Awareness is Everything
2006 Buick Lucerne
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.
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You’re on.
I believe that all these new products are great, some better than others. GM may be getting on the right track with quality but what about fuel economy? I commute over 100 miles a day and I would love to see a mid-size vehicle like the G6 that averages over 35 mpg city and over 40 highway with reasonable power. Is this a pipe dream? The price of a gallon of gas isn’t getting any lower.
When is GM going to produce a car that Paul & Anita Leinart (Detroit News) will actually write a good review about?
And Now, A Word From Our Sponsor…Bob!
Bob Lutz is back this afternoon with an unabashed commercial for GM vehicles. In a piece appropriately title, Awareness is Everything, Lutz reports GM’s summer successes: record sales months for some Buick, Cadillac and Saab models; Buick up 8,000 vehi…
I would like to tack on a few more facts concerning yearly sales of some GM products that had lukewarm receptions or were predicted to falter for various reasons. For the year, the Buick Lacrosse, which replaced the Century and Regal, has sold only 255 fewer than the two combined. The Chevrolet Cobalt has outsold last year’s Cavalier by 6595 units. And while the Toyota Tacoma was named Motor Trend truck of the year, Colorado continues to outsell it as sales are up 45.9% year over year. Chevy Equinox sales are up a stunning 192.4% over last year. And despite being at the end of their product cycle and going up against newer competitors from Ford, Nissan, and Dodge, the Chevy Silverado and GMC Sierra are up a hefty 24% and 33.3% respectively. I, for one, am very optomistic about the new products GM has coming and their ablility to sustain or even increase market share
I admire your effort to spread the word of mouth about the cars GM produces. This is the best thing I saw after the Oprah idea.
Very good! Keep me ‘posted’
rekab:
The price of gasoline is driven by market forces. With the spot price of oil so high: Oil producing countries are in overdrive; OPEC members will overproduce behind each other’s backs (they always do); and there will be a huge incentive for all members in the chain to increase supply, including exploration firms like Schlumberger.
This incentive to produce will cause a glut and the price will come down. In the meantime, buy a fast car like a GTO for your commute and offset the gas prices with smart asset allocation, for example Fidelity’s select energy portfolio fund!!
Dang!
Hype ain’t gonna sell cars.
The best damn cars on the planet is going to sell cars. Read Toyota’s textbook.
First step reduce the number of engines available to a more manageable number, eg.
In America:
2.2 L DOHC L4
3.3 L DOHC V6
4.4 L DOHC V8
6.0 L OHV V8
In Asia / Pacific:
2.0 L DOHC L4
3.0 L DOHC V6
In Europe:
1.8 L DOHC L4
2.8 L DOHC V6
and two diesel entries. That should be adequate for most of GM’s lineup except in the truck department. Fewer variations reduces the probability of error and therefore improves quality.
CADILLAC: “World Class Luxury”
Everybody knows what a Seville, Deville or Eldorado is, but nobody can relate to an XLR, DTS or STS. Can the stupid alphabet soup designations. There should be NO compromises when you build a Cadillac. Cadillac should be the premium brand only for Chevrolet.
CHEVROLET:
Aveo sucks. There is just not enough pizzaz to this model.
Malibu styling is subpar and should be upgraded to resemble Toyota Camry.
Impala has got to return to RWD to recapture all the lost sales. BTW Cadillac happens to be on a rear wheel drive platform in case you haven’t noticed.
YES to Camaro. I have always been a Mustang lover, but would switch in a minute if Chevy ever came up with something competitive.
PONTIAC:
Yes on the Solstice. Except is should also have a 2.8 L V6 option instead of just a 4 banger available.
G4?? Whatever. An entry level Pontiac could be made by Saturn, don’t you think?
G6. Hate the name. Grand Am suits me better although that one is kind of old too, I guess.
Thanks for getting rid of the redundant twins Grand Prix and Bonneville. Their day has come and gone.
BUICK:
Buick must move upscale to compete with BMW. Then Buick/Pontiac/GMC would make a lot of sense. GM would reap higher profits from the line asa result.
SATURN:
Saturn should be used to attract younger buyers to GM, much like Scion does for Toyota. Oops, Saturn needs a luxury brand. Looks like you will have to bring back Oldsmobile Aurora to fill the void.
SAAB:
Saab should return to more funky styling and maintain its individualistic appeal. Saab should be the premium brand for Saab-Opel.
OPEL:
Zero sales in America. Why is that? Could it be that you don’t sell it here? Duh. You don’t see Coca Cola selling its brand only in Atlanta. That would be bad for business. Get the hint.
DAEWOO:
Daewoo was just starting to make inroads into the American import market, when GM pulled the plug. Asian cars sell well in America. Haven’t you noticed that yet?
HOLDEN:
Here’s a brand you are not making good use of. Holden could make a Jaguar type luxury model(s) for Holden-Daewoo.
Bob, don’t mean to be pedantic, but according to my numbers, the 9-2x had it’s best month in June, where it moved 1,999 units as compared to the 1,272 it moved in July (I’m sure July would have been better if there were more manual Aero models around!).
There seems to be no doubt that the product is improving. Your summer sales success has cleaned out the old stock. Now PLEASE ensure that your dealers are ready to sell the new cars in a professional manner, similiar to the Lexus Experience. No More Hucksters!
“Way to Go!”
What will become of the 9-2x?
I don’t mind the 9-2x at all. Having said that, I do think it will go down as perhaps the unSaabiest Saab in history (My candidates for the Saabiest Saab are here), but having said even that, I wouldn’t mind checking it out if they ever cracked Suuby’s…
Hey, that’s a great article. Glad to see GM is making good cars and, more importantly than that, proud of it!
If you’d only done the Employee Pricing thing 30 days earlier, I’d be driving a Cobalt instead of a Focus ZX3 right now. I wanted to buy a Cobalt, but ended up buying a Focus saving thousands of dollars (the diffence being in rebates on the Focus and nothing on the Cobalt). The ZX3 has been “de contented” to the point of not even coming with a tachometer anymore, and the Cobalt has that neat computer information center, plus more horsepower, but the price difference was too great.
The only thing I think GM has consistently done wrong is to “premium price” new models – like the Malibu and Cobalt – when they are competing with older, but still good, models from other makers with much more aggressive rebates and discounts. I don’t think you will “cheapen the brand” by being aggressive out of the box – after all you want more sales, and especially “conquest” sales, right?
Meanwhile it looks like you have learned the lesson, the new HHR pricing sounds better “out of the box.” I will keep accumulaint $$ on my GM Card and revisit your lots next year, this time.
I had the opportunity to drive a G6 GT as a rental car last week (ironically, in Detroit, while I was at meetings in the Renaissance Center — great buildings!), and I have to say: I was very impressed.
I’ve always owned German and Japanese cars, but I am definitely impressed with what GM has been able to do with this car. The ride reminded me of my C320, and the interior trim felt a lot like a VW Passat.
I can’t wait for the G6 convertible to come out and to take it for a spin. Keep it up, you may have won my business!
Way to go Mr.Lutz! It’s good to see GM back on its feet once again. I truly believe that if you keep this up, GM will eventually be at the very top once more.
I too think you have some good products, but the problem seems to be that (a) So many of your brands have bad reputations from mediocre vehicles of the past (i.e. Chevy Cavalier, Saturn L Series, etc.) and (b) We aren’t seeing any “Halo” vehicles. I mean, Buick needs either another Park Avenue, or what would REALLY be nice would be another GNX. You could use the GTO/Monaro as th e base and make it an upscale, performance, personal coupe and put a Northstar engine in it! Now that would be nice. Or how about that Buick Velite concept you have? That would be great too!
I think though Bob, that if you REALLY want to bring lots of attention to GM, you HAVE to bring out a RWD muscle car that can compete with the Mustang. I mean, the GTO just costs too much for your average joe. You could just use the existing Zeta Platform and have a V6 for the base engine – you could use the LZ9 3900 V6, and for the V8 engine you could use the new LS4 that’s in the Impala SS.
Bob, if you don’t mind, we really would like to know whether or not GM is considering this type of car or not. Thanks a lot!
P.S. I saw the first Solstice deliveries, congrats!
I am sorry Bob. Lucerne may be a top quality car on par with the likes of Toyota but it is just to dated and just plain Ugly.. I won’t even go into the LaCrosse. I have seen Velite and Centieme….THESE are WOUNDERFUL cars that should be here NOW!!!! Not these run of the mill look alike cars (Please tell me I am wrong in saying the LaCrosse looks like an updated Ford Taurus) I think you are doing a great job and I know you have limited resources but these cars I am sorry to say are not your (gotta have) cars. I have to wounder if it is more expensive to bring in these “tempory” band aids… Thank you very much for doing this blog… I do think you ROCK! as a leader of men
Bob,
SALES
Hummer up over 200%
Saab up nearly 100%
HHR sales already at 4000.
Sales increase for every division.
Bob, I am pleased. Only saw the 9-7X so far outside of the autoshow. Chevy/Cadillac dealership near my home has no Cobalts, Equinoxes and little of anything else.
So the perspective from here is we hear it happening we know it’s coming but it seems that even the popular 2005’s are sparse.
HORSEPOWER
I timed the line. It took 25 seconds for cars to go from 0-60 this morning, if people have horsepower they are not using it. So I am mistified when auto writers complain about horsepower or torque and 0-60 times. My 2000 Cavalier usually breezes past the masses when I want it to. So I say don’t worry about the writers who complain about the new offerings being underpowered. Besides save something for next year.
SPREADING THE WORD
Talked to a Scion owner today who loves the Sky and asks me often about the Solstice. I asked him, “Are you going to get the Sky?” He responds, “No I can’t afford it.” He told me the Scion xB was only $13,000. Well college isn’t getting any cheaper and we are all in different phases of development so I hope GM will compete with the x-box and the whole Scion range.
Ford missed the boat on this market under $14,000 but with the success of the Aveo ask yourself, “Is GM doing everything it can to capture this market share grabbing segment?”
Wishing you continued success.
Bob,
I have some feedback I would like you to convey to GM’s team. You are building some of the most compelling cars on the planet!
My wife and I purchased a new Cadillac STS V8 and we believe this car is best in class. The story even gets better, before we purchased the STS, we reviewed the Mercedes Benz E Class, BMW 5 Series, Lexus GS400 and Infiniti M45. All these cars are wonderful products and we could have been happy with any of them. Hang on, it gets better, we have been so impressed with the STS fit and finish, quality, systems integration, ride, performance, and styling that we traded in our second sedan, a Lexus ES330 for a Cadillac XLR. And yes we compared XLR’s competition, MB SL500 and Lexus SC430. We were down to the SL500 and XLR, with the final decision going to the XLR. Again we could have been happy with either one of these luxury roadsters, but the XLR bested the SL500 in key areas of our evaluation. XLR’s overall performance, ride/handling, user friendly high feature list, price performance and styling is (exterior/interior) simply breathtaking and won the day.
Please convey our appreciation to the GM team and specifically Cadillac.
One last comment, we made our purchases prior to GM’s Employees Discount and I thought to myself, timing is everything. On the other hand, others will now experience what I already know; GM is building exciting, powerful, best in class high featured products. For the record our VIN numbers, STS 1G6DC67XXXXXXXXXX, XLR 1G6YV34XXXXXXXXXX.
Keep the great products coming.
John
Bob
You are correct the quality is there, but the masses are stuck in the “Japanese does it better” mode.
I just took the new Impala SS for a test drive. All I can say is awesome.
Nice interior, good handling, incredible acceleration. Very nice exhaust note, I was pleasently surprised by that.
I will purchasing a new car this fall and I am excited about the products coming out.
The SS was great, just waiting for the G6 GTP sedan 6-speed and the HHR to test drive.
Good job GM, Keep the momentum going
I am very proud to see the home team succeed. I think your strategy of bringing people back into the fold with value (or discounts)has been a good decision. (Especially until the exciting new products are out) It has sure killed VW in China. Now if the weakening dollar continues to trade in the direction that will help Detroit, I think it will change the whole game. I think the dollar is key to Cadilac being able to compete with the likes of BMW. The Euro seems to float as it should to correct imbalances.
