Sweet Pete DeLorenzo has made no bones about where he stands on the bailout, and having lashed out at the nattering nabobs of negativity (us), he’s turning attention to the old MSM and its coverage of the great bailout begathon of ’08. As a rash of common sense thinking about Detroit metastasizes into the mainstream, DeLorenzo is doubling down on his affection for Motown, and conducting interviews with whomever will listen to his rah-rah routine. In today’s Autoextremist Rant, he takes on the perception gap, that mythical construct which prevents the benighted masses from appreciating the truly great products Detroit offers. “The Perception Gap that exists out there for the Detroit automakers isn’t narrowing,” argues DeLorenzo, “it’s actually growing wider. Because when Americans get what minimal news they’re willing to digest – and only because it’s pre-packaged in carefully doled-out sound bites – then the Old Detroit will perennially overshadow the New Detroit, hands down.”
“The din out there in the media right now is so anti-Detroit, anti-“bailout” that I welcome the opportunity to present the other side of the debate, even if it appears with each passing day that Detroit is running out of time and unable to break through the negative media clutter that envelopes the industry at every turn. And after that death march of a hearing before the Senate Banking Committee yesterday, I’m even more pessimistic,” writes the Author of “The United States Of Toyota.” Why the pessimism, Mr DeLorenzo? “The message in that hearing room was clear: Detroit put itself in the shape it finds itself in by building bad, low-tech cars that nobody wants. That they were regurgitating the now-obligatory woeful misperception of Detroit that has spread across the country – a Detroit that hasn’t existed for the better part of a decade, by the way – was obvious. The fact that these Senators weren’t aware of the kind of ultra-competitive products that these companies have out now was predictable. And the fact that they weren’t aware of the kind of leading edge technological development that Detroit is actively engaged in was predictable too.”
But DeLorenzo never really debunks the “perception gap” he blames for unfairly dooming Detroit to oblivion. Clearly he’s leaving that up to the truth-tellers at gmfactsandfiction.com. But even after you point to all the Malibus and Enclaves that supposedly make up DeLorenzo’s “New Detroit,” there’s no basis for arguing that Americans are not justified in their hesitance to buy GM’s products. Much less that this hesitance is somehow not Detroit’s own damn fault. In fact, it’s a little amusing to try to postulate the conditions under which DeLorenzo might not support a bailout of his former employers.
And though it’s easy to simply lambast the “drive by media” and johnny-come-lately senatorial grandstanders, these ad hominem attacks never touch on the substance of the issue. After all, they wouldn’t have much of an opinion either way unless Detroit was asking for their (our) money. And now that Detroit is asking for a few extra bucks from all of us during these tough times, is it so unrealistic for even the least-informed to resist an involuntary investment in firms that we know of only from decades of sub-par products, layoffs, plant closings and lost market share? DeLorenzo is right, there’s a perception gap out there, but it doesn’t exist between the well-informed and the ignorant. It exists between the insulated, Detroit-dependent bailout-backers and everyone else.
Mr DeLorenzo and his ilk can “remind” everyone “that Detroit is a viable, relevant, strategic industry that’s part of the crucial fabric of America’s manufacturing base” until the cows come home, but repetition rarely makes things true. These reminders don’t convince anyone who has had bad experiences with GM products, and they don’t convince anyone who knows that GM needs a top-to-bottom CH11-based re-org to be viable. What they do convince everyone of is the reality that this industry and its flacks have a sense of entitlement that defies belief. The refusal to make tough choices, the refusal of the UAW to give up a red cent, the refusal to consider that everyone has fallen on hard times (especially the federal deficit), and the refusal to understand that this country became great because failing businesses were allowed to fail; these are the choices which are informing perceptions of the “New Detroit.”
Correct me if I’m wrong, but if the Detroit siblings were “viable” as this autoblogger suggests, they wouldn’t even be in this mess to begin with. Instead, there they stand, holding out a tin cup and hoping for the best.
The guy is totally amazing, a shill for Detroit. I stopped reading him a while back, could no longer stand his outsized ego. The funny thing is I recently heard him on the radio; you’d never guess he has such a soft-spoken voice compared to the bombast he writes.
About that old perception gap, a colleague at work who moved here from the Detroit area has a 2005 Saturn Ion. Just last week, the car had to be towed from here for its 3rd replacement ignition module. This is apparently another well-known problem that GM refuses to address with a redesigned part. So ye olde gap isn’t just something from long bygone days; it’s still relevant for recent GM products.
Somehow, Hyundai, whose reputation was far deeper down the toilet bowl than GM’s ever was, has been able to dig themselves out. How did they do that? By taking steps that GM would never, ever contemplate:
* Admit to past problems
* Price products fairly and consistently (ie, none of this “value pricing” crap)
* Implement a comprehensive, long-term warranty and–this is important–actually honour it.
* Design cars that people want to buy. To GM’s credit, they did eventually do this.
