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August 31, 2005

How You Can Help Hurricane Victims

By Bob Lutz
GM Vice Chairman

As you know, we generally try to keep the conversation on this blog focused on GM products and services. But, given the extraordinarily tragic circumstances in the South following the devastation of Hurricane Katrina, I feel compelled to urge you to please give what you can to help the victims of this horrific storm. A list of links providing opportunities to help is presented below.

To our GM employees, GM is matching your donations to the American Red Cross made through this page. And to others, here are some additional good relief organizations, (with thanks to The New York Times and Instapundit):

American Red Cross

America's Second Harvest

GM Global Aid

Mercy Corps

Salvation Army

Catholic Charities

Episcopal Relief & Development

United Methodist Committee on Relief

Southern Baptists

Mennonite Disaster Services

Humane Society of the United States

Posted by Lutz at 10:42 AM
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August 26, 2005

About that Solstice…

By Tom Kowaleski
GM Vice President, Communications

Thanks for all the response to my Pebble Beach weekend. I see we have some more bona-fide Solstice owners writing in, and I want you to know we appreciate your continued enthusiasm and completely understand your frustration and concerns.

First, thanks for your business as there's a lot of choice in the market today and you spent your money with us - a sign of your brilliance I might add! Second, I know we have an obligation to let you know what's going on with your cars. So here's what's happening. Since you are among the first owners, and we're just beginning production, we are taking extra care to make sure every car that leaves the Wilmington plant meets our quality expectations. Daily, truck loads of Solstices (Solsti?!) are departing for dealerships around the country.

Each of these cars is being carefully built and in so doing, we're taking extra time to make sure all is just right. We're paying special attention to fits and finishes, interior materials and trim, and all elements of the car's operation. And when each is ready, it's immediately shipped. Just as with any new build process, we know that as we ramp up production, our ability to do this more quickly will increase. However, at this time, we feel it's better to take the time to ensure your Solstice leaves the factory ready to run and perform at the level we intended.

The Pontiac marketing team, as noted in previous posts on this blog, continues to communicate with owners, particularly the first 1000. But they can’t get the cars out of Wilmington any faster, and they’re doing their best to explain the careful manner in which the ramp-up is proceeding that I just outlined. As they’ve pointed out, your dealer will be the best source of up-to-date information about each individual delivery. Just know that they’re rolling out as fast as we can get them out, while still meeting our (and your) very high standards.

Sorry if we are frustrating you; believe me: we are just as eager to get these cars on the road as you are. But our sole goal is to ensure you'll be a delighted owner. We want the love affair to get off on the right foot, and last. Thanks for your patience.

Posted by Editor at 1:50 PM
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August 23, 2005

Having a Blast at Pebble

By Tom Kowaleski
GM Vice President, Communications

I just got back from the Pebble Beach Concours D’Elegance, and what a weekend it was. It’s hard to beat Pebble for beautiful machinery in a beautiful setting. Best in Show was a 1937 Delage D8-120 S Pourtout Aréo Coupé owned by Sam and Emily Mann & Alfredo Brener from Englewood, New Jersey. This is a truly spectacular car. Check it out.

Watching and participating in the "goings-on" there during the weekend was a really uplifting experience, primarily because it proved to me that GM is making tremendous progress with our product programs.

Our new cars and trucks are getting on the trend line, and being perceived in an entirely new and positive light. I’m convinced that we are breaking through the old conventional wisdom that we're incapable of doing visually compelling, dynamically satisfying cars and trucks. Corvette, Z06, all the new Cadillacs, Solstice, and yes, HHR, are chiefly accountable for this. And our other newer vehicles, like the LaCrosse and G6, are providing undeniable quality and value to the hundreds of thousands buying them.

At Pebble last weekend, we had the Solstice on the road throughout the area and it was a smash hit everywhere. We had to beg, borrow and steal to get three cars there and should have had a gaggle of Z06 models as well.

For example, a guy driving a new $290,000 Ferrari Super America pulled up to me when I was in a Solstice, looked over and said, "That's a really cool car!" It was the same all weekend ... there was simply no class system surrounding this car in a sea of Ferraris, Lamborghinis, BMWs and all other upscale brands. Not one person said, "It’s just a Pontiac." Not one person said, "That’s nice ... for a little inexpensive car." Instead, everyone fell all over the car. A few fingerprint smudges were a small price to pay for all the adulation and affirmation.

We are working our way back into the "car guys’ club." For a time, we ceased to be a real player in the enthusiast game. But all weekend I heard, "You guys are starting to do some neat stuff!" "Do you have the new [insert Z06, STS-V or Solstice] here?" "When can I try one of those new Cadillacs?" There’s no other way to put it: It all got me really excited!

