If I ran GM..... (my opinion)

[isaaclud]

This is how I see fixing GM...I welcome feedback POS and NEGand your own "If I ran GM" statementsGM sells 53 cars and trucks....thats WAAAAY too manyHERE IS THE BREAKDOWN:(I checked it at all GM's sitesCHEVY (16 models)CADILLAC (6 models)PONTIAC (7 models)BUICK (5 models)SATURN (5 models)SAAB (4 models)HUMMER (3 models)GMC (7 models)way overkill IMOI have a bunch of things I would change for profitability....1.) KILL BUICK...totally cease production there, the existing customerswill either goto Cadillac/Chevy or Pontiac2.) SELL SAAB...Saabs just costing money....and people arent reallybuying SAAB when Volvo is getting so hot3.) MOVE TRUCKS to GMC.....no more Chevy trucks! everybody knowsGMC products are CHEVY and the other way around, that way you can turn Chevy into all cars....4.) OVERHAUL NORTHSTAR...its basically a 12 year old DOHCV8 and still making only 325 hp. NA.....thats HORRIBLEwhen you look at its competitors (aka ACURA 300hp V6)if GM wants to stay competitive in the luxury market....re-make thatgem of a motor there is more, but I digress, will save for laterTHOUGHTS!!!!!

[slvrvibes]

I totally agree that Buick needs to be killed off. Most of those customers would go to Cadillac cars anyway.I disagree on Chevy trucks however. Down here in TX, Chevy trucks are everywhere. And there are some die hard Chevy truck owners down here. I don't see nearly anywhere as many GMC trucks.

[ToolGuy]

I agree! And...Chevrolet only sells the minivan. We do not need 5 (joking) minivans! I say make SAAB part of Caddy! Make dealers sell all brands including Hummer and Saturn! The only Saturns I would buy are the Sky,Vue and the Arua! Other than those and just now, if Saturn does not perform kick them to the curb and stop making Saturn such a non-GM division. DCX is starting to do this, one stop shop dealer atmosphere! Stop all the fighting between divisions! This one wants a minivan, this one wants a convertible! Blah, blah, blah!

[isaaclud]

^my God, you're speaking of those down-syndrome-suburban looking uplander/SV6/Terraza/...whatever thingsthose are horribly ugly....i do NOT know whypeople are buying those things...they DO NOTLOOK like SUV's.....and they are not much lessthan a Sienna or Quest....so ugly, so ugly

[Mavrik]

Quote, originally posted by silverawd26 »Turbo Diesels in North America.... That is the way to go. Subaru is introducing a turbo diesel 250HP forester that on paper is suppose to get over 40mpg.But to the OP... I disagree with you.#1. People like veriety and when I worked for a GM dealership, Buick has a very large and loyal following. Its a fancy car for those folks who want the cadilac feel without the price.#2. People love their name brands. There are so many people I know that bought a chevy truck because its a chevy truck. Sure they know GM made it... but its still a Chevy. The dealership I worked at sold both Chev and GM trucks... oddly enough Chev truck sales were higher then GM truck sales. Its hard to say for sure but if you got two identical trucks but ones a chev and one is GM and Chev sells more... its name might have something to do with it. Also Chev does far more advertising then GM.#3 Keep Saab because if GM drops it, you know someone else will take it and make money off it. Not everyone is buying a volvo.

[isaaclud]

Quote, originally posted by Mavrik »Its hard to say for sure but if you got two identical trucks but ones a chev and one is GM and Chev sells more... fair enough....then KILL GMC totally....what do they sell that youcant get at CHEVY????that whole situation is superflous....every GMC truck sold is a CHEVYtruck that isnt sold.....or the other way around I guess

[scherry2]

the 900 series GMC and Chevy Trucks will not look like each other, GMC is going to be the uplevel truck and the Chevy will be the everyday joe truck.

[Cougar Vibe]

Turbo Diesels in North America.... That is the way to go. I'm nodding my head violently in agreement. I want torque!!! I want great gas mileage!!! I want clean diesel choices!!! Cougar Vibe

[NascarXprt]

Quote, originally posted by isaaclud »CHEVY CADILLAC PONTIAC SATURN SAAB HUMMER completely eliminate GMC all it is is just chevy with class just move em over to Cadillac. and also remove Bucik point less (JMO).Keep SAAB awsome cars and still getting better. Keep Saturn but get rid of the van and L series, beef up the Ion 4dr coupe with a little more ext styling.but other than that GM is doing ok. oh and keep the Vibe and G6 in the line up!!!!

