The New GM: Day One
By Fritz Henderson
GM President and CEO
Today marks a new beginning for GM. The last 100 days have shown us that a company not known for quick action can move very fast, indeed. Starting today, we take the intensity, the decisiveness and the speed of these last several weeks and transfer them from the battlefield triage of the bankruptcy process to the day-to-day operation of the new company. This will allow everyone at GM, including me, to return to the business of designing, building and selling great cars and trucks, and serving our customers. And there is nothing we want to do more than that!
Going forward, I have three priorities for the new GM: customers, cars and culture. I list “customers” first because they are our top priority. For some time now, we haven’t been as focused on this simple point as we should have been. Now, we’re going to be obsessed with it – because if we don’t get this right, we don’t get to do anything else. It’s that simple.
Our second major focus is “cars.” To win, we need to stabilize and grow our business around the globe, and particularly in the U.S. – and that means building more of the cars, trucks and crossovers consumers want. To do that, we’re dropping the word “competitive” from our vocabulary. From here on, every product we make has to be judged by consumers as best in class. Anything less is unacceptable.
And third, we’re working to change the “culture” at GM, with a big focus on customers, speed, accountability and risk taking. We’re changing the structure of the company – flattening the organization, removing layers of management, driving broader spans of control and pushing decision-making authority to those closest to the customer. Business as usual is over at GM, and everyone associated with the company must realize this and be prepared to change… fast.
We’ve been given a rare second chance at GM, and we are very grateful for that. Going forward, our promise is simple: we will be profitable, we will repay our loans as soon as possible and our cars and trucks will be among the best in the world. We know we have to back these promises with results – and we will.
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I hear “Maximum” Bob is staying. Why not put him in charge of your dealer network so he can whip them into shape? You need a former Marine with a “no prisoners’ attitude to starting taking names and banging heads to shape them up.
And also, please, please do something about the name of the “Cruze.”
Blah, blah, blah… the reality is that it will be “business as usual” with the same old corporate arrogance and contempt for customers. GM’s talk of quality, commitment, etc doesn’t mean a thing to anyone. I’ve been a life-long customer of GM and I’ve defended them for many years but I’ve too many screwings from them to continue believing in them.
Congratulations on getting out of bankruptcy. I truly believe that if you can adhere to what was mentioned in your press release that GM will sooner than later be on the road to making great products. Best of luck.
I agree with the writer about the business as useual withe GM. This is a heads up GM: Stop, Stop making the tail lights so large on your small cars. Stop, Stop making fuel effecient cars UGLY. Stop, Stop defining good gas mileage as UGLY. Look at Masda if you need a templet. You can build a car and a TRUCK that gets more than 33 miles a gallon.
Mr. Henderson, I have for many years been a GM customer. Currently, I own a Corvette, and a Chevy HHR. Also, I own a Chrylser 300c Hemi. The Hemi claims 17 city and 25 highway. These are the numbers stated on the window sticker. False; this car don’t get any thing close to those numbers. I know that’s not your problem right? What is your problem or the problem I have with GM. I will replace my 2005 Chrysler with a 2010. I have been looking at the new GM Buick LaCross 4 cylinder that claims 30 miles a gallon. The problem is; none of the dealers in the Ann Arbor Michigan area can tell me when you will start shipping them. They are not even sure if you intend to produce them or if the bullitens where just a press stunt. Why hold back the 4 cyl. and push the 6 cylinders? Is it your gas stock?
The bottom line is: I want a good looking fuel efficent car. Good gas milage shouldent mean ugly. You need to stop that pratice. i.e. Chevy Volt. It will be a grate day when you Release the 4 cly. Buick LaCross and I hope it can deliver 30 miles per gallon and it don’t look like a cheap red headed stept-child. I’m waiting and I hope you will do the right thing. Thank you
Great Job Fritz.
Camaro is awesome! Now it is time to be the leader again. Where other companies come knocking on GM’s door to see how business is done in the new age.
Well done!!
Congratulations GM!!
And the really good news is that Bob Lutz is “unretiring” to become Vice Chairman responsible for all creative elements of products, marketing and customer relationships.
Let ‘r rip Bob! I was wondering if they would be able to keep you out of the “Fastlane”. Looking forward to more of your keen insights. And if something doesn’t jive with me, then I’ll just “Tell Fritz”.
Fritz, I like the three part focus you have envisioned:
1. Customers need to be #1, no doubt about it.
2. Cars must be best in class everytime…no excuses.
3. Culture shock is long overdue, and flattening the corporate structure is going to help immensely.
Bravo. I am behind you 100%.
Hey, let’s not forget about the employees also. Without them GM is burnt toast. So, maybe a fourth resolution should be included somewhere in that plan. Just sayin’
Few turnarounds actually work but it looks like you have a good focus for GM’s future.
I’d like to know how this restructuring has changed your ability to build the ‘best in class’ cars you talk about. How has changing your debt structure given you much of an advantage to build more competitive (intentional use of that word) cars? I know that getting a lot of liabilities out of the way can lift any organization, but don’t you need the correct human capital to lead and make this strategic transformation happen? Apparently GM didn’t have the right people who 1) could identify the right cars to build, and 2) who had the courage to push the better ideas though GM’s core rigidities, so who are the right people and how are you going to empower them to get things done?
How do you plan to change the culture? I’m anxious to see who you bring on board that matches your description of “speed, accountability and risk taking.” What incentives and organizational strucutre are you going to use to reinforce this new culture?
Lots of unanswered questions.
It was good to hear the company’s new commitment to customer service, but it is hard to take seriously. When it takes three weeks to schedule service for a recall event, how will service improve with 25% less dealerships to receive service at.
I saw the documentary “Who Killed the Electric Car”. The death of the electric car is proof that the powers that be, e.g. big oil, has its clout in the auto industry. However, I believe that in order to save a car company, it has to break this hegemonic control and chart its own destiny. A very good electric car would surely revive GM’s position. People want to be free from the clutches of oil prices. The natural oil supply is predicted to last only 30 more years. If people buy Toyota Prius’s – not really a real electric car, maybe GM can come up with one that is. This will surely bring customers and the environment back. Good luck!
Good Job for Day One !!!
Now what about….
1) Fast tracking New Impala, Hybrid Traverse, Caddy Converje
2) Eliminate GMC Denali, keep only Yukon and Yukon XL
3) Develop new minivan for Chevy
4) Full Hybrid Malibu and CTS
5) Stripping your beurocratic IS&S org
6) more to come…
I am a GM customer, and I most certainly do not feel #1! Feel more like -20,000!
Fritz -
I certainly hope that your prioritization of customers is legitimate. As someone who was both raised and educated in Michigan (I live in the South now) I want to buy an American made vehicle. But based on poor service provided by GM, I know longer purchase GM. There is an overwhelming need to focus on customer on all levels.
I had been a loyal GM customer, but sold my last GM vehicle in 2000. The reason? My Geo Prizm was a great car, that of course had some Toyota in it. My local Chevy dealership treated me like a nobody, provided slow disinterested after market service, and never cared to listen to me or treat me like a customer. So of course, I got my repair work done at the local Toyota dealership. What a breath of fresh air! My next purchase was a Honda – and again, going for scheduled maintenance and repairs was actually pleasant versus tedious.
Here is an example. My Honda seat wouldn’t move forward and back. I asked for it to be repaired – because my (now ex-) wife couldn’t drive it. When I returned to pick it up, the friendly gentleman told me it would cost me 50 cents – the two quarters they had found wedged into the seating track. If you were to ask me if I would have had that same experience at a Chevy dealer my answer would be “no way”.
I wish you luck – I think you are doing the right thing. But tolerate NO ONE who is not customer focused. Whether you like it or not, your company’s reputation and your personal reputation will be judged by the worst employee your customer interfaces with. When you are proud of putting your worst customer facing employee in front of me, then you will have completed your goal.
Garth Koyle:
The short answer is to look at our newer products and the new ones now being launched. We have proven we can build great products. We need to just keep getting better at it.
Thanks for your comment.
Tom
Absolutely, GM has some truly great new world class cars that really are exciting. Take the Pontiac G8, no killed that one, OK, the Solstice GXP, WOW, no it’s dead. OK the incredible Cadillac CTS-V, not only is it world class it’s a world beating car. Thank you GM for establishing the NPV group to design and give us world beating cars like the CTS-V. Oh wait, the NPV group has been disbanded and world class performance is no longer a priority, performance development has been put on indefinate hold. Great new product, from Buick? The Camaro, great start but needs marketing tips from Jim Wangers or Ford. Different versions with performance upgrades that will get our blood boiling. As for the rest of the Chevy line, I am glad they are still making trucks.
Not hearing anything NEW from the “new GM”. Hybrid vehicles? Green technology at GM plants? Innovation? How else to you expect to change the status of General Motors? If you are using Americans money – use it to develop technology that can be sold to generate positive change and profit. Seeing as we needed that money to tackle other issues.
Great GM, i wish you luck, fix the stupid little crap and build great cars.
1 – Wheel bearings fix them and put them back into the 100k warrenty, you are ignoring the same problem you have had for 10 years now
2 – Stealerships, make them dealerships that people love
3 – Fwd sporty coupe, not all of the US wants/needs rwd (i.e., 2-door cruze)
4 – Fix the garbage colorado/canyon, the S10 was and still is a better truck than the 09 colorado could dream of being
5 – Build it American, make it American, and Love that it is American, I buy GM because it’s American, the Silvy has consistantly been 85% or more American, the imports can’t touch that.
Ok Fritz, enough talk!. You claim to see the light, you claim to be reborn, you claim to ask fo another chance? Well, it is going to be a bit difficult to trust you all again. For YEARS, you have made one thing, giant, gas guzzling CRAP! Your arrogance at customers and consumers was legendary and totally uncalled for. Your dealers totally unresponsive and your consumer representatives that handled disputes are clearly lawyers out to screw the buyers and protect the customers.