Of course, not everyone is a car guy. But by building vehicles that please the enthusiasts, our reputation as a maker of inspired vehicles will continue to grow. We’re beginning to see the evidence firsthand, and believe me, it’s fun.

And that’s what helped make it such a great weekend. Yes, seeing all the old friends and unbelievably spectacular classic automobiles was a special treat, as always. But coming home feeling good about what we’re doing at GM was very sweet icing on the cake for me.

Posted by Editor at 4:34 PM
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August 11, 2005

Awareness is Everything

By Bob Lutz
GM Vice Chairman

As you’ve probably heard, July was quite a month for the entire auto industry and for GM in particular. Consider the following facts:

· The Buick LaCrosse, Cadillac STS, Chevrolet Cobalt, Chevrolet Equinox and Saab 9-2X all had their best-ever sales months.

· Cadillac had its best July since 1985, and year-to-date sales lead BMW by nearly 1,000 sales. The last time Cadillac led BMW after seven months was in 2000.

· Saab in June and July had the two best sales months in its U.S. history.

· GMC and Hummer had the best-ever sales months in their history.

· Buick sales for the calendar year are 8,300 units more than a year ago.

· Cobalt was the fourth-best-selling car in the industry, and outsold the Toyota Corolla by about 2,000 vehicles.

So, our numbers are encouraging but, unfortunately, our awareness levels don’t match them. We’re doing everything we can to change that, of course. Just last month, we brought an array of our newest cars and trucks to the Boilermaker 15K Road Race in Utica, N.Y., of which we’re the presenting sponsor.

GM had about 20 vehicles on hand, and, from what I’ve heard firsthand from our people who attended, the response was incredible. People looked at the new Buick Lucerne, for example, and were blown away by it. It even made them look differently at LaCrosse, which was parked next to it. The general reaction was, “THESE are Buicks? When can I get one?”

That’s what we want to hear, and that’s what we need to be doing more of — we need to get more people to know more of our products. Take Buick, for example. It’s one of the industry’s most reliable brands in terms of quality, but who knows that? It is finally getting exciting new products, but who knows that?

Lucerne is the first Buick in ages to have a V8; its four-cam aluminum V8 will provide plenty of power. Its interior is luxurious, and, honestly, one of the best, most craftsmanlike interiors we’ve done in years, in any segment. It’s roomy, smooth, dead quiet, and yes, good-looking. Its styling is subtle and understated — a Buick hallmark. It’s also high-tech, with dual-stage airbags, and OnStar with turn-by-turn audio navigational instruction. This will be one of the best, high-quality, smooth-and-powerful-performing fullsize sedans GM has ever done.

The challenge is to get that story out there. And word of mouth (or word of blog) can do as much if not more than any TV commercial, magazine ad or golf tournament sponsorship. We still need to do all those things, but we need to be doing more. We have to put the word out ourselves—that’s what I’m telling my people to do, and that’s what I’m doing right here right now. So if this comes off like a total GM commercial, it is. And there’s good reason for it to be.

I encourage you to take a test drive, not just of Lucerne, but any of our products coming now or in the next few months: Chevy HHR and Impala, Pontiac Torrent (and Solstice, naturally), Hummer H3, Saab 9-7X, Pontiac G6 Coupe (and the upcoming convertible), and all the rest of our newest vehicles. If you like them, tell somebody about it. And if you don’t, well, maybe you can just tell me.

Posted by Lutz at 1:27 PM
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August 8, 2005

Lutz Delivers First Solstice

Bob Lutz, Vice Chairman, Global Product Development, delivered the first Solstice to its owners Friday at the GM Renaissance Center in Detroit.

View the video here (Real Player required).

Also, see new owners talking about their cars in GM's Drive Time video. And see our photo album from the event.

Posted by Editor at 10:24 AM
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August 5, 2005

Looking Forward

By John F. Smith
GM Group Vice President
Global Product Planning

As you have probably noticed on FastLane this week, several GM executives have taken part in the annual Management Briefing Seminars in Traverse City, Michigan, and I was among them.

I spoke Thursday about GM’s global product development process, and a couple of the areas of interest I covered included our plans for the crossover segment and for hybrid technology.

We are gearing up to take a stronger position in the growing crossover segment. Some believe that we’ve made some questionable portfolio choices, and are behind . . . perhaps irretrievably so.

Well, I’ve got a different perspective on that, because I heard the same thing years ago when Cadillac announced the first Escalade. We were dead last to that market. That was then. Escalade now leads the segment, supporting the notion that "best" matters more than "first."

In the crossover segment, six years ago, we had none, at least by our definition, and our market share was, hence, zero. Now, we have six different models, sell about 430,000 units annually, and hold 15% share, having taken some from those who were "first," by the way.

