No offense to the Midwest or to UAW country but I dont know many people who would not consider an import. I think that tendency is highly dependent on what part of the country your from. To be honest, I dont come across people who have a dim view of foreign automakers or care about saving american jobs. I know people that a) swear by imports and b) are open to various brands depending on what catches their eye and is affordable. In today's world where most adults have been raised on a steady diet of "American cars are junk" for the last 20-30 years I dont think there are many people left who will not consider a Honda or Toyota. I know it makes it easier to hate domestic cars when you can stereotype their owners as patrotic flag wavers who are too stubborn and ignorant to realize the inherent superiority of imports, but that profile doesn't sum up most people who drive or would consider an american car.
Shoot, all GM has to do is come over my place and film my girlfriend and I with our ultra-reliable older and newer Buicks and my ultra reliable older and newer Cadillacs.
We are young, thrifty, wise with credit, and not flashy and/or of questionable character. We earn our money at legitimate jobs and are not rappers, athletes, or celebrities.
>There isnt much that GM can do to convert die hard haters like the guy's wife
One would think that someone well interested in cars would be more open minded. One would think that he would be aware the some problems of the 80s are improved and current cars are much more competitive. But the deeply-engrained prejudice goes on.
I recall an editor who used to have a blog on Edmunds did essentially the same biased approach against GM. That's why evaluations have to read carefully and compared to journalistic, reporter skill or lack of skill used for other cars.
I just read through some reports (opinions) of little SUVs in CR today. I read differently than they want us to do. I read each part for each car. I read the blurb along the little picture detailing something they didn't like to see how the Honda, Toyota, GM, Saturn and jeep compared. I read the paragraph about the interiors one after another. I read about the motor. The writing style still is there. Damning with feint praise is used. Then they say something decent and immediately mitigate the effect of same by one or more sentences with a negative.
Even the pictures chosen for the individual car reports show the bias. Honda CRV has a car in an entertainment area like people would identify with; element had someone loading fertilizer type bags showing a person involved with whom the reader can identify and that the vehicle holds stuff. Guess how the others are displayed? Cold. Alone. In the country.
Even the comparisons of fuel economy are tediously stated to be negative, despite the fact they are very, very variable. So 18 may really be 22 for someone else.
GM has its work cut out for it still with all these groups.
"Import skeptics will insist its a gimmick and then say "but what happens after 300k miles? My Honda ran for 300k with nothing but oil changes. why dont they show you a commercial with a vehicle still running after 10 years?". It would never end. "
Hondas are good, but 300K? We only got 247K and 195K out of 2 of our Hondas. (Others we traded in earlier such as 70K mi because of boredom and wanting later style.) Had no trouble selling the very high mileage ones used. Each of these we bought new and kept each for 14 years. Current 97 Nissan Maxima has 180K trouble-free miles - 10 years old. Last GM I had was a good vehicle, but was full of rattles after owning for 13 garage kept pampered years and about 80K+ miles. Have owned many GMs.
I suppose GM would be afraid to sponsor its cars competing against such as Honda, Subaru, Toyota, Nissan in a run from Alaska to tip of South America. We will never see that. What we get instead are Chevy, Pontiac names painted on specially designed race cars in NASCAR. Not really a "stock" car race.
There used to be a Pan-American race back in 40's, 50's I think that covered North and South American roads. Lincoln and Hudson did well in that.
I still think CR tries to be objective, much more so than the "buff books." I also think you're reading too much into the fine points, like the photos. I actually don't read CR anymore because of the dry writing style. Edmunds is so much more entertaining.
I do agree though that no one, no matter how hard he/she tries, can be totally unbiased. We're all human after all, and our individual experiences color our view of the world.
BTW, as Pete DeLorenzo of autoextremist.com has said, "the buff books are dying; they just don't know it yet."
The Internet is where the action is, and if the buff books don't get their act together on the net, they ARE dead.
I dont know if that was aimed at me, but I assure you he isnt the first on here that has disagreed with me that supposedly has a lot of car knowledge. Usually its pretty apparent who knows a lot based on what is written. Perhaps I will read something that supports your statement, but I haven't yet
Do you think I'm going to aim ANYTHING at you and risk a 2000-word response? Especially with a bum computer at home?
I'll let grbeck defend himself; he's up to the task.
One fact is most of the "buff books" comparisons are based on subjective ratings and thus their conclusions have to be taken with a grain of salt. Since you seem to know this perhaps you could let some of our fellow posters know since they seem to be wed to the idea that any car praised by a monthly mag in a comparo just HAS to be better than the competition, regardless of the merits of that vehicle.