I for one will NOT buy your slick PR lines and new “image”. I will continue to purchase Ford or Chrysler vehicles and watch while you all eat tax money and con the politician dumb enough to throw money at “Government Motors”. Show us you mean change…start by making cars that are like the Nissian Altima and Maxima, show us by standing behind your Warranty like Chrysler…BUMPER to BUMPER, not weazling out of the fixes because they are “Not covered”. Personally, I don’t think you all can do it…so suprise me!
What will happen to my GM common stock? Will it become worthless or will it carry over to the “New GM?”
As a current Gm employee I do not see the new GM changing because of the same people that wil be making the decisions.
These people got us into this mess and until we get new minds into the right positions to call the shots nothing will change. And to keep Lutz on longer is a HUGE mistake. He is old world.
I keep hearing rumors the the GM logo is going to change from Blue to Green. This seems like an expensive task that will have little to no effect on how the general public views our company.
We need to spend our resources wisely and this would be an unnecessary expense in my mind.
Dear Fritz,
I am a life-long loyal (because I love and respect my father who worked for GM for 43 years) customer of GM products. As I listened to your press conference regarding the New GM, I am impressed by your words and goals regarding the New GM. My concern as a U.S. consumer Is the “look” of the New GM execs that is being projected to the public. Once again, we are seeing the “good old white boys” as the face of the company. Where are the dynamic educated women and minority execs in the New GM? I am an educated “good old white girl” who grew up in the 70s&80s in the Detroit area. My husband (Asian American) and I raised and educated two young women who are now in their 20s. How can my daughters seriously look at your company as communicating successfully to them as your customers? As you introduce the New GM, let the pubic see some new faces and blood that represent and communicate to a wider more diverse audience. Your mission states: “Customers, Cars and Culture. Performance will over time, prove to the tax payers the financial success of GM”. Yes, but make sure that the “Culture” you speak of includes women and minorities. Give a diverse “Culture” some incentive to believe that GM cares and can communicate successfully with them. Let a diverse, dynamic “Culture” know they can comfortably walk into a dealer and choose a GM brand that connects with their design sense, style, values, pocketbook and image. Within the new GM, there must be some articulate, impassioned car enthusiasts execs who are women or minorities. Don’t forget to let a diverse “Culture” help represent a new GM (and I’m not talking about the sexy, leggy “Addison” portrayed in your current Cadillac advertising). Help my daughters make a GM choice as their brand. Not because they love and respect their grandfather, but because they love and respect the New GM brand.
With all my best wishes for your success!
Two quick recommendations that would make your cars more appealing to my wife and I:
1) Cup holders. Generally they aren’t very good. We travel a lot and before we buy a car we always pick up two large sodas from Mickey D’s. If the cup holders don’t fit them “comfortably” or they block controls – we won’t buy.
2) Radio. Why can’t I see the station AND the time? Simple fix I think.
Good luck. Hopefully this restructuring will help!
“Green technology at GM plants? “
Andriana,
I heard on NPR this morning that GM is changing their logo from blue to green. That must count for something, right?
I too just read that Bob Lutz will stick around. I’m very happy to hear that. He’s one of the last truly great car guys and I can’t wait to see what he cooks up. That news totally made my day.
Adrianna and others:
Your comments would have more credibility if you actually spent a few hours on the interner to get familiar with GM’s products. The fact that GM went bankrupt does not mean everything they have ever done was wrong until the new company emerged today. Many of you obviously exist in some sort of vacuum insulated from the reviews of GM’s products over the last few years. Those who actually follow the industry and write about cars for a living already know that GM can build competitive products. Their cost structure was not competitive, especially in this recession. That does not mean all their products are poor and are in dire need of extensive overhauls. While people are piling on GM on this blog their newest products, like the Equinox, are getting great reviews. Every other person posting here is asking for “proof” that the company can change. The proof is already out there. If you don’t believe ANYTHING a GM employee says (which seems to be 50% of you) take some time to read 3rd party reviews. The question for some people is “When are you going to acknowledge change and stop living in the past?”
Phillip:
How can you say you wont buy GM because they took tax money and then say you will buy Chrysler products? Ford is taking government loans to convert its truck plants to car production. Guess you can’t buy any Ford products either. Numerous foreign manufacturers have taken tax money from various states to build plants. Guess you can’t buy those products either.
I AM DRIVING A POSTER CAR FOR CHEVY DURABILITY.
My Chevy Celebrity has 325,000 (!!) miles on it and runs WELL. Only three repair jobs other than maintenance in its entire road life which included several years as a state law enforcement agency motor pool vehicle (I bought it surplus-used from State of Washington).
When everyone started squawking about how American cars were lousy I TRIED to speak up by contacting GM. My e-mails were never responded to – even sending to the spot on their former website where the company invited comments.
Mr. Henderson the best thing you can do for your company is reward those of your customers with long-term loyalty AND MOST IMPORTANTLY you really REALLY must do something serious about revamping the dealer system. You need to understand from a consumer standpoint, a huge percentage of us will NOT deal with your dealers. If you ask any State Consumer Affairs director in state attorneys general offices, car dealers are the #1 category of consumer complaints. Entire websites, mass media, specialized media, and consumer-oriented media publish reams of advice on how to “survive” the car buying experience with dealers.
Mr. Henderson, in my opinion as a consumer, long-term loyal customer (also have a 79 chev dually pickup with 165k miles on the rebuild, my heart’s delight) who will NEVER EVER set foot in a dealership because of being treated abusively by GM dealers in the past, the VERY BEST THING that GM could do in the process of re-inventing itself is CHANGE THE DEALER MODEL of selling your vehicles. Most people avoid dealers like the plague and it is because of abusive, dishonest treatment of the car buying consumer by said dealers. If there is an honest straightforward car dealer out there I have yet to meet them in my 45 years of driving these American roads.
THANK YOU for your thoughtful response – yes, I would like to have a response to this e-mail, just, you know, so that you can convince me that GM is really serious about listening to the car buying public.
Fritz,
New Volkswagen TDIs are getting 78+mpg. These aren’t hybrids. What is GM’s plan for when these ultra-efficient European spec cars hit US shores? However novel the Volt may be, I’d really much rather get 780 miles out of ten gallons of ULSD from a clean-burning 3-cylinder turbo.
As a big GM fan, I hope they are able to see the state of things to come. I would love to see the H3 come in a 4-cylinder direct injection diesel. (Think 55 mpg AWD hummer)
A question Mr Henderson; Do you think that scripted communications are the equivelant to ‘Customer Service’? This was my experience with your Executive Offices just a matter of days ago. If this is New GM’s perception of putting the customer first, you are sadly mistaken. Whomever it is that is in charge of your ‘Customer Relations’ needs to get a clue, and if they don’t have one, they need to be replaced…swiftly and with a vengence…say ‘ba-bye’! You should have zero tolerance for unacceptable customer service…all they way from your corporate offices down to each and every one of your dealerships!
And, bring back the loaner cars when work needs to be done on your vehicles. Why should I, or anyone, be inconvenienced by working around the schedules of ’shuttles’ when there is a problem with your vehicles.
“I don’t know anything about cars,” (Edward) Whitacre.
Good luck. You are going to need it with this guy as a chairman, ask any AT&T employee.
Fritz,
The following is a letter written to an executive at GM, March 2006. With no response received at the time, I believe it is relevant to your reinvention. Although the “science” behind culture is elusive and vague, it is the catalyst to all your targets. Just need the right kind of leadership team to look beyond business-as-usual, and begin the journey to the organization of the future (Org 2.0) based on…
Cool Culture Transformation. Becoming an organization of the people, by the people, and for the people.
Hello Katy!
My name is Jeff Hanson. Getting right to the point of my letter (email), to an outsider with no GM ties whatsoever, GM is struggling as an American icon of corporate success. As an amateur corporate culture enthusiast, with a certain passion for “reinvention” of work concepts, or work culture transformation theories, I would like to take this opportunity to offer my 2 cents in an idea that may address some of these struggles.
With the premise being, that culture (people engagement) is the foundation that drives business (frankly, any institution) success, my letter relates to this spoke often of, but rarely addressed aspect. And I mean, addressed with the same vigor, enthusiasm, innovation, bent-on-revolution, and leadership, that an organization would devote to it’s bread-n-butter products/services.
The evidence, indicated in Gallup research, seems to support the above argument. A study led by Marcus Buckingham indicates “The U.S. working population is 26% engaged, 55% not engaged, and 19% actively disengaged”. And another study from Gallup, “Actively disengaged” employees — those fundamentally disconnected from their jobs — cost the U.S. economy between $292 billion and $355 billion a year, the Gallup Organization estimates in the inaugural issue of its new quarterly, the Gallup Management Journal (GMJ).”
My translation: despite all the pedigreed you-gotta-have-the-latest-management-fad, we not only are losing $-wise, but more importantly the passionless worker is losing life-wise and impacting the greater world with less positive spirit. We’ll call this the “Dilbert-syndrome”, named after the wildly popular comic strip from Scott Adams.
My proposal: The formation of a revolutionary type of consulting arm or research effort, within the GM organization, that will bring together a network of people who are out to Wow!-ize, Passion-ize, Un-Dilbertize, the work cultures in the GM world. Possibly bringing together people like Tom Peters, Marcus Buckingham, Gary Hamel, Bill Jensen, and others in an unprecedented union of “reinvention gurus”. The result: A cool-culture-makeover that will inspire and infuse people and organization alike with new passion, spirit, and innovation leading to unprecedented prosperity on multiple levels. My belief is that a revolutionary emphasis on people engagement will also contribute to the greater world with greater positive people energy.
Thank You,
Jeff Hanson
GOOD LUCK AND CONGRATS GM!
Customers need to be the focus. Not only the customer of today, but the customer of tomorrow. Once GM understands the customer, GM will be able to predict the customer!