The Yen needs to strengthen but it doesn’t. Can you say “manipulation & treasuries”? Toyota knows this can’t last forever and they are investing in plants like crazy to hedge against currency changes. Remember when it was stated they would raise prices to help Detroit? That was baloney, they knew that price increases were in the cards and they could use Detroit as the bad guy. If the Yen could strengthen then Toyota would become the company with high overhead and declining sales.
Keep the momentum going!!!
Bob, did Hyundai have to have great products and word of mouth to increase sales like crazy all of a sudden?
Nope, all it took was a 10 yr warranty.
Bob, nothing will convince some folks to pick a GM vehicle over a Toyota, Honda, and yes a Hyundai because they are afraid of them breaking down after 3 years. Why? Because they know someone who owned one and it did just that.
You want to instantly break that cycle? Don’t tell me your cars are better built now, back up your word with a great warranty. If you don’t, then your words will ring hollow and if GM can’t back up their claims with a real long warranty than we can go buy a car from a company with decades of reliability behind it (Toyota, Honda), or one that eases our minds by offering a great warranty (Hyundia, Kia).
Anything else is just talk and won’t get skeptical buyers into your products.
The onslaught of new, high-quality products from GM is indeed impressive. From the HHR to G6 coupe & convertible to Lucerne and Solstice, GM is making massive strides. The new cars are compelling.
But the problem remains that perception is reality. Until the models – now collecting dust in showrooms – that are products of the “old” GM are all gone and replaced by the shiny “Lutz” era models, the perception of Chevys, Buicks, and Pontiacs as second-rate will remain.
Monte Carlos with melted butter styling? CHECK. Aztek in the building? CHECK. Chevontiuickurn MiniSportVan? CHECK. Saabaru? Saabrolet? CHECK. Cheeeeeeap truck interiors? CHECK.
Once all of those ‘checks’ are replaced by cars like the Saturn Aura, GM will have the awareness you are looking for, Mr. Lutz.
Mr. Lutz wrote:
“This (Buick Lucerne) will be one of the best, high-quality, smooth-and-powerful-performing fullsize sedans GM has ever done.”
I’m sure that’s true, but respectfully, that just won’t be good enough! It may be the best Buick ever, but the rest of the world hasn’t exactly been standing still.
If you could say NOT that this will be the best full-sized sedan GM has ever built, but that this is the best medium-priced full-sized sedan that ANYONE has built – EVER, then I would pay serious attention.
By “the best,” I mean better than the new Toyota Avalon, Mercury Montego, Chrysler 300, etc. You should even be able to put it up against the medium-range Lexus, Mercedes, Audi, BMW and Acura models without being laughed out of the room.
If you are not utterly convinced – without resorting to any self-deception – that this new Buick is the very best on the market in its size and price class, you have no business releasing this car for sale until it is.
You are NOT competing against your own past best efforts. So quit comparing your new products against your old ones! You are competing against the whole world – where many more people in many more places make damned fine and affordable automobiles than at any time in the past.
Bob,
Sales numbers are one thing. But when GM can’t turn a decent profit on each one of those sales, what’s the point? If you give the cars away free, GM would probably have the best sales month ever since being formed as a corporation. However, that really isn’t the goal – is it?
Ford gets tough, GM gets aware…
Ford is getting tough with reducing itís work force. Recent attempts to get salary workers to retire early have not worked as well has Ford had hoped. Their answer? ìYouíre Fired!î Droves of former Ford employees are being fired, and escorted out of t…
Hey Mr Lutz. I really like the Lucerne, but I must ask where are cars like the Velite? Where is a car like the GN. Buick needs more cars like this. The lucerne pricing still hasnt been announced, I hope it’s because you are pricing it lower than the lesabre. The Lacrosse is also too expensive, in Canada, a fully loaded allure costs $40,00!!
Bob,
I would like to preach a bit about Saab.
I own the 9-3 Sports Sedan. It was purchased the 1st week it was available in 2003. We had money down on a Mercedes C class at the time (my wife’s choice). Thank god your car came out in time to save us from the MB quality problems. We test drove an Infinity G35, I can’t keep Acura’s models straight, but one of those, the BMW 3 series, and the Benz C class.
When we drove the 9-3, we were blown out of the water. We got the intro package with the sports suspension, sports molding, 5 speed, low profile tires, xenon lights, etc.. The auto had a bit of a turbo lag, but the manual was fantastic in handling and power delivery. What a wonderful sweet spot it has. All the amenities that were included for a $32k car were amazing. BMW wanted to charge $600 just for drop down rear seats (WTF?). To this day, my wife and I are so happy we purchased this car… especially with the safety rating it received. We have a 5 month old now.
Some will laugh when I say this, but you have the potential to turn that company into a BMW beater. High performance with European panache and value for the money. You shouldn’t basterdize the brand with the likes of the 9-2x unless you plan on putting Saab body panels on it and a key fob in the middle to say the least. Slapping a Saab hood on the Impreza won’t do it. At least you guys put some effort into making the Blazer, sorry 9-7 look like a Saab (from the front and inside… side and rear profile are a different matter). I know doing what I ask will cost money, but I get the feeling you aren’t getting what you could out of the brand yet.
I understand that in today’s market, this platform/parts/model sharing is necessary. We are looking forward to purchasing a 9-6 in the future. Please make me feel like it is a Saab, and not a Subaru Tribeca B9 with a Saab hood.
Bob
Thank You for giving us a way to comment to the bosses.I’m a POCI guy (GOTAA also)30 year veteran of such..Knudsens comment about can’t sell an old mans car to a young man- BUT could sell a young man’s car to an old man- performance is what sells BMW. GM has so many cars sharing the same stuff. People don’t want to pay for a Pontiac/Buick and get a Chevy under the skin…they come off the same lines !! Each divison needs to be spun off & let them develop individual items. I think the BOP engines were far better than the Chevy motor- the 69 427 DOHC PMD should have been built !! The MagneRide should be an order option on the GTO & Soltisce – It would make ANY of the Pontiacs a car worth keeping..OverDrive systems should also be a cross the board option..how come Chevrolet is the only divison making retro parts ? It is a billion dollar industry..retro styling is doing great elsewhere…why not for PMD ? incorporate new innards with older styling looks – people get tired of eggshell bodies…GTO needs fenders& front end – it could be a bolt on ..the fiero platform layout was great – engine located like Ferrari- excellent balance & handling- it could have been done slightly larger – don’t give up – (glad you killed the Aztek – deserved it) Pontiac name is the only true American name in car lines ( Chevy – French, Dodge – French, Ford- German – most all makes have their derivative ancestery elsewhere- only Pontiac was True American..) Everybody is Patriotic..The 2001 GTO stling concept car would make a good mid engined car – Firebird !
Gives us a POB address so we can talk to you- send you ideas…So far we have no way to send something that will get to you..(Got this address in HPP)…Funny how the best Chevy engines have had the PMD parameters ..421 Chevy build up motor in HPP a few issues back..I think radar assisted brakes would be a good feature – help suppliment driver’s reflex actions…cars with solar panels in the roof to recharge the car batteries….we can apply a lot of our science to making the GM cars different in outstanding ways. Don’t make cookie cutter Chevys with simply different badges …let the Engine building foundaries make reproduction engine parts for BOP- There would be a market for them….Thanks for giving us a way – would like to send some other papers to you…please give us a way to get word to the corporate decision makers – we would be GLAD to give you our feelings & ideas…we don’t like too much of what is offered – you did good at helping Chrysler turning around..Pontiac needs re focusing -as all of GM does…I work at Delphi – Kettering (Dayton OH)
Develop technologies to assist law enforcement in their cruisers !!
Gerry Hulsey
POB 292773
Kettering OH 45429-8773
Bob,
I own a 93 SS which I bought 3 years ago. I will be replacing it with a 93 Sports Wagon this year. I view these cars as real Saabs.
When you simply put a new front end on another manufacturers car and a badge on the steering wheel, I no longer feel I’m buying into a Saab any more.
You put more effort turning the 93SS into a Cadillac than you did turning the Trailblazer or the Subaru into a Saab. Bob, do the same for Saab that you have for Cadillac and I’ll be buying into something again.
After having said all this, it’s good to see Saab sales up. I just hope the idea isn’t to replace Saab with Cadillac in the future.
I have been a GM fan for a very long time. My first car was a 1957 Chev. I have enjoyed several GM models but have always owned at least one F body (firebird). I was saddened when the line was dropped and dissapointed to say the least. I look at Ford and Crysler and they are going strong with retro muscle. GM’s response is the “vibe”, “cobalt” etc. Help! Mr. Lutz don’t leave us out in the cold.
If you want to spread awareness why don’t you use communites like GMInsidenews, which has over 15,000 members and rapidly growing. VW has a great relationship with VWVortex, why can’t GM do the same?
Lucerne needed to be rear-drive, Bob, but at least the styling is reasonable. LaCrosse, on the other hand, needs to look like a Buick, not a mish-mash of Lexus ES/GS. I find the car embarassing, no matter how well it has emulated Toyota. It’s the Honda Shadow of the four-wheeled world … even if it’s a superior and lower-priced product, it’ll never put a dent in Harley’s momentum. Ironic twist here, wouldn’t you say?
A little bit from a review of the Chevy Cobalt. Mostly a positive review but as always it is tinged by the concern about reliability. Check the last sentence.
WARRANTY, Bob, extend the warranty!
>Businessweek Cobalt Review
By Thane Peterson
Chevy’s Campus Cruiser
Surprise! GM finally got it right with the Cobalt, a smart, stylish economy car. Too bad it isn’t more exciting to drive
Editor’s Review
The Good: Low price and quiet, smooth ride
The Bad: Unproven reliability, lack of pizzazz
The Bottom Line: A solid competitor — if it holds up
Bob, you wanted input on what you should do next? Why not small turbo-diesels in the Colorado or HHR or other small SUV’s like the new Torrent? And why doesn’t GM go head to head against the Mustang? You do not have currently a single car that can do duty as an economy model up through a screamer like the Mustang GT. And sell 200,000 per year.
If you truly want to spread awareness, why not use different media, like the internet or internet-based news/fan groups. There are sites like this out there. I know one that has over 15,000 members! 15,000 members, that’s like a small country, why can’t GM use this to their advantage. VW does with VWVortex.com, why can’t GM?
Thanks for keeping the AUTOSHOWINMOTION alive and well! It proves an excellent way of comparing these new GM cars with the competition!
As for celebrating massive sales gains, don’t you think GM’s huge “employee discount” sale, and its apparent reduction of dealer sales hijinks, had __something__ to do with that?
Hopefully the ’06’s do ok on their own!
Bob-
Where & who are your focus groups looking at new models? I die & go to heaven being on one (read: ANY) GM focus group. Had I been on the Aztek I would have gone ballistic that it even made it to clay, much less metal.
You get GM to make “gotta have cars” passed & over the bean counters, unleash the GM stylists’ creativity and your own and I want to be there to tell you what I think.
Where do I sign up.
Kerry
I just want to say that working for your company in this day is great. It will take alot of effort to do all the things I hope you plan…
like bringing back the f-body, bringing out market value pricing, lowering the rediculous rebates subsequintly increasing resale value, straightening out the crooked dealers in America as best you can…
like the falsifying an order for the first 1000 Solstices then trying to sell it on e-bay for thousands over sticker….
You are doing a great job, thank you so much for making my job worth-while. I am rooting for you, don’t let your salesguys down out here….
I am very glad that GM sales have been so high this summer and that GM is coming out with so many cool new cars … My dad worked for a division of GM for many years (as an electrical engineer) so I am always rooting for GM. (And I’m a proud owner of a Pontiac Sunfire.)
Two comments: first, GM needs to offer more hybrids, or cars that run on diesel or biodiesel fuel in order to compete with Toyota and Honda on environmental responsibility and fuel-efficiency. For instance, why not offer a hybrid or biodiesel-compatible version of the new Chevrolet HHR or Pontiac Solsstice? The Saturn Green Line is a great start, but other divisions need to offer hybrids, too — not just pick-up trucks, but passenger cars, too.