GM would never, ever admit to things being wrong, or their being fallible, so it could never, ever take the kind of steps Hyundai took to resolve the perception gap. For Hyundai, the perception gap was a Hyundai problem, and they took ownership of it and addressed it. For GM, the perception gap was the customer’s problem, not theirs, and they ignored it.
The perception gap exists, but it’s up to GM’s Marketing and Product Planning to fix it. Here that, Misters Wagoner, Lutz and La Neve? Especially you, Mr. La Neve. This kind of thing is your job.
“What they do convince everyone of is the reality that this industry and its flacks have a sense of entitlement that defies belief.”
These are the words someone should carve into Detroit’s and the UAW’s tombstones.
I’ve met Pete. He’s far more arrogant in person than he is in writing.
I haven’t read him in some time, and am surprised by how much he’s changed from his originally critical persona. I believe the change occurred when GM hired Lutz.
I have always been against the “one great man” theory. The failure of GM under Lutz is a failure of this theory.
I think Peter needs to give his head a shake. I usually read his writings with interest. I don’t always agree with him, but can usually see where he’s coming from. But this weeks rant sort of angered me. After decades of being promised by GM that they would “fix it the next time”, it’s now my fault for not believing them this time?
Sorry, Peter. Poorly written rant this time around.
The perception gap is real. But it’s not the only problem here. And Detroit hasn’t done everything it can to fix it.
so far…I haven’t seen a comment about tax breaks/incentives given to these “oh my god,their so much better than American car companies.
KIA…gimmie a break…and you all buy this shit?
Hyundai….ha,ha,ha! glad you buyers are now fourth generation,If you only knew their past,it would make Chrysler(oops,bad word here) look like Rolls Royce.
Mercedes…OHHHHHHHH,the most Overrated car in the industry,just read the reviews and durability reports!They were history long before they bought Chrysler.
BMW….If it wasn’t for the yuppie status,and if the owners knew these cars were built in the ‘states’ they wouldn’t touch them!
VW…now HERE is the total joke on you US bashers…..
I’m sure with your ‘anti anything US made’ minds you don’t remember the last attempt that VW made making cars here!
Im sure its been mentioned in this forum…..or has it??
Toyota(the beast)
If their so dammed good and have so much money,why don’t they try improving the economy in African or other underdeveloped nations.We Americans would buy them!
YEA…I love to strut in my KIA..ha..ha..ha..ha
bash American AFTER you’ve done your homework!
oldyak:
See, that’s the problem. We’re *not* anti anything US made. The transplants build cars herein the US that are very well regarded and sell well (they even sell at a profit!). Workers in the US *are* able to build quality vehicles that people *want* to buy.
Additionally, none of those companies are going to DC begging for more money to keep doing the same wrong things and hoping for a different outcome.
oldyak…
http://www.autoblog.com
You’d fit right in.
Wow, that is one weird rant. Makes less than no sense at all.
I heard him on with Paul Brian this past Saturday. He was on for nearly an hour. The show is “Drive Chicago,” which is essentially a brokered hour of radio bought and paid for by the Chicago Automobile Trade Association and their online presence at DriveChicago.com . You can listen here:
You may remember Paul Brian as one of the Chicago Auto Show staffers who ripped into the folks at some other web sites for pointing out that the McCormick Place web cams were live and some unintentional sneak previews might be possible.
So GM builds the Malibu and the Enclave and they’re supposed to have erased the quality gap? Forgive and forget, is that it?
Product quality aside are we also supposed to forget decades of horrible service from GM’s dealers? Are we supposed to forget Rick’s salary vs. his job performance? Are we supposed to forget that your average GM assembly line grunt makes more than a college-educated nurse?
And now GM & the UAW are asking for my tax dollars to piss away for another quarter in the unrealistic hopes that things will magically get better?
Yes, there is a perception gap, Uncle Pete. Unfortunately it’s yours.
Oldyak… I’m not sure why your even visiting this site.
The perception gap is crap. Most of us get to try GM vehicles almost every damn time we have to rent a car (I have ‘enjoyed’ an Aveo, a G6, and a Cobalt just in the past couple of months, as well as lucking out and getting a Mustang when I was stuck out in Yuma driving 200 miles/day for a week).
So those of us who travel, at least, know full well how much progress (if any) GM has made.
Also, a couple years back I ended up with a Sonata in Atlanta that convinced me that Hyundai was for real. So it can go the other way as well.
In the business world, perception IS reality, as any MBA candidate knows. This is why companies spend millions of dollars on advertising and PR. Your product might very well be the best in the world, but if no one thinks so then it really isn’t true.
What is the real value of “X”?
What someone else will pay you for it, not what you think it is.
With this in mind, note GM’s abysmal and ever-declining (for 45 years now) market share. What does that fact alone tell you? The perception is still that GM makes crap. Until GM can change this “reality”, it will remain reality. Yet I can see nothing different that will alter this in the next few months (or years).