One critical and symbolic “Voice of the Customer” GM should strive to understand is the group of people who used to “swear-by” GM and have since moved to Toyota or Honda. It is critical to understand WHY (in detail!) they left, why they are staying with the competition, and WHAT will it take to get them back. These customers are at the centre of the turning point from GM being great to where it is today.
Strategically find random, select people and ensure the new GM is aligned to make them WANT to buy GM now.
Good luck – We are all cheering for you even if some of us don’t admit it!
Good luck to New GM. It’s the begining of a new era…
BTW what the heck is wrong with the name “Cruze”?? To all those ***** complaining about the name, can you tell me how “Cruze” is a bad (or silly?) name compared to Kia’s “Forte”?? The Cruze is a good looking, solid, well conceived compact…THAT’S what is important in today’s competitive market. Toyota sold millions of Corollas with a pretty silly name if you ask me…
Please keep the G8 as the Buick Wildcat. Buick really needs something to pep up what to many seems a moribund brand.
Ms Jan;
I know of 1 dealership of which you seek. They actually used to be a General Motors dealership, but are now a Honda Dealership. The sales staff was not pushy, or phony, or abusive and did not give any indication they were trying in any way to rip you off. If your vehicle needed service, the mechanics were very pleasant and didn’t try to ‘up-sell’ anything…you know like when you go in for an oil change and they try to tell you that you need a new motor. In fact, if you bought your vehicle from that facility, your oil changes were only 9 bucks..for the length of time you kept your vehicle. This dealership would be a fine model for GM’s other dealerships to follow. But, they are no longer GM…speaks volumes.
However, I totally agree with you that the majority of dealerships are absolutely awful. I take my vehicles to non-dealer mechanics which are ASE Certified.
Dear Fritz:
Customer service comments here are helpful, but GM needs good, solid products that are affordable and dependable first. As the child of a GM retiree, I’m still angry that I had no choice but to buy a foreign car in 2002. Japanese cars last longer, have better safety ratings, better mileage, do not have endless recalls, look better and cost much less than comparable GM products – even when one receives the standard employee discount. How sad is that? I almost bought a Saturn but let’s be candid – the no haggle thing is a joke (and really no fun at all).
My ideal? A reasonably priced car anyone in the middle can truly afford. Something that doesn’t need babying and too much gas. A car that sits high so I can see around all of the SUVs, but doesn’t have an awkward back-end with an obstructed view. It would be safe and the standard features would be things other manufacturers don’t have the courtesy to offer. My ideal GM car would not have endless recalls, because the engineers will have got it (mostly) right the first time. People got sick of buying cars to test out your bugs, just like they got sick of Windows and moved to Apple. Don’t be like Apple, though – they forgot how to make their products more affordable in a tight economy. Plenty of foreign car manufacturers have been able meet these benchmarks, and I have absolutely every reason to worry that GM might not be able to step up their game. Please, please prove me wrong.
And you know what else? GM cars look like New Jersey wives or Eurotrash – one or the other. The cars are trying too hard and it is embarrassing everyone. One night stand? Maybe. Commitment? Only in Las Vegas. Tack tacky tacky. Even the caddies are tacky!
Customer service sounds terrific on a press release, but until GM earns some credibility as a reliable manufacturer with cars Americans actually want to drive, all of that glad-handing amounts to jack squat.
Warm Regards,
Mojopo
What will happen to my GM common stock? Will it become worthless or will it carry over to the “New GM?”
Bowser, “Cruze” is a terrible name. It sounds like something I might pull out of a Happy Meal, circa 1985. Nope, not feeling it.
I wish you well but the expanded role for Mr. Lutz makes me seriously wonder if anything is going to change. This is a man who spent decades denying global warming and fighting mileage requirements. He then went on Jon Stewart to promote a new hybrid car, the result was painfully awkward and his obvious lack of belief in the product completely undermined the message. I knew you guys were goners at that point. Who could possibly have thought it was a good idea to trot him out for that purposet? He may know the business and have a loyal industry following but as the public face of the company, for this time and for anyone under 35, he is a complete disaster. He’s not charming to the general public, he’s just out of touch. I hope his “vision” no longer infects your decisions. The way forward has to be to GO GREEN, GM must stand for GREEN MOTORS. Figure out a way to give customers the performance they want in a green way and you’ll win the future.
Bonnie Detloff Zielinski – you nailed it. Word! Great post.
Mr. Fritz, Ms Jan has it right, it all starts and ENDS! at the dealer. take a lession from lexus on this one, they have a loyalty base so high how are you EVER going to breach into that network? you have military people, lots of Asians who are dedicated to lexus here in so cal. you have to start an assault on getting them back to GM and it all starts with the DEALER dammit trust me I have owned plenty of new GM products including my last one my CTS which we love but HATE the dealer in costa mesa, they are dinosaurs trust me if Maximum Bob saw this place it would be chopped. thanks for your time.
bluebaby
I have been a car person for as long as I can remember. I was also a Ford dealer from 1975 to 1984. However, for personal reasons I have purchased GM vehicles exclusively since 1988. I wish the management at the new GM every success in revitalizing the company.
I was extremely pleased to hear that “Maximum” Bob Lutz has agreed to stay on. The influence he has had on recent products will help immensely to differentiate the “New” GM from the “Old.” Having the right product is mandatory. After that, it’s all about execution and quality.
Good luck going forward.
“To win, we need to stabilize and grow our business around the globe,…”
Dear Mr. Henderson,
I absolutely agree with this statement. As I could see, here in Europe is still a lot of work. Just one simple example: Just recently I could watch a TV-commercial about the already long existing Chevrolet Captiva, but not a single spot about the highly critical Chevy Cruze. That’s poor marketing. When I am trying to visit the Cadillac Europe-website, I doesn’t work anymore, there’s just a broken-link-notification. Since weeks! IMHO that’s unacceptable. Well, I hope you are going to turn up the heat on the corresponding people over here to get things like that straight.
However, congratulations to this historic day. The New GM will make it. No doubt.
Bowser,
“Cruze” and “Forte” are both bad names.
Cruze is bad because it’s a hack attempt by the company to make the car seem trendy and cutting edge by spelling the simple word “cruise” with a ‘z” instead of the way it’s supposed to be spelled. There may a fringe of people who will buy a “Cruze” because they think the name is “kewl,” but there will be far more turned off by the name. That’s too bad because the car does look pretty decent.
Shakespeare said a rose by any other name would smell as sweet, but I’m not sure that applies to cars.
Fritz:
I really like your energy and vision with clearcut priorities.
Here are a few things I would like to seein the futre from GM:
Buick needs more models with greater diversity such as Audi has. You need an A4 type car that also comes in a two door and takes a Thule roof rack system to carry sporting equipment. I don’t see that all Buicks need a waterfall grille that recall Roadmasters of the 50’s. Make it more modern and not so churchy.
More coupes! I love the Camaro and outgoing Solstice/Sky but is seems like these were designed as toys for multi car owners. Compared to their competitors that are less practical ( small trunks and really small windows). I’m speaking for guys who are not into 4-doors (suit and tie) and trucks (construction) but for all the guys who want anything from a Subaru WRX to a BMW 3 series coupe.
I would prefer this type of car from GM rather than an import.
As for GMC, I hope GM takes note of how Chrysler loaded Jeep down with too many models only to starve Chryslers cars of new and interesting product. I would unfortunate to see the same road taken with Buick GMC. That is why a bigger Buick line is important.
Thanks for listening. GM is the best!
I hope that the “new GM” truly puts their customers first by honoring the April 2009 class action settlement for Saturn customers who have experienced problems with the vti transmission manufactured by the “old GM”. Otherwise, a lot of customers will be looking to shop at “new Chrysler” or any of the other car companies out there!
I used to feel about GM the way other people are Catholic or Baptist so it saddens me that GM will be bankrupt again in a couple of years. When China and India start importing cars GM’s market share will be halved just as it did when the Japanese, German and Korean mfr’s got a foothold here. GM has foolishly begun to believe its own propaganda about customer service and quality products but it has lost credibility with consumers. It will take years to regain the trust that it has squandered for decades but it will not have the luxury of having years to regain that consumer confidence, especially with the impending threat of the competiton from China and India.
Dear Mr.
Where were the executives at GM since 1973 when gasoline prices “sky-rocketed” the first time?
What have they been doing for the last 36 years, as Honda and Toyota began making reliable, fuel-efficient cars? Why didn’t GM start to improve back then?
Now that Obama has turned bankruptcy court into “political pay-off”, you think people will TRUST? GM?
And what about the loss to the retirement funds of millions of Americans so that the labor unions could be paid off? And you think people will TRUST? GM?
And your best product you can offer the American people for fuel efficiency is $40,000?
Perhaps you haven’t heard that many people have lost their jobs to either illegal aliens or foreign countries, and they lost their retirement accounts to AIG and the rest of Wall Street (including Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac) through pay-offs to very people (Congress) who were supposed to be regulating these entitites to avoid fraud and investment losses.
So NOW GM is really, really, really serious about producing a decent product with decent fuel-efficiency for a decent price? HA,HA, HA! I have some land in the Florida Keys I’d like to sell you…
A disgusted American who bought a lousy American-made car and lost tons of money because of it.
Without Pontiac I’m not interested.
“Buick needs more models with greater diversity such as Audi has. I don’t see that all Buicks need a waterfall grille that recall Roadmasters of the 50’s. Make it more modern and not so churchy.”
Ryan Spalding,
Exactly — the G8 as the Buick Wildcat. Put some life into Buick.
>”Business as usual is over at GM,” said Henderson. “Today starts a new era for General Motors and everyone associated with the company. Going forward, the new General Motors is fully committed to listening to customers, responding to consumer and market trends, and empowering the people closest to the customer to make the decisions.<
Find me one Poll that finds a majority of people want the Cobalt name to be changed to Cruze.
So, what’s that again about listening to your customers?
