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General Motors discussions
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It has nothing to do with style, and nothing to do with how good the car itself is, but is simply there, in your face. Like the ad which was always saying to go Head2Head to compare their vehicle to others. Well, I did that - now what? I assume they are to win the challenge in a head to head, as the ad implies. I must have missed something. At least in most the comparisons I tried, the closest may have been a near miss. What it would more likely be is a preference in looks, ride, as in actually driving the car, or some loyalty to GM products / feel I guess. Raw data did not seem to blow away another car in the comparisons. I could see how someone may like the looks of say the Impala over the Accord, or like the old push-rod engines or for some other reason, but in the specs, I did not see the advantage there. And the Sonata, just by the numbers and content, is gonna win, as you know. Have no idea if the car is actually a good choice, but once again, it was GM which invites people to go head to head in comparing cars by the specs - data sheets. Same with a warranty, if it is going to in your face - advertised all over America, then I guess it is something to examine. To me it looks better than the worse, but not quite the best. How am I wrong in what the figures yield?
-Loren
Rocky
The 5 yr. 100K powertrain warranty is standard on all GM brands for year 2007.
3/36K is standard "bumper to bumper" on all brands except the brands with the 4/50K "bumper to bumper" which includes the following. Buick, Cadillac, Saab.
Rocky
Rocky
Why do they play suchg stupid games. It's like when the G6 came out and GM ran an ad trumpeting "The most powerful standard V6 does not come in the Altima 2.5 S" Well d'uh. The 2.5 S is a four cyclinder. If you want to compare V6s, the G6 was only 65 hp short.
Each of the big 3 had at least several 'recoveries' and major crises during the last five years. As soon as one of them thought it had the road to steady profits figured out, here came another major blowout, worse than the last.
A carmaker can't really recover unless 1) it stops bleeding market share and 2) it starts making serious profits on each and every car it sells. Any other recovery is illusory. If I'm not mistaken, GM, Ford or Chrysler is far far from either. And really has no credible strategy to accomplish either.
And how does this statement you made contradict my point that GM is only giving a solid warranty to their upper end lines?????? Seems you made my point, and I rest my case.
Differing warranties means the junk gets a junk warranty, the decent gets a decent warranty.
Now back to regular programming -- Will styling save GM? To that I say, first we have to see some serious styling. OK, the CTS and Solstice may be examples. Those to help, so add a check mark in the plus column. Now count the also ran --- maybe not, it will be depressing.
-Loren
It sure would have been nice if they could have sprung for the DOHC engine as standard. Or had a class-leading DOHC four to drop in there as the base engine, and maybe have 3 engine options. As things stand, I wonder if the projected switch to more fuel-frugal cars will actually occur in America, and if so if it will hurt sales of V-6 midsize sedans, such as this one.
Does the General have any competition for smaller cars planned besides the slightly revised Aveo? It would be cool to see Saturn have a car smaller than Ion and its replacement. A 108" wheelbase makes for a pretty large Saturn Astra next year.
2014 Mini Cooper (stick shift of course), 2016 Camry hybrid, 2009 Outback Sport 5-spd (keeping the stick alive)
M
I know GM has gotten their styling more on track lately with Caddy especially and the Buick Lucrene but Pontiac needs a huge overhaul which I hope it will get. GM is in the same situation as Toyota right now in terms of core buyers: relying on the baby boomers to carry their brand.
Gm has made mistakes with the Gen X and Y thinking they will "buy American" like Boomers did back in the 80's. Young people like me are fussy on what we want. I don;t like when a brand like Gm lays out a product like Gm did in the 90's and expects to buy it like the boomers did in the 80's. It has to have good exterior styling and good interior plastics which was 2 things Gm didn't have in the 90's.
Rocky
True. But what car manufacturer are you referring to? Toyota?
-Loren
GM
Rocky
The ultimate alliance: GM and Ford
Detroit's 2 titans talk about a partnership that would rock the industry -- and send Carlos Ghosn packing
Senior executives at General Motors and Ford Motor Co. have discussed a merger or alliance, according to several sources familiar with the talks. But it is not at all clear whether the negotiations will bear fruit. As of now, the two companies are not holding talks, and one source says there's a slim chance that anything will come of it. story Published: 9/18/06 6:00 AM [SUB][$]
2002/03 was revolutionary for Nissan. Shouldn't GM (and Ford) be aiming for the same agility?
