, convert GMC and Pontiac dealers to Chevrolet. Unique Pontiac products (Vibe, G8, Solstice) become Chevrolets as well. Short-term these former PBG dealers would receive a limited allocation of Chevy products based on their past sales performance. Longer term, the goal will be consolidation of dealers. PBG dealers should be pleased as they get a chance to to sell Corvettes and Malibus. Current Chevy dealers will be pleased as their new sister dealers get limited allocation while they get a chance at selling products they didn’t have before. Also, because of allocation current Chevy dealers will be at a slight advantage price-wise.
Then, sell Saab and use the proceeds (which won’t be much) to buyout Saturn dealers to close up shop.
Result: Sales will be lost overall, but GM will be able to get ahead of the curve and finally build some momentum around two and a half core brands in NA. Plus, the cost to GM from lawsuits would be minimal if there’s enough benefit baked in for current Chevy dealers. One pothole: there are more Buick dealers than Cadillac ones.
getacargetacheck-Nope, that’s not a solution. First, they’ve spent lots of time, effort, and money to combine Pontiac, Buick, and GMC into a single dealership. They aren’t going to then undo that by taking Buick away. Second, in most cities, there is a PBG dealer and a Chevy dealer, which are frequently owned by seperate people. They can’t then turn the PBG dealer into another Chevy dealer (even though they sell similar product-it’s not identical).
Long term, what will happen is Saab (at least in the US), Saturn, and Hummer will close. PBG will remain Chevy Part Deux until (and if) GM goes out of business, and Caddy and Chevy will remain too until the end.
Probably, Chrysler will fold first, which will give GM a significant reprive.
i still think theres hope for all three!
But it will take the Toyota,Nissan and Honda buyers to switch.
and the only way to do that it by being better or cheaper.
and,most importantly,giving them a chance….
which in our current “me..me I want Japanese” trend could be tough!
Geotpf: You are confusing what will likely happen with what could happen. You are probably right with what will happen. However…
Yes, moving to Buick is ADD. But it really belongs with Cadillac if at all.
By converting Pontiac-GMC dealers to Chevrolet the idea would be to sell an extra number of Chevrolets but not nearly as many extra as the previous total of Pontiac-GMC combined. Yes, market share goes down but then you’re saving by not engineering, building and marketing hundreds of thousands of cars people don’t want.
So what if you have 2 Chevrolet dealers on the same street? The old PBG dealer would be constrained by their allocation based on their sales history (just like BMW does), and wouldn’t pose a threat to the established Chevy dealer.
Obviously, there could be other variations on same theme. It’s called thinking outside of the box.
getacargetacheck-Nope, that’s not a solution. First, they’ve spent lots of time, effort, and money to combine Pontiac, Buick, and GMC into a single dealership. They aren’t going to then undo that by taking Buick away. Second, in most cities, there is a PBG dealer and a Chevy dealer, which are frequently owned by seperate people. They can’t then turn the PBG dealer into another Chevy dealer (even though they sell similar product-it’s not identical).
Initial quality isn’t the only reason Detroit lost so much market share.
Automakers aren’t losing people over things that happen in the first 90 days. They’re losing them over things that happen after the warranty ends–which J.D. Power doesn’t even measure.
“Automakers aren’t losing people over things that happen in the first 90 days. They’re losing them over things that happen after the warranty ends–which J.D. Power doesn’t even measure.”
Totally agree with Michael K on that statement. GM’s problems are totally cultural. Of the one or two great competitive models they have, they also have umpteen models that nobody would touch. Their competitors build better cars through their entire line-up, not only one or two great halo cars.
Then GM needs to treat their customers like they own the best cars available out there so the customers will come back for more If something goes wrong, fix it – no apologies accepted. They’ve done the exact opposite for the last 3 decades, that’s more than two generations of buyers and will need two generations of car buyers to rebuild their reputation.
Us armchair quarterbacks and former customers (victims) can see that, but the GM powers that be aren’t listening.
Investors in GM need to be in for the long run and prepared to lose it all.