I think you've been doing that okay, and like I said, my computer's on the fritz. But hear this everybody: the buff books are subjective -- they have their faves and need to rake in the advertising dough!
I suppose that means that any journalist who isnt on the attack agaisnt the domestics is whining. Interesting idea. So if WB changed sides and wrote about GM/Ford losses every week like most other auto journalist I guess he would be OK in your book
No, not at all, just that Warren Brown just plain rubs me the wrong way. I used to subscribe to the Wash. Post but stopped because of no time to read it. Brown's reviews were pretty bad in general. Then he's always talking about sex and libido in just about every review. I mean, sure sex and cars are related, but why state the obvious, repeatedly? (Maybe he's compensating for repressing "impure thoughts" during his upbringing in the Big Easy?)
"My question: for everyone who holds such a view, aren't there an equal or greater number of "USA No. 1" types who won't consider a "foreign" car, no matter what, esp. in the Midwest and Plains States?"
My hunch is it's a far great number.
The recently published Detroit News/JD Power survey indicated that 61% of domestic make purchasers wouldn't consider an Asian make simply because it was Asian.
That is horrible news for the big 2.5, imo, because that can't be a fast-growing (or growing, period) demographic group.
"The recently published Detroit News/JD Power survey indicated that 61% of domestic make purchasers wouldn't consider an Asian make simply because it was Asian."
See the Japanese and Koreans have their destractors too its just not the Domestic 2.5 that have detractors.
"That is horrible news for the big 2.5, imo, because that can't be a fast-growing (or growing, period) demographic group."
What are you saying that Asian car detractors are not a growing demographic(not in the midwest anyway.) I'll agree with you if thats what you are saying.
GM needs to extend a free rental loaner car for the 200 times you might have to use that 100K powertrain and 50K bumper to bumper warranty. That could cost an owner a potentially large amount if you have to keep renting a vehicle at $30/day for however many times your unreliable clunker ends up in the shop.
Not to mention the wasted time and headaches.
'18 Porsche Macan Turbo, '16 Audi TTS, Wife's '19 VW Tiguan SEL 4-Motion
>GM needs to extend a free rental loaner car for the 200 times you
That sounds like overstatement. Two hundred may be a little hight? I agree about the loaner. My dealer that I bought several cars from gives loaners, from used car lot, even if you bought your used car from them. They do it partly to ease their scheduling because they can do a short job whenever it's convenient during the day; but it really benefits the customer and leaves a _good_ feeling. You drop you car off the evening before and pick it up after work the next day. I've seen lots of posts about warranty work from certain foreign brands where they don't give loaners. And I can emphasize with the people complaining.
The 200 is the type of exaggeration that has maintained a negative reputation for GM, Ford, and Chrysler after it may have been deserved. Perhaps putting executives from the eras of generally bad cars in jail would be a good thing. Look how it worked for the Enron crooks.
Oh come on, I'm making a valid point. Anyone who's owned a domestic vehicle like I did once upon a time knows that it can cost a fortune in time and money to keep it running, even when its brand new and under warranty.
All I'd ask to ever consider an American brand of car again is to not only give me the solid warranty, but to back it with BMW/Mercedes type service perks, which includes a free loaner rental vehicle everytime you need warranty service or maintenance. Free maintenance isn't a bad idea either, I see they are doing that with SAAB. Now if only they can add a year to the powertrain coverage, another year to the bumper to bumper, and rental coverage...
'18 Porsche Macan Turbo, '16 Audi TTS, Wife's '19 VW Tiguan SEL 4-Motion
"The only thing that will work is for import die hards to see other people they know and respect making the leap to domestics and ending the stigma. Vehicles like the 300, Esclade, H2/H3, CTS, etc. can do that but there need to be more vehicles. The Aura and Fusion can probably be put into that category as well but it will take years for this to work."
I agree with this paragraph except for the first full sentence.
"Lets remember that one rule amongst certain people is that WHATEVER the Big 3 do it's wrong. Cadillacs and 300s appeal to athletes, actors and rappers and that has now been turned into a negative by many. People said Cadillac needed younger clients and a better image but those same people will now describe Cadillacs in derrogatory ways because they have seen rappers/athletes drawn to Cadillacs."
I disagree with this paragraph that people look down at 300's and CTS's because rappers or actors drive them. Yeah Caddy needed younger clinets and a better image and I think Caddy has both of those(younger clients and a better image) than they did pre 02 Esaclade and 03 CTS.
