Ex-Car Czar Bob Lutz has made the jump to hyperspace, joining New GM as . . . Car Czar. Of course, Bob can’t quite leave the Old School behind. More specifically, in keeping with CEO Fritz Henderson’s obsession with speed, he’s pre-pared excuses for failure on the forecourt. “There will have to be some form of economic recovery before any automobile company can hope to be profitable,” Lutz tells NPR. Perception gap much? Of course. All things considered, where’s the reinvention here?
The official announcement was made earlier (see what happens when you play badminton with your daughter?). Here’s the memo sent to employees:
Dear Employees: Dodge is proud to announce the continuation of Dodge Viper SRT10® production beyond the 2009 calendar year! Originally slated to cease production in December 2009, the Viper business is no longer for sale, and the Connor Avenue Assembly Plant, the sole home of Viper production since 1995 will continue to produce the V-10 powered sports car. This is great news for our Company as well as for the dedicated team at the Conner Avenue Assembly Plant in Detroit who build this iconic American car. We at Chrysler Group LLC are committed to building great products that exceed the expectations of our customers and, over the years, the legendary Dodge Viper is the type of great product that has set our company apart.
I once asked a priest about confession. What was the point? I knew Catholics who’d sin, confess, sin, confess, wash, rinse, repeat. “It’s not a ‘get out of hell free’ card,” he insisted. “Confession means you fully acknowledge your sin, pledge to atone for the harm you’ve caused, promise God that you’ve learned from your mistakes and change your behavior.” Let’s say you do all that and commit the same sin. What good’s an unrealized promise? “None,” he said. “I have refused absolution to repeat sinners because I didn’t believe that they were ready, willing or able to abandon their sins.” And there you have it: New GM’s recipe for disaster. Let us turn to the first sentence of New GM’s first press release.
General Motors has left bankruptcy behind. The MSM is greeting GM’s graduation with guarded not to say advertiser-sponsored optimism. Meanwhile, the populist backlash has begun. Yesterday, for the first time, I heard a “civilian” refer to GM as “Government Motors.” And then, another. Even if you discount the protest as right wing rhetoric (I was listening to Fox Talk), it’s clear that General Motors is becoming a lightning rod for anti-government sentiment. With tax hikes looming and the federal deficit ballooning, the public is starting to see the “new” General Motors as a symbol of federal impudence, intransigence and impotence. In fact, GM could be President Obama’s Iraq: the Gordian knot that strangles his political fortunes. To fully understand the futility of this financial folly, consider Cadillac.
GM is so screwed. We are so screwed. On the occasion of Old GM’s judicial death sentence, Steve Rattner offered an instant analysis of what New GM needs to do to survive: eliminate the perception gap. “There’s often a lag between perception and reality,” the head of the Presidential Task Force on Automobiles (PTFOA) told jobbing journos. Automotive News [sub] puts it this way: “General Motors must convince consumers that the quality of its vehicles has improved to stop a decline in U.S. market share and survive after bankruptcy, a senior Obama administration official said. Steve Rattner, the head of the Treasury Department’s auto task force, said the quality of GM vehicles has improved, citing the Chevrolet Malibu as an example. But he added that consumers have to be made aware.”
Tips to avoid/survive deer accidents:
1) Be attentive, be aware. Scan the sides of the road, not just straight ahead (use your peripheral vision).
2. When you see deer (whether standing or moving), warning signs or simply suspect you may be driving through their habitat, slow down.
3) Use your high-beams (dim where appropriate).
4) DO NOT SWERVE to avoid a collision with a deer. A sudden loss of vehicle control is far more dangerous than animal impact. Brake and hold the wheel straight.
5) Do not stop in the middle of the road post-Bambicide. Move your vehicle off the road and out of [further] harm’s way as soon as possible.
“This is really just the beginning of all the final tuning. We are at the 50 percent point. Fundamentally, we’ve got everything directionally correct, but now we’ve got all the tuning yet to do.” Andrew Farah, Chief Engineer, Chevrolet Volt. [thanks to Justin Berkowitz for the link]
Click here for a pdf of GM’s latest incentive programs. To give you an idea of how complicated this company’s pricing has become, note that the company providing the information, AIS rebates, is an independent third party. They make a good part of their living interpreting the GM FUD for the bankrupt automaker’s dealers. Huh.
