90 days out of bankruptcy, GM is taking a moment to explain just how well the turnaround thing is going. Or, to use the PR-present tense, how GM “Accelerates its Focus on Customers, Cars and Culture.” CEO Fritz Henderson explains in the report press release (PDF):
Over the past ninety days since we created the new GM, we’ve already launched a number of new, fuel-efficient, highly successful cars and crossovers; introduced a new marketing campaign that highlights our best-in-class fuel economy, quality, warranty and safety performance; sworn in a new Board of Directors; and overhauled our management. We are taking aggressive actions and moving quickly to transform our culture into one that is truly customer focused
Everything you need to know about this exercise in corporate affirmations (I’m good enough, I’m smart enough, and doggone it, people like me!) can be found in the slide (above) titled “Concerns” from the report’s accompanying presentation (PDF). Nothing about the crisis surrounding Daewoo. Nothing about a steady erosion in sales that no marketing effort has been able to turn around. Nothing about binge-and-purge inventory “management.” Nothing about the near-impossibility of showing a profit by the planned IPO. In short, GM glossed over its issues like a 12 year old with her first stick of Lip Smackers.
Little encapsulates GM’s “we’re still changing but everything’s fine” line as well as the departure of Mark LaNeve. Hated by many dealers, and the architect of years of dismal sales results, LaNeve is a perfect symbol of old GM (but hey, what senior exec at New GM isn’t?). And on the one hand, GM is using his departure as an opportunity to say things like “we are taking aggressive actions and moving quickly to transform our culture into one that is truly customer focused.” In fact, Henderson went as far as to say “I do think there is a benefit to bringing in outsider. I think we would benefit from fresh perspective.” But Henderson also refused to use the opportunity to draw a line in the sand on sales results, preferring to let his euphemism that “Mark’s going to join another company to pursue an interest outside the auto industry,” dangle ominously. At least it would have been ominous, had LaNeve not overseen eight years of weak results before being allowed to “pursue other opportunities” post-bankruptcy.
The rest of the report is full of cheery optimism, that seems more based in turn of phrase and cognitive dissonance than reality. Under the heading “Improved Sales Performance,” The General notes “the company’s U.S. market share was 19.5 percent in the third quarter, consistent with the first half of the year. U.S. market share in 2008 was 22.1 percent.” How is that “improved” in any way? The dealer wind-down portion says nothing of ongoing meetings between dealers, GM, Chrysler and congress which have the potential to restore lost franchises, and undo GM’s dealer cull. Sales of the Hummer and Opel brands are noted as “progressing,” despite one rejection of the Hummer deal by China, and threats of EU intervention in the Opel transaction (not to mention potential negative effects of the Opel sale, should it go through).
And this optimism isn’t going away. In preparation for its IPO, and “as a newly created entity, GM is continuing to implement “fresh-start” reporting, which encompasses the determination of the fair value of its assets and liabilities, by March 31, 2010.” And then comes the IPO. GM has proved that it can ignore looming problems literally for decades, so why not a few months? There’s always time to worry about things after investors re-prop-up the company.
If I was the head of GM and knew that I could get taxpayer money to cover my butt when I sank the company, then I would also be full of cheery optimism.
Selling GM is much more creative than selling cars. At least with a car you drive away with something.
Does industry recovery include bringing plants back to the USA so Americans have jobs and can buy their cars?
I like how the best thing that thay can find to say about the Equinox and LaCrosse launch is how great they are when you run them into a wall at 60mph. Since when has a 5 star NHTSA safety rating been the be-all end-all measure of a car? And even then, they jump the gun by ‘anticipating’ a 5-star rating for the LaCrosse! I’m sure the untraceable briefcase had enough money in it…
“In fact, Henderson went as far as to say ‘I do think there is a benefit to bringing in outsider. I think we would benefit from fresh perspective.’”
GM’s epitaph.
Nice “Lack of Progress” report to the FORCED owners, us the long suffering US Taxpayers…
Nero continues to fiddle, while Rome continues to burn…..
