No one could miss the headline screaming “Whitacre wants more sales – NOW!” on the top of the front page in this week’s Automotive News. And as the story attempted to flesh out Big Ed’s growing impatience with the whole “sluggish sales” quandary that continues to vex GM – and the reassignment and in some cases jettisoning of sales and marketing executives – and after observing the day-to-day chaos that seems to define GM of late, I’m getting the distinct impression that Whitacre still doesn’t have a clue as to what he’s dealing with here in the auto biz.
So I thought I’d give Big Ed a few pointed reminders…
Dear Ed:
I’m sure you’ve figured this out about now, but just in case you haven’t, this business isn’t about consolidating “Baby” Bells, or fixin’ to make deals, or playing phone and cable customers off against each other, either. And it’s not about packaging cable, phone and Internet service into tidy little bundles that people can deal with by the month, at the expense of a competitor you want to bury.
Is this the future design of the fabled Corvette? Word has it GM wants a more “youth oriented” appeal with a smaller design for the next gen C-7. Whichever direction or market that they are targeting that is one smooth looking ride!
From AutoGuide.com:
General Motors sees rough waters ahead for the Corvette unless changes are made to the vehicle now. So in an effort to solve any potential issues before they actually become problems, Chevy has decided to look outside America for help.
So what would sort of problems could the incredibly capable American icon have? Well, according to a report in AutoWeek, GM saw a 48 percent sales decline for the Corvette over the last year, while the bigger issue might be that the average age of Corvette buyers continues to rise. Last year, the average age was 54. Chevy believes that in order to combat this issue and make the Vette more attractive to a younger demographic it needs a design change. After all, the car’s performance certainly can’t be in question.
Whatever happens with GM in the future you can’t say they aren’t trying everything they can think of to drive sales now. This new idea appears to be a sound one and I say keep reinventing yourself GM and good things may follow. I can’t help but get the feeling that GM is really changing for the better!
The trucks left Friday for a 40-factory road show to bring some of General Motors’ newest vehicles to the company’s workers across the country.
It’s part of GM’s effort to give more workers a chance to test-drive the company’s cars and trucks, and possibly lead to new sales for the automaker.
GM sales were up 14% in January, but the company is still rebuilding after emerging from bankruptcy in July.
Vehicles — such as the Chevrolet Equinox midsize SUV and Buick LaCrosse sedan — should arrive Monday at the first stops: GM plants in Arlington, Texas; Shreveport, La.; Defiance, Ohio, and Tonawanda, N.Y.
Looks like some real serious debate has been underway at the General regarding the next gen Corvette. Should they keep it simple and affordable or offer a higher end model to compete with the best the world has to offer? Either way please don’t jack up the price of the Vette and make it unattainable for those who truly love this American sports car legend.
From the Detroit Free Press:
As sure as the sun rises and God makes little green apples, there will always be a Chevrolet Corvette.
Exactly what the next generation of America’s most revered sports car will bring is the topic of intense study within General Motors, however.
The Corvette is arguably the world’s best sports car. It has looks that would make Ferrari proud, performance to match Porsche, and a price that undercuts both by tens of thousands of dollars.
It also has countless fanatical admirers and a devoted owner base built up over decades.
This article brings up a good point that the new GM has shed debt and restructured manufacturing to the point that the savings per vehicle is in the 5k range. The new CEO has a real chance to save GM from itself and I keep thinking Ford’s Jim Farley or Mark Fields might be the right person!
Ask people in Washington or on Wall Street who they want to see running General Motors Co. and the answer is the same: another Alan Mulally.
In the three years since Bill Ford Jr. hired him away from Boeing Co. to lead Ford Motor Co.’s turnaround, Mulally has transformed the Dearborn automaker from the then most troubled of Detroit’s Big Three to the strongest. Without any experience in the auto industry, he ended Ford’s decade-long decline in U.S. market share, changed its notoriously careerist corporate culture and secured enough financing to allow it to weather the economic crisis without resorting to a government bailout.
But while Mulally may have been an outsider, experts say he was an outsider with skills and experience that qualified him to lead an American automobile company.
GM will be showing the public it’s soon-to-be-launched Cruze mobile at the LA show this week. This car will actually get 40 mpg which is very impressive for a car to be on the road in 2010. We have not driven this car yet but I have to say the initial photos of the interior are pretty impressive.
General Motors Co. will get small-car serious at the Los Angeles Auto Show when it takes the wraps off the 2011 Chevrolet Cruze.
The Cruze, which will arrive in the third quarter of next year as the replacement for the Chevy Cobalt, will feature small, efficient engines and a six-speed transmission that will help it achieve up to 40 mpg on the highway. It could have a range of up to 600 miles.