[ToolGuy]

DaimlerChrysler for example has the following vehicles in diesel form in the states already:Jeep LibertyDodge SprinterDodge TrucksDiesels coming next year:Jeep Cherokee300CNew SprinterDifferent Diesel vehicles than the above already overseas:PT CruiserDodge Caliber (which will probably come to the states eventually) Tell Subi all that! I see diesel being a better alternative fuel than E85... New cleaner Diesel fuel is coming to the states as well as the Diesel Particulate Matter Filters which will be mandatory for all diesel engines regardless of who makes it and will clean the air even more from burning Diesel fuel! GM needs to step it up in the diesel market. Look at VW!

[tangerine]

We recently discussed this on my350z.com and I think it should go:Chevy: work trucks and herritage carsCaddy: luxuryPontiac: PerformanceSaturn: Euro carsGMC: Luxury trucksSaab Swedaneese styling as usual

[jimincalif]

Focus on consistent quality right out of the box, and engineer the cars not to fall apart. When the GM car Consumer Reports dots are mostly red like Honda & Toyota, they will sell more cars.

[tnpartsguy]

Quote, originally posted by isaaclud »This is how I see fixing GM...I welcome feedback POS and NEGand your own "If I ran GM" statementsI have a bunch of things I would change for profitability....1.) KILL BUICK...totally cease production there, the existing customerswill either goto Cadillac/Chevy or PontiacI disagree here, I say kill Saturn, and make Pontiac the performance Division, other than the Corvette.2.) SELL SAAB...Saabs just costing money....and people arent reallybuying SAAB when Volvo is getting so hotLeave Saab alone, oh....too late, they already GMized it, and thats why the cars aren't selling, the 9-2 is a Subaru with really UGLY panels attached, the 9-3 is a Saturn, again, with a really bad crop job to make it look like someone idea of a Saab, the 9-5 is the only REAL Saab left, the 9-7 is another Flippin Trailblazed CLONE3.) MOVE TRUCKS to GMC.....no more Chevy trucks! everybody knowsGMC products are CHEVY and the other way around, that way you can turn Chevy into all cars....Again, I don't agree, I think GMC should be the Medium Duty Trucks only (C4500~up, and Topkick/Kodiak, plus Cab and Chassis) and Chevrolet do all light truck. I think GMC has been diluted by all the stupid SUV's....GMC used to mean high quality heavy truck, now it's more like Mom's Soccer car.4.) OVERHAUL NORTHSTAR...its basically a 12 year old DOHCV8 and still making only 325 hp. NA.....thats HORRIBLEwhen you look at its competitors (aka ACURA 300hp V6)if GM wants to stay competitive in the luxury market....re-make thatgem of a motor Why Stop with the Northstar? GM doesn't build a high-quality, low noise, engine that has both good economy and horsepower, why not just redo ALL their engines, or better yet, buy them from someone who knows how to build a real motor... And please.....don't mention GM and Diesel in the same breath,.....GM knows absolutely NOTHING about a diesel except how to engineer it to fail....the DuraMax is a prime example.....Isuzu had the great engine, but GM redesigned the injection systems (Isuzu used DI on their version) and it's awful......the injectors won't go 100K milesand like you, there IS more, but I will watch and see what other people have to add before I continuethere is more, but I digress, will save for laterTHOUGHTS!!!!!

[ToolGuy]

"GM doesn't build a high-quality, low noise, engine that has both good economy and horsepower" My GM LS1 V8 small block gets both of the above...

[new05vibeowner]