It’s hard to watch a long time member of the American family commit suicide. Even harder to pay for it…
Like using your family’s vacation money to buy cigarettes and booze for an Uncle that has lung cancer and cirrhosis..
@lw-
vacation money?? more like mortgage payment!!
@CyCarConsulting-
Oh, you get something alright. Like you get something after banging a hooker.
The best part of the press release- “Over the past ninety days since we created the new GM, we’ve already launched a number of new, fuel-efficient, highly successful cars and crossovers…” Which would be what, exactly????
Good Lord, they’re not even trying. I can write better bullshit than that…
Well they have this Equinox-Torrain crossover that is EPA rated 32 highway, looks like a brick, and is not a diesel or hybrid. 32 sounds ridiculously high, since they have small, lightweight and far more aerodynamic cars that can’t get 32. Anybody know the secret?
N-GM’s book entitled “I’ve got nothing,” pt. III, many many more chapters to come.
Whether a no-good brother-in-law or a hundred-billion-dollar car company giant, no good ever came from propping up a failure. As Joseph Schumpeter taught (and as referred to us by someone else on another thread), creative destruction keeps our economy vibrant. Propping up failures drags down the strong without helping the weak.
Autosavant : Well they have this Equinox-Torrain crossover that is EPA rated 32 highway, looks like a brick, and is not a diesel or hybrid. 32 sounds ridiculously high, since they have small, lightweight and far more aerodynamic cars that can’t get 32. Anybody know the secret?
Basically the same way that kids who know the questions and answers to a test prior can get an A. Study only exactly what you need to know to ace the test. Optimize the gearing and throttle mapping for the EPA test and good results will come. When the student is asked to do a question that wasn’t on the cheat sheet (i.e. driving in conditions different to the EPA test), the grade might not be so good. This is why small cars (corolla, cobalt, civic, fit, yaris, etc) all seem to destroy their EPA rating in real world driving and those driving CUVs and such can never seem to get better than the EPA rating. You can rig your car to ace the test, but you can’t cheat physics.
Additionally, I’m sure these 4cyl 3800lb CUVs are dog slow and they swig the gas when buzzing at 4000rpm to hold 75mph on the interstate.
Autosavant-I have seen two road tests with mpg on the NuNox (Edmunds and CR). Can’t vouch for Edmunds method but they did say that they expected better (21 mpg, they usually get closer to the EPA est. apparently).
CR uses a consistent method with multiple drivers and they got lower mpg (21 mpg) than the RAV4 4 and 6, the Subie Forester and equaled the CRV. And they thought it felt overgeared and sluggish.
The V6 Nox sucked fuel pretty well (16 mpg? I think).
Jury is still out but the early evidense says that the Nox 4 is only mid pack on mpg and the V6 is poor.
I like to see how vehicles mpg stack up after there are three or four different sets of test mpg with either a consistent method or same day, same drivers comparison. Then one has an idea how they actually rank.
EPA numbers? Just ball park IMO. I pay little attention to the Govs treadmill data.
Prediction-when the hype dies down and the Nox goes head to head it will be another Malibu, competitive but not the best.
Bunter
Quentin-You can rig your car to ace the test, but you can’t cheat physics.
+1 very well put
Bunter
Right, all those vehicles were created by OLD GM. Does he really think the American public are complete idiots???
GM announced yesterday that they still have 10,000 too many heads on the staff that need to go by year end, Anyone think this won;t be disruptive?
“Bunter1 :
October 7th, 2009 at 4:20 pm
Autosavant-I have seen two road tests with mpg on the NuNox (Edmunds and CR). Can’t vouch for Edmunds method but they did say that they expected better (21 mpg, they usually get closer to the EPA est. apparently).
CR uses a consistent method with multiple drivers and they got lower mpg (21 mpg)”
I saw the same CR test yesterday, your 21 is average ,not highway. CR did get 30 highway, which is quite good, if not exactly 32. They probably were doing 55 .. or less than 65 anyway.