Questions and Answers
By Bob Lutz
GM Vice Chairman
Here’s something that arrived in my e-mail inbox recently from an old friend. I thought I’d pass it along to the FastLane crowd, because I know you’ll find it as interesting as I did. The Big Three has taken a lot of heat in recent years over falling sales in the domestic auto industry. But, as this little quiz reminds us, there’s plenty that the U.S. automakers in general – and GM in particular – are doing right.
The correct answers, along with sources, are after the jump.
1.) Which mid-size sedan has the highest initial quality?
a. Accord (Honda)
b. Altima (Nissan)
c. Camry (Toyota)
d. Malibu (Chevrolet)
2.) Which large sedan has the highest initial quality?
a. Avalon (Toyota)
b. Grand Prix (Pontiac)
c. Sable (Mercury)
3.) Which mid-size pickup has the highest initial quality?
a. Dakota (Dodge)
b. Ranger (Ford)
c. Tacoma (Toyota)
4.) Which car is the most economical overall?
a. Aveo (Chevrolet)
b. Fit (Honda)
c. Prius (Toyota)
5.) Which car did the LA Times describe as, “a better car than BMW or Mercedes or Lexus or Infiniti?”
a. A6 (Audi)
b. CTS (Cadillac)
c. RL (Acura)
6.) Which company makes the winner of the 2008 “Green Car of the Year” award?
a. Chevrolet
b. Honda
c. Toyota
7.) Which car was selected by the North American Automotive Press Corps as the “North American Car of the Year” for 2007?
a. Aura (Saturn)
b. Camry (Toyota)
c. Fit (Honda)
8.) Which car won the same award for 2008?
a. Accord (Honda)
b. Altima coupe (Nissan)
c. Malibu (Chevrolet)
ANSWERS:
1.) Which mid-size sedan has the highest initial quality?
Answer: The Chevrolet Malibu has better initial quality than any competitor, including the Honda Accord, Toyota Camry and Nissan Altima. The Ford Fusion also beat all 3 Japanese competitors, according to he J.D. Power Initial Quality Survey, which also reveals that above average are American brands Mercury, Ford, Cadillac, Chevrolet , Pontiac, Lincoln, and Buick. Below average are import brands Acura, Kia, Nissan, BMW, Mazda, VW, Subaru, and Scion (and several others).
2. ) Which large sedan has the highest initial quality?
Answer: Again per J.D. Power, the highest quality large car is the Pontiac Grand Prix, beating the Toyota Avalon. Two other Detroit cars that beat the Avalon are the Mercury Sable and Mercury Grand Marquis.
3.) Which mid-size pickup has the highest initial quality?
Answer: According to J.D. Power, the Dodge Dakota has the best quality for midsize pickups, proving that Chrysler too can beat the imports. Both the Dakota and the Ford Ranger beat the Toyota Tacoma.
4.) Which car is the most economical overall?
Answer: Per Edmunds.com, the premier automotive analysis site, the most-economical car in America, taking into account not only mileage but all costs, is the Chevrolet Aveo.
5.) Which car did the Los Angeles Times describe as “a better car than BMW or Mercedes or Lexus or Infiniti?”
Answer: “Cadillac makes a better car than BMW or Mercedes or Lexus or Infiniti, and that car is the 2008 CTS. No other car in the mass market dares so much as this expressive and audacious bit of automotive avant-gardism.” — Dan Neil, LA Times.
6.) Which company makes the winner of the 2008 “Green Car of the Year” award?
Answer: The Chevrolet Tahoe Hybrid wins this award. How could a full-size SUV defeat the media darling Toyota Prius? Read what greencar.com has to say and you’ll discover that, “What’s equally eye-opening is that the Tahoe’s 21 mpg city fuel efficiency rating is the same as that of the city EPA rating for the four-cylinder Toyota Camry sedan.” Did you catch that? A huge, full-size SUV from Chevrolet that gets the same city mileage as a four-cylinder Toyota Camry. Chevy obtained this remarkable achievement through the use of its 2-Mode hybrid system.
7.) Which car was selected by the North American automotive press corps as the “North American Car of the Year” for 2007?
Answer: The Saturn Aura picked by the Automotive Press Corps.
8.) Which car won the same award for 2008?
Answer: The Chevy Malibu.
- Posted in Bob Lutz
Smartie Pants
“The Chevrolet Tahoe Hybrid wins this award. How could a full-size SUV defeat the media darling Toyota Prius?”
“Along with the Tahoe Hybrid, the jury considered 2008 Green Car of the Year nominees including the Chevrolet Malibu Hybrid, Mazda Tribute Hybrid, Nissan Altima Hybrid, and the Saturn Aura Hybrid.”
site: http://www.greencar.com/features/2008greencar/
Eric Planey
Hey Bob!
Nice posting! Good to hear about the Aveo’s cost. I still think it needs to step up to really compete with the Fit. Hopefully the next gen will be there. I am really happy to see more Malibus, Cobalts, G6s, and Auras in my neighborhood, a hood dominated by Camrys, Accords, Civics, and Outbacks.
Get that Volt out there!!!! The new Insight looks great. More good competition.
