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Can GM make Cadillac the standard of the world Again?

6098 messages,  Last post on Aug 14, 2009 at 4:43 PM

You are in the Automotive News & Views Forum. Your Hosts are steve_ & claires

What is this discussion about? Cadillac Escalade, Cadillac XLR, Cadillac STS, Automotive News


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#5792 of 6098
Re: With the Big Three gone... [cooterbfd] by nvbanker
Nov 03, 2008 (11:17 am)
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Replying to: cooterbfd (Oct 30, 2008 2:20 pm)

I agree generally, with Cooter. Competition, the free market, and yes, even greed are good for the consumer at the end of the line. It's what has given us the quality of cars we have today. Do you think for one minute GM would be building the Malibu of today were it not for Toyota and Honda building Camcords like they do? Nope - they would still be putting out the 1977 Cutlass, with doors that won't shut without lifting them up, engines that get 7 mpg, and bodies that rust in the showroom..... Sure, only the strong survive, and that can be devastating to those who are weak, or don't change rapidly enough, but the consumer is getting a great car now at a decent price because of the free market and competition.
#5793 of 6098
Re: With the Big Three gone... [nvbanker] by circlew
Nov 03, 2008 (3:16 pm)
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Replying to: nvbanker (Nov 03, 2008 11:17 am)

Yes, best interior for any car GM put out for many, many years...the thing is they are always so far behind the curve. Your post is dead nuts on.
 
Regards,
OW
#5794 of 6098
Easy FIX by zoomzoomdlr
Nov 03, 2008 (4:37 pm)
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Step #1 - Scrap Buick
Step #2 - Stop using global platforms for Caddy.
Step #3 - Keep LaNeve out
Step #4 - Decide who your target demographic is
Step #5 - Cater to ONE demographic and do it better than everyone else
Step #6 - Defect from GM altogether.
#5795 of 6098
Re: Easy FIX [zoomzoomdlr] by cooterbfd
Nov 03, 2008 (4:55 pm)
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Replying to: zoomzoomdlr (Nov 03, 2008 4:37 pm)

Just go back to Mazdaland where you belong. Stop trolling or say something meaningful, not snide.
#5796 of 6098
People don't forget bad experiences by lokki
Nov 04, 2008 (1:09 pm)
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People don't forget bad experiences and that's not just about GM.
 
My grandfather had (according to family legend) the steering wheel come off in his hands on his new '49 Ford. Whatever the truth to that story, he would never buy a Ford after that, and none of his four children ever did either, and that's verifiable fact. 50 years of lost customers from one defect.
 
It's also a fact that many people still don't believe in GM's reliability, no matter how good it's gotten over the past several years. GM needs something to change people's perceptions. It's that or suffer through another generation of lost sales.
 
I keep wanting GM to do something dramatic to demonstrate the quality of its new cars..... Say, take a CTS to Times Square, and have it running at 70 mph day and night on a demo platform for a year with robot arms opening and closing the doors and trunk, with the lights flashing on and off, stereo blasting - oil changes done with the engine running etc.
 
The idea is that nothing should break during the test. It might not really be an effective test or prove anything in truth, but it would be a great advertisement.
 
This kind of thing is nothing new - recall Volvo running over a line of cars with a Monster Truck (OK - they got caught cheating, but GM wouldn't cheat this time) and Mercedes did it a few years ago with 3 diesels going 100,000 miles nonstop.
http://www.edmunds.com/insideline/do/Features/articleId=105899
 
I think it would be a great attention-getter.
#5797 of 6098
Re: People don't forget bad experiences [lokki] by tlong
Nov 04, 2008 (10:36 pm)
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Replying to: lokki (Nov 04, 2008 1:09 pm)

I think it would be a great attention-getter.
 
Nah. Too innovative for GM.
 
That's one reason I see Ford as having a better chance. Even if they don't have a lot of money to develop new cars, they take an old Focus platform and put SYNC in it. They work on a new Fusion and it has an innovative dash display. They also have Mazda which adds a lot of innovation - better than GM's sources such as Holden IMHO. And Ford is much less bloated and has a better cash position. And if GM gets Chrysler, well, 10 divisions here we come...
#5798 of 6098
Re: Easy FIX [zoomzoomdlr] by 62vetteefp
Nov 05, 2008 (3:47 am)
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Replying to: zoomzoomdlr (Nov 03, 2008 4:37 pm)

Bit confused by #2. Cadillac does not use a "global platform" unless we consider all GM's platforms global because they sell globally?? Or then again the Escalade is Global but I doubt that is what he/she was referring to.
#5799 of 6098
Re: Quality [cooterbfd] by aspesisteve
Nov 11, 2008 (1:27 pm)
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Replying to: cooterbfd (Oct 28, 2008 7:32 pm)

"What incentive does Honda have to build more plants here if the Big 3 go belly up and Honda needs the extra capacity to make up for the demand created by the loss of Big 3 products??? "
 
uh, the same incentive they have for building them in the US today?
you think Honda will just pack their bags if GM goes under? you think creating artificial jobs with tax payer dollars makes sense? How fair is that to Honda, Toyota and Nissan who have plants here and employ Americans with decent paying jobs that quite frankly are alot more secure than any employee at GM.
 
If you can't beat em, join em. If you can't join em, then you'll go under. This isn't about saving an endagered species.
 
"First of all, gas was $1 a gallon when GM was lobbying for that (Hummer tax credit). Why wouldn't you do what you can to encourage people into a vehicle you make $10 grand profit on???"
 
Because it showed a lack of vision while Toyota was busy developing the Prius.
I'm amaized that even through hindsight you can't see that. And part of that $10 grand in profit came at the expense of the tax payers. We should be giving tax credits to people who are willing to conserve energy, not needlessly burn it up.
#5800 of 6098
Re: Quality [aspesisteve] by cooterbfd
Nov 11, 2008 (6:26 pm)
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Replying to: aspesisteve (Nov 11, 2008 1:27 pm)

Selling the Hummer wasn't a lack of vision, not expanding the EV-1 to a Prius like car, or offering a Duramax in the Hummer WAS.
 
I don't think Honda will "pack it in", but if they share suppliers of components with the Big 3, and the supplier goes under or is unable to supply Honda with any extra components to pick up the slack for the needed demand of their cars, they'll just import them or the whole cars to NA from wherever else they are made. From this point on, there will be no incentive to add plants. What incentive is there to build TV's here??? NONE!! How many are built here??? None.
#5801 of 6098
Re: Quality [cooterbfd] by jimbres
Nov 12, 2008 (6:42 am)
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Replying to: cooterbfd (Nov 11, 2008 6:26 pm)

From a marketing perspective, cars & TVs are different beasts. Car makers learned a long time ago that to sell large numbers of vehicles in a particular market, they must have plants in that market. If the market is big enough, they'll also set up design & engineering facilities there.
 
With TVs, there aren't many differences from one market to the next. What sells well in east Asia will probably sell just as well in Europe & North America. But vehicles require much more market-specific differentiation. For example, hatchbacks sell very well in western Europe but bomb in North America.
 
With cars, if you don't have a plant in a market, then you won't be a serious player in that market.

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