Bullcrap!
Garth Koyle,
I think you are right in some respects:
‘Apparently GM didn’t have the right people who 1) could identify the right cars to build, and 2) who had the courage to push the better ideas though GM’s core rigidities, so who are the right people and how are you going to empower them to get things done?’
GM has missed a segment of cars, a small but important one (in my opinion). GM needs to get the right people in there that know how to make Small mid to high end cars sell, how to make hybrids sell, diesels and a few other technologies. I don’t think they had the right attitude and still don’t to attract the buyers of products like these. They still have the “No one wants it attitude”. The best example I can think of is a small Cobalt Diesel for the US. No one wants Diesel… yet VW and Audi both offer diesels for the past 10 years… The same goes for a nice small car… Audi, Mini, BMW, all offer nice small cars that people actually buy. They may not be record sales numbers but people are buying them. Hopefully GM leaves car counting behind them too with this restructure.
There are a lot of things GM thinks people don’t need or want that they need to figure out quick.
JR,
“People want to be free from the clutches of oil prices. The natural oil supply is predicted to last only 30 more years.”
So you’d rather be in the clutches of the Coal, oil and natural gas burning power industry?
Have you seen the Volt? Its a first step for GM. All electric for 40 miles. Hopefully batteries get better soon.
Great work Fritz,
GM’s latest cars like the Malibu and CTS are the obviously best in class. LIkewise the Acadia and the Enclave are best in class. Can’t wait to see the 2010 LaCrosse in person.
Special thanks to Bob Lutz for staying to help.
With these best in class vehicles, how will GM market them to increase sales dramatically. GM is designing and building what are the best cars in the world. GM’s biggest challenge seems to be getting out the message to America.
The best thing for public perception and sales would be for GM to begin selling its stock in an IPO at once. Perhaps a goal to sell 10 percent per month increments of stock in an IPO to the American people. That would lift the spirits of the consumers and give confidence.
Congratulations,
Building vehicles people want……
KEEP THE GM HIGH PERFORMANCE DIVISION!!!!! Participate in HotRod PowerTour….bring us the concepts, keep building the hi-po cars and trucks that us REAL gearheads love!
1) ZR1
2) Z06
3) Camaro SS
4) Silverado SS
5) Trailblazer SS
6) Sierra Denali
etc.
Please do NOT lose the SS packages, because THOSE are the vehicles that the true enthusiasts crave.
Also, the G8 GT is/was an awesome car. Perhaps, bring that back badged as an Impala or something?? I’d love a new Impala SS that is REAR wheel drive.
Tom Wilkinson,
When is GM going to listen to customer requests for niche market vehicles and options? Things like Diesel engines in Cobalt, Malibu, Buick, CTS etc… simple things like padding on the plastic arm rests (Cobalt, G6, Malibu, Saturn Aura etc…). Other larger things like more luxury interiors on small cars. Or even small cars that are mid luxury segmented?
Simply saying the market isn’t looking for that or people don’t want that is annoying especially when there are people out there who would buy such things.
BMO,
Wheel bearings aren’t in the 100K warranty? Why not? Anything that rotates should be in that warranty. If what you say is true thats one more half A&& thing about the 100k warranty that steers me away from GM.
Ron,
I think you are right Bob Lutz is old world. If they insist on keeping him around I sure hope that he isn’t. I hope he loses that attitude and says why not instead of why his way is the only way. Bob knows how to make a decent performance car but I think he misses the point on other aspects of the cars.
Larry,
“Two quick recommendations that would make your cars more appealing to my wife and I:
1) Cup holders. Generally they aren’t very good. We travel a lot and before we buy a car we always pick up two large sodas from Mickey D’s. If the cup holders don’t fit them “comfortably” or they block controls – we won’t buy.
2) Radio. Why can’t I see the station AND the time? Simple fix I think.”
Wow such simple recommendations. Do you think GM will fix that or hear those comments? Man I hope so because there are tons of small things they need to fix.
Give Buick some new models:
Pontiac G6 becomes Buick Skylark.
Pontiac Solstice becomes Buick Starfire.
Get a great Riviera flagship out ASAP.
Give Cadillac a new sedan update.
Give names to engines like Northstar.
Chevy trucks updated looks.
Produce the GMC Denali XT concept and GMC Graphyte Hybrid SUV Concept. These are hot products.
Make a small fuel efficient V-8 to excite GM’s customers to trade.
Paul:
All of the publicly owned stocks and bonds previously issued by General Motors Corporation are still securities of that company, but its name has been changed to Motors Liquidation Company. None of Motors Liquidation Company’s publicly owned stocks or bonds are or will become securities of General Motors Company, which is an independent separate company.
Leanne Wandoff, GM Communications
Hello all!
Wow! Most everyone makes a great point, in response to this announcement by Fritz Henderson. In particular, Garth touches upon the very nature of GM’s still unresolved predicament. What, in fact has changed!?
With that in mind , everyone posting on this blog,ought to participate in a quick and useful exercise (Feels like kindergarten) Take the *auto* section from your local newspaper—the section with all with all the car ads—and head over to your kitchen table to do a little cut and paste. Now switch the various
logos onto various other automakers and vice versa, and pay particular attention to GM, as you proceed.
What you’ll find remarkable in this exercise, is just how powerful brand really is. IE: If you can find an old ad photo of the Chevy Aztek–a low point for GM–, try placing the logo from say BMW, or Honda, or Ferrari!?..it doesn’t matter whether or not you respect those brands, the effect is real.
Now what I’m driving at–no pun intended–, is not so much that we should hand over GM to the competition, but rather identify why the *perception* issue is still a factor, as GM moves forward.
Perception 101!, I can still remember the new shiny chrome,” Wide Track Pontiacs” and beautiful “Impalas”, of the 1960’s, and the 1955 Chevy, my father owned here in Canada.
However, I also recall the really bad “Chevette”, I rented the year I was married, and Chevy Vega, and all that was not OK with GM over the years.
All the issues described in other posts ,are very real for GM, but the same can also be said, for other automakers as well, as they move forward in their day to day operations.
GM luckily, has one very significant *untainted* asset it has not used to date. This asset has been kept fairly well hidden up to now–as far as placement on vehicles–, and that is the famous *Blue Square*.
Whether green or blue–preferably Blue–, this logo needs to be placed front and center on every GM
Grill–with the exception being Cadillac, as a stand alone luxury brand. With due respect, other brands(logos), such as the Chevy *Bowtie*, or GMC, would simply take a less prominent position on it’s respective vehicle.
When will General Motors, make the move to place it’s famous GM logo, on it’s vehicles?
Thanks
Charlie
Mr. Lutz from all of us to you THANKS for sticking around we need you, your country needs you, love your book keep it up.
bluebaby
Congratulations on retaining Bob Lutz. With his deep knowledge and passion for cars, he will be a major asset to the New GM.
There have been times when it seemed that GMC didn’t really care about its customers. The company could have done some very simple things and kept a large group of people very happy.
1.Daewoo is one example of not doing what was right. You created a lot of enemy’s with your leaving the entire lot of Daewoo owners without any support. The car had mostly your stuff in it.
2.The one thing that I noticed was a complete lack of thought when building the engine. Why was it necessary to use 5 different types of bolts.
3.The EV1 was another. There is a general understanding that you buckled to the Oil industry. The people that owned the vehicles really liked them. There were problems but that could have been solved in stages. The lights could have been changed to LED and the batteries could have been upgraded. Again not making friends. You wouldn’t be playing catch up now if you had continued with what you had.
4.The auto industry has been labeled as more interested in marketing special tools instead of using mechanic friendly design.
5.Get your design engineers in a room with an equal number of mechanics and see how many of the engineers come out alive.
6.The American auto maker seems mired in an idea that every car that starts out small should sooner or later resemble a Blue Bird Bus….
7.Our standard for Sheetrock and Plywood is 4′x8′. Go and check how many of your cars can accept a 4′ wide anything. A station wagon might need to get a half sheet of plywood but most of them are 47 1/4” a little short of the required 48”.
8.You don’t need 100 different alternators and the same can be said for water pumps, power steering pumps, AC compressors . Small, medium and large would do just fine. One computer should be able to fit every vehicle… The programming might have to be different.
9.The Oldsmobile had the best MPG of all of your vehicles so why did you go with the Chevy engine.
10.If the customer knew that the dealer was the cheapest and fastest way to get their car done they would always take their car there. There is no reason that a car can’t be designed so most of the failure items could be replace in 15mins. The alternator is one. Quick disconnect plugs and fittings could make you the only way to go.
11.My girlfriend and I purchased $1,000 worth of your stock to only find out that you are going to make about $500,000,000 of it worth nothing, again not making friends. We didn’t lose any money but I was betting that GM would make us some money when they came out of Chapter . Silly me…..
12.GM for years had product and model recognition and today I bet most of the people buying your cars can’t name six models other than the one they are buying.
13.Why were some transmissions made by GM without drain plugs?
“Japanese cars last longer, have better safety ratings, better mileage, do not have endless recalls, look better and cost much less than comparable GM products – even when one receives the standard employee discount. How sad is that? I almost bought a Saturn but let’s be candid – the no haggle thing is a joke (and really no fun at all).”
Mojoro:
Pretty much everything you said in the statement above is inaccurate. Perhaps thats why you chose not to leave any concrete examples of what you are talking about. Almost every new car these days gets 4 or 5 star ratings. With the exception of Prius and Insight, Japanese cars are NOT more efficient. I won’t even comment on styling but its hard to take anyone seriously who claims that Japanese brands have the lead in styling in 2009. Germans? Maybe. Ford/GM? Perhaps? Asian automakers? Not a chance. Have you not seen the Maxima, Avalon, Acura TL, Honda Insight, etc.?
Mr. Henderson.
Congratulations! I know that if customers feel first they will be back. You need someone to advertise like lee Iacocca in the 1980’s. He spoke not just of quality, customers and product. He spoke of hard work and making America happen again. He made you feel you were really helping our country and that is never outdated thinking.