Also, GM needs to do a lot to convince people -especially affluent urban dwellers – that GM offers cars of excellent quality. My friends drive Toyotas and Hondas, and are very skeptical about GM cars. Why not have television ads featuring real GM car owners who talk about their favorite GM cars – the ones that are still running after 200,000 miles, or the ones that took them all the way through college and grad school, or the car they drove from Caifornia to New York? GM ads also have to keep hammering away with direct comparisons to other brands, illustrating how GM cars have better mileage, higher quality rating, etc.
So what makes you guys think people in the US won’t love the Opel line up in its current form? Gen X (self) and Y LOVE the way VWs perform especially in diesel form (better for environment and pocket book).
Why not test the waters with current Opel products even with less power, especially in todays rising gas prices? Bring an Astra CDTI to the Autoshow with a little disguess as a Saturn and see if there is interest?
My parents traded in their 2002 Alero for a Scion for the gas mileage. My brother traded in his 1998 Silhouette for a Prius for gas mileage. Both had hoped to buy GM but found none that got super high gas mileage like the Opels do.
Please, please, please bring us the high gas mileage products from Opel through the Saturn lineup. It’s what’s needed in todays high gas prices.
Dear Mr. lutz,
Keep up the good work – the Solstice is now on the list of a friend in California, who says they hardly ever consider buying American there – and better than that, another friend who swears by Japanese (and bought a Matrix earlier this year) wants to dump it for the Saturn Sky !! That’s after a lot of persuasion and counselling about your new cars, along with this weblink sent to her. Great job Indeed, now go get ‘em onto the roads rather than just into the showrooms.
Vazir Fatehi
Bombay.
Bob,
Two new ideas. One, how about a “G6 Combi?” That platform can easily be a wagon, and could eat into someone who is looking at Audi combis, and youd be a step ahead of Nissan and Acura.
Two, as the PT Cruiser sales started slipping after 3-4 years, I had always thought that an extended wheelbase version would have made a killer taxi cab (kinda like the ones in London, but badder). Even though your HHR is new, maybe starting to think about an extended wheelbase version, with a bigger engine (for some municipalities compliance) and a slightly different look (so as not to upset HHR owners that their ride is being commoditized yet still has a heritage look) would be great to get GM roadside publicity. Food for thought!
Congrats on a great summer of sales. As a long time Saturn owner, it is always great to see GM doing well. On the awareness issue, good luck. I think your revitalizing of the Saturn line is a good start and have high hopes to see what you have in store for the future. I am currently looking to trade my ION for a hybrid compact (Prius) but do not see a GM (or USA company) alternative until post 2008. My biggest hope is that GM (more specifically Saturn) will bring to the USA the Opel Astra Diesel Hybrid as the next generation Saturn Ion (or replacement). Even better would be for this full hybrid to have biodeisel compatibility and be “diesel-optional” (plug-in) capable. Coupled with dramatic styling, superior (but not luxury) quality and an aggressive marketing campaign the car could become a hallmark product for Saturn.
Julie:
I like your idea about advertisements featuring real people and their dependable GM products. They could even have thier stories online, the internet reaches more diverse groups of people than television. My 92 Cavalier (commuter car)is still working hard to this day with over 255,000 miles on the engine and bulletproof transmission. I remember Toyota commercials like this when I was a kid. It seems to have worked for them.
How about this for an idea. What if GM dealers had their service departments teach thier consumers how to take care of their engines. They could show people how to check and change their own oil, check other fluids and do minor maintenance. This would add to the customers buying experience and create a stronger bond between both consumer and dealer. Also the car owner would get to know thier vehicle a little more intimately and maybe actually take better care of it and get thier money’s worth out of it. I have heard and read all about how GM should “up” their warranties. Why would they want to risk that when people don’t know how to take care of thier vehicles? The dealers are GM’s link to the consumer. Think about it.
Almost bought a Cobalt SS when it came out, but couldn’t get an automatic. I bracket race and like the automatic for consistency.
Would buy a Colorado if it came with a good turbo-Diesel. An important market segment all manufacturers are missing. There’s a place for a mid-sized Diesel with turbo and “clean Diesel” technology. Back it up with a good five-speed auto and it will sell.
I’m a city council member and ex-mayor. We need a good RWD alternative to Ford’s patrol car. An LS powered mid-to-large RWD four-door sedan would meet our needs as well as those who wanted capacity and performance (if performance options were available).
Good looks never hurt. Don’t be so bland. Less like baked potatoes and more edge.
Graeme Sackrison
Lacey, WA
Waiting for my black Solstice…. Waiting…waiting…waiting…ordered it in May; will take delivery in October. Is it October yet?
mary t.
>I have heard and read all about how GM should “up” their warranties. Why would they want to risk that when people don’t know how to take care of thier vehicles? The dealers are GM’s link to the consumer. Think about it.
I am impressed by the marketing strategy your organization put together this summer. My view is probably a bit biased, being a driver of a GM vehicle, but there are definately some very strong products and hopefully that will continue. I think everything started going awry back when Styx came out with the song “Mr. Roboto” because ever since then the yuppy or suburanite has regarded the imported product as more fashionable, exotic, better quality, and most importantly distinguished from working class.
I not only believe the new pricing strategies are more professional and fair, but I can see on the horizon a resurrection of the suburbanites not regarding the word American, or Chevy as dirty words.
I’ll still feel that your portfolio is a bit light in a few areas, most notably: another line of rear-drivers (Camarro ect…), a line of small economic and fuel efficient diesels(which are abundant just across the pond), and a stronger marketing approach towards family haulers(cars, minivans, crossovers). But still impressed, keep up the good work.
You need to get your message to Consumer Report (C.R.) too. In the recent issue, Cadillac STS was reviewed along with a bunch of other European and Asian cars. The highs of STS included acceleration, engine and transmission, handling and use of regular fuel. It was generally a very good review. The lows were rear-seat room. Despite all the praises, the car did not get into the recommended list. However, Acura RL and Lexus GS300 with all the negatives that they received during the reviews, were included in the recommended list.
So, what is the problem? Where is the disconnect? There are few answers. One is the momentum. In Consumer Report’s view, GM cars still have an unpredictable reliability history. C.R. maintains a long window to the past that will require several years of stellar reliability performance by a manufacturer to wipe out the old data. GM has recently received good reliability rankings. It will need to maintain this performance for many years.
The other answer is about the little things that CR staff notice in a car. For instance, the interior of STS, in their opinion, although well-constructed, is not as meticulous as some competing vehicles (we are talking about $50k+ cars). So, it is now time for GM to send a message to CR by giving them no excuse not to put STS and other GM cars in the recommended list.
As is mentioned a couple times on this blog, I think putting a small Opel/Fiat/Isuzu sourced turbo-diesel into the Colorado would prove to be a great idea…a capable truck with good gas mileage–what a concept! GM already offers a 3.0L Diesel in the same basic truck (D-Max) sold in South America. This would silence the magazines’ main source of criticism for the Colorado, and give GM a leg up with the recent energy efficient movement(which, in my prediction, is not a temporary fad this time).
CAMARO????????
Mr. Lutz,
Great to hear about the high sales volumes recently. Let me start off by saying that I’m a Pontiac man, and a GM man in general. I love the new Grand Prix, G6, Solstice, and GTO. My current car (and first car, which I’ve owned for 6 years) is a ‘66 Pontiac Ventura, which is what got my love for all things Pontiac started. Contrary to what the sales numbers would indicate, nearly everyone I know loves the new GTO and has it near the top of their lists, but the problem is that it is out of many of their price ranges. It seems members of the older generations who can afford it refuse to buy it because it doesn’t look “retro”, and younger fans just can’t afford it. I myself am not a fan of the retro craze, as it shows a lack of originality to me, and it saddens me that car designers can no longer design a truly original good-looking car. If I wanted a ‘66 Mustang I’d buy a ‘66 Mustang, I don’t need a copycat of it, although I seem to be in the minority.
What I think GM really needs to do is to produce an inexpensive RWD platform which can be used to make a variety of RWD entry-level cars. As of now, the only way to get a RWD performance-oriented platform for under $20k is to buy a Ford. If GM could offer a range of low-cost, low-feature, performance-oriented RWD vehicles they wouldn’t be able to produce enough of them to meet the demands of 16-30 year old drivers who could care less about GPS, HUD, leather seats, etc, and just want a car that looks good, goes relatively fast, and doesn’t cost a lot to get into.
One way I think this could be accomplished is to revert back to the old-fashioned way of optioning a car. Rather than making heated seats, air conditioning, automatic transmission, leather, power mirrors/windows/door locks standard equipment, make them all options and lower the entry price of the cars by a few thousand dollars. If I could get a new GTO for $20k by eliminating most of the standard features I’d buy it in a heartbeat whether it had a sound system and A/C or not, and I live in Georgia! Customization is a huge industry, and changing features from standard to optional would allow people to feel like they have much more control over their car, and allow them to avoid a lot of packaged options they don’t want to pay for.
ad ideas:
Chevy — black & white stock footage, hip hop instrumental soundtrack
Pontiac — movie quality stunt footage, no soundtrack
NO VOICEOVERS.
Shoot in digital; make ads available for download on websites (use BitTorrent).
The Colorado got blistered in CR. It was rated near the bottom even though reliability was average.
One look at the dashboard and I can see why-what a half-baked job you guys did on that truck. And other than the single colored model, it looks ridiculous. Add in a underpowered 5 cylinder engine and it is understandable that CR ripped it.
Trucks are something GM is supposed to know how to make. The Colorado/Canyon need to be updated ASAP!
It is silly that so many people write they want cars or trucks with diesel engine. I moved to the US 3 years ago from Europe. My Dad has a car with turbo intercooler diesel engine, my brother-in-law has a turbo intercooler diesel engine in his car as well and I had made thousands kilometers in cars with diesel engines – and I have to say that you guys here don’t know what your’e asking for. I don’t miss diesel engines at all! Gasoline engine is so much better in so many different ways! People in Europe drive diesels because they are forced by the governments policies – taxes etc.
Bob says there are so many great GM vehicles offered by his company now – take advantage of it and do not look for troubles in diesels. We’ll all look for diesel when a gallon of gas will be priced above $6. Now the gas in the US is still cheap – enjoy Buick’s V8 and don’t worry about diesel engines!
Hi Bob,
I am excited about GM finally getting a flex-fuel, E85 passenger vehicle with the 2006 Chevrolet Impala, but why can’t you offer this engine with a leather interior? It is like you are forcing people to accept a low-end car if they want greater fuel efficiency and the ability to use E85 fuel. Could you make a running production change on this? Here in Minnesota E85 fuel is readily available and is much less expensive than regular gas. Even with the lower miles per gallon, using E85 is a no-brainer if you have the ability to use it. Are there plans for additinal GM North American passenger cars that can use E85 fuel?
Thanks for the opportunity to ask questions.
Nice to see the changes on the 2006 Chevy Malibu!
I think this alone proves that you are listening to us because almost all the changes we requested were done. This is a first for GM, to change the entire front end of a vehicle AND improve the interior only a year or so after introduction. Congradulations! The Japanese have always improved their cars mid-cycle if they needed it, the Malibu needed these changes and they are all a big improvement-you guys even listened to us and changed the steering wheel! Awesome.
The only thing you didnt do is to remove that cheesy plastic ‘Malibu’ plastic piece next to the emergency flasher button. I would have liked to see that removed and the emergency button centered.
“Gosc” doesn’t say precisely how many and in what specific ways gasoline is “so much better in so many different ways.”
Yes, in street/drag racing and stoplight derbys, gasoline engines give better performance due to faster throttle response and wider rpm band.
And yes, wouldn’t it be a wonderful world if oil supplies were infinite, prices forever cheap and there were no taxes; then there would be no war, the world would join hands and everybody would sing “koom-baya” together.
