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Automotive News & Views GM News, New Models and Market Share
8236 messages, Last post on Nov 21, 2009 at 6:00 PM
You are in the Automotive News & Views Forum. Your Hosts are steve_ & claires
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Replying to: 62vetteefp (Jan 13, 2009 3:42 am) Thanks for setting the record straight on the warranty work and ability of GM deals to work on all brands. The Cadillac story sounds like another of the GM stories that don't sound quite right but are used to diminish GM's product over and over.
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"Not to help you out by responding since I doubt we will ever hear from you again but I do feel sorry for Honda for introducing their Insight this year. Hybrid sales are tanking due to gas under $2 and their price AND our economy allows few the luxury of paying more to be "green" 62vetteefp. I am just wondering. Did you also feel sorry for Honda and Toyota when they introduced their hybrids earlier this decade when fuel was dirt cheap? I know GM did feel sorry for them and laughed at the same time. This is exactly the short-sighted type of thinking that GM people are suffering from. When fuel prices went up. Toyota had the Prius. GM had nothing comparable. When prices of fuel will go up again in 2 years or so, Toyota and Honda will have their hybrids which will have been selling for a time long enough to be profitable. Will the Volt be profitable? With this type of shortsightness, let's just hope GM doesn't declare bankruptcy by then.
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Replying to: torque_r (Jan 13, 2009 8:18 pm) This is exactly the short-sighted type of thinking that GM people are suffering from. I predict that the Honda Insight will end up being a successful car. This is a strategy measured in decades, not 1-2 years. Gas will not be cheap forever. GM has the Volt coming but looks to have some major usability issues IMHO - cost, 40 miles on a charge only then you are running on gas through an intricate charging system. GM also has the light hybrid system which is nearly worthless. GM also has the two mode hybrid system which was trumpeted on these boards a couple of years ago but seems only to be available on SUVs and has not lit the world on fire. Perhaps they will soon put it out in a smaller car and then we can see if it is as good as supporters claim. My point is that while Toyota, Honda, and apparently Ford (Fusion) all have very practical, reasonable cost and performance hybrid products that are in CARS, GM is still not there. Where is their high volume, PRACTICAL new-age propulsion system? Just don't see it yet. See the below excerpt from a Feb 2008 article, obviously written before the late 2008 bailout disasters - this is *another* example of my case that Wagoner has a serious case of poor strategic direction: Not to put too fine a point on it, GM is ignoring the old maxim: when you’re in a hole, first, stop digging. The automaker is continuing to spread its hybrid efforts thin with its (rushed and compromised) mild hybrid Malibu. It continues to pursue the hugely expensive, untried and untested Volt electric – gas plug-in hybrid. And it refuses to abandon its two-mode snafu. Meanwhile, Toyota is plugging away at its Synergy Dive, steadily lowering costs, bringing the fuel efficient drivetrain within the price range of similarly capable gas engines. GM remains held captive by its unrealistic goal of creating a truly revolutionary drivetrain. Like a degenerate gambler with a shrinking bankroll, GM seems convinced that ever bigger risks are the key to emerging from its decades-long neglect of fuel efficient vehicles. Rather than chasing the big score, GM would be far better off ceding the hybrid market. If it can’t satisfy new federal corporate average fuel economy regulations using traditional technology, it should join Nissan and license Synergy Drive from Toyota. That way it could concentrate its time and resources on restoring its branding and quality, and, thus, its fortunes.
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Replying to: imidazol97 (Jan 13, 2009 7:25 pm) Sorry but I'd like another source cited please. Especially since neither a Saturn dealer nor a Pontac/Buick/GMC dealer would even work on my old Chevy Corsica under warranty (while it was under warranty anyway)...they said it had to be taken to a Chevy dealer. The story sounds just about right to me, given my experience. I don't think GM sets and.or enforces standards of conduct on their dealerships, and that's probably another issue they need to fix. ESPECIALLY if this sort of thing is inconsistent from dealer to dealer (which is pretty easy with so many brands running around).