You may not be familiar with H.R. 2743. The Automobile Dealer Economic Rights Restoration Act of 2009 tells New Chrysler and New GM that they “may not deprive an automobile dealer of its economic rights and shall honor those rights as they existed, for Chrysler LLC dealers, prior to the commencement of the bankruptcy case by Chrysler LLC on April 30, 2009, and for General Motors Corp. dealers, prior to the commencement of the bankruptcy case by General Motors Corp. on June 1, 2009, including the dealer’s rights to recourse under State law.” In other words, it would reverse New ChryCo’s and New GM’s dealer cutbacks—or at least force Uncle Sam to spend taxpayer billions to dump them. The bill is doomed. But that’s not stopping GM from asking its post-cull dealers to show their fealty and help twist the knife into their former colleagues. Text of the “loyalty oath” after the jump. [thanks to you-know-who-you-are]
[Tragically frequent] Piston Slapper Theodore writes:
OK, you talked me out of putting any more money and effort into the Thunderbird. But that’s no reason not to own another old Ford, is it?
Today’s discovery: a double-black 1992 Lincoln Mark VII with just 73,000 miles. It’s not perfect—some of the electrical gadgets don’t work any more, there’s some rust on the front fenders, the clearcoat has burned through in places and the paint underneath is fading. The biggest concern is a broken front passenger seat; the power part is fine, but the seatback is lying flat and will not stand up. I am unsure how to fix this, or even if it can be done in a way that will make it safe for passengers. And for reasons that will be readily apparent to anyone who read about my Thunderbird, I am leery of Ford automatics of this vintage. Is the one in the Lincoln any better than the one in the ‘Bird?
So how long before New GM fires Uncle Fritz? In the most pragmatic of all possible worlds, where the Presidential Task Force on Automobiles (PTFOA) looked out for the taxpayers’ $50 billion as if it were their own—Fritz wouldn’t even BE GM’s CEO. Henderson would have been defenestrated along with Rick Wagoner. You know: the ex-CEO who groomed Henderson as his replacement. (How hard is it to connect those dots?) Henderson has assured his place in The Peter Principle Hall of Fame, capping his career as the PTFOA’s toady. And now, best case, he should follow Old GM onto the scrap heap of history. Not a chance.
TTAC Commentator bumpy ii is nothing if not persistent. When the member of TTAC’s Best and Brightest bumped into the most recent U.S. new car sales figures (June), he was determined to get all trendy on us. And so . . . Click here for a look back at the sales stats for every Toyota model back to January ’04. If another one of our OCD, I mean, B&B wants to share some statistical analysis, or put this into a more visual form, bring it on. As always, your editorial support is most appreciated. [farago@ttac.com] Next up: same thing, Old GM.
TTAC commentator bumpy ii now blesses us with Old GM new car sales data bounteousness. Click here for the Best and Brightest’s data dump. There’s lots to be gleaned from this raw data, but the one thing we know for sure: no matter how many of what GM sold over the last five years, they didn’t take in more money than they spent. Will New GM reverse the curse? If I was a gambling man unencumbered by my journalistic oath of independence, I’d short the stock. Oh wait . . .
The Department of Transportation’s (DOT) is administering the forthcoming Cash For Clunkers (a.k.a. CARS) program. Although the program’s popularity remains to be seen, one thing’s for sure: they’re going in with their eyes wide open. “We’ve spent more time on issues involving potential fraud than anything else,” Spokesman Rae Tyson told us. “If we discover any criminal acts, we’ll hand the cases straight to the Department of Justice for immediate investigation and prosecution.” To that end, the DOT is subcontracting to an as-yet-unnamed third party for an as-yet-unspecified fee to hire an as-yet-unspecified number of “spot checkers.” Hey, you try creating and administering a federal program in 30 days. Truth be told, with just seventeen days left before CARS goes live, the DOT’s still grappling with the basics needed to protect a billion dollars in taxpayer money.
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