But those pesky taxes keep Europe’s roads up to a much higher standard than we Yanks must endure. What’s more, those evil taxes enable ALL Europe’s children to get a good education, not just those whose parents can afford private school, and ALL European citizens can get access to decent health care, not just those who can afford medical insurance.
The fact is, in the U.S., our willingness to wage war to ensure access to cheap foreign oil, our tax system’s incentives favoring automobile use and disincentives for alternatives where they are appropriate (inner cities), amount to a gasoline subsidy, making gasoline artificially cheap in this country compared to its real costs to the society in air pollution, time lost in traffic, and lives lost waging wars in places none of us would consider worth a DAMN, let alone a single American life, if not for oil.
The fact is, the country is too big and too spread out for many of the mass transit solutions used in Europe and the rest of the world. So cars are here to stay. But ways MUST be found to decrease greenhouse gas emissions and decrease dependence on foreign sources of energy.
The best long term solution is probably some form of hydrogen power, probably in the form of fuel cells. But that technology in an economically feasible form is optimistically DECADES away.
And the costs will be FAR greater than private industry and the free market can absorb without government help. So we can put government tax dollars into helping GM, the other auto companies and the energy companies fund the necessary research.
OR…
We can keep spending a BILLION dollars A MONTH of our taxes to fund foreign military ventures to secure our current supply sources of so-called cheap oil in order to fight a losing battle for the status quo.
Hybrids are an unproven, excessively complex and environmentally questionable (What about all the toxic heavy metals in all those hybrid batteries?) technology.
Modern diesels are the best short-term compromise that allows greater efficiency benefits than hybrids offer, without huge investments in new infrastructure.
Moreover, the newest diesels offer this improvement without a huge performance penalty (in some cases, none at all) and lower carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide and ozone emissions per vehicle mile, and virtually non-existent HC and evaporative emissions. And with direct injection and turbocharging, the diesel problems of nitrogen oxides and particulate emissions are vastly reduced from previous diesel norms, too.
What will probably happen is that we will continue losing lives abroad until it becomes politically unsustainable. In five years? Ten years? Twenty years?? And as oil consumption continues to grow in the Third World, generating more competition for dwindling oil supplies, the per barrel price of crude will go nowhere but up. To $80 a barrel? $100? More?
It doesn’t matter whether anyone reading this thinks I’m crazy or not. The free market will force us to pay more for vehicle fuel than most of us can maintain without making some hard choices.
By 2010, I predict that $5 per gallon (in today’s dollars – maybe $6-$7 per gallon in 2010 dollars) will be the norm in the U.S. I also predict that the average middle class American will not be able to fuel a 5,000 pound SUV that gets 12 to 15 miles per gallon at those prices.
The free market will FORCE something to give LONG before hydrogen fuel cell technology comes on line. We will HAVE to start buying more efficient vehicles before then whether the government forces us through taxation policy or whether the free market forces us through escalating world crude oil prices. (I predict BOTH will happen.)
As for diesel versus gas/electric hybrid, if I am FORCED to buy a more efficient vehicle, I would MUCH, MUCH rather be driving a torquey Volkswagen Bora (Jetta, here in the States) VR5 turbo-direct-injected diesel at 180 KPH down the autobahn than peddling a wheezing Toyota Prius at 60 MPH down Interstate 90 hoping and praying for a tailwind. (At freeway speeds, diesels WAY outperform hybrids in fuel economy. Hybrids, for all their high-tech gimcrackery, do little or NO better than gasoline cars on the freeway.)
I’m sorry, but since “Gosc” offers no rational reason for “enjoy(ing) Buick V-8’s” and his or her solution seems to be a variation of burying our heads in the sand singing “Don’t worry, be happy,” I stick to my diesel-powered guns.
Besides, how can we enjoy Buick V-8’s when there haven’t BEEN any Buick V-8’s (or ANY V-8’s in Buicks) in decades? (The V-8 to be offered in the new Lucerne doesn’t count. It is, after all, just a variant of the Chevy small block that has been around since dirt was invented.)
[Rehashed and dated Ford Taurus design themes + Chevy small block + advertising hype = Buick Lucerne!]
Warren Cushing says the Aveo “sucks.” I don’t know about that. I don’t own one, I’ve never driven one. But if it sucks so badly, why is Chevy selling so many of them? Sales figures of the Aveo have wildly exceeded everyone’s – including Chevrolet’s – initial expectations. Clearly, Chevrolet is doing SOMETHING right with this model range.
He is right about a lot, though. A GM Delta platform or rebadged Subaru with a Saab grille and the ignition key on the floor does not a Saab make! They might be decent or even good cars, but they are NOT the funky-but-wonderfully idiosyncratic cars Saabanistas have loved for decades.
There ARE too many engines in GM’s lineups. Ridiculously expensive and inefficient. WORSE! With NINE V-6 engines, you feel you have to go to Honda for the one to power the Saturn Vue? [Forget the fact that an engine designed for Acuras has as much place in a Saturn as the Hope Diamond in a box of Cracker Jacks.] And as for the plans to start putting Chinese-built engines in Malibus, I WILL NEVER buy a Chevy with a Chinese engine! An American icon like the Malibu nameplate – with a Chinese heart beating in its engine bay – it’s just WRONG!!
And I will NOT help GM break the UAW by outsourcing labor to a country like China, where workers – in many cases the factories are set up in prisons – exist in near chattel slavery conditions. Besides the fact that I won’t support China until they join the civilized world, I have NO confidence in the quality of the engines they build.
And there are too many models that overlap divisions. Is it really necessary for there to be an “affordable” Cadillac? Cadillacs – if you are serious about rebuilding their image as “The Standard of the World” – need to have exclusivity. If you can’t build a Caddy that can sell at $100,000 or more, you have no business kidding yourselves that Cadillac can really compete in the same league as Mercedes, let alone the rarified air of Bentley, Rolls, Aston Martin or Maybach.
Over the years, the Cadillac brand has become terribly debased. To wit, V-6’s are for Buicks and lesser cars. They have no place in Cadillacs. Cadillac, way back in 1915, was the first American car with a V-8. In a brand with this heritage, the sound of a V-6 emanating from under the hood is just WRONG. Caddy drivers want V-8’s WHETHER THEY NEED THEM OR NOT. If you MUST build a smaller Caddy, put in a smaller version of the Northstar – 4.0 liters or even less. And offer SUPERCHARGING for good measure.
And BUICK!! Buicks look dated – ALL of them. The new Lucerne is a real disappointment. All this hype and what I see is the same old, tired, characterless bland Buick design themes that I’ve seen for over a decade now. Don’t worry so much about offending your “traditional” Buick base. Your traditional Buick customer IS GOING TO DIE SOON!! [If you really want to see a veritable sea of Buicks, go to any parking lot in any Madison, Wisconsin retirement home!] You need to worry about who is going to buy Buicks tomorrow!
So WHY have Buick? You can pay Tiger Woods to shill for you until Hell freezes, but I refer to a saying that has become a cliche: “You can sell a young man’s car to an old man, but you can’t sell an old man’s car to a young one.”
I would you have kept the Bonneville and added a 2+2 option to the mix sporting say a 300-350 hp. engine.
You could hit the target alot better if you dropped the price of the GTO by $5-10000 dollars. This would place the car in a zone where if any car could match the bang for the buck instead of having to wait for a used one to come by in that range and try to drop the price even farther.
Come on Bob you can do better.
Why is it that GM gets a car where it should ben at the begining right at the end of the cars life span?
How about offering some different engine packages for the different cars for example
a $14-18k price for a 4-6 cylinder Monareo type car,named Tempest, or a V6-V8 power ranging 275-350hp, that comes in at around $18-22K, called the Lemans, or a $19-28K GTO that ranges from 350 -425hp. then you could have the Ram Air model 400-475 hp $25-31K on it, and top of the line dare I say it a never in GTO Official nomenclature The 7ltr (421) SUPER DUTY GTO. Done right this car could be had for $31-45k.
The drive train would be built to match the power levels or the budget of the buyers.
My dream SUPER DUTY 421 with a wide body kit added to the car truley givit the whide stance look with as big a tire that can fit under the extra skin of the car.
HMMMM The NUCLEAR GTO A sixspeed manual transmission drive train merging into a cohesive road battle ready with the monster 572 crate engine, or dare I say it a 700hp out of a SUPER DUTY 505 Real TRue PONTIAC engined TIGER OF MYTHOLOGY.
Being sold from any dealer ship ini the country. The backup for parts has too be on line.
Race on Sunday Sell on Monday.
I could help you get back on line with whats going in with real america, Not cheap But I can get the information for you.You can find me. $89999.99 to start. Detaills can be worked out later.
You are so close but just can’t grab the bloody ring, boss.
Hey Gosc -
I understand you returned from Europe a few years ago – but where the heck have you been there ??? I am German and have been driving diesels for the past decade or so. Economically it’s a wash over here: lower fuel cost is offset by higher vehicle price & taxes.
But how about the fun aspect ? Modern diesels (direct injection, variable geometry turbos etc.) have huge low end torque (typically 50-100% more than comparable gas engines) – exactly what you need in everyday operation. Average customers don’t request extreme horsepower numbers because even on most German Autobahns you can’t run 150mph steadily anymore due to congestion. But you still can cruise 100mph in many places at smooth 3000rpm and then enjoy the enormous torque to accelerate from there when needed. And all this at true 30-40 mpg e.g. on my current Opel Astra diesel convertible.
How about a hybrid diesel? Best of both worlds (from what I gather reading this site and gminsidenews.com). Hybrid efficiency at low speeds and diesel efficiency at freeway speeds. Do it. Do it quick. Maybe use those dual stage hybrids your working on. In the past, we invented cars but the Japanese “did it better” than we did and Toyota/Honda rose to power. America can be second to the efficiency/hybrid game but you must do a better job (hands down). And you must publicize your effiency “halos” like crazy.
At this time, for my next car I think I’d go with a 4D G6 GTP 6 speed (which can be had soon I hope). But what I’d really like for my next car is the next Grand Prix/G8 (again 4 door) with a 5 or 6 speed and RWD (AWD optional). The “G8″ should have an available manual in all trim levels. Base (V6) $22k, GT (supercharged V6) for $25k, and GXP (V8 350hp) for $28k-$29k. For grins maybe you could offer a Performance Diesel model that lets people gogogo but saves them some gas money. But for God’s sake – all GM cars need at least a 5 yr 60k warranty.
Now my two cents about the 2 door G8 (i.e. GTO)… When you do the 2DG8, make sure it looks more different than 4D than old Grand Prix 2D vs 4D. The 2 door G8’s should be a little cheaper at the low end, and a little more $$ at the high end (but only because the high end will be better in 2D than 4D). Many people miss the Camaro/Firebird. So the base 2DG8 should be $17k. Make young people who are going to buy a $14k scion want to do anything to scrounge up the extra $3k. Figure out some way to do it. Then at the high end the tempest/G82D becomes the GTO (around the price point where the G8 goes GXP – $28k). The GTO Judge/SuperDuty/Whatever with 500hp is what should cost over $30k. If it looks like demand will be there, might as well offer a wagon version or the 4DG8.
Keep up the hard work Bob! I want to buy another Pontiac when it’s time to retire my Bonneville, but you gotta keep price down and reliability up while making some kick*** new cars!
Well as someone that works at BMW’s plant in SC I have to tell you that what we are seeing come from GM has many of us concerned, if not worried. I have never owned a GM product, and up until now would have never thought of owning one. My wife couldn’t find exactly what she wanted with models on the lots now and we really wanted to look at a GM product because of the hard work GM is doing; however up until last month my wife would never consider a Saturn; she saw the commercial for the Sky and told me — I don’t care what you have to say, there is a new car coming out called the Sky and I want one. I laughed and said I’ll buy you one, but told her about the Solstice too. Now it’s like a kid in a candy store. If GM builds the concept coupe of 2002 in the Solstice, then you will have gotten a family of three who would never have bought a coupe or roadster (us) to buy one not to mention a family who used to buy Japanese sedans to consider other better quality GM products. If you wanted to get emotion out of someone, then I want you to know the only cars I ever got emotional over is GM’s new models and it’s more than 1; The H2 is worse on gas than I wanted so after looking at one on display in the mall in Spartanburg I actually gave it a hug goodbye and had tears. I am excited about what GM is doing, but I hope Doraville is kept open so after we feel GM’s lightning strike us, I can get a new job –and after seeing exactly the trends GM is setting, I feel this is reality.