Rocky
Rocky
http://media.gm.com/servlet/GatewayServlet?target=http://image.emerald.gm.com/gm- news/viewpressreldetail.do?domain=2&docid=28560
On the other hand, Honda is starting to back away from Hybrids altogether, as its Hybrid Civic and Accord are not selling well at all.
Still no indication Toyota is going to offer a dual phase hybrid.
GM is also launching the largest fleet of fuel cell vehicles - 100 Equinox with fuel cells - on the market to date.
On to your next theory.
With the exception of Hybrids, the two are strong in the same North American segments and have issues in the same.
GM is stronger in Asia-Pacific and slightly so in South America. Ford is a little stronger in luxe Europe. GM is stronger in middle market Europe.
It may make sense if the companies were to expand co-operative r&d projects, as they did with the 6 speed automatic. This would put them somewhat closer on par with the Japanese and Europe, where safety and fuel economy research is underwritten by the government. On the other hand, Ford did not show much interest in the dual phase hybrid system. Maybe an alliance would incorporate some requirement the two co-operate in more instances.
Don't know, really. I think the strongest possible mergers out there would be Renault/Nissan and Ford and GM and Honda.
This idea has been bandied about before (most recently by the Wall Street Journal), and it makes absolutely no sense.
The Aura will be available come March 07 with the value hybrid system, which matches the DOHC 2.4 litre ecotec and an electric engine. Expect mpgs around 34 highway, I guess.
Does the General have any competition for smaller cars planned besides the slightly revised Aveo? It would be cool to see Saturn have a car smaller than Ion and its replacement. A 108" wheelbase makes for a pretty large Saturn Astra next year.
Lutz earlier said not until the next generation Corsa, which will not be here until '10. I expect the Corsa launching in EU this month will find its way here as a Saturn before that, however.
I also think the Astra will be available with a clean burning diesel, which should have mpgs in the 40s or higher.
The shift in product mix exposed a key vulnerability: GM sorely needs a healthy top line to meet enormous fixed costs such as health care and pensions.
"The company has had a difficult time driving revenue growth, which is, long term, the best indicator in determining the health of the company," says John Casesa, managing partner of Casesa Shapiro Group LLC in New York.
In the second quarter of this year, global revenues climbed 12 percent to $54.4 billion. North America delivered a hefty 5.6 percent boost, to $28.5 billion.
Improve residuals – The 36-month vehicle residual forecasts for GM brands are up from 2003 forecasts by 2 to more than 9 percentage points, according to Automotive Lease Guide in Santa Barbara, Calif. But GM's residuals overall remain well below those of the Honda, Nissan, Toyota, BMW, Mercedes-Benz and Audi brands.
A source close to GM says achieving parity with the Japanese on residuals is one of the top goals of the company's board of directors. Higher residuals mean a lower monthly payment and higher trade-in value for customers, allowing GM to avoid heavy incentives.
Improve long-term quality – GM's move to extend its powertrain warranty to five years or 100,000 miles is gutsy.
The J.D. Power and Associates Vehicle Dependability Study, which measures problems reported over three years, ranks only two GM brands, Buick and Cadillac, above the industry average. Hummer and Saab are at the bottom.
"While GM has made strides in quality, production and efficiency, it hasn't translated to the consumer's mind," says Bob Schulz, director of Standard & Poor's rating services. "The extended warranty could help change that."
But GM must continue improving quality to impress customers attracted by the extended warranty and to avoid heavy warranty costs.
Increase factory capacity use – According to the Harbour Report, GM was using 90 percent of its production capacity in 2005. Ideally, the company needs to get to 100 percent.
GM's new global product development process emphasizing common platforms should help produce products more efficiently by allowing more vehicles to be built in the same plant, says Brett Hoselton, senior automotive analyst for KeyBanc Capital Markets in Cleveland.
GM's plans to close plants as part of its recovery also will help reduce excess capacity. But hot-selling vehicles are the ultimate solution.
Raise share price -- GM stock has traded recently at about $33 per share. That's up from $18.90 in January. But in April 2000, GM's stock reached $93.62 per share.
No one expects GM to reach that price anytime soon. But those close to the automaker say it needs to get its share price on a trajectory to reach that level again.
Improve market share – GM's U.S. market share is at 24.7 percent through August. That's down from 26.9 percent a year ago. GM had a 28.6 percent share in 2002.
Although profitability is the ultimate sign of a company's health, analysts agree that share matters.
Says Hoselton: "Market share has a significant psychological impact on people, if nothing else."