Cheers,
Eric
Tom
While I personally think the Malibu is a very nice car, and I would certainly consider it or the Ford Fusion over the Japanese brands if I was in the market for such a vehicle, I don’t see any point to “initial quality.” What I want to know is which car is reliable over the 4-5 years that most people will own it. Consumer Reports did such an analysis and unfortunately the American brands didn’t do well. And also “initial quality” doesn’t mean much if the car is uncompetitive in performance and overall refinement - you list the the Mercury Grand Marquis, which should be reliable given that Ford has been building basically the same antiquated design for about two decades, but I wouldn’t want to drive one every day.
lb
I’ve been ready to buy a Buick for years, but I keep waiting.
In 2001, the Bengal got my attention. I said wow, definitely something I would trade my beemer for.
in 2004, the Velite was the talk of the NY auto show. definitely something I would trade my beemer for.
By 2007 neither car was offered, so I got a new beemer.
This year it was the Riviera.
Bob, once and for all can you address why these beautiful cars have not been built, and why it is so difficult to build a cool Buick?
lb
and, what is the purpose of these Buicks?
The literature said “this is the direction Buick is going in.”
Really? Then where is the convertible and the coupe?
Planck's Constant
1.) Which mid-size sedan has the highest initial quality?
Answer: The Chevrolet Malibu has better initial quality than any competitor, including the Honda Accord, Toyota Camry and Nissan Altima.
3.) Which mid-size pickup has the highest initial quality?
Answer: According to J.D. Power, the Dodge Dakota has the best quality for midisize pickups, proving that Chrysler too can beat the imports. Both the Dakota and the Ford Ranger beat the Toyota Tacoma.
Good on you.
But one obvious lesson here is that your Malibu team had better pass on some tips and training to those working in your mid-size pickup team. How could Malibu do so well , while mid-size pickups let Dakota, Ranger, and Tacoma beat them out? (Were I working in mid-size pickups, I’d really hang my head low knowing Dakota bested me.)
Doesn’t your quality assurance effort spread across the different divisions and assembly plants of your company? What do the Malibu people know that the mid-size pickup people don’t?
John
Gee Bob, ya think maybe its about time GM, and to a lessor extent the rest of the domestic auto industry, started getting recognition from the people that put them in the dumpster in the first place? All, repeat all, the auto mags are raving over the new cars coming from GM and its domestic rivals, and noting the continuing deterioration of the Asian brands. It is the problem that the domestic brands faced in the ’70s and ’80s, you can’t be all things to all people and continue to produce quality products. Toyota is finding this to be true as their quality has gone down the porcelain facility. I doubt the rest of them is far behind. Nissan can’t build a car, or truck for that matter, that anybody wants anymore, and Honda has its fingers in so many pies I doubt if they even know where they all are. So, good work GM! And Bob, keep on your guys’ shoulders so they don’t lose focus!
Christopher Popa
Which GM sedans with high quality ratings did GM discontinue?
a. Buick Century
b. Buick LeSabre
c. Pontiac Grand Prix
Answer: All three of them. (And can you believe that GM has left the name “Buick LaCrosse” standing on its forthcoming beautiful Epsilon II Buick, rather than adopt the “Invicta” name as the concept vehicle was known and as everyone urged them to do.)
SteveG
Ahhh, the mysterious post has reappeared. I posted a comment on this and then the entry was gone.
I don’t remember exactly what I wrote, but it had something to do with changing nameplates. You see, some of those quality control winners don’t exist anymore because you guys decided to change the name. Not a good move, was it?
Back onto names-you are at it again. The Cobalt was, what, 4-5 years old, a new nameplate needed because you thought the Cavalier name was tarnished. So, now you are doing it yet again ! Not only changing the name, but changing it to an embarrassment-the Cruze (ugh).
Please, do us all a favor and get rid of your marketing team or whatever bozos were responsible for that horrid name!
Funny thing is that you decided to keep the LaCrosse name for Buick, a name that means nothing for a car that is amazingly forgettable.
How many fan sites does the Cobalt have? I count at least 4-5. The LaCrosse? ZERO.
You want the names to be the same in all countries yet that does not apply for the LaCrosse since it means something derogatory in Canada. So why are you keeping that name instead of Invicta, Regal, Electra, etc?
Keep the Cobalt name or change it to Nova if you must, but please NOT Cruze (ugh).
As for quality, initial quality makes a good impression but what happens after the warranty runs out is more important. My ‘06 Cobalt groans like an old man, the steering is atrocious, the seat is caving in (I only weight 170 lbs), and the ride is rough. This should not be happening to so new a car, with only 40,000 miles on it.
Still, I was looking forward to buying the next Cobalt because I want to buy American and I, for some odd reason, like to root for GM. I can assure you my next car will not have the name Cruze (ugh), and the next Ford Focus is on my shopping list.
P.S. How long is it going to take you to realize that the ‘G’ nomenclature for Pontiac is an abject failure!? Please go back to real names-LeMans, Grand Am, Grand Prix, etc, or just put Pontiac out of its misery.
As for Saturn-it ain’t working. Just call them Opel or shut Saturn down also. Hey, if Saturn didnt exist you would be able to call the Chevy compact the Chevy Astra. Better than Cruze (ugh)
DKM
Well, in my opinion significant changes at domestic automakers have always been overlooked, but not by consumers and the American driving public — but more importantly by automakers themselves!
Ever wonder why Hyundai is advertising its a$$ off? Because it needs to break the barrier that current 30-somethings have built around Hyundais being terrible cars. It’s either that, or Hyundai climb into a hole until everyone who can remember the original Hyundai hatchback dies off.