Toyota has absolutely nothing to offer in the area of looks except for 1, it’s Lexus roadster – I’ll take a Sky or Solstice anyday. When I get ready to buy I’ll be on GM’s lots, not Toyota’s. By the way I like the Gas mileage improvements and Safety of On-Star. Even if I don’t buy a car today, I know when other GM products come out that we like visually, were gonna be there, because GM has a total package in it’s vehicles. GM has things in vehicles now that stopped us from buying every other car on the market to wait for the perfect GM for us. How many other car makers have buyers that trust them and are willing to sacrifice needs to wait like that?
Keep your heads up because you have a lot to be proud of and you have turned more heads than you realize.
Hey Bob – I first wanted to congratulate you on the hard work you have invested in GM the past few years. The improvements in build quality and overall fit and finish are markedly better than I have seen on any GM vehicle produced prior to 2000. General Motors is a large ship to steer and I do understand that this company was upside down when you first were able to get your hands into things. Good Show again!
To give you a little background I am an independant automobile appraiser with 10 years of combined experience in collision and mechanical repair. I have also dabbled in new and used car sales over the last few years before settling in my current position. I am blessed to be employed in an industry I am well versed in and very passionate for. My father, my brother, and I are Pontiac men (2 67 GTO’s, 1 68 GTO, 73 Firebird, 78 Phoenix, 76 and 00 Grand Prix, and 01 Trans Am). The new products are exciting to look at however due to the myriad of mechanical and safety issues with my ‘01 Trans Am I would feel very unsafe purchasing another vehicle from GM again. I am 26 and I figure I probably will purchase or lease another 15 cars or so over the course of my lifetime (I’ve already bought and sold 10). This number may be small compared to the thousands of vehicle GM sells every month. However it is troubling. Especially when one considers that though my decision may only effect 15 units GM sells I will ultimately cost GM thousands of vehicle sales over the course of my career. Because I am an automotive professional who deals with not only fellow repairers and appraisers I also deal with hundreds of people every year for insurance and subrogation claims. And each person I tell of my negative experiences is going to be that much less inclined to purchase a new GM. Then when they tell others of my experience, THOSE folks will tell others making even MORE people less inclined to purchase a GM. Bottom line? One disatisfied customer translates into hundreds, if not thousands of lost customers over the course of the years. GM and its employess are such a tired, large, and antiquated system that I do not believe it will be around for another 10 years in it’s present form. I see foreign investment (possible Toyota) taking control of the bulk of the company after bankruptcy proceedings. Yes, GM, its subsidiaries, suppliers, and franchisees combined account for nearly 1% of the GDP. So when the company finally bottoms out it will ultimately destroy thousands of peoples lives. Smack the US economy. And hurt national pride. Afterall, who else is left? Daimler? Ford?
You see Bob, I don’t envy your position. It’s not about building cars anymore. There’s a lot more on the line. A successful business is not just one that posts a profit – it’s one that successfully satisfies all shareholder’s interests. No, that doesn’t mean just the STOCKHOLDERS. GM has had this habit for DECADES (heck, I hear stories about these cars from before I was even born!!) of passing the buck. A company full of finger pointers. When something doesn’t work right, a vehicle is of poor design, or there is even and accidental oversight in production NOTHING happens until it reaches the newpapers! By then GM is in a heap of bad press and it’s mad scramble (most often times a much more costly one) of trying to fix the screwup of some insignifigant manager who didn’t think a warranty claim “was a big deal.” Seems to me that the folks at GM respond when their careers are on the line. Is there anyone there who gives a darn about something more than themself? Is there ANY pride in the work they do? Does GM need to invest more heavily in intelligence testing as opposed say occupancy crash-test safety? The cars are safe enough Bob (I appraise a LOT of them).
The facts. The buyers you want don’t want to buy from you because the vehicles hold poor long term value. Once the vehicles are old (and it seems like a conspiracy here) they develop very unusual problems (headgaskets, catalysts, computer/electrical problems). So now the market considers a 4 or 5 year old GM a not-so-smart long-term buy. Next thing you know you’re leasing a bunch of soon-to-be lemmons (remember the way GMAC got there butts handed to them after ‘01? Some of it had to do with 9/11. Most of it had to do with the product).
You can build the fastest American car. The best manufactured Cadillacs in a generation. The cleanest burning 4 cylinders. The most powerful and efficient 8 cylinder motors in the world. If you can’t keep the car guys happy, ok, so you loose the car guys. We’re a dying breed anyhow. But in the world of Carfax, Edmunds, and Carsdirect.com it’s not just about the day the car is sold. It’s what it does till it’s dead. You have the technology to make the best you can even better than it is. How hard is it to build a 2.2 that doesn’t use a silly oil-pressure driven chain tensioner? Why do you still use 3.1’s that STILL blow headgaskets in virtually EVERY car. Why haven’t you HIRED someone who can build you a DECENT 5 spd. auto? You don’t have any MIT grads who can reverse engineer the Toyota hybrid systems to make them better???? And better yet, why do I actually feel bad for the car dealers now. I mean heck, being a GM employee you now get just the same deal as every other person who buys a GM. Where’s the pride in working for THAT company? So you work off inflated sticker prices to continually give people the notion that they are getting a “deal.” What about the poor schmuck who gets $8,000 off the sticker, finances $8,000 in debt on his trade in that note, then totals the darn thing 2 months later and finds out it’s not worth just $8,000 less than the sticker – it’s worth about $10,000 because not only did everyone get the same silly discount as him but there are so many of these cars on the road (and so many are known on the wholesale market to be lemons) that this poor guy gets to cough up $2,000 that his insurance says he shouldn’t get. They tell him he got a bad deal. I don’t blame the insurance company. I mean the guy signed the policy, right? Can’t blame the dealer. He’s only making $200 or $300 profit on the whole deal (if he’s good with F&I). I blame GM. For advertising a product that they say is good. Building a product they say is good. And when the dust settles and the warranty is up GM tells it’s customers either A) you should have purchased an extended warranty (for an A/C compressor?? To go bad at 50K???, or B) We’re very sorry for your problem. However we have not noticed this to be a normal failure item (then why the hell does your 100-unit-per month dealer stock 2 compressors???). Successful appraising is like successful car building. It’s not just about what we think. It’s about what others want. I don’t want to buy a car that is worth less than half of what I paid for it in 3 years. I don’t want a car that takes over $4,000 to REPAIR after 4 years of ownership. And I don’t like spending $30-$40K on something and having some kid tell me that the warranty is the warranty and that’s it. I’ll take my business elsewhere. To a manufacturer who I don’t EVER need to deal with after I buy the car. To a dealer who doesn’t feel like he’s punched by the manufacturer so he should just twist everyone else equally the same. Or to mechanic and service advisor that’s disheartened. Not because he has to take my money. But because this is the third time this week the same problem occured….just on other people’s cars. While your building the bottom line, revamping the products, and saving the world, consider these comments from someone who does care. My father’s GTO was his prize in life. The ultimate machine. I thank John Delorean for that. My Trans Am was my prize. It has turned out to be the worst vehicle I have ever owned. And the actions of GM tell me that my business is not wanted. GM will have a place in the history books. Right next to AT&T, IBM, and Worldcom. And Bob, once again, you’re doing a terrific job. Time to get everyone else in that company to do the same. I’ll be spreading the word in the meanitime.
Ted wrote: “How about a hybrid diesel?”
It’s been done. Daimler/Chrysler (Mercedes) built a few and discovered to their chagrin that after all that complexity was added, the improvement in overall fuel efficiency was minimal over the straight diesel. They shelved it because they judged (correctly in my view) that the small gains weren’t worth the trouble and cost.
Volkswagen’s approach is different; I know of no one else doing this type of work. When in Europe, I saw a few small delivery vans motoring around Barcelona – they were experimental models being field tested by courier outfits. They were powered with diesel/electric power trains – kind of like diesel/electric locomotives.
The diesel was a small – about 1.0 liter – 3-cylinder turbocharged unit. It was not connected with the driveline in any way. Its sole purpose was keeping the battery pack charged at all times. It ran in a very narrow RPM range tailored for maximum efficiency and lowest emissions (good enough, apparently, to earn it the EU equivalent of near-zero emissions vehicle status)
The vehicle was propelled entirely by traction motors, one at each wheel. No transmission, no drive shafts, nothing. The traction motors drew power from the battery pack while the diesel’s job was to keep replenishing it.
These traction motors have not very impressive horsepower, but apparently GOBS of torque; they can deliver their maximum torque from zero RPM on up so no transmission is necessary.
This technology in the form I saw it was in a small delivery van meant for inner city use. How it scales up for a family sedan or SUV I don’t know. But this approach to diesel hybridization with electric power makes more sense to me than a Toyota-Prius-like approach.
In the Toyota system, the internal combustion engine (diesel or gas) is carrying the load in sustained or high speed driving, so there are essentially zero gains for highway driving. Where gasoline is its worst is in stop-and-go driving; here the electric motors can help a lot, taking up most if not all of the load in standing-stop acceleration so the gasoline engine doesn’t have to work as hard.
With diesel however, city fuel mileage is still quite good because it doesn’t lose as much efficiency in pumping losses as do gas engines (air is not throttled in a diesel; only fuel).
A locomotive-style diesel/electric has some major advantages that exploit specific strengths of diesels while mitigating diesel’s problems. Diesels typically have a much smaller power band than do gas engines. Diesel/electrics, since the diesel is not mechanically connected to the wheels, can run at nearly constant RPM – in its “sweet spot” balanced for maximum torque and best fuel consumption.
What’s more, when diesels can run at a constant RPM and load – like when powering a generator, but like they never can when mechanically driving the wheels – they run extremely lean – at much, much lower fuel/air ratios than can a gas engine. This is where the diesel’s efficiency can really be exploited at it best.
On the other hand, diesel’s emissions problems are worst under heavy throttle and/or rapid changes in load, when torrents of extra fuel are being squirted in. Since the amount of air going in is not throttled and is therefore more or less constant, squirting in more fuel tends to cause excessive particulate emissions. Keeping the diesel at a more constant load and within a vary narrow RPM band makes it easier to maintain cleaner emissions.
The only fly in the ointment I see is that the traction motors are probably heavy, leading to a lot of unsprung weight. But they can be mounted inboard securely to the chassis, with half-shafts going to the wheels – a little more complex perhaps, but still a lot simpler than the Toyota Prius’ system.
And the traction motors are probably not cheap, either. But like everything else, economies of scale and new materials (light weight electrically conductive ceramics perhaps? Or ceramic/carbon fiber substrates or laminates?) can very likely solve that in a fairly short time – certainly MUCH shorter than the time frame for the pure hydrogen fuel cells that are the Holy Grail for vehicle propulsion. (I think this will be like nuclear fusion power – forever 25 years away; I’m not holding my breath.)
Couple diesel/electric’s aforementioned virtues with the fact that diesels can be made to burn all kinds of things besides petroleum-based fuels (re-refined recycled motor oil, used cooking oil, bio-diesel from corn, soy, sunflowers et al.) and I think this route has a lot of promise for both increasing efficiency and for exploiting renewable fuels.
I like weirving’s thoughts. Eco-people would be all over that. Even if GM just prepares to do a vehicle like it in case it becomes worth it (like if gas heads to $5 a gallon) it would probably be smart.
Also, I forgot to say in my previous post why want a longer warranty if I’m ever to buy another GM. My 98 Bonneville’s intake manifold went at 58k miles and less than 4.5 years from the date of delivery . WTF is up with that!??!?! $1100+ went poof. AND the darned thing died in the middle of NOWHERE Virginia. Thank God I knew some people in Richmond.