Four years from now, we’ll have 14 crossovers, accounting for about 800,000 units annually, give or take, representing about 1 of every 5 GM vehicles sold. Of course, our plans are subject to change, in this case only upwards.

Why? Because that’s what consumers want. They want something different, more in tune with their increasingly active lifestyles and self-images . . . a further blending and refining of select attributes they know and prefer from separate car and truck experiences, with clear advantages in fuel efficiency.

Our full-size utilities, already the most fuel efficient entries in the category, will be even more so when the new ones debut. How about adding about 1-2 mpg to today’s segment-leading performance?

The story only gets better when those vehicles are purchased with GM’s patented two-mode full hybrid system, available in 2007. This system, while not the first hybrid on the market, will be the best as it will provide benefits across the full range of driving conditions, and a 25 percent fuel efficiency gain with no loss in towing capacity.

This new hybrid system is a better mousetrap. The addition of a second hybrid mode to the drive system improves efficiency, and reduces the need for large electric motors found in typical single-mode systems. The two-mode system will be GM’s third hybrid offering, covering 12 models, by 2008. And we’re focusing them on our largest vehicles first, where they will have the greatest effect on fuel consumption.

Consumers have voted with their wallets in favor of trucks for some time now, and our new full-size utilities will provide fuel economy better than many competitive mid- and –small utilities on the market. With these improvements, and the further gains made possible by our hybrid system, we’ll be offering folks the spacious and highly functional ride they want, with very respectable operating costs.

But our investment in crossovers will give those same customers unmatched choice across the sport utility spectrum, with both fully framed and body-frame integral choices, top to bottom.

In other words, however the market develops, we’ll be there.

See GM's fuel economy leaders >>

Posted by Editor at 12:21 PM
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August 4, 2005

SSR Podcast

FastLane radio host Deb Ochs is joined by Bob Walczyk, Chevy SSR product and marketing manager, who gives us some insight into the Super Sport Roadster and tells us what’s new for 2006.

Podcast feed

Download the MP3

Podcast help

Posted by Editor at 4:03 PM
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August 3, 2005

The Power of Performance

Mark Reuss
Executive Director
Performance Division

Not long after I was chosen to lead GM’s new Performance Division three years ago, I showed off a couple of fantastic one-offs here at the annual automotive Management Briefing Seminars in Traverse City, Mich., – a late ’90s Pontiac Firebird and Chevy Camaro dramatically reworked to evoke their 1970s racing heritage and production styling. Shortly after, we took them to the Woodward Dream Cruise, where they wowed the crowd.

This year I’m back in Traverse City talking about our Performance Division successes. While this industry has changed a lot in three short years, our passion for creating exciting vehicles hasn’t. More importantly, our customers’ appetite for them keeps increasing, so we’ve ramped up production a bit since I shared those two extreme makeover F-bodies.

Besides the fact that we’re shipping the Pontiac Solstice to dealers this week, I’m thrilled to tell you that our first performance SUV, the Chevy TrailBlazer SS, as well as the Cadillac STS-V (469 hp) and XLR-V (443 hp), recently posted record times at Nürburgring – under 8.5 minutes around the track with a GM driver behind the wheel. More than 15 of our Performance Division employees are trained to drive at the famous German racetrack – talk about putting your career in high gear.

The TrailBlazer SS joins eight other Chevy SS production vehicles for ’06 (including the return of the V-8 to Impala), two from Saturn (Ion and Vue Red Line), three from Cadillac and the Pontiac Grand Prix GXP. Even though many of these vehicles sell at a very competitive price, they all receive significant chassis and powertrain upgrades. We’re not going to put a ‘performance’ badge under the hood of a vehicle unless it performs.

Tuners are going to love the Cobalt SS Supercharged, and its 205-horsepower, race-proven Ecotec is going to give the other players in this market a real run for their money. Enthusiasts can buy a Cobalt SS right off the lot, or they can buy a base coupe and customize it, using our supercharged model as inspiration.

I think you can tell I’m having a lot of fun these days, yet before you think the Performance Division is just GM’s toy department, we are paying our own way to the track: Record runs at Nürburgring stir my soul but it’s profit that supercharges our leaders and stockholders. In 2004 the GM Performance Division sold nearly a quarter of a million units at a substantial profit.

Sales are always a great affirmation that we’re doing the right thing. Another will be 20 years from now when I’m standing along Woodward watching the vehicles we’re developing today take their place alongside the rest of the classics. In the meantime, take a test drive and tell me what you think.

Posted by Editor at 3:45 PM
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August 2, 2005

The Sky… And Beyond

By Jill Lajdziak
General Manager, Saturn

In the beginning, back in the early '90s, Saturn had the three elements of enduring brands – innovative and high quality product, great marketing, and a terrific retail experience.