So long story short is, I’m amazed people like GM still want to convince enthusiasts of this — it’s the general driving public that needs to see this. And yet, there ARE NO advertisements out there preaching this to anyone. It’s like an idiot who drives a Mercedes-Benz who buys a fake Brabus emblem thinking it’ll bring gravitas to his ride — yet the people who know what Brabus are are who would know it’s a fake.
So you’re fooling no one, GM — please get the marketing team on this and let the re-education of the American driving public begin. It’s Marketing 101, Micro- and Macroeconomics 101 — you have a message that you need to convey, believe, sell, and repeat.
Let’s get to it!
trader
This info would make a great commercial!
jg
I too, would buy like to buy a GM product and the CTS coupe may be my first purchase. I’m a big fan of the late 90s Rivieras and honestly, I think Buick could be a more subtle expression of one’s success. This is a main reason BMW drivers don’t buy Mercedes. Buick should be the GM brand that competes with Acura and Lexus and Audi. Problem is those brands offer a lot of models, yet Buick’s showroom is disappointing.
I don’t know why GM wastes money with all these Lambdas (does Saturn really need one, quite frankly does Saturn need to exist?) and denies Buick products.
The concepts mentioned earlier are beautiful, and I too would buy the Velite. The new LaCrosse/Invicta looks promising but again, a coupe version should be a priority. Those of 30 somethings who are making money could be attracted to GM if you offered something upscale and luxurious, but not as flashy as my father’s Caddy.
Also, for bragging rights, make a Malibu wagon, coupe, and convertible and you might just make Malibu the best selling car in America.
It is shameful that a Japanese car is the best selling in the U-S.
bluebaby
This message needs to be said over and over here in so cal because of all the kool-aid drinkers here that think toyota is the best, don’t they understrand how buying imports is further destroying our economy, whats left of it?
p.s. love my new CTS
thanks Bob
Felix Biggers
Some of your cars won some of the awards. even some of your trucks won some of the awards. But you are not going to convence the skeptics and GM haters until all of your cars and trucks win all of the awards. I apploud your progress but even I a GM fan think you could and should do better. When you are able to convence the pepole who swore they would never buy a GM product to buy GM then you are really making progress. When you are in the position you are in and you want to make progress good enough is not good enough. You can not be almost as good as the compertition or even as good as the compertition. You have got to be better and not just in some areas but across the board. Now get to work on that. Less talk and more action and good luck.
Gereon (Germany)
““Cadillac makes a better car than BMW or Mercedes or Lexus or Infiniti, and that car is the 2008 CTS…”
Not only at the LA Times, but also at a comparison test from the German magazine “Autozeitung”, the all-new CTS won a lot of praise. In driving-dynamics it was beating the Mercedes E-Class and Volvo S80. Especially the fabulous brakes of the CTS have shown the best deceleration results BY FAR. Of course the CTS delivered clearly more value for the money, being more than 6600 Euros cheaper than the Mercedes, whereas the CTS even got the highest rating for its resale-value!
Norman Conquest
Ah, but Mercedes has something the CTS does not yet have: Panache and a reputation.
Cheryl
Awards are good. Sales are better. I don’t think the problem lies with the vehicles but with the company’s reputation. GM is still seen as a stodgy old company. Recent press on jobs bank employees, overpaid union reps, top heavy org charts, and poor dealership experiences needs to be addressed as well. I know people who bought GM for years who after hearing of Executive (namely Wagoner) raises being paid earlier this year in spite of a cash crunch said, “I will never buy a GM car.”
I also agree with another writer about how quality 4-5 years from now means more to me than initial quality. In EVERY GM vehicle I have owned past 100K miles, the gas guage stops functioning. The leather in my 2002 Montana front seat “wore” and the springs are poking out of it (The main driver is 5′7″ and 150 lbs!) - my 10 year old Non-GM leather seats still look like new. The paint “fell” off my 1990 Jimmy. I had oodles of suspension problems with a 2 dr Jimmy that only had 80K miles! (Finally, the rear bearings seized and sheared my transmission in half- WOW!)
Norman Conquest
“…poor dealership experiences needs to be addressed as well.”
Bingo Cheryl. Until GM can do something to improve their dealer network, it matters little how good a car they make. Gereon (Germany) above mentions CTS against Mercedes. Whatever one says about Mercedes, they do have a huge advantage with their worldwide network of excellent dealers. If a driver broke down in someplace like Tunisia with a Mercedes, I bet he could quickly get it fixed. That wouldn’t be true with a CTS.
And you’re also right about initial quality versus 4-5 years from now. If a company can’t put a reasonably sound product out the door of their assembly plants, they probably shouldn’t even bother. But the questions of durability, reliability, and ease of maintenance are even more critical.
New car quality means little if it’s junk in five years, or if one can’t get it repaired easily and at a fair price.
Gereon (Germany)
Norman, but panache and a reputation didn’t help my uncle at all as he encountered numerous problems with his Mercedes E-Class. Panache and reputation are worthless, when you are standing on the breakdown lane. Based on that, what I heard from several Mercedes-drivers, this brand is highly overrated. Just look at its mainly mediocre performances at JD Power. At the latest dependability study Mercedes Benz again ranked behind Cadillac. I can do without reputation, when it’s only based on myth or former laurels.
Jonathon NIerengarten
I love the fact that the Tahoe Hybrid gets the same mileage in the City as a Camry… especially since I live in a densely packed metropolis. However, that $50k price tag is somewhat silly. There should definitely be a base model, no frills version of the Tahoe, and make the GMC Yukon Hybrid only available in the fully loaded version. I want a Tahoe Hybrid almost as much as a C6 Vette.