I had spoken positively about my car to friends and family up until that point. Dealers said they saw lots of bonnevilles with 200k. To 58k miles I believe the only thing that ever happened was the starter died. It was great. But after that, whether I put a extra negative spin on it or not, I can guarantee you that most everyone I know won’t forget what happened to me if they were shopping for a Pontiac. My parents, who had a 95 and 01 Bonneville, now have a Toyota. To make matters worse for you, Bob, this intake manifold problem happens to a LOT of cars from what I read online (and the fact that the dealer knew EXACTLY what had happened when I told him my coolant had gone into the engine). Then some recall came along for something that sounded an awful lot like the same intake manifold problem, but which your customer service department told me is not related to my intake manifold problem, and thus I would not be reimbursed for the repair. That’s cold. Just plain cold. It’s one thing for dealers to follow the precise rulebook, but Pontiac Cust. Serv. wouldn’t even help. My wife thinks I’m crazy for even following what new GMs/Pontiacs are coming out. And I know that if it was up to her we’d never own a GM (especially a Pontiac) again. I know that people on these posts and other fan sites have said that GM quality is way better now, but it’s hard to believe when I haven’t owned a newer Pontiac yet and when GM won’t own up to it’s past mistakes.
So do yourselves a favor and include a longer bumper to bumper, and even longer powertrain warranty. Because it’s totally unacceptable for GM cars to have any difficulty making it to 100k without a hitch. The bonneville’s at about 90k now, and I often doubt whether it will make it to 150k like my father’s ‘95, or even last long enough for the G8 to come out.
Buick Comments:
Don’t count them out too soon.
Owned 4 Merc Benz- nice til they broke, and now they all break and service is expensive.
So since then, I have had 6 Buicks and an Olds Toro (1989) which my wife loved, until it was totaled by a rear ender.
Current Buick Park Ave Ultra (2000)…as good as they get, but is a major untold story! Fuel Economy- 29.5 on highway at 70-72, 27.5 at 75-85, 24.5 long term all around driving. I think that is phenomenal for a full sized sedan. Plus it is fast (supercharged), very quiet, handles well, and is comfortable.
Down side- cheap, sloppy, GM shocks..why, why? Put some Bilsteins on that Lucerne please. Also, poor interface of transmission to engine…lurches at times.
So the bullet proof 3.8 (I’ve had three) will die. Too bad. One of the best engines ever and with the blower sounded like a high winder overhead cam engine.
Note- the 3.8 v6 is legendary in the gas station attendant set, who drive cheap high miles used cars. They lovem’ “cuz they run, they are good on gas, and they don’t break”.
P.s., if GM comes out with the 2 seater Buick convertible, “please” put a jump seat or platform behind the driver/pass. seats. Large enough for a small dog taxi…my wife is ready for such a car. But neither the Corvette (no, you drive too fast), or the XLR have such a jump seat, but it would be great.
Saw a new STS in the dealer the other day and was the first Cadillac I have really wanted in a long time. I had a monster 1957 4 door, that I loved when I was in college. But its time has passed. The STS had it all!!!
I screwed 150,000 Oldsmobiles together at the highly rated GM plant in Lansing, MI, while working my way thru MI St. U.
Go GM! Get the MoJo Back.
Lucerne??? Sounds like a carton of milk. Why not just name it GTO? It did wonders for Holden.
alternatively:
take the Chevy cars and SUVs sold in China and re-badge them as Buicks.
Then phase out Buick everywhere else.
This preserves the nameplate without requiring additional product development.
To preserve Buick’s stature, ensure quality in the Chevy line-up.
If you really want to talk about a rag on the road then look no further than the Ford 05 Mud-stang. I looked at those and it looks great on the outside but like a cheap imitation when it came to the upgraded chromed plastic interior. Getting out of the new Mustang I saw painted spot weld puddle in the door lower A-Pillar area and wonder two things; was there insufficient weld with only 2 spots over 8 inches or was quality job 10? It takes little things like that to tell me bad quality — a DA could have fixed the spot puddle in 10-15 seconds per car.
By the way, what we want is curves – not lines. I know that GM’s lines are good for sales but those designs are only good for others and not us. As far as peoples perception of barely in time at GM then really consider the inside where GM is considered much more progressive and dynamic than Ford and DCX.
You do more with your 8% R&D than most any other company who spends more. Please just consider lines for some models but not all.
Were waiting for GM to get something out between the Jag S type and RX-8; something that stands out in style and appeal, sportyness, curves, and luxury. The reason I’m still waiting is GM’s Caddy line is at the top of it’s game, so is Buick. And I like the idea of GM On Star being there for back-up, not to mention that half of the gas saving cars on the road have GM on them. I am not going to buy a cheap dime store imitation, I want the GM total package, so please give us something to welcome us into the GM family.
My eyes are wide open and I like what I see, you have gained my trust, inspired my passion, and have us sitting on a shelf ready to buy.
To everyone else I say: GM gave America health care as the first company in America to start a Health Care program, GM gave America it’s first retirements and million of elders see great grand kids today, GM gave us a backbone in their strong production support helping the Arsenal of Democracy, GM kept America rolling after 9-11 when we were pick up pieces, GM said safety for all with On-Star and not just the wealthy, GM said even a person buying the basic line of Saturn is still a person. Now GM has set a record for the first time in the History of the automobile with more awards in quality than anyone. After all the General has done, it’s a great thing to say–yes I am proud to be an American and I like what I see. You see, you can’t take everything for granted, so GM I just wanted to say thanks because without the health care trend you and your workers started my Father, Wife, and half the family would be deceased. So yes I am open minded and say that i am willing to wait and be patient to give back a little to a company who made my life better before I ever bought their product.
Very respectfully I thank you.
I posted this in the wrong thread before:
Strange things I noticed about the 2006 Malibu and Impala:
1. Impala-does not offer power adjustable pedals or telescoping steering wheel. I thought after these were made available on the Malibu that all Chevy cars would get these. They most definitely should have.
2. Impala-has fake wood as standard in the interior with chrome trim as an option. It should have been the other way around.
3. Impala-confusing options. Why weren’t fold flat rear seats made standard across the board? Wouldnt it make assembly easier to have more standard features for all models?
4. Malibu-Why isn’t there an auxiliary jack for the iPod? It’s in the Impala, but not the Malibu? That doesn’t make any sense.
I find these things very odd and a little disturbing. Don’t you guys talk to each other? Spread the goodies across every model, isn’t that obvious? I guess not to GM.
Dear Mr. Lutz,
Great success. GM’s production line/ Q.C. employees should all get a big Xmas bonus. The General’s finally marching back into the fight.
I have “blogged” here before and I have noticed other bloggers have read my postings, I just hope you have too…Middle Income, RWD, mid sized, perimeter framed, supercharged I6 and V8 coupes, sedans, and wagons for the masses. Maybe I am nuts, but….If you build them, we will come….
Well, I just bought an ‘03 S10 Blazer 4×4 4dr. I almost bought a new Colorado but that Chevy dealer offered me a great price to get it off the lot. The salesman said the incentives you offered killed their used car sales. Sorry I didn’t help your new car sales this time, but that S10 is exactly how all S10’s should’ve been built. Rear disc brakes w/ ABS, G80 positraction, comfortable seating, and headreasts for the back seat. Fairly nice interior too. Shame it had to go like the Camaro/Firebird and RWD B-body platforms.
Im planning to buy again in two years, I pray you do put an affordable, mid sized, RWD, V8 coupe, sedan, & wagon platform on your dealer’s lots by then.
Thank you so much for your time and godspeed on your journey towards being #1 again, Big Al.
With everyone saying retreat-retreat-retreat = success, please consider the following. 25% of Americans go to GM for cars, so GM doesn’t need to benchmark themselves to follow anyone.
Instead GM needs to focus on leaving everyone in “GM dust”.
A recent quality survey by a University in Michigan said American car makers needed to work on quality. Where was 50% of the other automakers on that survey – how about not even on it, and GM was all over the upper end.
GM will not do anything by shedding brands. Buick has a few things to do before I will buy one, but as a young 30 year old I will consider a Buick and I’m not near my grave, I buy luxury sedans, and will not consider a “young persons cool car” just to feel my age.
Buick needs a few touches to be great as a sedan of comfort and class, and it’s not appeal to a young generation; it needs to make someone salivate.
GM’s strategy of the brands and a person graduating are as much needed today than ever.
Buick needs the following:
1. Leather needs to be standard in every Buick, so everyone of them will have a higher taste of class. In production it may only cost $700 more. This will immediately give everyone that tests drives one a sense of class without compromise.
2. Buick needs to make doors that are lighter and more manageable so when someone like my wife with back trouble gets into one it is manageable, this is one of the only reasons we didn’t buy Buick when we bought our Infinity years ago.
3. Higher Luxury items need to be more of the standard feature in a Buick like a Cadillac.
4. Buick needs to consider a roadster or coupe to create identity, a coupe may be better to show a sign of difference. This is something every car maker does. If it were not for the RX-8 then Mazda would have as much excitement as Yugo. This will make it feel right for some buyers.
5. Buick needs to have more curves and finer curved folds in skin that give it different appeal and can capture a market segment that is opposite of Cadillac. Now consider my family who doesn’t care for the body lines of a Cadillac. I want the taste, smell, look, and feel of a car that fits before I ever test drive it.
6. The face of the car needs to have a very carefully crafted grille that does not draw all the attention as a focal point, and is well balanced and not too large (maybe kidneys?, maybe move the Buick badge to the hood itself and keep the customers eyes out of the grille?) and has a set of headlights that are a little more elongated and a little less square. If the Body steals the focus, people will look for the badge to see what it is, it may be better to have someone have to find the badge instead of the badge standing out so they make the initial assumption based on the change. Ford destroyed it’s 500 sedan by giving it the grille that has a look of expanded steel with it’s name right in the middle, I won’t even go near one to test drive it. If you make changes, I wouldn’t be extreme because it almost has the right look in the face as far as height and width of the grille.
7. Do 1-6 and start the asking price of your sedans around $23-25,000 instead of $21,000. You have the quality right where it needs to be, the safety, reliability, and a brand that is very much alive and not dead. I can’t believe how many car writers in the media have no thoughts of their own and just make statements like “it is as dead as the people that buy them”. I’ll tell you what’s dead, and it’s not Buick, it’s the Japanese cars, everyone looks the same and is an arm and a leg. Nothing is exciting about driving a car with arrows, a letter, or hoops in it’s badge. Is Hyundai or Infinity a better brand than Buick? Not for anyone with good taste, common sense, and someone who understands class.
8. The last thing it needs is a few simple words in advertising like:
Buick…..The different taste of luxury…
Buick needs to disassociate with generational advertising, it only makes them and the buyers generations apart. Imagine if Hyundai said “at Hyundai we have finally figured how to keep the wheels on”, wouldn’t everyone suddenly feel like the wheels might fall off?
I came to GM for the other reasons I listed like the “total package” and also because no one else cares enough to make the changes that customers want. Others are arrogant, dull, and over rated when it comes to the foreign competition. I think it’s great that a ordinary buyer like me can have the design team, a guy as talented as Bob Lutz, and everyone else listen to what I want. Your on the verge of having a new customer for life. My father has made the switch and is very happy with his GM products. He recently went all over GM’s lots to see if he had to buy something, but wouldn’t even step on another companies lots; He used to be a Chrysler man. I used to get crooked by the Japanese cars, but I find the taste is really emerging strongly GM and I’m tired of driving in sardine cans.
If anyone is listening, this is really what would compel me to buy a Buick, and I think or at least hope I am far from my grave.
I recently participated in the GM sponsored “amateur” comparison test between the CTS and Lexus ES330 and the STS and BMW 530. Though I never would have predicted it, the two Cadillacs compared very well with their competition. If I were in your marketing department, I’d be arguing for many more events away from dealerships (so people won’t be afraid that they’re going to get the hard sell) that get people behind the wheel of your cars to see and feel for themselves just how far they’ve come.
Mr. Lutz,
I have two comments I would like to make.