Civic Hybrid as well. It, and the fact Honda has no future hybrids lined up certainly proves they are not going big on hybrids.
Do yourself a favor - just check the recent history - Fiat, Saab, Subaru, Isuzu, Daewoo, Jaguar, Aston Martin, Volvo, Mazda, Land Rover, Hertz, Visteon, and even some silly websites during dotcom boom, ....
Do yourself a favor and review all the facts before placing lists.
Fiat not good for GM. Saab so-so. both fairly recent. GM forged a deal with Isuzu more than 25 years ago. When GM dropped its interest in Isuzu, it got all of Isuzu's small diesel works. A huge boom for every nation other than the US where diesel is popular.
Daewoo is a stellar aquisition. GM has been able to play the Daewoo acquisition (which was for pennies) into a major market share stake in China, India, Eastern Europe and Korea, as well as get cars for export to the US and EU.
Ford has had Mazda for around 20 years. Ford acquired Hertz more than 50 years ago. Spinning it off now merely reflects changes in the industry. Volvo is a very good fit with Ford and may be one of the main keys in a new Ford company. Aston Martin and Jaguar are problems but not so bad.
Toyota in fact has bought companies. Toyota bought GM's interest in Fuji. It also bought Daihatsu, a Japanese mini-car manufacturer.
The list goes on and on.
Next theory.
Seriously, the merger of two weak companies has always ended in the future demise of both struggling companies within the auto industry. It is possible there is an exception to this rule, but I am at a loss to think of one at the moment. A merger would create a company with the worlds largest debt, I guess, if that is a record to be proud of. Guess it can not surpass the U.S. debt.
Many of those hanging on to buying Ford or GM do so out of loyalty to the brand. A merger would create zero brand loyalty. My goodness, it would be like having a merger of Microsoft and Macintosh, the Dallas Cowboys and Washington Redskins, or Hillary Clinton running for president on the Republican tick. That dog ain't gonna hunt! Which car to buy a Camaro, or a Mustang? No, I'll just buy the Camstang.
-Loren
The question mark is the price of course. I would hope they could offer the base hybrid model with the standard equipment of the XE for about $21K, or just a few hundred $$ higher than the V-6 XE. They have been making a lot of fuss about how the new hybrid system is a lot cheaper to offer than current hybrid systems from other automakers. And indeed, the Vue hybrid has a very small premium over the regular Vue, I believe. At $22Kish, it certainly has a very manageable price.
They should spend the bucks to federalize the current Corsa, which is new or almost new in Europe, isn't it? The investment would pay them back in spades, I believe. Saturn should have a proper small car to take on the imports.
2014 Mini Cooper (stick shift of course), 2016 Camry hybrid, 2009 Outback Sport 5-spd (keeping the stick alive)
How about Toyota -GM and Ford, creating one company called Toyota, General Industries, and Ford. Or TGIF ?
-Loren
I don't see any good that could come of it, and it would distract everyone at both places trying to sort out the mess of combining them. Geez, just imagine - who stays/who goes, who leads it, which models get axed, which models do we continue with, which compete with each other for the same buyer, etc, etc.
what a mess it would be.
Yes. That must be it.
If things do not go according to the Loren rules, either the company is engaging in subertfuge or the consumer is stupid.
The thought maybe that the 10s of thousands buying the Aveo are intelligent, informed consumers could never be at play. :sick:
I concur with your disappointment on the Corsa. The Corsa is launching in the EU following the Paris Auto Show. I guess GM does not have spare EU capacity to make them for export to the US. It would have been nice to have them made here in NA as well.
Possibly the delay is owing to how long it will take to re-tool the factory (my bet is Spring Hill) that will make them here. I wish GM had this underway already.
The Corsa looks like a real gem.
2) Companies are not supposed to make profits?
3) The Aveo is competitively priced against all makes, including those from Suzuki and HyunKia
4) You are saying Suzuki and HyunKia do not make profits?
Sometimes I think that GM and Ford should just become "contract manufacturers" for Toyota/Nissan/Honda- just use their factories to make sub-assemblies and assembled vehicles for vehicles designed and engineered by the Asians. Then there would be no vehicle fiascos like they have each had over the years. Never happen (of course), but it's an idea!
Yep. Loser + Loser = Mega Loser
On the other hand, Honda is starting to back away from Hybrids altogether, as its Hybrid Civic and Accord are not selling well at all.
1) GM better make some money off the hybrids.
2) Honda will roll out a mass-produced commercial hydrogen fuel cell car in 2010.