"Interestingly enough those same people wont swear off MBs, Ferraris, Maybachs, Range Rovers, etc. even though celebs love those as well."
Those car companies that you named haven;t through any recent rebuilding like Caddy has gone through in the last 5 years(none that I'm aware of it.) Range Rover had been bought by BMW and sold to Ford in the last 7 years that I know about that any of those brands you listed that has gone through any rebuilding phases. Those brands you named don;t even sell as many cars as Caddy in the US except for MB which outsold Caddy in 2006.
What I love about my Cadillac dealer is that they give me a nice NEW Cadillac to drive FOR FREE as a loaner car. Smart on their behalf because I get to see what the new cars are like and will entice me to consider one as my next purchase. I've driven both a DTS and a CTS on occasions.
How about if we edit that and see if it's true in the parallel: "Oh come on, I'm making a valid point. Anyone who's owned a domestic foreign vehicle like I did once upon a time knows that it can cost a fortune in time and money to keep it running, even when its brand new and under warranty."
Perhaps that explains people being unhappy about sluding in one foreign brand, and people having transmission problems through the same company's group of similar vehicles with DBW, and transmission problems in another brand--and people should be boycotting those cars as well. One had a super number of recalls finally last year after the change in recall requirements. That's changed the perception and people are calling for not buying those brands?
"In today's world where most adults have been raised on a steady diet of "American cars are junk" for the last 20-30 years I dont think there are many people left who will not consider a Honda or Toyota."
Of course there are plenty of people that will consider Honda or Toyota. No argument there escpecially because I like honda.
As for American branded Cars I don;t know if you know this but alot of American branded Cars(with the exception of Chrysler in the 90's) like I said before in the 90's/early 00's the exterior styling was not right and the interiors were not as high quality as the Japanese car makes interiors were at the time. The styling and interior issues in American Branded cars were to blame partly(not just poor perception of reliability)for Domestic branded cars(with the exception of Chrysler in the 90's)loss in sales year in and year out in the 90's/early 00's. I think the product(styling, and interior) are alot better now than they were 5 years ago in American branded Cars.
I currently own three domestic cars and I'm surprised at how little it costs for me to keep them running. I'd probably would have to deliberately set out to destroy my 1988 Buick Park Avenue to kill it. These cars are not pampered garage queens. They've lived in the harsh urban environment of Philadelphia their whole lives. There's potholes big enough to swallow a minivan in some neighborhoods.
I agree they should offer both a generous warranty and cover the costs of a loaner car. I'd say free maintenance would be good as well, but I don't know how cost-effective it would be. At least it might cut down on those owners who would otherwise blame their own neglect on the manufacturer.
"Perhaps that explains people being unhappy about sluding in one foreign brand, and people having transmission problems through the same company's group of similar vehicles with DBW, and transmission problems in another brand--and people should be boycotting those cars as well. One had a super number of recalls finally last year after the change in recall requirements. That's changed the perception and people are calling for not buying those brands?"
I think your talking about Honda and toyota problems of late. Remember it took years for GM and Ford to damage their reputation. I mean Toyota's and Honda's problems were very recent. I didn;t know there was even a change in the recall requirments.
You got stats for that? Even if true that only 20% keep a new car 5 years, it would be nice to know at the time you buy the powertrain warranty would last more than 5 years. I'm sure a lot of those buyers that trade after 5 years did so because of want, not because of need. If your life circumstances change (such as losing your job), you might not be able to trade up.
This also must mean, again if true, that not that many people will keep a new car till 100K miles.
I guess this is "foreign" to me, because every new car I've owned (except the first two, which were VW Rabbits -- 'nuff said), I kept for at least 7 years and 111K miles. The one I kept the longest, not new, was the Volvo 240: 21 years and about 245K miles.
My older brother's new girlfriend had a recent model Land Rover SUV that she bought with the regular 4 year/50K warranty. It has had a tremendous amount of problems, including engine and transmission issues prior to falling out of warranty. Though there were issues, the dealership made expensive and time consuming warranty repairs.
Similar to my situation with my '03 Honda Accord V6 Coupe, she had transmission problems just a bit past the standard powertrain warranty coverage (within 10K miles of the warranty expiration milage wise).
In both of our vehicles the transmission needed to be replaced. In both of our vehicles, it was a sophisticated and very expensive tranny (5 speed autos).