I recently purchased my first ever GM vehicle. I am deploying to Iraq and wanted to leave my wife something dependable and good in the snow so we started looking for an SUV. We first looked at the VW Toureg since I already own a VW and my wife always prefers imports over domestic brands. In the end we decided on a Chevy Trailblazer LT. The main reason that we stepped into a Chevy dealership was the employee pricing program. We were surprised and pleased with the Trailblazer and in the end bought it due to its price. The problem for you now is to keep us buying GM products b/c no matter how much we love the TB and we do, it can not compete with the interior and the fit and finish of the Toureg. I feel that there are three things that you need to do in order for us to keep buying your products. First and foremost you must improve the quality, look and feel of your interiors. The TB LT is an improvement over past models, but it’s not even in the same ballpark as the Toureg, abd the seats in the TB are a bit uncomfortable for long trips. Secondly, you need to cut down on the wind noise, it is just too loud for a $33K truck, and lastly you need to make the engine a 5 cylinder for this truck. All in all, we are pleased with the TB LT and absolutely love it. Keep producing good products and maybe you will keep my wife from going back to imports.
My second comment regards a RWD sports car for GM. I love the GTO, but with only one model choice it is currently too expensive. So, I hope the internet gossip is true and you are planning on introducing a new Camaro. I have seen pictures of what it is supposed to look like and if you keep it close to those pictures I think you will have a hit just like the Ford Mustang. But if you do make one, please don’t overprice it. I think you should bring out 3 models. A base model with a 255 hp V6 priced from $18-$22K, A mid level Z28 model with a 325 hp V8 priced in the $25-$28 range and a top of the line SS model with at least 400 HP and priced no more than $30K. As you can see by the success of the Mustang, there is still a market for American sports cars and it’s a shame that GM doesn’t have anything to compete against it. Don’t make the same mistake you made with the GTO, which I think you would have sold twice as many if it had another model and the top of the line was around $28K. If you make a RWD sports car that is attractive and not overpriced you might get me to buy a GM.
Anyway, keep up the good work and I look forward to seeing all of the new products that GM is coming out with.
Well, just for the record, I completely disagree with Warren’s post above. Its the typical brew ha ha from a couple major biased media networks which cover up for Japan. GM offers more choices than the competition, another
GM best.
GM already has better products than the Japanese competition. The problem is propaganda, not product. GM needs to become more media savvy. Take the latest media reports that Honda and Toyota have overstated horsepower using SAE standards. We have yet to hear the major networks cover the story and loop it over and over, then replay it on prime time shows. Clearly, the agenda of the ownership of those major networks is to undermine American business in favor of import dogma to fund their own operations. GM needs to accept that media propaganda slants perception and develop a better plan to become proactive.
Notice that the latest GM ads are proactive and they are working. GM’s car sales are up because GM has the best cars. If not for a fuel cost crisis, GM would be having even greater sales on SUVs.
Further, GM should not let the “tranplants” get away with showing off when they are little more than foreign parts receiving docks and duty free zones. Let’s have some more showing off for GM for a change. Hyundai came out of nowhere, Saturn can send the same message and get all that business. Saturn coupes and Vue are great products, Saturn should have the entry level practical sedan market, not Hyundai.
GM could use a major media partner like Disney to show off product and energize grass roots public perceptions.
GM needs to rollout the cost savings and restructuring plan for benefits as soon as possible. As much as customers admire the GM’s workforce, its time to react to economic conditions in order to prevail. Why not announce that it would be phased in based on sales and profits, with the first phase to begin asap. The rewards might outweigh the sacrifice returning value to all concerned.
We keep hearing a common theme from GM enthusiasts that GM needs a fight back department. Action and common sense need to begin right away.
I have a very simple question. Why are folks “enthusiasts” for a company that doesn’t respond to these blogs? Aren’t we all former/current customers who have very realistic grievances? Isn’t it the foundation of ANY company to respond to these issues? H**l, I bought a $79. router at Best Buy last month. D**n thing didn’t work right. Belden was on the phone with me for 4 HOURS reworking my OS and modem to work with the darn thing. And they even said thankyou for my business. The tech support person was even from THIS country (Atlanta). All for $79. For $31,295 (plus interest through GMAC) I got the cold shoulder from the service advisor at the dealership, the owner of the dealership, the guy at GM customer service, and now Bob Lutz himself. I gotta see if Belden will start building cars soon too. Are we enthusiastic because GM shows an active interest in us and our feelings and concerns? I don’t think so. Maybe we’re enthusiastic about getting them to change (which, as we’ve all seen this week, has got NOTHING to do with us…Bob has his own ideas on how to do things. Way to go BOB!). You see Mr. Lutz will never post a direct response to any of us. Seems he feels his blood is thicker than ours. Or his worth is that much greater. If you’re going to have a blog, play the game Bob. Get yourself a MySpace account and see how these things really work. You toss something out, we comment on it, you toss something back out in RESPONSE. Not some advertisement. I don’t have to be the CEO of Honeywell to know that GM is in trouble. And I shouldn’t have to be the CEO of Honeywell for you to acknowledge me or ANYONE ELSE on here. We’re people too. Each as good if not better at what we do for ourselfs. And da**it, for your salary, I’d take this heat.
Nice to hear that GM is finally coming out with a convertible that will seat more than two people (Pontiac G6).
Watch a rap video lately? What are they driving? Full size Chevy convertibles.
Billy Bob Thornton in “Bad News Bears” pulls up in a full size “Cadvertible”.
Watched a TV show recently that featured
Randy Newman driving around L.A. in
an older GM convertible. C’mon, make something we can buy, and get us out of our Chrysler Sebring convertibles.
Chrysler does sell a few of those, don’t they? And you leave the whole market to them.
Ditto on the “Fight Back” department. One of the most infuriating things (at least vicariously) about GM is the failure to control PR, especially when the facts are on its side.
Area 1: Employment.
Transplants, particularly Hyundai and Toyota, are winning this PR battle. Toyota is running around acting as if it is keeping the entire American economy afloat. Using a metric that definitely includes suppliers and franchised dealers and probably also includes gas station attendants, Toyota claims “150,000″ employees. If you used the same metric for GM, what would you get – 10 million?
Area 2: Fuel economy
The Prius, if you count all examples on the road, has probably done little to ease actual fuel consumption. But those cars have done tremendous service in PR – to the point that no one seems to notice that Toyota is making incredibly inefficient pickup trucks – and hybrids like the Lexus SUV that get no more gas mileage than a conventional vehicle.
GM needs to push intelligent deployment of hybrids in larger vehicles (to save large amounts of fuel) – not just tokenism. And it needs to get the message to the government that tax breaks should only be based on absolute efficiency, not the presence or absence of an on-board electrical conveter/motor unit.
And push back on Starbucks and bottled water. I’m not joking. People seem to choke on $2.50 a gallon and up for gasoline but thing nothing of $48/gallon (lattes) and $20/gallon (8 oz bottled water). Sadly, people don’t focus on these costs and instead use fuel prices as an(other) excuse to pummel the domestic auto industry.
Area 3: Quality and safety.
Recently, a friend in my office decided to buy a new car. Which one? An Accord – based on “quality and safety.” But a Buick (for example) has higher quality, and a Saab is safer. Why can’t GM get its message out? It wiped the floor with a lot of brands in the latest quality rankings.
Get the message out. People in the 20-30 set seem to be relying more on hearsay than reading the statistics. Yes, Japanese cars were better than domestics quality-wise in the 1980s and early 1990s, but domestic cars are better now than those cars were then, and imports/transplants have been slipping in the rankings since then.
Next, work on curbing American’s self-loathing. It’s funny when you encounter people who “only consider imports.” Imports, not any particular brand or country. Why? Because Americans have (and have always had) a taste for the imported and the exotic. This may be a tough nut to crack – but look at BMW. The 3-series has never really been competitive performance, price, efficiency, or quality wise – but it built its mythos as the “Ultimate [German] Driving Machine.”
And if you have lemons, make lemonade. If you have to pay UAW scale to make cars, point out to your customers that GM cars are made by an experienced workforce. This might be big – the New York Times ran an editorial a couple of weeks ago about how Toyota is opening a new plant in Ontario because it could not maintain quality with an inexperienced (and in some cases) illiterate workforce.
In sum, it’s tough to watch someone be a pincushion when he could fight back. The level of delicacy should be left to the PR firms, but stop being America’s punching bag.
Wrt awareness, it’s a pity the excellent GM AutoShowInMotion does not yet have many of the newer GM cars to compare and/or compete against the competition.
One new show opportunity was comparing the LaCrosse against 3 imported competitors. In my case, the score was; Altima, best interior, LaCrosse, best ride.
A side note: The vaunted Audi A4 has more chrome and metal in its interior that many GM cars, but the door and console plastics felt downright cheap.
Bob,
I am seeing quite a bit of improvement in GM recently. The new small car platform is excellent, and though I wanted to wait for the Cobalt, the problems with my previous, elderly non GM vehicle pushed me into it’s sibling, the Saturn ION. It’s built quite well, though I am a bit disappointed with the rather excessive use of hard plastic trim, particularly on the doors.
One thing I would like GM to put more thought into is in the vehicle names. There are some rather odd ones now. Cobalt? It makes me want to reference a color chart or perhaps the table of elements. Lucerne? It sounds more like the name of a dairy company rather than a car. I’d also really suggest that GM revisit the idea of the alpha-numeric names for Pontiac. Back in the 80’s, and you might well remember this, Pontiac attempted to switch to Alpha Numerics in place of the more standard names. It didn’t work, and soon the J2000 was renamed the Sunbird, the T1000 was dropped, and though the 6000 hung on for a few more years, it was ultimatly dropped in favor of the Grand Prix sedan. In other words, alpha numerics don’t work for Pontiac vehicle names.
I have also written elsewhere on this blog suggesting that GM should essentially split SAAB Saturn and Subaru off into their own group. This would allow all three companies to retain their individuality while sharing recourses. It would also prevent disasters in the making such as a mildly disguised GMC Envoy from being force on them as a SAAB 9-7x.
If Saab wanted an SUV, then perhaps they should choose which existing or upcoming platform it should ride on. I’m sure the Tribecca or VUE would have satisfied them, as they are lighter, and as evidenced by the hot rod VUE Redline, can be made to go fast and handle well. An Envoy can be made to go fast, but handling will stil not be where SAAB would like it.
Let’s see how your numbers hold up after the greatest sale in GM history. Then I will be a believer.
Customer Service is very important to me also, but it didn’t even get you to remember the company you bought the product from.
There is no such thing as a Belden product, it is Belkin.
By the by, I sell that stuff and you wouldn’t have had a problem in the first place if you bought a Linksys or Netgear Router.
Belkin makes OK Cables and USB Hubs, thats about it.
Bob,
Let me tell you I read every article available to the public about GM on a daily basis let me tell you…
Your new product programs and strategies for the rest of the decade are just about
P E R F E C T
If all the things you are talking about come to fruition it will be in a word a
M I R A C L E
I hope to hear more about a high roof and high seat heritage luxury vehicle for Buick along with the Hummer H3T and I will be set.
Consider this post your booster rockets. And I hope you so much success that you will not even need this forum unless you want it. But follow through with your product plans and I am sure that you will kick these booster rockets right off your ship as GM finally achieves its proper orbit and soars like it should.
Soon the dust will clear and you will have smooth sailing I am sure.
Keep sending us pictures from the Hubble what your spying in the heavens because that must be where these ideas and designs come from.
So Keep Driving!!!
Everything you touch is turning to gold.
To whoever the sack fits:
I was just watching some of the GM sedans and coupes offered during the mid 90s and beggining of the new millenium. The designs were just beautiful, even more appealing to many of the antecessors and the competition. And now I look at the Malibu and it seems too straight, lacking of curves or smoothness, the fascias need to look more or less like a dolphin and now those lights remind me of an ant or an alien. The same goes for the Impala, it doesn’t look like a Chevy unless you get too close to it. If there’s something that made Chevrolet, Pontiac, Buick, the dead Oldsmobile and Cadillac cars famous, besides their good motors; is the fact that they are distinguishable from foreign brands and that they remind of a romantic yet stylish car, the one you would choose to go and date a lady, the sedan you would like to move your family with, and show braveness, strenght as well as a little bit of danger and ingenuity to your friends; not only in America, but in Mexico and other places too, a car carrying a lot of history, yet updating in a suitable way to modern vanguards. I can’t believe most of the new GM cars are poor in design for me, except for a few ones. You could create great works of art with those sheets of metal and plastic pieces, something that looks more like a specimen from its specie; not just unnoticeable cars.