Jason Zebersky
Sorry Cheryl
GM vehicals are the ONLY ONES I’ve been able to afford to run over 1000,000mi. Honda cylinder head rebuilds cost more than whole Saturn motors. The electrical realays on old Camrys cost so much they swiched to Delphi…………….er um………GMish units. BMW uses GM tubohydramatic automatic transmisions in it’s cars because the German engineered ZF automatics used prior were so trouble-prone and expencive to rebuild that Used BMW’s with automatics are almost imposible to sell.
I could go on but why. My guess is that you’r dealer did’nt give you satisfaction and that ruined the ownership experience. More and more of the same Big Famaly Owned Volume Dealerships are Selling imports, Honda tried to stop them in the 80’s with a class action suit but the Automobile Dealers Associaton won. My neighbor had strut bearing trouble on his Camry and took it back to the Big Famaly Owned Volume Dealership, he bought it at, they estemated this exhorbanant sum; so he asked me for advice, I told him to go to the Dealership that my Mother takes her Hilander to; saying how good the service was. When my neighbor took his car there he was told the repairs woud be free because the car was still covered under the factory warranty.
Also the seats in My old 96 De Ville were not as new but fine for a 11 year old car when I traided it last year, and the 05 CTS I just Bought with over 60,000mi as a rental car had perfect seats.
JASON
lb
I also wonder, if car is so great, so reliable (Buick Lesabre,) why does GM discontinue it?
GMisCARKING
hey Bob! How about more product placements for the Camaro, the ZR1 and the CTS-V in movies such as Fast and Furious 3 and Transformers 3? I’m really perplexed as why no Cadillac was featured in Transformers 2? And since the Transformers franschise is a “global” phenomenon, you might as well feature Opel cars such as Cors, Astra, Insignia, the new Buick Invicta and some Daewoos, maybe a Pontiac Sport Coupe. Of course this also depends on whether the movie features scenes in Europe and Asia. I guess the Transformers don’t mind taking their fights to new places, right?
Gereon (Germany)
“Whatever one says about Mercedes, they do have a huge advantage with their worldwide network of excellent dealers…”
Hi Norman,
I think it’s critical to say this as a general statement. As the engine of my uncle’s second Mercedes blow up on the Autobahn several years ago, this meant a damage worth 15′000 Deutsche Mark. Although this happened still within the warranty time, they first wanted to reject a repair under warranty, although my uncle definetely did not wrong anything with his car. Just as he threatened, never ever to lease a Mercedes (as a business vehicle) again, they accepted to take over the costs at least partly. Surveys from our ADAC (compares to the AAA in the US), have been showing, that dealership-experiences for Mercedes-drivers also have been unimpressive to a high degree over here. In contrast, my brother moved from Munich (Bavaria) to Boca Raton (FL) in 1999 for his company. In the meanwhile he already bought his third Pontiac, also due to the excellent experiences with his dealership in Delray Beach.
You obviously missed the 2008 Customer Service Index Study by JD Power, whereas Cadillac also was outperforming Mercedes very clearly, closely following the award-recipient Jaguar.
John
Good morning, Bob:
I work for a dealership that sells the GM Product (Chevy, Buick, Pontiac & Saturn). I am absolutely amazed that the American Automobile Consumer simply hates the American automobile. Especially the press! Why is that? GM is an exciting company right now and builds a wonderful, quality vehicle. Regardless of what critics say, GM is producing an automobile that the consumers want! But, as far as our reputation goes, why is it that the American car consumer still pushes towards the foreign car? Is the Toyota Camry really a better car than the all-new Malibu or Aura? Is the Toyota Sequoia a better SUV than the Tahoe? And, don’t get me started on the Tundra!
I sell GM’s product. I am proud to sell GM’s product. I wouldn’t sell a product that I didn’t believe in. Hell, I would buy the product and put my family in the car if I didn’t believe in it.
Quality and reputation is nothing more than perception. I think if we could change that perception with the American public and press, GM would be king of the road again.
Keep up the good work.
john
Michael
As I’ve said before, JD Powers really means nothing. A consultant I worked with once showed me how easy it is to manipulate those tallies. Believing them to be true is like believing professional wrestling is real (oops, sorry to anyone who didn’t know it’s fake, too). As other poster noted, it’s not initial quality–it’s what happens six to 12 months on the road. Every GM car I’ve owned has had a major failure of some kind within the first 12 months (including my Cadillac, which had its catalytic converter die–and the car as well–on the expressway). Initial quality better be good (but apparently, as I’ve noted before, not across the entire GM line–that’s asking too much, I guess). But it’s because the quality sinks so quickly that people have abandoned GM.
Those who mentioned the quality of dealers, I too believe this is a huge problem. My Infiniti dealer treated me like a valuable customer. My Cadillac dealer screamed at me because I had the audacity to have a catalytic converter die and have the car towed there (NO JOKE–the dealer was furious that I had such an “impossible” problem and blamed me for driving the car too much; it had 2800 miles on it when it died).
GM has many miles to go before it can convince people it makes good cars. Quoting JD Powers means nothing. If you pay enough money, anything can be the best with that outfit (eg, Commerce Bank). Show us reliability statistics. Convince my old college pal Bob at Consumer Reports that GM cars actually are better than average (and not worse, according to the new 2009 Buyer’s Guide); by the way, he is as honest a person as you’ll find, so stop attacking CR because it doesn’t write glowing reports about every GM car.