American’s want GM to succeed and will support just make the rally call. Advertise the cars in commercials with their quality and benefits.
Don’t over price your cars and give rebates out the door.
Imagine these starting prices:
Cruze $14,999
Malibu $ 19,999
Impala $22,999
Fix the small outside mirrors on Impala, Fold down armrest in Malibu rear seat
Stop making all Camaros with Black interiors, Add more colors to your cars Reds, light Blues, Greens. All people don’t want Black, Grey. Silver and darker colors.
Congrats on getting out of bancruptcy. Unfortunately the reason you got there in the first place, poor quality, poorly designed, gas-guzzling automobiles has yet to be addressed, and until it is I, for one will continue to pass GM by. You’ll have to excuse me if I think that GM is not really serious about listening to the car buying public. It’s just not in the corporate DNA of GM.
See ya, wouldn’t want to be ya!
Seth you are drinking from the kool-aid fountain again, what you DON’T know is how toyota’s luxury brand lexus does NOT report recalls but does repairs without your permission or knowledge, how about the fire causing seats in lexus? never anounced but repaired without your permission.
bluebaby
Mr. Henderson:
I have been a Malibu fan since I learned to drive in one in 1983. In fact, I just purchased a 1980 Malibu wagon so that I can transfer the hot rod parts from my 1979 coupe and bring my two kids along for the thrill ride. I have owned about 20 Chevrolet cars and trucks in the past 25 years. I have built 10 small blocks and have the scars to prove it. I work for a National Laboratory as a quality engineer and I would like to assist GM in reinventing itself. I examine defense system customer requirements and compile the list of ‘questions’ that so that we can develop the ‘answers’ in the form of long-term data and evaluations enabling us to certify that our products still serve the National Defense. No, there is no job posting that seems to apply, but I want to help GM thrive and support Americans.
Thank you for your consideration.
I’ll believe all that PR stuff when I see it being put into action. I personally believe that GM should have gone out of business for the way it was mismanaged for 30 years and continually broke its promises to the American Public. You owe the American Public EVERYTHING for all that you did to them. You took Billions of their tax money threw yourselves to government ownership, all of which is completely unAmerican and unpatriotic. You call yourselves an American company, you must act and operate like one first to earn the distinguished title of being a Proud American Company. Treat your employees and your customers like family and foster their creativity and intelligence and eliminate your awful and drowning bureaucratic environment and management style. Repeat any past mistakes and the American Public will rally for your demise.
Sheth – now you’re the one being disingenuous. I’d love to invite this rapt audience to visit the Interwebs and review safety ratings and fuel efficiency of foreign autos over GM brands. Also, take a look at the Top Ten best selling cars of 2008, if you want to know what people LIKE. How many of those cars are Hondas, Toyotas and Nissans? Quite a darn few.
I hope GM does not follow your example and get all snippy when they don’t like what they read.
As a matter of fact, Sheth, the way people perceive an auto maker is just as important as what is under the hood. GM had better figure out how to market themselves properly if they hope to lose their poor rep.
Any hookup with the notorious Ebay will tarnish your efforts.
It bodes ill that that didn’t already know this.
Oh, and by the way, I’ve had to put a water pump on every Cadillac I’ve ever owned.
Maybe you could send a note to your water pump department.
Thank God that Mr Lutz is staying in the game. Saving Zeta makes sense after the investment in engineering. The new DI V6’s, maybe with a turbo or two, and six speeds in all models, both manual and automatic would be a nice touch. I seriously hope that Alpha is not stillborn. Cadillac needs a 3 series competitor if expects to take on the world market and not a FWD failure like the BLS. This BS about an epsilon II DTS replacement to compete with BMW, Mercedes, and Lexus is about the worst idea I’ve heard. I can bet that’s not Bob Lutz’s idea for a successful “New GM”.
To everyone that still believes all GM can build are gas guzzling pieces of junk and don’t build cars that people want, you may want to do a little fact checking. If no one wanted their cars, how do they still outsell Toyota? Did you know Toyota got a loan from the Japanese government? Or that they shut down their new truck plant for three months due to slow sales? Do you realize that Most GM vehicles get the same or better gas mileage than the Toyota counterparts? The following is according to http://www.fueleconomy.gov, the EPA’s site for official ratings, all are for 2009 models (city/hwy/combined):
Cobalt 25/37/30
Corolla 26/35/30
Civic 26/34/29
(all with manual transmission)
Malibu 22/33/26
Camry 21/31/25
Accord 21/30/24
(all 4 cyl and auto. Camry w/manual gets same as auto, Accord w/manual gets 1 MPG increase to 21/32/25, Malibu not available in manual)
Traverse FWD 17/24/19
Pilot FWD 17/23/19
(Toyota does not make a FWD 8 pass. SUV. The smaller Highlander ratings are 18/24/20)
Tahoe 2WD 15/21/15
Sequoia 14/19/15
(using best non-hybrid engine, Honda does not make a full size RWD SUV)
Siverado 15/21/17
Tundra 15/19/16
(using best non-hybrid engine, Honda does not make a full size RWD SUV. Also note Tundra rating is for V-6. Best Tundra V-8 is 14/18/16)
As you can see in these examples, Toyota does not automatically mean best mileage, nor does Honda. Honda only rates as the best manufacturer in mileage due to their lack of full size trucks and SUV’s, vehicles some people do actually need (not that everyone that buys one needs it, but they are needed). And the 300+ HP Camaro LT V-6 still gets 29 MPG on the highway. The soon to be released 2010 Equinox has a rating of 22/32/26. No other non-Hybrid SUV gets over 30 on the highway.
There also is the Volt. Unlike some in the media seem to think, the Volt is NOT a Hybrid. It is an electric car with an onboard generator. People like to refer to the movie “Who Killed the Electric Car” and use GM’s decision to pull the EV1 off the road as an example of them not getting it or failing to plan fo rthe future. But you never see anything about Toyota doing a very similar thing with their electric prototypes.
Now, name the brand that placed first in the latest J.D. Power Long term dependability study. It was not Lexus. Or Acura. Tied for first was Buick and Jaguar. Lexus placed third. Acura placed 7th. This is not the first time Buick has been on the top of this list, and they have been in the top ten for many years. If I am not mistaken, this is the first time Lexus has not been in first or tied for first since they were first included in the study during the 90’s.
One more thing on the competitiveness of GM (and Ford and Chrysler) in the American market. We treat our manufacturers worse in this country and put a greater burden on them than any other major auto producing country. Japan, Germany, Canada, and Sweden all have socialized health care, while companies here carry that burden. Don’t get me wrong, I am not saying we should (or shouldn’t) socialize our heath care system, the political debate is for another forum. But we can’t expect to be truly competitive in a global marketplace if the rules of trade aren’t fair or equal. By the way, Japan places limits on imports, where we do not.
Sorry for the length, but some of the misinformation (or lack of) needs to be corrected.
Fritz,
First of all – congratulations on your speedy exit from bankruptcy! Now the real hard work begins, and you need to decide real quick what kind of company you want to be when you grow up. And the only way you’ll inform that notion is by the people you have around you executing your vision, which is why I’m saddened by the news that is slowly emerging indicating that Troy Clarke may be heading off to greener pastures. And yet LaNeve is still seemingly around? Its hard for some of us to take 2/3rds of your mantra (Customers and Culture) seriously when people who have been nothing but toxic to both of those stick around, and people like Clarke are being shown the door. Here is my recommendation to you Fritz – get rid of LaNeve, Peper, and McNeil. Try to get Dave Borchelt to come out of retirement and replace LaNeve, and do everything in your power to get Kurt Ritter back from Toyota – where he never would have gone if he hadn’t been forced out by the reigning powers at the time in Detroit. You’ve got a rare and wonderful second chance, but the pressure is truly on…
Hello? What are you guys at GM thinking?
I visited my local Chevorlet dealer and took a look at the much touted 2010 Chevy $41,000+ Camero today. Before sitting in the driver’s seat, I made certain that the seat height was at the lowest position and the seat was as far back as it goes.
As I suspected, at just 6′4″, I could not sit fully upright in the new Camero. My head hits the roof unless I tilt my head 15-20 degrees tright of center. This means that drivers between 6′2″ and 6′3″, would have their heade touching the roof while driving. This is obviously not a desireable scenario.
So, naturally, I’m wondering how Mr. Robert Lutz (who is at least 6-4 or 6-5), could fit in the very cars that he was involved in developing. The same driver’s seat height situation is present on the Pontiac G8 as well. According to my reading, Mr. Lutz was actively engaged in the development of the G8, Camero and a host of other GM sedans — yet he himself could not properly / comfortably sit behind the driver’s seat of these cars. This is the case with GM vehicles equipped with the standard sunroof — which is almost standard fair in most all of the desired packages.
Interestingly enough, my Audi A4 & A6 provide ample headroom for a 6′-4″ driver with the seat height adjustment only about 1/2 the way to the bottom. The same holds true for the Audi A5, which has a much lower profile than the Camero.
I don’t know exactly the percentage of American’s who are over 6′ 3″, but I’m thinking that it’s a hell of a lot of potential car buyers — Bob Lutz being one of them It’s truly laughable and sad. Sad that GM still hasn’t learned much about designing cars with broad customer appeal.
Some people seem concerned about the future of GM, since past of GM failures have not been corrected.
1. Dealerships need to be corrected. That is not a driving issue
2. Warranty needs to improve. Yes that is true, but GM still sells cars with average warranties.
3. Make your products cheaper and higher quality. Interiors have always been a sour point. And I would not disagree with this point. Still, GM sells despite the aweful interior quality
4. relying on Gas guzzlers made GM lots of money. Unfortunately, GM did not prepare quickly enough to meet the tough Gas mileage standards that have been dictated by higher gas prices. Obviously when Gas goes to 2.00 to 4.50 per gallon, then from 4.50 to 1.38 in less than six months, you know that Gas prices have been manipulated.