By the other way, it’s necessary to continue developing cars working on hydrogen, sun and electricity. Right now I personally wouldn’t buy any internal combustion car since I am more aware of pollution, and if I happened to buy one, I would just have it to practice mechanics (a hobby I have) and use it only on special or exceptional ocassions such as traveling to another city, taking someone to the hospital, etc. The fact is that if there were a reliable, good duty and autonomy and affordable solar/hydro/electric car where I live, I wouldn’t hesitate to get it and go everywhere with it; and if it were a stylish GM, I would be more than pleased to ride that beatuful beast without threatening the environment.
It’s time to build logic machines inside logic carrozerias.
What do you think?
Get on the ball and make hybrid vehicles! Gas ain’t gonna get no cheaper.
Mr. Lutz: I could not agree with you more about potential customers getting out to dealers and trying the new GM offerings first hand. I have taken advantage of GM’s Autoshow in Motion events in the past and am looking forward to driving the Hydrogen powered Zaphira again and hopefully the HHR, Lucerne new Impala and Monte Carlo at the one in San Diego, September 15th to 18th. A suggestion would be to have some of the new Opel models available at these events to allow people experience the production versions of the Astra 3D/5D/Estate, Meriva, Zaphira, Corsa, Vectra Estate and even the Combo, Combo Tour and Tornado Small Pickup. There is nothing to hide from any competitors and the cars are proven since they are current production cars available in Europe. This could provide useful market research for the Turbo Diesel engine versions; only the highest powered with automatic transmissions since those would be the models offered here. These engines are supposed to be world class and they couldn’t get to market until lower sulfur diesel availability in 2007, so if a strong interest is shown there is time to modify these models as required for U.S. regulations.
As for the new Buick Lucerne, I must say that I do not understand the need for a new name – but the car looks promising from what I have read. One vehicle I would like to see from Buick would be a 4 Door Sedan from the Corvette architecture and it could use the Gran Sport name; this name has been used on both cars in the past – Corvette Gran Sport and Buick Gran Sport GSX. A wheelbase stretch of 6 to 12 inches and some longer overhangs would result in a Sedan the size of a BMW 5-series. The chassis/power train is a proven performer and a 4 passenger hard top convertible version could be offered using some of the XLR top technology. This would amortize development costs and increase the plant utilization at Bowling Green. It would also be an Awesome car.
These are just some of my ideas, and I would like to thank you for having this opportunity to share them with you. Keep up the great work and thanks for your time.
Wrt autoshow in motion, nice to see the Hydrogen car and see this technology in development!
Wrt new Saturn Relay; big disappointment. An average SUV with typical cheap Saturn interior. Lets hope you do better with the Aura.
Wrt Hummer-3; makes a lot more sense than H-2. Now how about direct fuel injection for its engine?
Mr. Lutz,
It wasn’t quality or the price that has moved this former customer to the competition, it was the products.
Mid-sized vehicles should be the cut-off for FWD. There needs to be RWD Chevrolet, Buick, and Pontiac sedans.
We need a Camaro. Not a Daewoo partnership.
4×4 HD Trucks need a SFA.
A lack of choices is not a preference. GM needs to give more choices, instead of stop-gaps and bandaids.
Dear Mr. Lutz,
I have no other way to Thank you and your wife Denise for the wonderful act you are going to do for taking our beloved Swan PaPa under your wings. Devils lake has been so happy for the last 10 years to have them and the babies each year grace our water. I will miss them terribly, however the fact they will not be put down is a gift. Thank you and they are not “Grumpy” as the newspaper stated. PaPa is a very gentle Swan and knows his name and will come when called when he gets to know you. MaMa is a little more standoffish, however she too will warm up. They love white bread not wheat and cracked corn. He will take the bread gentle from your hand. It is wonderful that you have saved them and to top all of it off my Husband Al works at GM Powertrain! So we are even more proud. I hope you enjoy them and I will always keep them and all their pictures close to my heart. There are so many of us on this Lake that wish we could thank you, so I will pass it on for all of us. There is a place in Heaven for you and Denise for saving the Swans.
Thank you! Jan Huss
To the product development and design teams at GM….Good going. Your new line ups are world class and I see that on the cadillac and buick model cars, the quality is moving back up to top notch. However, I think that someone at GM is diluting themselves into thinking that bigger is better. The world needs more economic and alternative energy type cars. Gas hogs need to go. Unfortunately for for GM and Ford, the Japanese have made great strides in this area and once we loose the competiveness in this particular market, I think you can lock the doors at GM and hang up the keys. I personally am currently looking for a hybrid car to drive because of gas prices. I am currently a Buick owner and unfortunately will have to turn to the Japanese car makers to fulfill my needs….thanks Jerry
There is a basic answer to Mr. Kelly’s question above about why people are enthusiasts for GM during trying times.
GM has a long record of doing many wonderful things, and has one of the best records in the corporate world. Perhaps when GM seems slow to respond it could be because they are balancing too many interests, their generousity may explain their appearance of delays. However, the current economic climate will require a stronger approach. GM may just need to make it clear to these many interests that decisive action is needed to prevail for the sake of all. The value returned could well be worth the sacrifice.
GM showed leadership with keep America rolling. GM showed leadership with the employee discount plan. And the faithful believe they can show leadership on their restructuring plan. Along with that, it wouldn’t hurt for them to speak up more on US public policy, so the current economic climate will improve for US companies and US jobs.
On customer service, chevy’s large dealers operations obviously need more mechanics to get the work done faster and fewer service consultants, and more updated paperless computers. Why not a web based Good Wrench Club card to organize it?
Not having driven a GM car for ages, I requested a GM vehicle to rent on a business trip to Detroit. I was given a base-level Malibu with 26,000 mi. A front turn signal was burnt out (because it’s always on as a DRL) — stupid design!. The plastic above the center stack was really flimsy/cheap looking and the vent louvers/controls were jammed. The odometer didn’t show tenths of a mile. When taking a freeway curve on rough pavement (east 94 to north 75 transition) the car felt like it was skating around on ball bearings. As for styling, the front was really ugly. The best part about the car was the engine — smooth and more powerful than I expected.
I think it will take a long time for perception to improve when GM vehicles like this are what the public comes in contact with.
I think the myth about Japanese gas mileage needs to be busted. I drove a 2004 Malibu, my lovely girlfriend’s, (yes, she bought it without my GM boosterism!)while moving my aforementioned sweetheart from Detroit to Oceanside, CA. The car did need a bit of polish with the steering. It felt notchy and lacked road feel. However, everything else about the car was either outstanding or good. First of all, the gas mileage was 34 mpg averaging about 70mph with the v6. The immature technosnobs who write for the candy-tushed “enthusiast” magazines don’t understand how sweet this pushrod motor is! Great power through all terrain and the “old-school” 4speed hydramatic was seamless. The suspension was as neutral as rear drive sports sedans I have driven in the past. In addition the brakes are strong and steady. The interior was easier to use than an Accord I drove about the same time, although less glitzy (remember when Detroit had the flash and the imports were the sensible shoes?) The exterior conveys solidity and cheerfulness. I likened it to a labrador retriever, which just happens to be America’s favorite dog. With refinement, marketing and a bit of ‘ol motown soul (like the classic 68-72 Malibus), this car should be America’s best seller.
It’s time for the UAW and the Big 3 to get together to promote the American (and Canadian too!) products made by the American brands. We need to promote economic patriotism, more than ever in this global economy. I realize that no car is completely American, but even a Mexican-built Aztec has more U.S. content than many import products. All the talk about patriotism and support around this country is hollow if we don’t put our money where our mouths are. Be American. Buy American. The products are great (check out the Lacrosse), you have no excuse,America!
Fastlane rocks
General Motors Fastlane-blog is a true hit. Consider this piece from Bob Lutz. Bob Lutz, GM vice chairman, blogging on about GMs wonderfull cars is actually quite bold. Of course you dont except modesty from a car …
Fastlane rocks
General Motors Fastlane-blog is a true hit. Consider this piece from Bob Lutz. Bob Lutz, GM vice chairman, blogging on about GMs wonderfull cars is actually quite bold. Of course you dont except modesty from a car salesman, but bragging on in a compl…
Mr. Lutz:
Are you for real with respect to your comments about the Buick Lucerne? Maybe the old timers will feel good in this car but there is no way that this 37 y/o M would even consider a Buick. And I’m in the market for a premium sedan. What’s with the dairy product name Lucerne? And those port holes? The only and I mean only GM product I might consider is the Cadillac STS. But I still give the nod to the Infiniti M. Every time I see a Buick it’s got an old man with a hat on driving it. And that’s not a place where I want to be.
Plx I need Do My Serv And i need To Get my Serv And i Wanna be Gm Plx help Me With That´
I was disappointed with the Lucerne options package. No HIDs, No Navigation, No heated/cooled seats, No Laser Cruise Control (as an example)…all of which can be had on the Avalon. The gas mileage is better on the Avalon with a smaller more powerful engine with a more up to date transmission. Someone is NOT doing there homework Mr. Lutz! I would love to buy GM products but I consistently find better choices for the money!
Bod, Gm has lost touch with it customers,for years I was a died hard Chevy, man I would not be caught in a Ford.That all changed when You (GM) started build cars that to you thought we should all be driving. Not eveyone want a small FWD car.As I look out my window On my carport I see a Ford Expidition and a Supercab F-250 Diesel Pick up. Where did the RWD Impala go?The same place that the Caprice, Camaro went. I know that Gm can build a Rwd auto That will get good gas milage,and be will made. By the way Bob I have two grown sons, both loved rear wheel Chevy’s guess what they drive,yep 02 ford supercrew. and 06 Mustang Gt Premium. Build a better car and they will come Bob.
I have currently listened to a lot of Auto news on media about our domestic auto products (GM, Ford, & Chrysler). I am a Vietnamese American, living in the State of Minnesota, loving cars to death. It’s really sad to hear this bad news about our products which once were the pioneer in the automotive market. I have always been a fan of American cars. I am still now. I am glad to see our new products on the street which have a better, attractive, young, and solid look. It means that American cars are on the right track that can attract American buyers (some turned away to other car makers though). Lowering MSPR, offering rebate, employee discounting, etc. is only the temporary thing to survive. To achieve the strength of the company, the strong market shares, the American image, I think domestic car makers need to do more than that, more than other import car makers can do.
If we look at Hyundai, for example, their products are not on the par with our products, but why they are gaining market shares, why they have the potential to steal buyers from us right on our country? The answer is quite simple (in my opinion), they have no magic or are cheating on us, but instead they have offered buyers the right things buyers always need, 10 years or 100,000 miles warranties. With incentives, rebate, or discount, they can cover the car for about 10 years of warranties. Yet, some cars will likely need more repair, but some will need less. If domestic car makers can attempt this kind of strategies, I know they will homerun again.
I am currently a senior at the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities campus, majoring in inorganic and material science. Although, I will be a chemist, but my desire to design car is always in my head.
I really hate to see domestic car declining. Thus, please take action before it is called too late.
Mr. Lutz,
Great car the Lucerne, but can’t we retire the 3800 engine? This engine is a step back for this advanced automobile. This a tired, old, noisy V-6. They still whine and groan and do not belong in this luxury top- end vehicle. Cut 2 cylinders off the Northstar and THAT would be a great gas saving engine.
looks like a rental car.
I have a 1998 Blazer that currecntly has 317,000 miles on it. I love it and want to go to at least 400,000+. My problem is my 4 wheel drive has gone out and I really need it in the winter. I am torn as to whether to spend the money to have it repaired?? Suggestions !!!
concur with need for the 3.0 liter turbo diesel in the Colorado