Jonathan Markee
Can we PLEASE see this information on TV, in the newspapers, and on the radio?
JDC
All in all some great points. It is funny reading the posts on here as it shows how macro the life of an auto manufacturer really is. You state “good car”, they state “bad service”, you state “good quality”, they state “bad previous experience”. I guess times never change, people don’t change, and life always stays the same (sarcasm!). You guys state some positive points and the haters pile on their biased negative old perceptions. Most of the people on here can’t see the positives for what they are…progress. The cars winning these awards have not been around long enough to be tracked by J.D. Power for long term durability except the Grand Prix. I look forward to when those results come out. Flushing the system of all the negative perceptions will take some serious long term hard work. I know you guys are doing amazing on the product side, I hope the dealers understand that and work to drive customers your way as well. I think the Volt looks great regrdless of some of the view points stated. I can’t wait to see it in person once it hits the autoshow circuit this year.
Chris R
I agree with a lot of what was said here. GM is doing well with quite a few of their new models, though they really should revisit the rather questionable decision to abandon some rather well known and respected model names. I also agree that with the exception of Saturn, many GM dealerships are not worth going to. The sales and service experience is not the worst out there, but it is still highly inconsistent. The Saturn way of doing things (minus the set price) is really the way that all GM dealerships need to do things if they want to retain their franchises. One of the things that goes with the long term quality of a vehicle is how easy or difficult it is to service it. Lift the hood on any given car, no matter who made it. How hard is it to replace the spark plugs? How about the plug wires? the distributor cap or coil packs? How about just changing the serpentine drive belt? GM is not the only automaker who is guilty of evaluating the ease of service of an engine or transmission before it is actually in the car or truck. This should be done after, with the designers and engineers asking themselves “If this were my car and I’m in my driveway trying to replace the drive belt or spark plugs, can I easily do this in under 30 minutes with no special tools?” If the answer is no, then they need to rework things until the answer is yes. Oh, and I haven’t seen them in quite a while, but please don’t use the crimped aluminum rings in place of hose clamps. If a hose blows out when the car is five years old, it makes changing it a real pain.
Beaugrand®™©
I’ve never been impressed with “initial quality.” It usually reflects more on the dealer’s attention to detail during prep than whatever the factory does. Six months to a year down the road, when door knobs start falling off and electrical bugs begin gnawing on the wires, five years down the road when the transmission starts to slip, those are the reports I want to see.
I don’t care much for Saturn vehicles, but the dealership business model is very impressive. I really detest most car dealerships.
Adopting the Saturn sales model, reworking the overall GM dealership mentality to focus on the customer’s needs might help. Putting the sales staff on a salary-plus-flat commission would be a big improvement, I would be more likely to feel that the sales staff is more concerned with meeting my needs than pumping up their commission.
It might also help sales to offer a bumper-to-bumper warranty that lasts longer than the payments.
Ted Lewandowski
When I was a member of the US Cycling Team our guiding philosophy was to use the majority of the races as training for the most important and prestigious races on the calendar. After all, racing was really the best form of training to achieve peak fitness so you can be competitive when it really counts.
How does that apply to manufacturing cars you might be asking yourself? My best answer to that question is that there is no overall goal at GM to make exceptional vehicles. They build average cars that fit in different market segments and have certain price points. None stand out for reliability or most important for durability.
Euro design has only come into play with the Mr. Lutz’s influence with the advent of the Pontiac G6 and the fabulous G8 which replaces a hideous looking Grand Prix. Also as an example to the above awards for intitial quality the Chevrolet Aveo is not even built by Chevrolet - but by Daewoo!!!
The lone exception to all of the above is the gorgeous Cadillac CTS but again rather then make the car to appeal to customers that want to have a sexy looking hybrid (not a shoe box like the Prius) there is no such option but only in the huge Escalade - itself a beautiful design - but out of reach in terms of price.
About 20 years ago Nissan made several boutique cars that STILL look like they were just designed - the BE-1, Figaro and my personal favorite - THE NISSAN PAO.
These cars are cult classics owned by millionaire car collectors all over the world - Jay Leno owning several Nisan Figaros in his collection.
These cars were designed to be simple vehicles so with all the global resources that GM has why they cannot design a car like the Nissan Pao is beyond me?
Design a car with a timeless design - make it green powered either by plug-in hybrid technology or by a clean diesel technology - OR EVEN BETTER YET - Flex-fuel CNG combination. Natural Gas being totally abundant in the USA and a fraction of the cost of gas and most important point - the cleanest fossil fuel.
BUILD A CAR OF THAT STATURE AND THE WORLD WILL COME TO GM. NO ONE HAS A VEHICLE ON THE MARKET THAT HAS THESE FEATURES AND APPEALS TO A MASS AUDIENCE.
The Honda GX (CNG powered is only available in limited states and has limited driving range).
YOU CAN USE YOUR EXPERIENCE THUS FAR AS TRAINING TO MAKE THE ABSOLUTE BEST CAR IN THE WORLD!!!