5. Obviously, Opel did not work out well enough and purchases of Saab, Vauxhall did not benefit
GM’s bottom line. What was not surprising to see is that as of 2001, GM got its greedy hands on Daewoo’s assets. t
You can talk about many of the inferior products, but I want to talk about how GM is a Global company and they will leverage all of their Global arms to make the best quality product. As of 2009, GM will rely on Daewoo to design their cars. I think that is a good move. however, Daewoo should have not been given by the Korean government for pennies on the dollar. Daewoo was worth billions of dollars in 2009 when they became bankrupt. The total value of factories that daewoo owned were in the billions. You are talking about Poland, India, Vietnam, South America etc. Actually most of GM global plants are and were owned by Daewoo. So if anything, either GM got a free lunch or, there was a corrupt story to the nature of GM’s gift of Daewoo being owned.
Still though, GM has Shanghai. the future clearly lies with China. Cheap labour and many qualified engineers will benefit GM the most regarding, price and quality. I do think that American should manufactor their own cars. But clearly from GM’s standpoint, efficiency lies with China’s economic model. And thus, Americans by 2020 will benefit from GM’s move to Red China. The fruit of such a maneuver by GM and China would be car prices slashed by at least 20% and quality/innovation improving 20%. I would say that, that is where the new GM is heading. Think of it like Wal-mart, only with cars.
Dear Mr. Henderson:
General Motors making the customer the primary focus? I’ll believe it when I see it.
General Motors making the best in class? GM has been unable to manufacture the “best in class” in several decades.
Culture? It’s too ingrained at GM and more importantly at GM dealers to ever force any significant change.
I have owned many GM products in my forty years of driving; from what was then the “best in class” (1968 Chevelle 396SS) to the abysmal (1986 Buick Park Avenue Limited) to the mediocre (2001 GMC Sierra).
As part of your push to make the customer the primary focus, perhaps you could start with me! How about you refund me the several thousand dollars I paid to have the intake manifold gasket replaced on my truck (you know, the one with the notorious 4.3 V6, which was the first domino of several to fall), to have the fuel pump replaced, the starter replaced (and the electrical system rebuild that the substandard starter caused), the water pump replaced (and all the hoses and seals and the radiator, due to the craptastic coolant you kept forcing on customers) and while you’re at it repaint the truck box (with all the paint chipping, flaking, falling off, which is allowing rust to get a good foothold), and replace the window crank and window cranking mechanism (one of your fine dealerships quoted me over five hundred dollars to “fix” this for me).
Oh, and while you’re getting about all that business, how about you send a team of your marketing wizards up to Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada to perform dealership audits on the following General Motors franchised dealers: Birchwood Pontiac Buick GMC and Orion Chevrolet Cadillac? After my experiences at the aforementioned dealerships while shopping for a new car for my wife, I vowed never to set foot into a GM dealer again.
If you think I jest, well that’s your priviledge. The sad part is that you have done this to a million other former customers, who will never buy another GM product again. While you were building such gems as the Vega, Chevette, X-body cars, Cimarron, Celebrity (need I continue?) you were sending us to your competitors in droves. What GM has yet to realize is that with each customer that turned away from you, you also lost their childrens’ business.
To get me to return to General Motors, here is what has to happen:
- build not just competitive cars and trucks, build the best in class by a fair margin.
– warranty your vehicles for longer than any other manufacturer, and more importantly back-up the warranty (in other words don’t let the dealers screw over the customers on warranty work)
– return General Motors to the company that created the most desirable designs in the market place
– make GM dealerships the happiest place on earth, otherwise all of your other efforts will be in vain
Hyundai managed to do it, and Ford seems to be doing it.
I will never say never, but GM has a very long way to go to get myself, my wife, and my children to consider buying another GM product.
Best of Luck to you, Fritz.
Hang in there Fritz,
I just finished reading about your emergence from bankrupancy in the Washington Post today. As a GM owner for many years (my Grandpa/Chevy owner/ told me never to buy a Ford) I wish you the best of success to get GM to go forward. My wife has a 08 CTS AWD and I just purchased the 09 STS AWD with DI. Although I suffered with some old brands with GM (1981 Olds diesel/2001 STS oil burner with wheel balance issues over 62MPH)…I am still with you.
I feel your turning point with your cars is the 08 CTS with DI. This influenced my decision to purchase the 2009 STS with the same engine. I think you need to change your advertising from the glamour celebrities and start interviewing owners of GM products (Hold the presses, I caught your re-invention blog; do you plan to air these owner testimonies?) You need real people testimonies to get the attention of other car owners to come to GM. In fact my wife had an Audi A6 and was ready to get a 535 XI BMW until we test drove the 08 CTS with sport suspension. You have good products and you need the GM owners to get the message out!!!
Here is another suggestion; the one big benefit of the V6 DI is that it takes 87 octane, why don’t you show a commercial of a Cadillac owner pulling up at a gas station next to a Mercedes Benz, BMW & Audi and show them filing up premium gas. That would be a great message to get those drivers to switch over to GM cars.
P.S. Anything that your engineering group could do to retro fit my wife’s 08 CTS (purchased Oct 07) to Bluetooth would be great!
Let me know when:
1) The US government and the UAW no longer own a majority stake in GM
2) GM decides to build a four place RWD coupe less than 180″ long that weighs under 3000 lbs.
Until then, I’m not interested.
GM forces suppliers to be ISO certified, how about forcing your dealers to be ISO certified as well. It’s the best way for consistant, high quality repairs and customer service. In 40 years I’ve bought 23 new GM cars and most recently a new Acura. There are resons why I left GM. If your quality has improved, revise your warranty coverages to reflect the quality improvements. If there is a TSB due to a defective component or production procedure, warranty it for the customer, If a new dealer installed component fails within one week of installation, give the customer a loaner vehicle, don’t make them pay for a rental due to a defective component. Customer Support should tell the dealer waht they need to do according to policy, not negotiate with the dealer. Improve training for your district service reps. They have a tough job but they can’t have thorough knoledge of all vehihecle systems. From my recent and only experience they used subjective analysis rather than fact to make a decision that ultimately digruntled the customer, me. Quite often these reps deal with educated customers/engineers that are left powerless by poor decisions by the rep and service manager or poor policies that need improving. Learn from your competitors that have successful customer service and you’ll regain your customer base.
I would love to buy a new Camaro next spring, however my last 2 GM car experiences have been very dissatisfying from major component quality to Customer Support which I never needed to use for 36 years. Produce good quality components and you won’t need to cover the failure costs through the customer, your profits will pay for warranty.
My 2010 car selection includes Camaro, Mustang, and Genesis Coupe. Help convince me that I want another GM car!
Wow, it took 100 years to work out “Customers” are important? New GM, same GM?
I don’t see anything new about the new GM. Same old management team, and reliance on the oldest brands. Keeping Buick but dumping Saturn? Saturn was supposed to be the “New GM”, remember? It wasn’t about small cars and plastic body panels, it was about being “a different kind of company, a different kind of car.” You starved it for product but I believe it has more brand equity and perception of quality than your ancient early 20th-century brands.
Meanwhile why keep GMC unless you’re dumping Chevy Truck. Despite the nonsensical “Chevy Trucks are for the worker, GMC are for the owner” mantra that your bad dealers keep spinning, there’s not a real difference between any of them. Stop the badge engineering. Kill one line or the other. It may not be much, but separate printing of owner manuals, separate marketing costs, separate safety certification (needed for Chevy/GMC if you need it to change a Pontiac G8 to a Chevy Caprice) all have costs. Pick one brand for the trucks and dump the other. If you need to placate BPG and Chevy group dealers by giving each trucks and SUVs, let BPG dealers that sold GMC trucks sell the trucks even if your one surviving brand is Chevy. If you decide to call them GMC, let Chevy dealers who handled Chevy Truck sell GMC.
Chrysler doesn’t sell two brands of truck. Ford doesn’t sell two brands of identical trucks. GM doing so is continuing the badge-engineering insanity.
The only two GMs I’d seriously consider right now are the Saturn Astra, and the Pontiac Vibe.
Both small, fun-to-drive, well-made hatchbacks so extremely flexible. Both from brands you’re dumping. Both with high-quality foreign “DNA” that GM needs more of: Astra from Opel/GM Europe (which you’re dumping, stupidly), and Vibe from the Toyota NUMMI joint venture.
Maybe for a small cheap car I’d consider a Cobalt – which also is built from the Opel-derived Delta platform. Which you’re dumping…
GM cars owned over lifetime: 64 (used) Chevelle, 66 Pontiac LeMans (used), 80 Pontiac Phoenix X-Body (new), 96 Saturn SL2 (new), 2000 GMC Safari AWD (new). Current cars still the GMC and a 2000 VW TDI diesel 40mpg.
Build something I’d want, and that would make my 20-something kids think was cool so that they would become lifetime GM buyers or at least consider-GM shoppers. We bought our son a Civic in 2001 and my daughter a Hyundai Elantra in 2007, because even though we looked at GM small cars (Saturn, Cavalier in 2000, Cobalt in 2007), neither I nor they thought GM’s product was anywhere near as good in terms of comfort, quality, performance, reputation, or MPG in popular configuration as what the other brands offered. Cobalt was absolutely last on my daughter’s list.
Make some good, different choices. Get rid of the badge engineering, keep a brand you planned to dump, at least for specialty models. Maybe one brand for the best of GM Europe and low-volume specialty cars – either Pontiac or Saturn. Don’t waste money rebranding the GM Holden-built current Pontiac G8 as a (gag me) Chevy Caprice. Keep it a Pontiac G8 and keep selling it. Keep the Pontiac Solstice – it’s a thought-leader. If dumping Saturn, dump the Sky version but don’t dump this great car. Chrysler just came to its senses and reversed decisions to dump PT Cruiser and Dodge Viper – different but also niche cars with good reputations.
