Even though Autosavant's J.S. Smith is "hardly a snarky, cheer-as-the-Titanic-sinks sneerful spectator," he's more than willing to lay into GM hard when they deserve it. And the decision that prompted Smith to assert that "trained monkeys could do better than the crumb-bums in the RenCen," is certainly worth the vitriol. Smith takes GM to task for deciding against bringing the Chevy Beat stateside. With Toyota bringing a five-door Yaris to the states, and Ford Euro-sizing, not bringing on the Beat "qualifies as less a business move than a bowel movement," says Smith channeling his inner Farago. He also notes that revealing the Beat in New York and asking Americans to vote for a favorite between the Beat and its Trax and Groove siblings was disingenuous at best. Considering that the Beat was handily the people's choice, the move is just plain suicidal. "Not only was GM being idiotic in its decision to not have the Beat available for sale in the US in its first generation when consumer demand for small, efficient vehicles is at a fever pitch, but the company was also dishonest about its intentions and plans for the small cars with the public… This is how you go from a 50% market share to under 20% in a generation." Well said, sir. And welcome to the "snarky, cheer-as-the-Titanic-sinks sneerful spectator" club.
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Like I said in a previous posting here at TTAC…that whole damned Beat saga is, at best, disingenuous and at worst, flat-out deception. Heads should really roll over this and anyone that has any sympathy for GM is delusional.
It will finally make it to market late to the small car party and GM will just cry “see! we told you no one wants small cars!”.
I watched the “Saving General Motors” show on CNBC last night. Lots of love there for Lutz and Wagoner.
The Beat is so f****** ugly that its cute.
From the other angle, the blue headlights make it look like a bug. Be a great car for one of the lesser Transformers.
Ok either I am having serious deja-vu or you just copy clipped the first few sentences from the previous Beat news article.
but the company was also dishonest about its intentions and plans for the small cars with the public… This is how you go from a 50% market share to under 20% in a generation.
Yep I’m going to believe a company has “changed” when they lie straight to my face and still treat their customers, or ex-customer as total idiots who can’t remember the last car they bought.
Just go bankrupt already I want to have a beach party with my Caddy in the bonfire to celebrate.
Best quote in the Autosavant blog:
“PS: Yes, Chrysler has even bigger problems, but given that they had a nine-year relationship with Count Daimler-cula, I am more willing to cut them slack.”
This made my day.
I’m wondering whether GM are having a bout of senility here?
Are GM purposely NOT bringing the car stateside because the because they believe they still have enough influence to turn the NA market back to trucks and SUV’s….?
If they do believe this, then, GM just accelerated their demise…..
toxicroach
From the other angle, the blue headlights make it look like a bug. Be a great car for one of the lesser Transformers.
Actually… It’s in the next Transformers movie.
“Is anyone dumber than a GM Executive?”
Not humanly possible.
“Is anyone dumber than a GM Executive?”
Sure, our Prez!
“Is anyone dumber than a GM Executive?”
Sure, our Prez!
Remember this is the guy that told detroit to build cars people actually want to buy. Whether or not our President is dumber is debatable.
“Is anyone dumber than a GM Executive?”
The people the believe the words coming out of GM Executive’s mouths.
I too watched part of the CNBC show on saving GM, the final straw was showing the “Volt” as there most redeeming feature, most of the show was a real love for GM and there great CEO!
If you all remember a few years back when North American car makers have imported their European small cars into North America, the vehicles have been unreliable, poorly serviced and sales disasters. Think of the Ford Cortina and GM Firenza as two notorious examples of fuel-frugal rushed into
the North American market during the last fuel crisis in the 70s
GM exec Mark LaNeve is what the horse following the lead Clydesdale sees when they are all pulling the wagon. Everytime he opens his mouth, I LOL. He is “Mister Spin”. He has no credibility.
The answer is yes unfortunately: Those executives at Cerberus who thought it was a good idea to buy GMAC AND Chrysler in the same year. Now THAT”S dumb.