The five-passenger Cruze debuted in Europe and Asia this year. GM will build the U.S. Cruze in Lordstown, Ohio.
“The amenities, quietness and roominess you expect in larger cars are what the Cruze delivers,” said Margaret Brooks, Chevrolet product marketing manager. “This is a car that will shake up the compact segment, with a more spacious interior and more cargo room than the Honda Civic and Toyota Corolla.”
We have more good news from GM. The news on the Chevy Equinox in particular isn’t surprising. It’s a sharp-looking vehicle with a very reasonable price, so it’s perfect for the current climate.
General Motors is examining ways to ramp up production of four newer models that are selling well above its expectations, a GM spokesman said on Wednesday.
All four models are greatly revamped from previous versions and one, the Chevrolet Camaro, was resurrected five months ago after being out of production for seven years.
The four models are the Chevrolet Equinox, a crossover utility vehicle; Buick LaCrosse, a sedan; Cadillac SRX, also a crossover; and the Camaro, a sports car.
The potential increase in production at GM could prompt more workers to be recalled from layoff, a rare bright spot for the world’s No. 2 automaker just two months after it emerged from bankruptcy protection.
GM spokesman Tom Wilkinson said GM knew it would have to increase production of some of its models after a summer when inventory levels were at unsustainably low levels, but that these four models in particular had outstripped expectations.
GM said it will also look for a second production plant for the Equinox, which is now assembled at the CAMI Automotive plant in Ingersoll, Ontario, which GM owns with Suzuki Motor (7269.T). The Terrain is also built there.
Sales for the 2010 model Equinox were about 9,900 through September 15. The redesigned Equinox was launched in June.
September will be a critical month. It’s important that sales don’t fall off too much following the end of the cash for clunkers program.
The Detroit News is reporting that another bidder has emerged for GM’s Opel unit.
General Motors Corp. has increased its negotiating options for its German subsidiary Adam Opel GmbH by obtaining a second offer from Beijing Automotive Industry Corp.
GM already is in talks to transfer control of cash-strapped Opel to a consortium led by Canadian supplier Magna International Inc. after concluding a preliminary deal on May 30.
But those discussions have hit stumbling blocks, with negotiators unable to agree on issues such as safeguards for GM and Opel proprietary technology.
GM continued talking to other potential partners, and GM spokesman Chris Preuss told Bloomberg News on Friday that Beijing Automotive had submitted an offer for Opel.
He did not elaborate except to say that it was a nonbinding proposal, like Magna’s.
Preuss said the talks with Magna remain on track.
Italy’s Fiat SpA and Brussels-based RHJ International SA also have expressed an interest in taking a stake in Opel. GM is also in talks with RHJ, an industrial holding company.
But Magna’s proposal prevailed in May, with both GM and the German government viewing it as the best solution for Opel. Berlin’s view matters because the German government is providing financial aid to Opel and trying to shield the Rüsselsheim-based carmaker from GM’s troubles.
The entire industry is being turned on its head, and it will be interesting to see how this plays out.
The GM restructuring plan will kill off Saturn and demote Pontiac.
And on Tuesday, when General Motors asked the federal government for more bailout money, it also announced a reorganization plan that included demoting Pontiac to a “focused niche brand,” signaling that its lineup of vehicles would shrink and that it would no longer be a separate division.
To industry analysts and Pontiac’s longtime fans, the downgrade provides a case study of the product missteps that helped put G.M. in its precarious state, and a reminder of the dangers in straying from a successful formula.
“When you deviate too far from it, that’s when you run into trouble as a brand and a company,” said Jack R. Nerad, executive editorial director at Kelley Blue Book, whose 1968 Firebird made him feel “as cool as I could be.”
More than any other G.M. brand, Pontiac stood for performance, speed and sex appeal. Its crosstown rivals followed with similar muscle cars, giving Detroit bragging rights over the cars that Japanese automakers were selling based on quality and reliability.
Though still G.M.’s third-best-selling division, behind Chevrolet and GMC, Pontiac’s sales peaked in 1984, when it sold almost 850,000 vehicles, roughly four times as many as it sold last year.
G.M.’s chief executive, Rick Wagoner, said the company’s decision to concentrate primarily on Cadillac, Chevrolet, Buick and GMC left the company with a “comprehensive portfolio.”
By many accounts, Pontiac started to falter when G.M. pursued a cost-saving strategy of providing the same cars to different divisions.
No kidding. It’s stunning that GM needs an economic catastrophe to admit to obvious truths.
This is the best thing for GM, and for Pontiac. Now, they can focus on cool cars, and maybe even recapture some of the muscle car glory of the brand’s past.