Use this brand for the best of GM Europe – even after the proposed Magna-led sale, GM Co still will own a non-controlling but major 35% share. Bring in the new Astra coming out next year as a Pontiac Astra, with no more changes than you did for the Saturn on the current Astra. New Penske-Saturn doesn’t want it. And US buyers in the quality small European-car demographic will not want a “Buick Astra”.
Pontiac still has cachet. Even if the brand was only used for the G8, Solstice, Astra, and Vibe, you’d have an incredibly hot lineup. Don’t share any other GM models with this brand. Sell it in BPG dealers if you like, but in a separate area like how many Toyota dealers sell Scion. This could be THE brand to target to the younger demographic. Slowly bring in from overseas or design here, unique cars that will keep those buyers with GM in this brand. Resist outcries from Chevy dealers to get the same cars – they’re getting the Camaro and the Volt, plus the Cruze (ok, that’s similar to the Astra but not the “real European-spec version” like you provide with the Saturn Astra today.)
There should be no duplication of substantially vehicles across brands. Upscale versions of CUV/SUV should be significantly different from the mainstream market – at least as different as Toyota and Lexus CUV/SUVs are. Having a Buick Enclave, GMC Acadia, Chevy Traverse, and Saturn Outlook all being obviously the same vehicle is crazy. Even with selling Saturn (dumb dumb dumb) you still have three identical versions, plus the Penske Saturn deal has you still making the Outlook.
Mojopo:
Unfortunately, you are representative of the rampant ignorance displayed by GM bashers who have no clue about how the industry works. Since you are an expert on sales numbers I’m sure you are aware of the following:
1. GM sells more vehicles than Toyota or Honda or Nissan or Hyundai in the US market. Even after shedding four brands GM will likely easily outsell all but Toyota- and its not even guaranteed that they wont do that.
2. The top two selling vehicles are pickups made by American brands.
3. The Impala and Malibu are amongst the top selling cars in the US. One reason GM has fewer entries on the top ten list is because it has so many brands. For example, if you add up the sales of the G6/Malibu/Aura (which share a platform and compete with Camry) you would find those sedans come close to Camry sales.
Your comments on fuel economy are a flat out joke. Go to the EPA’s site and do some research.
Here are just a few examples:
Malibu 22/33
Camry auto- 22/32
Accord auto 21/30
Traverse FWD- 17/24 (more hp than competitors)
Pilot- 17/23
Highlander 18/24
Cobalt- 25/37 (best in class hp)
Civic- 26/34
Corolla- 27/35
Mazda3- 25/33
CTS- 18/26
TL- 18/26
ES350- 19/27
Impala- 19/29 or 17/27
Avalon- 19/28
Enclave- 16/23
MDX- 15/20
CX-9- 16/21
There are numerous other examples as well. Here is my simple request, instead of offering rambling generalizations based in ignorance why don’t you provide me with a concise and accurate list of comparable Toyota/Honda products that exceed GM products in mileage. As they say, talk is cheap. Since I am the one being disingenuous I’m sure you will have no problem proving me wrong. I await your response. I find it interesting that you are hear insulting me and GM but don’t have a problem arguing a point that clearly cannot be supported by the EPA’s mileage ratings. You are 100% wrong. Period.
JeffR:
It is refreshing to see some intelligent commentary on here from time to time. I hope many of the self anointed experts on here take the time to actually read the EPA’s site before lecturing GM about making gas guzzlers.
George:
I would have to ask you what you are thinking if you think the Camaro is designed for practicality. Sports coupes are not known for easy access, abundant headroom or whatever else you are looking for. The reality is most guys over 6′ 3″ are not going to be comfortable in low slung sports coupes. Such cars are known for low rooflines and impracticality. BAsed on the Camaros success so far I would say most men can fit in the car comfortable.
Also, the Camaro starts at $23k so I’m not sure why you are calling it a $41k car.
The G8 has abundant front and rear seat room in my experience.
So you don’t believe that there are $41,000 + Camaros sitting on dealer lots? And you don’t believe that other manufacturers like BMW, Audi, Merc Benz, Lexus etc. offer sport coupes with ample head room for taller drivers? So you think that drivers have to sacrafice head room, comfort and safety if they want to drive a sports coupe?
WRONG! WRONG! & WRONG! Someone needs to wake up and smell the coffee!!
“The only two GMs I’d seriously consider right now are the Saturn Astra, and the Pontiac Vibe. Both small, fun-to-drive, well-made hatchbacks so extremely flexible. Both from brands you’re dumping. Both with high-quality foreign “DNA” that GM needs more of: Astra from Opel/GM Europe (which you’re dumping, stupidly), and Vibe from the Toyota NUMMI joint venture.”
Couldn’t have said it better myself MarXS.
You got a second chance that you did not deserve courtesy on the taxpayer. Due to extemely poor management and dealer closings many of us are extremely angry at GM and will never, ever again purchase GM products!
Hi Fritz,
If you care about customers, lets not forget those who want RWD Buicks like they used to be in the sixties and seventies.
Also, please, change their styling a bit too… I’m getting tired of the 1942 grilles on all current Buick models! make them more agressive like the ‘59 models or with ‘”W” ends like the nicest models of all, the 1965-68 Wildcats, Electras and 1966-69 Rivieras!
Lets not forget that it was Olds and Cadillac who converted their most luxurious models to FWD in the mid-sixties and seventies. Buick was the division that refused to go FWD, until Buick was just a GM brand and had no choice!
I had one FWD Buick in my life and I won’t ever have another FWD car! I’m a Buick fan and I still own 3 that were made between 1964 and 1976 but I now have to use RWD Toyotas as daily drivers to preserve my Buicks.
Dear “BleedingChevyOrange” and the Gearheads….
1) ZR1
2) Z06
3) Camaro SS
4) Silverado SS
5) Trailblazer SS
6) Sierra Denali
…. what – No Nitro powered 800 HP Vettes?
These are all fine vehicles, but match up the sticker prices and then assign them a fuel effciciency rating and you’ll see –
A) they are typically too high priced for most typical consumers and probably Limited Edition production runs which lower their profitablity to GM. Build for the masses, not the upper echelon.
B) Not your typical “can maintain them myself and have to use expensive Service Centers for Service” – again raising the Cost of Ownership issue. Gearheads love to tinker, but most consumers ARE NOT gear heads. They like things that are simple.
C) the world is heading for economical cars like those made by Toyota and Honda. The consumers will be focused on buying lower priced and seeking V-A-L-U-E and this list just won’t cut it.
GM – please don’t fall into the rat trap of high performance again. A few niche performance vehicles is ok, but focus on being “New”, not what your old legacy thinking was.
Mike,
Well stated, however my recent rental of a Toyota Camry left me disappointed in mileage. I’m not sure GM is doing much better but its obvious that the Toyotas and Hondas aren’t leading in mileage anymore.
The vehicles in that list are ok, however I strongly feel that high end small cars (in the high 20K to mid 30K range) are going to be another niche GM needs to get into. Value cars are a dime a dozen and personally I’d rather pay for a premium small car and plan to keep it longer then pay for some option-less scaled down piece of junk value car.
Just my opinion.
Phil Racicot,
RWD would be nice but it seems like the majority of people are buying FWD. Personally I’d rather see RWD biased AWD. Makes for a fun time even in the rain or snow.
On July 13, 2009 at 10:58 am Nate said:
“Phil Racicot,
RWD would be nice but it seems like the majority of people are buying FWD. Personally I’d rather see RWD biased AWD. Makes for a fun time even in the rain or snow.”
Nate, I said all my vehicles are RWD. Well, that’s not exact, my two Toyota compact Trucks are 4X4, but in normal situations, they are RWD just like my cars!
So I wouldn’t mind an AWD Buick that’s basically a RWD but I just don’t want the opposite!
I think the majority of people are buying what manufacturers sells them but they still try to get the finest in their price range. Most new RWD cars are out of the price range of many (including myself!). So I don’t think most people will ever switch back to RWD but since nobody (or almost) buys the current FWD Buicks here, RWD or RWD biased AWD Buicks would be fine!
Sheth,
“”Unfortunately, you are representative of the rampant ignorance displayed by GM bashers who have no clue about how the industry works. Since you are an expert on sales numbers I’m sure you are aware of the following:”"
“”1. GM sells more vehicles than Toyota or Honda or Nissan or Hyundai in the US market. Even after shedding four brands GM will likely easily outsell all but Toyota- and its not even guaranteed that they wont do that.”"
Who cares about sales numbers? What is this a competition to bankruptcy? Just sell reasonably priced quality products and drop the macho who sells more attitudes. The only thing that is good for is execs exercising their egos.
MarkXS,
Well stated:
“Build something I’d want, and that would make my 20-something kids think was cool so that they would become lifetime GM buyers or at least consider-GM shoppers. We bought our son a Civic in 2001 and my daughter a Hyundai Elantra in 2007, because even though we looked at GM small cars (Saturn, Cavalier in 2000, Cobalt in 2007), neither I nor they thought GM’s product was anywhere near as good in terms of comfort, quality, performance, reputation, or MPG in popular configuration as what the other brands offered. Cobalt was absolutely last on my daughter’s list.”
I agree with the Astra, it just isn’t a high enough quality car to compete with others and certainly should NOT be a Buick without a redesign.
“Who cares about sales numbers? ”
You are right Nate- sales numbers aren’t meaningful. Amazing that monthly sales figures are closely watched to see how each company is doing throughout the year. I forgot that sales and satisfied customers are no match for your opinion. If you say GM doesn’t sell quality products than that is really all that counts. If you say GM is less popular than Toyota or Honda that is really what matters, lets just disregard sales figures. Your reaction to facts that contradict your oft repeated accusations about GM not being able to produce cars that people want is very telling.