Difference: Honda stepped up to the plate and took care of me, ordering a tranny assembly overnight delivery, and getting me back on the road at no charge 2 days later. They were embarrassed about the problems in their car.
At Land Rover, she complained, appealed, even wrote letters, but still near the 50,000 mile range they will not fix her broken transmission. They are basically saying, screw you, we have your money, you're not wanted again.
Result: Although I didn't buy a Honda again for my next vehicle, I still strongly considered them, and would consider buying them again in the future, plus my wife has an '05 Civic that is bulletproof in the first 25K miles.
Land Rover: She paid dearly to fix it, sold it, and will turn around and buy a reliable vehicle (ie Honda/Toyota) and will never ever consider buying or spending a dime on a Land Rover again. My experience with Dodge and Dodge dealerships was similar to hers with Land Rover. We have your money, now screw you! Honda's position: We have your money, but you deserve to get a car that will last and not cost you anything to keep running other than regular maintenance.
'18 Porsche Macan Turbo, '16 Audi TTS, Wife's '19 VW Tiguan SEL 4-Motion
Well I know from first hand experience a good warranty is really only good if you never need to use it. There are costs and hardships that come from needing to use a warranty. A brand that offers free rentals and loaner vehicles is standing behind their warranties more/100%.
I still have a problem swallowing the 5 year/100K thing. Does that mean their cars rust away if you don't drive them a lot? Does it mean that they are designed to last only 5 years no matter how much you drive them, then on year 5 and day 1 they fall apart?
Free maintenance for the warranty period does more than keep boneheads who don't normally maintain their cars properly. It also keep arguments about what is maintenance/what is warranty work down. Of course... a lot of companies are starting to exclude all wear items, even suspensions!!!
Free loaners do more than market the car you get to drive, but that is one major benefit. Unfortunately, the Audi dealer in San Diego has chosen to loan out Suzuki's and VW's instead of showing off the Audi's. Maybe the idea is to make you appreciate the higher quality and control Audi has over those brands even more so?
With a Honda.. it doesn't matter really what the warranty is, or if they provide a rental. My wife's Civic that has a VIN number that starts with a J (for made in Japan) has never needed any warranty service in 25K miles. So the rental would only be needed for service/maintenance days? Also, Honda steps up to the plate and covers things that should be covered, whether its under warranty or not.
'18 Porsche Macan Turbo, '16 Audi TTS, Wife's '19 VW Tiguan SEL 4-Motion
Philly is tough; I'll grant you that. Like New York (where my sons live) and DC (near where I used to live), northeastern cities are hard on vehicles.
But part of the credit has to go to you for taking good care of your cars. Plus you have the larger GM cars, which in general have a much better reliability record than the smaller cars. With your Brougham, you're likely to pass my 21 years of ownership of a single car. Job well done!
Regarding my 3 "imports" (all built in the US), I can say the same thing -- how little it costs to keep them going. But my oldest is "only" 9 years old.
Perhaps that explains people being unhappy about sluding in one foreign brand, and people having transmission problems through the same company's group of similar vehicles with DBW, and transmission problems in another brand--and people should be boycotting those cars as well. One had a super number of recalls finally last year after the change in recall requirements. That's changed the perception and people are calling for not buying those brands?
Cheap shot: Just because the sludge issue is back in the news because of the recent class action settlement doesn't mean the overwhelming majority of Toyota owners with the affected engines really had the problem. As I've said before, there was a very heated debate on Edmunds on this subject. I also had one of the affected engines. Guess what? With regular oil changes (and conventional oil no less), I never experienced the problem in 7 years and 111K miles.
Besides this is really old hat now -- the cars were 1997-2002 models.
Tranny problems -- yes the Camry V6 6-speed has a fair amount of complaints on Edmunds, but we have no way of knowing how great the true extent of the problem is. Still the fact remains that 4-cylinder sales far exceed 6-cylinder sales, and complaints about the 4-cylinder have dwindled to a trickle.
About those "record" recalls, that's already a year old story: Toyota's recalls declined from 2.2 million in 2005 to 766,000 in 2006. I've provided the Detroit News link before.
As for Honda, they've been defended above.
And I'll put in a good word about your LeSabres: like Lemko's cars, the big Buicks (and Buicks in general) have tended to have good reliability records, according to both JD Powers and the much-derided Consumer Reports.
I didn't buy any Land Rover, Freelander, or Rangerover of any sort or kind.
My older brother's girlfriend is the moron who bought one. I'm not sure what model it was, but it is definitely the last for her, for me, and for my brother or anyone who's heard her story and complaints.