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Replying to: imidazol97 (Jan 13, 2009 7:25 pm) Others seem to be on the same page.  Regards, OW |
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Replying to: bpizzuti (Jan 14, 2009 3:20 am) I had to envoke the Lemon Law system before they discovered a defective part in my Denali. That was in 2004. If you want proof of that instance let me know. Regards, OW
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Replying to: imidazol97 (Jan 13, 2009 7:25 pm) Thank you for contacting Cadillac and your interest in the 2009 Escalade. We appreciate the time you have taken to write us. For warranty service, we recommend that you take your vehicle to the selling dealership. Your Cadillac dealer has the proper tools, training, and parts inventory to make any necessary warranty repairs should they be required. In an emergency situation, you may visit another authorized General Motors dealer for warranty service. However, certain warranty repairs require special tools or training that only a dealer selling your brand may have. Therefore, not all dealers are able to perform every repair. Please speak with your dealer for more information. You can find nearby dealers by using the Dealer Locator web tool at http://www.cadillac.com. At Cadillac, we strive to provide exceptional customer service. If we can be of any further assistance please email us or call 1-800-333-4223 Monday through Friday between the hours of 8am to 9pm Eastern Time, and Saturday 9am to 6pm. Thank you for contacting Cadillac. Sincerely, The Cadillac Marketing Team http://www.cadillac.com/
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The Audi Sportback and Cadillac Converj won the EyesOn Design awards for the most significant concept vehicle designs to debut at the 2009 Detroit auto show. EyesOn Design winners, announced this afternoon, are selected by some of the best designers and academics in the business. They choose the best designs from the floor of the 2009 North American International Auto Show. The winners in the production vehicle category were the Audi R8 V10 and BMW Z4. This year’s three chief judges were Chris Bangle, design chief at BMW; Willie G. Davidson, executive vice president and chief styling officer at Harley-Davidson; and Larry Erickson, chair of transportation design for the College for Creative Studies. Overall, 23 judges took part in selecting this year’s winners in the fifth annual design awards. |
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By Bill Visnic Jan. 13, 2009 In announcing a plan to assemble in Michigan the lithium-ion battery packs for the Chevrolet Volt extended-range electric vehicle, General Motors Corp. also is forming an education cooperative that aims to train a new breed of engineer that can commingle electrical and automotive knowledge. Part of GM's multi-faceted approach to build a foundation for the domestic development and supply of advanced batteries for the auto industry is a $5-million, 5-year program that establishes at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor the GM/U-M Advanced Battery Coalition for Drivetrains (ABCD). Ann Marie Sastry, the Univ. of Michigan's Arthur F. Thurnau Professor of Mechanical, Biomedical and Materials Science and Engineering - and U-M's co-director of the ABCD - said at the Detroit auto show here the program also incorporates a new Master's degree called Energy Systems Engineering. About 25 U-of-M students and 50 GM engineers last week began the one-year Energy Systems Engineering track, Sastry said. The course is available online and focuses on three competencies that interrelate for vehicle battery development, she said: portable electronics, vehicle technology and electricity-grid infrastructure. Sastry said portable electronics are an area of concentration because many battery developments currently are driven by the personal-electronics industry. And understanding of the energy-grid infrastructure is vital because it will be important to optimize the connection between advanced hybrid and electric vehicles and the grid. "Michigan is going to become a hotbed for this kind of activity," said Jim Queen, GM's group vice president of global engineering. "This is a larger societal problem we're addressing together." The 75 or so students enrolled in the initial Energy Systems Engineering track are just a start, however: "We need thousands of engineers in this space," said Sastry. Go to: http://www.autoobserver.com/2009/01/gm-initiative-to-be-incubator-for-battery-en- gineering-education.html http://interpro.engin.umich.edu/igpinfo.htm?itemid=74&id=9 |
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Replying to: circlew (Jan 14, 2009 4:26 am) No, I believe you, and it doesn't surprise me. |
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