Couldn't agree with Tangerine more. The Oldsmobile folks went to Buick, but do we need a near-luxury (Buick) and premium luxury (Cadillac) lines competing for the same AARP dollars? OK, I'll give you that the V-Series are interesting Caddys, who in the hell is going to pay $50K for a CTS, $75K for an STS, or $100K for a XLR-V?GM needs to re-price every vehicle in the line-up NOW to reflect what they sell for in real life, and ditch the incentives. Incentives twll the consumer that, hey, we actually think the car isn't worth what we've priced it at. Hopefully, Ford and DCX will do the same and let the market correct itself.Does anyone remember when the T-Bird was a very pricey car, say up to 1976? They stickered for $10K then, and when Ford rolled out the new '77, the cut the base price IN HALF. Pissed off a lot of '76 owners, but Ford recognised that the car was overpriced and they sold a lot more '77s than '76s.And yet, Honda and Toyota go happily on their way offering little to no rebates and set sales records every year. Hey GM, do you wonder why?THEY BUILD HIGH QUALITY VEHICLES THAT LAST THE LENGTH OF THE PAYMENTS (AND THEN SOME) AND DON'T DEPRECIATE 50% THE SECOND YOU DRIVE IT OFF THE LOT!Sorry, had to yell. Man, I feel better now.Case in point: my '05 Vibe has been in the shop for warranty work nine (9) times in 14 months. My wife's '04 Accord has NEVER been to the dealer other than for an oil change and one recall (air bag sensor).Resale Value: Accord is worth 80% of what I paid for it. Vibe is worth 60%, and it's a year newer.Bottom line is this: if GM does not soon remove its head from its rectum, it will be bankrupt and out of business. That's the way free enterprise works, and it's a prime example of how it SHOULD work.

[tnpartsguy]

I should have stated 'mass-produced' . The LS series engine for the 'vette's are the exception to the rule in GM's engine-land, as was the 2.2 l engine that ran the S-10 and it's sibling from the FWD side, also a 2.2 that powered many Cavilers and Sunfire, as well as Malibu's, Grand Am's ect....Quote, originally posted by MiVibe-ToolGuy »"GM doesn't build a high-quality, low noise, engine that has both good economy and horsepower" My GM LS1 V8 small block gets both of the above...

[michaelgt]

The first thing, you are incorrect in the vehicles that GM builds, and the brands. You are only referring to North America. You have forgotten Opel, Vauxhall, and Holden. Now, to get rid of Buick, how many Buick Franchisees are there? How much did GM pay per Oldsmobile franchisee to end agreement? Therefore, what is the cost to eliminate Buick?As for the diesels, if you notice, many of those that are mentioned will not have a diesel in early 2007. The manufacturers are afraid that the clean diesel that is required will not be as clean, and will cause problems in the injectors. If BP, Shell, etc. sell fuel that does not meet specifications, and GM vehicles fail, who pays the warranty? Does the consumer keep samples and sue the fuel station? I write this from the office of GM South Africa. That is why I am bringing these points to the discussion. I would make many more comments, but I learn so much in my job that is not general knowledge, that I have to be careful on what I share. Interestingly, I am leading a team that has individuals from GM Brasil and GM Europe on the team. GM is working hard to execute as a global company. Things have changed in the last year.

[ColonelPanic]

Very good points.Here's something interesting to chew on for the whole "whack this division" thing...http://www.businessweek.com/ma...1.htmQuote »In theory, Wagoner doesn't need the union's help to chop his bloated car brands. He just has to pay a lot of money. Plenty of outsiders have called for GM to kill at least one division, with struggling Buick and Pontiac the leading candidates. But look at how much money GM had to pay for its 2000 decision to eliminate the smaller Oldsmobile unit. It was obligated under dealer franchise agreements to buy back parts, cars, and some service department tooling. And to keep dealers happy, the company paid them $3,000 per vehicle sold in the last full year. The final bill for closing Olds came to about $1 billion. It left plants that made the cars underutilized, and cost GM market share.It's not going to be cheap for GM to buy any of their division's way out of existance, they still are probably feeling the hit from Oldsmobile. You can't just kill a brand and call it done... There's so much involved here, and just a few years post Oldsmobile, can they handle another blow like that?I think GM can get themselves back into shape and not have to resort to anything drastic. They've got the resources, they can work on making more efficient use of what they have. It will just take leadership that will allow that to happen instead of keeping things the same ol' same ol'. For their product portfolio: A good start would be to stop focusing on SUV's in the US. Looking at the US lineup, it isn't that attractive but when you expand out globally, there's a few neat vehicles out there that can be found everywhere but here. At least I think so, there's several I'd love to see here. Hopefully this trying to be a global company thing will yield some great new products, even if they're new to us.

[new05vibeowner]

I remember when DCX made the decision to kill two brands under the corporate portfolio, who sold "badge-engineered" versions of existing Chrysler product. Remember Eagle and Plymouth?As for the worldwide brands of GM, Caddy tried to sell a version of an Opel and called it the Catera, and Pontiac tried the same with a Holden and called it the GTO.