Denis T
Unlike the Domestic brands Toyota, Honda,BMW,etc. are more long term focused, better connected to the markets and trends and more brand focused. The Domestic brands for years were more concerned with volume leadership. They also tend to want to be in every segment and offer multiple brands in each segment. This then thins out resources needed for advertisement, product development and improvement. It took the Domestics 20+ years to lose peoples interest in their products and once they bottom out it probably will take a long time until they are relavent again. If Saturn,GMC, SAAB,BUICK,PONTIAC,Hummer were to diappear tomorrow a majority of the buying public would not care. You have to decide on supplying cars and trucks people are passionate about and want not just re-badged appliances to satisfy you bottom line and you to numerous dealer network. Surveys don’t buy cars/trucks the little voice in your head does!!( and you significant other )
Ted Lewandowski
I should add that the Nissan Pao (along with the , BE-1, Figaro and S-Cargo) were ALL designed around a common chassis - that of the Nissan K10 Micra - a very common car in Asia and Australia.
ALL THESE CARS ARE NOW CULT CLASSICS AROUND THE WORLD!!!
AND THE MOST IMPORTANT POINT - NISSAN DIDN’T STUDY AND OVER-ANALYZE THE CARS IN FOCUS GROUPS AND SUCH (OR WORRY ABOUT MARKET SEGMENTS) THEY JUST BUILT THEM!
Thus GM can produce this type of vehicle on any number of chassis that it currently has for production.
The engine technology is already being used in other GM vehicles so with the exception of plug-in hybrid technology, a fuel delivery system that uses FLEX-FUEL that utilizes either gasoline, E85 Ethanol and/or CNG would be simple. A driver can then choose to fuel the vehicle at home using a simple machine that fuels the car with compressed natural gas or at any number of CNG stations, or just with E85 or even gasoline. The plug-in hybrid technology would keep the car in the battery mode for the first 50 miles then the electric motor would kick in to assist the regular powerplant.
I’m not sure who at coined this term - but a car designer once said it cost the same to design an ugly car as opposed to a beautiful car (I believe it was Pinninfarina).
The Volt is still at least 2 years away - this type of vehicle can be produced in the next 12 months to fill the gap and the battery pack could be made smaller to run the car on battery mode for just 10 miles or in the vicinity of an average daily commute to keep the price down.
I believe such a vehicle could be produced and sold for LESS then the Toyota Prius.
With the long-term possibility of gasoline approaching $5/gallon and climate issues such a vehicle would cover all the bases. It could be sold only online to defray the costs of production - essentially the customer would pay for the car in advance - kinda like European delivery programs that exist today with the European manufacturers.
In any case, there would be many possibilities - and with the success of such a car - the Volt would step right into the spotlight in two years.
Brilliant if I say so myself
Manohar Jagasia
I am a GM retiree and I think that GM’s cars are very decent- but, they are not priced right- for the masses. I own 4 GM cars and the two recent cars: 2007 Chevrolet HHR and 2008 Cad CTS are priced Too High. Even at the “Employee” prices, these are No bargains. I bought the HHR for the 5-star safety ratings and at the LT1 pkg- the side curtains weren’t even offered- you had to buy the LT2 pkg ( read much more$$’s). Why can’t you piece meal some important items- I know we are following the Japanese on the car pricing!!- What happened to the General Motors.
2008 Cadillac CTS is another story. The sheet metal is Stunning- but I think the price/content ratio is a rip-off. The gas mileage on the vehicle Stinks: 17.5mpg mostly in-town driving- but is that world class -I don’t think so!! The sticker price on the vehicle was $41K- it does not have HID lights, No remote start- No proximity key fobs- the gas cap, when re-fuelling tends to hit the body fender- the Key FOB itself is so huge and obstrusive, while driving- I can never adjust the vents to my proper desired position etc etc- So there is a lesson or two in ergonomics for someone, at Caddilac ( then again maybe not- the car is selling well- Right?) Thank You!! MJ
jc
Don’t know if you’re brilliant or not, but which car company that you know can bring a car to market in 12 months with an untested sophisticated drivetrain? And if they did rush it through and you bought one and it broke down on you, who would you blame?
And as nice as the PAO is, or was, let’s not forget Nissan went bankrupt before being saved by Renault.
Brady Turley
“hey Bob! How about more product placements for the Camaro, the ZR1 and the CTS-V in movies such as Fast and Furious 3 and Transformers 3?”
Bad idea. It was bad enough seeing a Camaro in the other fast and the furious, but if GM puts something the likes of the new Camaro in the fast and the furious, I will take all my GM vehicles to GM headquarters, burn them on the front lawn and force myself to drive a Dodge home (if they are still around).
Chris R. There are alot of easy to work on GM vehicles out there. Sure everything is getting a little harder (even the plugs on the silverado) to get to, but its worth the benifit better vehicle balance. I have never had a problem replacing the belt on a GM vehicle, but maybe there are some out there I haven’t tinkered with.
True it is time GM started to fight the perception problem cause by the public, which as a whole, is retarded. The biggest worst thing is the problem has made its way into car guys. Finally our instructors stepped up and told them the foreign competition isn’t really up the challege when compared to the some of the domestic automakers. We need more comparision that show the ignorance of the general public.
Gereon (Germany)
“As I’ve said before, JD Powers really means nothing.”
Michael, if JD Power means nothing, why is (e.g.) Toyota doing big advertising on it, at least over here in Europe? Ooohhh… I see… The JD Power-results are only manipulated, as long as it’s about high rankings for GM-vehicles… Should I give you the names of all those people who encountered “major failures” with non-GM vehicles? Your comment is distorting reality at its best. My 2001 Alero never has been showing any flaw at the TÜV-checks, which you have to attend every two years. These are OFFICIAL examinations by German law, which definitely are NOT manipulated!
jc
@ Chris R
I don’t think people should expect to be able to work on cars today like they did yesterday, just like you wouldn’t expect to repair your own flat screen tv’s. There’s a lot of electronics on cars nowadays (ever seen an airbag go off). And with long life fluids and platinum plugs, there’s isn’t much a DIY has to do anyway. Most repairs needs specialized tools anyway.