“Crumb bums.”
Holy moley!
That guy is a basket of hate!
For a 3rd grader…
(Firenza wasn’t an import)
That’s funny!
“Cheer as the Titanic sinks.” Watching it from a South-bound iceberg…
I’m sick as hell with the sad state of the American car market, but I don’t blame the executives.
Who do I blame? Everyone buying these pieces of crap.
I can’t stand people who “buy American” just because and reward these morons for lax quality control, uninspired designs, penny-pinched-to-death interiors, and half-assed platform sharing badge engineering.
These individuals are stuck in the past and are perpetuating the automotive diarrhea spewing from the giant anus that is Detroit.
It seems like with the glory days of $1-$2 gas gone, even the most die-hard “buy American” folks are starting to realize what they’ve done (maybe not consciously) and are actually buying well built…American built…cars and Detroit is taking notice.
I’m not going to call it a comeback, or a revolution, or some other BS cliche, but some of the latest and upcoming models look promising. Time will tell if the penny-pinchers rape the good out of them like they did with all the previous “promising” models.
Even if the Volt, Cruze, Beat, blah… are everything that’s been promised, it might be too little, too late and the only thing that will save them from being either gobbled or dissolved will be Government intervention.
Sorry for the rant. I had a bad day.
Are GM purposely NOT bringing the car stateside because the because they believe they still have enough influence to turn the NA market back to trucks and SUV’s….?
I would have to say “yes” on that. These guys just don’t want to build or sell small cars. Period. Most likely it would be a “loss of face” for them to finally follow the footsteps of the Japanese automakers and build (and keep updated) a decent, reasonably priced small car.
The egos on these parachute-stuffers are just incredibly enormous.
What if GM really wanted to manufacture the Beat but couldn’t? Is there a possibility that the resources earmarked for Volt R&D and production prevented GM from creating the Beat? Does this sound like a plausible theory to anyone? Could I possibly ask more questions in a single comment?
Daimlercula. Now that’s funny!
Is anyone dumber than a GM exec?
Well, I suppose one could argue a case for our preside…
Awe, what the hell, put me down for “no.”
tony-e30 :
They designed 3 small cars, flaunted them to US audiences and even asked us to vote on which we liked best. After all that they announced that the winner wasn’t even designed with the US audience in mind. It’s that sort of unmitigated douchebaggery that puts them where they are now. They get zero slack from me on this one.
Are you all saying you would actually buy the Beat?
Beat= Aveo and many people here trash the Aveo.
The worse part about this is the safety aspect. GM is basically saying that it is OK to kill or maim Europeans and Asians but not Americans.
GM would be the first on the block with a genuine subsubsubcompact.
Say what you will about the car… it is … unique.
davey49: I would argue that small cars are safer on Japanese and European roads than in America because of this country’s SUV obsession. A small light car is fine if it gets whacked by another small light car – less so if it gets crushed by a Ford Excess. I don’t think GM’s doing anything untoward there.
Having said that, no, there is no one dumber than a GM executive. They destroyed my faith in American business long before subprime, bank failures, etc.
Only a Ford exec, for killing the Ranger just when it could sell big with a little promotion.
“I’m not going to call it a comeback, or a revolution, or some other BS cliche, but some of the latest and upcoming models look promising. Time will tell if the penny-pinchers rape the good out of them like they did with all the previous “promising” models.”
I wouldn’t hold my breath. Remember GM’s much-hyped J-Series back in the the early ’80s? We’ve been here before.
A smart executive would have realized that the Beat could have been a great opportunity for GM to capture market share with Generation Y.
With the Transformers 2 tie in next summer, a good smattering of tech (Bluetooth, OnStar, XM radio, iPod connectivity, nav system, etc.) and good fuel economy (40 mpg 1.4L engine), it would have been a hit. Hell, the car could have been designed with easy swapable interior accents (let users customize their interiors) and the iPod generation would have went nuts for it.
The Beat could have saved GM, oh well, I guess Ford will survive.
