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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: tlong (Nov 07, 2008 4:54 pm) That could work. It was proven in recent election where voters were conned into voting for a guy with no credentials. There is the old saying of a Sucker born every minute which was proved with Obama. There are still enough fools who would believe Elmer Gantry, Jim Baker and his wife and a Pontiac/GMC dealer about a rebadged Malibu being an upscale Pontiac
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Replying to: nippononly (Nov 07, 2008 5:34 pm) This is a much more radical idea. Call it the "Orphaned Divisions Plan". Key points: 1. Consolidate all of the divisional headquarters of the Saab, Pontiac, Saturn, GMC, Buick (hereafter referred to as the "Orphan Brands") under Chevy and get rid of 99% of those divisional staff. So you eliminate those costs. 2. Take GMs 10 or 15 best vehicles, and KILL all the others. Chevy and Caddy split them up according to which vehicle fits which make - this is now like Toyota and Lexus. Decide which of the Chevy vehicles can be renamed to provide product to the Orphan Brands. Perhaps Pontiac gets 5 vehicles, perhaps Buick gets 4 vehicles, etc. Caddy's vehicles are exclusive to Caddy only. 3. Get rid of separate marketing materials for the Orphan Brands. See that Chevy brochure for the Traverse? Take the source file, replace the Chevrolet emblem and word "Chevrolet" in the brochure with "GMC" and "Acadia". No other differences in the brochure. So you eliminate separate marketing budgets, etc. 4. Only one set of commercials for Chevys, then take the same commercial and replace "Chevy Traverse" with "GMC Acadia". Repeat for all other Orphan Brand vehicles. Guess what? Pontiac, Buick, Saab, and Saturn are now also the Heartbeat of America and are as good as Mom, Apple Pie, and Hot Dogs! Virtually no extra costs. 5. FOCUS on making and designing new QUALITY vehicles for Chevy and Caddy. No more junk. Keep the number of models under control. Rebadge some of the Chevys to keep some product going to the Orphan Brands. You basically kill all of the various taillights, body panels, and interiors on similar vehicles and save those costs. You kill the corporate divisional HQ's of Saab, GMC, Buick, Pontiac, and Saturn and save those costs. GM may have had identical rebadges in the past but they never did it like this extensively. And while we're ranting, get some new upper management and FOCUS on product. You think a $40K plug in hybrid or a retro V8 muscle car are going to have enough volume to save GM? Get some management who can make smart strategic decisions. Why isn't GM making a small car as good as the Mazda 3, as reliable as the Honda Civic, or as fun to drive as the Mini Cooper? They need to focus on excellent, high volume vehicles, as nobody is going to support the world's largest car company on a plugin at $40K or a V8 muscle car!
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Replying to: tlong (Nov 07, 2008 5:51 pm) Chevrolet and Cadillac are gold plated and must be retained as brands. Pontiac, Buick, Saturn are expendable as brands. But, what about legal entanglements with Saturn, Buick/Pontiac/GMC dealers? Apparently, GM cannot just kill a brand without serious legal implications. Is there a way that Obama can intervene and neutralize dealers of Saturn, Pontiac, GMC, Buick?
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Replying to: tlong (Nov 07, 2008 5:51 pm) Yep. High volume and "profitable". GM is in same straits as you or I when in bad financial straits. I, we, jettison, superfluous such as cable, magazines, expensive cell plans, weekend restaurant meals, etc. For GM, anything not high volume and not profitable must go. This might include Solstice, Camaro. The only thing to hang onto would be Corvette for image. |
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Replying to: xrunner2 (Nov 07, 2008 6:09 pm) You don't kill those brands, you just give their dealers rebadged Chevys, thus avoiding any complaints about GM not supplying them with product. |
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Replying to: xrunner2 (Nov 07, 2008 5:46 pm) 
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Replying to: tlong (Nov 07, 2008 4:56 pm) To summarize: I want distinct Cadillac styling and character I want a level of luxury equal or surpassing that of the S-Class I want performance and handling equal or surpassing that of the 7-Series I want reliability equal or surpassing that of the Lexus LS460 |
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Replying to: lemko (Nov 08, 2008 7:23 am) Regards, OW |
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Replying to: lemko (Nov 08, 2008 7:23 am) I want distinct Cadillac styling and character I want a level of luxury equal or surpassing that of the S-Class I want performance and handling equal or surpassing that of the 7-Series I want reliability equal or surpassing that of the Lexus LS460 Are you willing to pay $15k to $30k more to get your wishes? The bottom of the line S550 is about $35,000 more than the Caddy DTS.
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Replying to: gagrice (Nov 08, 2008 10:47 am) the Challenge: Can the US make better cars for less? The Genesis might not be better than the Merc S550 but I'll bet a new entity that arises out of the ashes of the current industry will be able to provide excellence once again. Right now, the DTS Perf. costs $60K...now all you need to do is beat the S-Class with a new design and premium parts. Regards, OW
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