Tim
“It might also help sales to offer a bumper-to-bumper warranty that lasts longer than the payments.”
Beaugrand,
First, GM offers one of the best warrentie’s in the auto business. And secondly, it’s not GM’s fault that people are buying cars they can’t afford, and are making payments for 6+ years.
And with that argument, do you complain that your house didn’t come with a 30 year warrenty to match your 30 year mortage? For how complicated cars are, it’s amazing they have a warrently at all. Look at your DVD player, TV, Microwave, washing machine etc. Those are all far simpler than a car, and yet, they usually only come with a 1 or 2 year warrenty — and they just sit in your house. They aren’t subject to -20F, +120F, rain, snow, direct sunlight, terrible roads etc.
Beaugrand®™©
Maybe to some, fresh paint and the “new car smell” are all that matters, I’m more concerned if the gearshift lever falls off after 4 months. Is that question even asked by JD Powers?
Besides, JD Powers “initial quality” is relevant only to the manufacturers with product at the top of the list. The ones with little or no high-ranking product tend to ignore the noise, as do most consumers.
Here’s a question to add to the “initial quality” survey-
“Which is more important to you, surveys of new buyers or customers who have owned the product 6 months or longer?”
I know, it’ll never happen.
Chris R
Brady,
I was mainly referring to transverse mounted OHC and DOHC V6 and V8 engines in GM’s front drivers. of the spark plugs nearest the firewall, there is at least one that is nearly impossible to get at. Don’t get me wrong, Chrysler is a far greater offender, as evidenced by their mid 90’s 3.3 and 3.8L minivans where you can’t even get to those plugs without either removing the intake or somehow getting underneath the van to blindly get a wrench on the plugs. I hear the 2.7L Charger is a pain in the backside to service as well. Still, GM does have a few cars that are somewhat difficult to service, and they need to up their game in this regard. Dealers won’t always be servicing these cars, so GM needs to assume that some of every model that they build will eventually be serviced by their owners and design them accordingly.
Euroclydon
“Still, GM does have a few cars that are somewhat difficult to service, and they need to up their game in this regard. Dealers won’t always be servicing these cars, so GM needs to assume that some of every model that they build will eventually be serviced by their owners and design them accordingly.”
Strongly concur Chris. But I’m guessing “ease of maintenance” has a very low priority on GM’s checklist when they design a car. In fact, I wouldn’t be surprised if at times they deliberately make maintenance more difficult in order to push work towards the service departments at their dealers.
In my opinion, I think that if CEO Rick Wagoner and Bob Lutz can’t change the oil, plugs, and belts in their home garages with the tools they have at hand in an hour or less, they should send any future GM models back to the drawing boards with instructions to redesign it keeping “ease of maintenance” in mind. That would be called “hands on” leadership.
Mike
LONG TERM QUALITY - I buy only GM…but, I need to be able to tell honestly friends that when they buy GM they will not need to replace, alternators, warped brake discs, power window motors, wheel hubs, A/C compressors, etc. like I have had to.
Fernando Del Rio
Bob:Im really excited about the volt,however,USA will need more electrical power…Siemmes got the wind power technolgy and just announced that is looking to establish production in USA…why don’t GM makes a joint venture with them…GM could use one of the Iddle Plants with high skill people and would benefit from learning the technology.
Jean-Philippe
I want to say Good Job to Bob because now they are on the right track. There’s 3 years i would not buy a Gm car but now all of their new products are really nice to see and are at a high rate quality. GM are living difficulties but they will pass over them for their new products as I said and if the government pass them some money i think it would help them alot!
Long Life to GM FORD and Chrysler
PeteMT
Initial Quality blah blah blah.
I won’t be impressed until I see data on one year, two year, five year quality.
Also, put some real bumpers on your cars - put something behind those plastic covers! Have you seen how well the latest Ford Focus did in the IIHS tests?
You want to promote value in your cars - give me one that won’t be totaled in a minor parking lot accident in 4 years.
I agree the Malibu is impressive - I’ve driven them and it’s near the top of my list for a new car. Good job on that one!
I’d love to see an equally improved and desirable Impala.
Ted Lewandowski
With regards to jc comments - a new car can be developed in LESS than 12 months if there is a dedicated team to that project and works on two or even three overlapping shifts. The chassis and powerplant already EXIST so one would just need to design the body - that could be done in a couple months on a CAD/CAM system. The chassis would be already tested in the real world - e.g. taking a chassis from the Chevrolet Cobalt and using Malibu’s Flex fuel system.
Keep in mind that exactly 10 years ago Asia experienced their own financial crisis so it affected the small companies such as Nissan in a major way. Carl Ghosn became the CEO of Nissan and structured a merger/buyout of Nissan as he was already the CEO of Renault. Renault did not save Nissan - Carl Ghosn did - by reducing the number of chassis that Nissan was using and most important - that was only because the company did not have the cash on hand to ride out the financial crisis.
The domestic car industry is asking for 25 Billion in loans (down from 50 billion) so they can survive the current financial crisis without being taken over or going bankrupt.