In spite of all the marketshare GM has lost they still sell more vehicles than any of the Japanese brands. As of recently the same can be said of Ford.
“I agree with the Astra, it just isn’t a high enough quality car to compete with others and certainly should NOT be a Buick without a redesign.”
The Astra is new for 2010. You can read about it at Motortrend.com.
GM is need of a new business model for dealerships to order and have built, new car orders. Due to the current practice of open allotments assigned to dealerships, the smaller dealerships that support your customers cannot properly support the customers requirements. Large dealerships get more open allotemnts per month to apply to new car orders and can keep up with the customer demands and deliver the new cars in a reasonable amount of time. Small dealerships have customers waiting for newly ordered cars for 6- 7 months before they can even apply an open allotment to the order to have the car built. they just do not get enough open allotments per month as do the large dealerships. Not a sound business model to follow.
Congrats on emerging from bankruptcy. But it’s time to get on with business. And I think you guys are heading down the same track – putting too much emphasis on the customer.
The customer is the dealer’s responsibility, the manufacturer needs to build the best product for the market. Or create a market where one did not exist before. This is true in any industry, but in an industry with 3-4 year lead times on products, it’s imperative. Build the best quality vehicles. Spend R&D on filling big market opportunities. Listen to the economic and social telltales. Toyota did that (Prius), Apple did that (iPod, iPhone), Starbucks did that (create a place where people could talk about their Prius’s and iPhones while drinking designer coffee)
The dealer network is the front line to the customer. They need to put the customer first. I read a study about things adults hate doing. Buying a car was rated second to going to the dentist. My dentist’s office is a very cool place. And relaxing. I don’t mind going. If GM revolutionized the purchase process and dealer model, (and I mean turn the model on it’s head) people would flock. In today’s model the customer is not first. If the purchase process doesn’t change, the customer is not first and the rest of your efforts are wasted.
By all means GM should follow the latest trends to bolster sales. So, what are the hot new marketing trends?
Crack and Meth use is continuing to increase
Porn is as popular as ever, especially the “forbidden” types
Hookers are perennial favorites
Cheap booze is always popular, whatever the economy.
Tie the advertising with those trends, toss in some alluring female bodies in tacky, revealing outfits; sex sells, “cheap” sex sells better.
Pay some lip service to “green” concerns by slapping more “Flex-Fuel” stickers on vehicles that are sold hundreds of miles from any E-85 source (they’ll never fill up with non-existent E-85 anyway, so save some manufacturing dollars and just slap the sticker on anything that’s going to be sold where E-85 will never be found, if there is a problem it’s more than likely going to happen well after the vehicles are out of warranty); slander the competition whenever possible, blame poor product design on the UAW, squeal like a stuck pig whenever the media gives you a bad rap (deserved or not).
Take Sheth’s advice and don’t change anything about the way you’ve conducted business the past 40 years.
I’ve never stated nothing needs to be changed. I merely state facts which some find hard to accept. Thats all. Me stating that Gm sells more vehicles than Toyota or Honda may anger you but its a mere statement of fact. Nothing more. I never indicated that GM should not make any changes. I have stated in the past that much of the hard work has already been done and they are on the right track. Each new product they release shows they have learned quite a bit over the last 10 years or so. Its evident to all who chose to be objective. That would likely exclude you of course. Feel free to offer a quote supporting your notion that that I believe GM cannot be improved.
I try to limit my comments to facts and constructive criticism- foreign concepts to many here. That fact that my comments are rooted in sound logic and you appear to be quite emotional explains why we have so little common ground here. YOu want some advice for GM from me?
1. MAke sure there is a Cruze SS with the 2L turbo engine
2. Replace the 3L in the SRX with the 3.6L to boost performance
3. Reduce weight on all future vehicles by 3%-5%
How is that?
Congratulations from a Chinese Buick owner.
9 yaers ago I get my first car: a Buick Century . No matter what others are saying, I love my car and its builder(GM or Shanghai GM). Glad to see all the mess ended.
A suggestion: bring GMC to China, the new terrain is cool, and surely will beat boring competitors like RAV4 or CRV.
Mr Henderson recently was quoted as saying “Bob Lutz says a lot of things, but he works for me.” This puts out the wrong message. Upper management should have a unified voice. Other articles have shown that Mr. Henderson wants to “push down” decisions. Product decisions should be pushed down to Mr. Lutz. He knows cars. The Holden Commodore is a great car and it deserves to be sold in the US. Yes, some people will know it is a rebadge, but they will get over it. Thank you.
“1. MAke sure there is a Cruze SS with the 2L turbo engine
2. Replace the 3L in the SRX with the 3.6L to boost performance
3. Reduce weight on all future vehicles by 3%-5%
How is that?”
A good start, includes some things that can be put into place beginning with late 2010 model year vehicles, but I doubt it will be done in the next decade- I’m convinced we’ll be bailing out GM again within 5 years, because I don’t believe any corporation run by layers of executives who are more interested in their pay and bonuses, their perks, and their careers, than the futures of their workforce or the plight of the stockholders, can make the mindset changes necessary for long-term success.
Mediocre and even bad product hasn’t been GM’s biggest problem, as much as stupid, self-serving decisions made at the top. GM has some of the best designers and engineers in the world, and some of the best line workers anywhere. They aren’t, and they haven’t been, the problem. That has always been, and will always be, on the 14th floor.
I own 3 GM vehicles. I don’t totally hate them, but I do curse at them routinely.
Beaugrand:
I undertsand that you are obsessed with the past and the notion that every GM exec is lacking your intelligence but it all comes down to numbers. As currently structured GM can make money if sales rise over 10M units per year if they have an 18% marketshare. Its really that simple. You can talk about inept managment and mistakes from the 80s and 90s all day (and you will no doubt) but it really comes down to the numbers. GM will be profitable if the US auto marker experiences a modest rebound. Since you are dedicated executive basher I know you wont give credit to GM’s management for making GM’s plants more efficient, negotiating better agreements with the union, improving quality, improving design or anything else that has happened in the last decade but I assure you those things happened. GM could ONLY be saved because of the work that had been down before bankruptcy. When companies turn around they do so by implementing key strategies and making sure the new goals and methods of the company are embraced by the entire organization. You don’t need a wholesale firing of every GM manager to make the company profitable. If Fritz wasn’t up to the job we wouldn’t have the support of the auto task force or the new chairman of the board. YOu claim he won’t be able to succeed simply because he has been with the company for years but those paid to evaluate his performance and potential disagree. I’ll take their word for it if you don’t mind.
The champagne toast at the launching of the “New GM” viewed on every newscast–was a horrible way to try and convince the general public that ‘things were going to be run completely different.” Given the financial situation so many dumped GM employee families are being crushed by–not to mention USWA and IUE retirees that are now worried to death over loosing health care, life insurance, and pensions threatened—–I think tap water in paper cups would have been a great deal more appropriate. For those still loyal to the brand, you certainly were no help in their defending of GM with their neighbors and extended family. Nice going.
I wish you the best, but I don’t believe it either. I love my Pontiac Vibe. The Vibe is the best hatchback in its class. The HHR, in comparison, just sucks. However, Gm decided not to terminate the Pontiac brand and the Vibe. The Vibe could have been rebadged made a Chevy easily.
If you are listening, GM makes great trucks and SUVs. Its cars are just reliable and boring at best (Malibu) and terrible at worse (Cobalt). Most of us can’t afford a $40k truck or SUV. Make good $20k-$30k cars. You should also make a few $15k-$20k cars for the teen and college set. Mazda, Honda and Scion should be your pace cars. Make better cars than them.
Most dealer experience is already better than the foreign. Keep it up by teaching the dealers how to sell your cars and trucks. Reinforce with secret shoppers.
Sam,
Yes, the Vibe is a good car and it’s hard to understand GM’s motives for terminating it, or why they never more aggressively marketed it.
Over the last six months, the company I work for has bought several new cars for our motor pool for employee road trips. Those include a couple each of Malibus, Impalas, and Vibes, plus Ford Focuses and Fusions. During those six months I’ve had a chance to drive each, and two clear favorites have emerged — the Vibe and the Fusion.
When I have to attend a meeting on behalf of our company, I now request either a Vibe or a Fusion, and if I were in the market for a personal new car, both would be on my radar screen.
I’m sorry to hear they terminated the Vibe.
I am happy that GM is out of bankruptcy but wonder if we’ll see the “game changing ” products they’ve needed for so. I am a life-long CHevrolet man and huge 1st and 2nd generation Camaro fan. It was a shock losing the Camaro for a while but probably not a completely bad thing. The Camaros of the last 15 or 20 years were jokes compared to the Mustangs. There were so many defections among the loyal masses in my area that they’re too many to count. The new Camaro is a step in the right direction but will miss the markk if the current top performance model is the best it gets.
The quality was missing in most every format. Here’s to hoping they step up and deliver to lure people back.
One last thing, it is time to get GM products back in driveways and not focus on geting every penny you think you can. Cherry picking on incentives is a weak commitment to your customers in my opinion. I am currently in a leased Escalade and will, in th enext few weeks come out of it and purchase something else. I want a GMC Sierra 2500 HD with a Duramax but the incentives are not where they need to be to get me to commit. I am awaiting the August incentives to make a choice between two options:
1) Purchase a 2009 GMC Sierra 2500 HD with a Duramax powerplant because the incentives caught up with the offerings on the 1500, or
2) Purchase a used 2007 model from a good friend who is so disgusted with GM that he is planning to buy an F-250.
I want the new one but will not pay 5.9% financing. GM….commit to getting cars in driveways at any cost this year and this will do more than anything to set your course moving forward out of bankruptcy by showing growing public confidence in your product line.
Great thing about all this discussion is that it just proves that GM has again proved its importance and significance in the world of car production. Also, the potential of GM to be the best is unquestionable. But if there is something I want to happen, I would definitely agree above that a new car would not cost me 5.9% financing payment.