So what happened? It’s no mystery. We didn’t grow our portfolio or evolve the product. We offered one vehicle for 10 straight years. Sure, customers loved the car, but love doesn’t sustain a division. You need all three elements – great product, marketing and retail – to succeed.

Today, I spoke at the auto industry’s Management Briefing Seminar in Traverse City, Mich. I have to admit, it was a pretty fun day. I spent the day talking about Saturn’s revitalization. The revitalization builds on our strengths – great marketing and retail experience – and adds product to the mix. By the end of 2006, we’ll double our portfolio with three dynamic new vehicles and an all-new design.

Our primary buyers are import intenders, so we looked overseas, to Europe, for our future design and now share an external and internal design language with Opel.

The Saturn look is bold and fresh, with taut, crisp forms. And the interiors are soft, warm and inviting. The first vehicle out of the gate with the new look is the highly anticipated Sky roadster, our signature car. The Sky sends a powerful message and will change the way people think about us.

Next is our midsize sedan, which I announced today, called the Aura. Trust me, you won’t be disappointed; it’s just like the concept we introduced at the 2005 Detroit auto show. The Aura will launch in summer 2006. And, let me tell you, it’s going to be a blast to drive with a 3.6L V-6 with an estimated 250 hp.

I also announced our plans to launch an all-new midsize crossover utility vehicle, the Outlook. The Outlook will seat up to eight passengers in three rows and will round out our portfolio.

But this revitalization isn’t only about future product, it’s also about our current lineup. We’re adding more refinement and content across the board, while reducing MSRPs. OnStar is now standard on every Saturn. Safety has long been a Saturn hallmark and this brings it to a whole new level.

It might seem like everything’s changing at Saturn, but that’s not true. We’ll always be a trusted brand that puts you first, and we’ll always give you a premium purchase and ownership experience. That’s the Saturn promise. With our highest score to date, Saturn is the top non-luxury brand in the most recent J.D. Power Customer Satisfaction Index. And that’s a position we’re not willing to give up.

We’re determined to make Saturn a great brand again – with great marketing, a retail experience and product. Up next: bringing the Saturn promise to new segments and new customers. But, that’s a story for another day...

Posted by Editor at 4:04 PM
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August 1, 2005

Delivering on our Total Value Promise

By Mark LaNeve
Vice President
GM North America Vehicle Sales, Service and Marketing

While many of the business media and industry analysts were understandably impressed with the success of our GM Employee Discount for Everyone campaign, some suggested that it was just a new twist on the marketing approach we’ve been using since Keep America Rolling in late 2001. They warned that we might be eating into future sales and future profits by holding what amounted to a summer fire sale.

However, we saw some very encouraging signs in America’s response to this promotion. And we think we have good reason to be pumped up about the launching of our 2006 product line.

First of all, this program proved that customers like our products. That’s undeniable: we sold record numbers of trucks and sport utility vehicles, and our launch vehicles continued to be hot properties. Unprecedented numbers of GM cars and trucks moved into consumers’ garages in June and July, and a lot of those consumers were new to the GM family. OK, you say, if people like those products so much, why weren’t they flying out of the showrooms before June? Well, it’s obvious that the sales promotion made the difference. Customers liked the lower prices we offered, and they really liked the idea that “you pay what we pay.” It was a simple idea that really caught their attention, and, in fact, the attention of our competitors and lots of other retailers.

Here’s what’s really encouraging to us: the GM Employee Discount program attracted people to real value. They recognized that great vehicles could be had at great prices, and they jumped at the value we offered. Nobody will pay good money for junk, no matter how low the price. So we’re excited about the fact that we can combine the right products with the right features and smart pricing – and people will take notice and respond.

Therefore, we are introducing the 2006 lineup this month with an emphasis on value. We have cut prices on 30 of our 76 models. For instance, the Chevy Silverado Crew Cab was $31,045 in 2005, but the 2006 is priced at $27,990. We are launching new models at prices that are aggressively competitive, such as the Pontiac Solstice at $19,995, when we could sell them all at twice that much this year. Also, we are extending our warranties on certain models and adding former options as standard equipment.

We’re not out of the incentive business and neither is anyone else. Every manufacturer is using incentives today. There's practically no brand anywhere that says, "we have no deals." That's why we believe our Total Value Promise has the chance to be a clear and meaningful difference to you. As we add OnStar and Stabilitrak to all GM models by 2010, for instance, we want to attract people with our features and our quality – not just the latest wad of cash on the hood. What do you think? We know a couple of our competitors have the “value” message down cold. Is GM finally getting it right?

Posted by Editor at 12:09 PM
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