My point is that GM CANNOT wait another 2 YEARS for the VOLT to become production ready - what if there is a glitch with the batteries and they need to delay the launch by another year?
It is totally a new car designed from the ground up - what if gas prices fall as they have been falling over the last couple of months - who would want to pay $50,000 for a Chevrolet with gas costing $2.00 gallon - a scenario like that could totally backfire GM efforts.
A small car - on a common chassis using flex-fuel technology ALONG with CNG fueling capacity and hybrid engine technology is already being used by GM models - in any case it only took 18 months to design and produce the PT Cruiser. Chrysler’s mistake was not to offer the diesel option that they were ALREADY installing in the Cruisers that were being exported to Europe for the American market.
A small car like the Nissan Pao design (does not have to be that small in itself - it is just an example) would provide GM an added insurance policy.
That was my only point - apparently missed by jc.
Chris R
Ted, It only took Chrysler 18 moniths to rework the Plymouth Pronto and pronto Cruiser concepts (actual working cars mind you) into what we knew as the Chrysler PT Cruiser. Total time in development including all the Pronto concepts was way longer than 18 months.
Melvin Adams
Sounds like a great car! I hope your comments about carbon dioxide not being the cause of global warming and 36,000 (?) scientists not believing in it were a joke. I think you were referring to the so called Oregon petition that anyone with a degree could sign and which has been discredited by the National Academy of Science. If you did really mean these comments, I hope your engineering is better than your science.
Jos Ferguson
We have had multiple GM vehicles go well over 100k miles without major (alternator, starter, engine, etc), with one that lasted over 390k miles with the original engine and transmission. Currently we have a Suburban with 184k miles with seats that have no tears rips and are not broken down and a 2004 Tahoe with 85k miles that looks new with no rips or . . .
GM is not selling the same stuff they did 20 years ago.
David
Ted,
You are missing the most important part of the development of a vehicle; the validaton. You can’t make a car in 18 months and expect it to be any kind of reliable transportation. The chassis of the car is one thing; it’s the other systems on the vehicle that need validation. BTW; the Malibu’s flex-fuel system won’t work on the Volt; it’s a completely different vehicle and the parts won’t fit. Most vehicles are built on parts (the chassis) that is carried over from a previous vehicle but even a run-of-the-mill car needs months and months of testing that can’t be done on a computer.
gtjeff
Toyota isnt canceling the Avalon, so can someone explain to me why GM has cancelled a car with better quality two years in a row, the Pontiac Grand Prix? A simple question, that no one from GM will touch. The Grand Prix is the 3rd recent JD Power Award winning car that GM has cancelled in favor of a rename. Its time to let someone with marketing expertise make these decisons. The company has enough issues to tackle, without a top level company executive creating more.
GM’s quality today is very good, the real problem is the companies perception issue. Some people still perceive GM’s products to be inferior in quality to the foreign brands. GM’s marketing and advertising budget is huge, the problem is that the money isnt being spent correctly. Imagine all the money being wasted on these renames. Your company really needs a marketing czar, I know just the person for the job.
Gerard
Toyota, especially with its Lexus division, used the J.D. Power studies to add to its image of dependability. Now that US automakers are hitting top spots in the list, there’s a tendency among Joe Public and Billy Press to shrug that off. That is unfair, but I’ll argue the Devil’s side of this equation for the sake of discussion.
Vehicles like the Pontiac Grand Prix and the Ford Ranger just are not state-of-art, world-class machines. The Grand Prix is a relic of old attitude, cheap build, and a low price for volume sales. The Ranger is all those things (even more so), but it also fails to match up in the competitive arenas of power and ability compared to mid-size pickups like the Toyota Tacoma and the Honda Ridgeline.
The CTS, Aura, and Malibu are superb family sedans. The Malibu is really the 2000s equivalent of the1980s Ford Taurus: a game-changer. Even though the new Honda Accord has racked up victories in comparison tests, the Malibu can enjoy the sudden acclaim. It is a mammoth step forward over the preceding model, and GM marketing did a fine job promoting it.
I don’t share Mr. Lutz’s pride with the gas-electric trucks. I looked into the Chevy Tahoe Hybrid and was impressed with all the research and effort that went into making this refined, high-quality sport-ute. The problem is in pricing. The overall package is a good value in comparison to the petrol-only models; but the sticker prices are too expensive for vehicles in a fading segment. Full-size pickups and SUVs are about as popular as Donald Rumsfeld. Even for folks who need the use of light trucks, such as farmers, they probably aren’t going to flock over to their local Chevy dealer and cough up ‘Vette money. They’d end up saving by spending $27,000 on a heavily discounted outgoing Silverado making 15 mpg over a Hybrid making 20.
AJ
Hi Bob,
I am consultant and travel and rent a lot of vehicles from Avis. I have to tell you the G6 is a amazing car. It has such a nice ride much better than any Camry , Accord or any other car from Japan. The only thing you have to improve before I buy a G6 is its Interior. It really is a let down that such a nice car has such an Awful interior. Why have you not done anything about this? Dont you realize that this is preventing people from buying a GM product?
Abaady
mr Lutz….
gm made a great improvement in its quality and we hope it increase the quality and reliablity to win over its competitors. My question is why GM do not sell pontiac and buick in middle east region
Rich Law
Bob,
The improvments that have been made at GM are phenomenal. Are there any plans for a small pickup………something comparable to maybe a 1972 Datsun, around 2200 lbs. 30+ mpg. A miniture version of the GMT 900 would really be hot seller!