Monkeyboy, I think the Firenza GE Levecque is referring to is the third generation Vauxhall Viva (HC series?) It was sold, in Canada anyway, as the Firenza. It had numerous build quality and reliability issues and pretty much killed Vauxhall in Canada. Vauxhall’s badge engineered Canadian cousin, the Envoy was killed a few years before to make way for the Chevy Vega.
“Is anyone dumber than a GM Executive?”
Sure, our Prez!
Hardly…this is the most successful Presidency ever. If you are a Fortune 500 company, Bank, or in the top 5% of the income earners in the US.
OSHA de-fanged
Bankruptcy Bill (so you can’t individually go Chap 7) passed
Oil totally unmolested…….no problems here !
Do what you want if you are a Telecommunications Company.
Wall Street sent out back to go play unsupervised.
War with bonus no – bid contracts to friends.
Detroit is the only major industry that didn’t buy a piece of the last (current) administration. Losers.
For the other 95% of us, not so good.
It’s possible that what we are interpreting as stupidity is actually the consequence of the development funds running low. It ain’t cheap federalizing a car, and GM may be being forced to make some really tough decisions about what gets funded and what doesn’t. And their decision making process doesn’t comfort me in the slightest…
Anyone who thinks that a Daewoo Sub-compact is going to help save GM is definitely as dumb as a GM exec.
brownie- a lot of people make that argument (If we had no SUVs we would all be safer) with regards to safety but all roads will still have commercial trucks and heavy sedans on them. 5000# being hit by 10000# is safer than 2000# being hit by 10000#.
I was thinking more that GM was putting these people in danger by selling a car that won’t pass US crash laws. Somehow I think the Beat is going to be more for China, India and Eastern Europe which may not have up to date crash standards.
“Is anyone dumber than a GM Executive?”
The person who chooses to go into a GM (Saturn) showroom, where they can only pay list price.
When will you learn? ROI on the Beat is not high enough for GM to invest in to produce. IF the Beat was a 60K truck based SUV then GM will produce it. GM excutives are smartest people of all because they still get $100+ million and still have the Federal Government bail them out.
A GM executive is the best job in the world!
Jeffer you are correct, the Firenza I was refering too was built in England by Vauhall(GM make)it was terrible as well as the Vega!
A GM executive is the best job in the world!
Money is not everything in life. I would rather be poor and keep my good name than be Rick Wagner with millions in the bank and his reputation, or anyone else at the top of GM. It would be nice to be remembered in a good way when I die. Does anyone honestly think that is going to happen to Rick, remember the other notorious Richard in our history.
“I would rather be poor and keep my good name than be Rick Wagner with millions in the bank and his reputation, or anyone else at the top of GM.”
For 14 million a year, I think I could probably get over this roadblock.
I’m with Redbarchetta. Once certain needs are met, there really is little joy in pilling up ever higher stacks of dollars. Drug lords make lots of money, but I wouldn’t want to be one. Incompetent executives also make lots of money, but I wouldn’t want to be one of them either.
The Beat saga is beyond stupid. All of the vote for your favorite crap only to be told “never mind”. The mind boggles.
“IS ANYONE DUMBER THAN A GM EXECUTIVE?”
YES!
MY EX-GIRLFRIEND!!!
Considering all the talk and lack of action, they should have called it the Chevy BLEAT.
My contempt for the “powers-that-shouldn’t-be” is unwavering and it makes me smile (not really…metaphorically speaking) to see that others share in my rancor. After decades of pawning off vehicles that were mediocre and outdated, at best, to American consumers, I’m sure there are many who share similar feelings of disdain!
Welcome to the club Mr. Smith…GM is one of the few organizations in the world whose idiotic and illogical behavior can push common folk to speak out with such bitterness. Or as my grandma used to say…full of “hate and bile” or “piss and vinegar”….I take them both as compliments! If I’m really pissed off, the word “venom” applies to me as well…it’s a gift.
Beat – dead beat more like it!