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Automotive News & Views What if you were in charge of GM?
874 messages, Last post on Oct 28, 2009 at 10:20 AM
You are in the Automotive News & Views Forum. Your Hosts are steve_ & claires
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Replying to: nippononly (Nov 06, 2008 1:05 pm) |
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Replying to: jae5 (Nov 06, 2008 11:02 am)
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I was thinking exactly the same thing, cooterbfd. I'm not a lawyer but, nippononly, if you were a dealer being strangled, wouldn't you start a class action suit, or at least join one, against the auto company for, at a minimum, violating the spirit of the law? The Detroit Three and the unions have no doubt made big mistakes over the years, but at this point there are no easy solutions to their problems, only difficult and painful ones. It's really too bad, and it impacts many, many people. I don't hold myself out as an expert on this matter, by any means, but my sense of things is that an additional $25 billion (for a total of $50 billion) would be insufficient, given their current and collective cash burn rate.
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Replying to: hpmctorque (Nov 06, 2008 2:14 pm) |
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Replying to: nippononly (Nov 06, 2008 1:05 pm) How about this variant? Say GM has decided that the only two brands it wants left are Chevy and Caddy. So for each other brand, start phasing out brand-unique vehicles. EVERY vehicle sold by Pontiac, Saturn, Saab, Buick, etc. is an exact copy rebadge of a Chevy vehicle! No more separate taillights or grills! Same options lists as Chevy! For example, in 2 years Pontiac has only a G6 that is *exactly* the same as the Malibu, with Pontiac badges. No brand identity, but it's still a Pontiac! And a couple of other cars/SUVs similarly. So if you're a Pontiac dealer you can still sell Pontiacs! But GM really has only Chevy and Caddy, and the other brands just sell Chevies with new badges. And then offer these dealers incentives to switch to Chevy! So the advantage is: Each franchisee still gets products to sell. GM only has to focus on great design and products for Chevy and Caddy. Other brands get new badges and nothing else. GM consolidates brand HQs into the Chevy division, since they're only rebadges of Chevies. GM can provide some minimal advertising for the other brands - in fact, use the same commercial and put the alternate brand name on it! (rebadged commercial!). GM can now focus and saves a ton of money. GM also doesn't get sued by Pontiac, Saturn, and Buick dealers as they still get products to sell. GM doesn't have to pay those dealers to close shop, they can hang around if they want to. Each franchisee knows that while they get products indefinitely, their line is done, strategically. They have incentives to move on. They can take six months or 3 years, but eventually there will be few dealers left of the other brands and those brands can die a slow death.
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Replying to: tlong (Nov 06, 2008 10:02 pm) |
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Replying to: tlong (Nov 06, 2008 10:02 pm) GM only has to focus on great design and products for Chevy and Caddy. Other brands get new badges and nothing else. GM consolidates brand HQs into the Chevy division, since they're only rebadges of Chevies. Take that idea a little farther. A town about 20 miles from me has a Chevy dealer and a Pontiac/Buick/GMC dealer about one mile apart. There are probably hundreds of other towns, suburbs with similar dealer proximities. Would not Chevy dealers bring lawsuits on GM for violating some kind of exclusivity arrangements for "territory" infringement? Aren't dealers given a territory in which to operate?
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Replying to: xrunner2 (Nov 07, 2008 7:41 am) I will use the bailout money to buy out workers that can not be part of the new company so they will have enough funds to re-train, including supplier companies that are affected by the massive changes I propose. The U.A.W. would go away under my plan as well as guaranteed pension costs and health care for retired since B.O. will fix health care in the U.S. while I rebuild the Auto Industry and Chevy and Cadillac would emerge when the smoke cleared as the twin divisions. I do not expect any bonus to be paid until every cent of the loans from the Government are paid and profits EXCEED the industry benchmarks. Market share would drop as production is reduced to dry up all of the excess capacity in the new/used market. After 3 years, no old platforms would exist as they are know today. Minimum efficiency specifications for both divisions would be 20 MPG City fuel economy and average would be 35 MPG COMBINED target 2011. Chevy Corvette Camaro Malibu Caravan Jeep - 4 variants Tahoe WOW (my pet economy car beating Civic price and Economy) Cadillac Alpha (3-Series Fighter with Economy, Mid-Level and High Performance) Alpha CUV - Eldorado is the name for the alpha's CTS - Would be changed to Electra SRX - Changed to Park Avenue DTS - Changed to DeVille Escalade Regards, OW
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Replying to: xrunner2 (Nov 07, 2008 7:41 am) I guess you could say that GM is already "rebadging" cars, as there is a company in Austrailia that will sell a kit to "convert" your G8 to a Holden Commodore for $4,000. All it is is a body kit that bolts on. This tells me that the easiest way is to just built quality cars that appeal to everybody. The Malibu, G6, and Aura all sit on the same platform, just as the Toyota Camry, Highlander, Venza, Avalon, and their Lexus variants do. I'd be willing to bet that that is where the biggest savings comes from, in that all these cars can be built on the same assembly line using the same basic structural architecture. I believe that if the G6 were as good as the Malibu, and the Aura were sold at more than just 500 dealerships, they could sell close to, if not more than, 1 million of these 3 per year total. But the G6 can't hold a candle to the Malibu, and the Aura is "hidden" at the few Saturn dealers that exist, so I guess they'll have to settle with half that amount, with 2/3-3/4 of those sale being Malibus. THAT'S where bad planning comes in. |
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Replying to: circlew (Nov 07, 2008 8:01 am) 
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