'18 Porsche Macan Turbo, '16 Audi TTS, Wife's '19 VW Tiguan SEL 4-Motion
Yeah it took me a lot longer to find the pictures all the that I liked. My sketching skills, well at least my non-technical sketching, aren't so great so I had to find examples on the web to fit my ideas.
I am one that has been called many names related to being pro American brands... I have cross-shopped since 1987 purchase and may have looked for a 1985 purchase. In each case I wanted what was going to be the cheapest in the long run to own. I'm poor and I can't afford to buy cheap stuff to save money... I didn't buy the Toyota Camry or Accord or Civic then. But I cross shopped...
I have been served well by the cars I er we chose on an overall cost basis. They have held up well with the plastics inside. I have never had a headline drop, seats tear cloth or leather, plastic crack in soft door or dash areas like I've seen on cars parked next to me at stores after they get some sun years on them.
I cross shopped with the idea that all cars have warts. It just depends on where they are and if you think they are beauty marks or not. It's subject folks.
>My wife's Civic that has a VIN number that starts with a J (for made in Japan) has never needed any warranty service in 25K miles
A serious question: has it been to the dealer for routine service where they might have done some "recall" work without your knowledge? I realize about the "J" from reading in other forums.
I don't think they would do any work on a car without your knowledge, but I do know it hasn't exhibited any symptoms or problems that would lead me to believe there has been a recall on 2005 Civic EX's.
As for routine service.. I don't believe it's been to the Honda dealer... unless they gave her a first free oil change (first time only/one time) like they did with my Accord. I don't know for sure, but I do know the other regular services have been done by JiffyLube. I think an air filter, tire rotations, and new cabin filters (expensive cause there are two of them) is all it has needed thus far.
'18 Porsche Macan Turbo, '16 Audi TTS, Wife's '19 VW Tiguan SEL 4-Motion
As for the commercials... There are certain commercials that make me stop and watch.
The Calibre commercial where the lighted cupholders, the removable cargo light so the guy can run off in the bushes. But there's something about the tone, visuals, people's behavior, appearance, or music at the beginning that makes me watch.
Same for the Toyota Patriotic commercial showing short clips of each of their vehicles without saying patriotic theme. The pictures catch attention or the music or something just keeps me listening.
Cadillac needs to find that same advertising company. All of GM needs it too.
“One would think that someone well interested in cars would be more open minded. One would think that he would be aware the some problems of the 80s are improved and current cars are much more competitive. But the deeply-engrained prejudice goes on. “
The problem for GM and the domestics is that the folks who lived through the 80ies still remember those darned lemons like it was yesterday and have gone to the imports. The imports for the most part haven’t upset them and so they stick with what ever import treated them right. If an import does upset them then they are likely to just try another import before giving gm a chance. And Even if they did give GM a non-biased chance with so many imports to choose from they still might not like the GM product. It is much much harder to get a lost customer than to keep a satisfied one.
I know that that is my attitude towards Ford. The 88 Tempo and the Escort, were both a heck of a lot more trouble than the 94 Camry and 94 Trecel that replaced them. I am a domestic hater for the most part.
I think that has been the key to the import’s success. I don’t think Toyota is better at getting people to try their cars than GM. They are just better at keeping people coming back for more.
The domestics at least until recently have had good styling(well now some of them are trying to look Japanese!). So if money and the fact that I had a new well running car back in the 90ies were not and money for the possible repairs were not an option I can see someone purchasing one.
The other kind of buyer who MIGHT go domestic, is the kind that wants to purchase the biggest sized car they could buy (and I will bet these folks are the ones who went SUV). I also doubt they were the kind that would be driving an import in the fist place.
A final kind of buyer who might go domestic is one who loves to try out different makes/models. Only trouble is, he isn’t likely to stay domestic before something else catches his eye.
However there are some domestics that I like. For instance if I were in the luxury market, I would not want a Lexus(too boring). I would defiantly go Cadillac or Mercedes depending on the amount I had. The imports will always dominate the high end of the luxury market just because they are costly and less common than the Cadillac. However Cadillac is to me a car that just loves to flaunt how much it the owner has. It is the working man’s Luxury car not the tastefully understated import Mercedes. About the only way GM could compete with Mercedes is to do a Toyota and open a new division and distance themselves from it.
The ford focus isn’t bad looking, and the interior isn’t nor fuel effcency isn’t that bad. But between my attitude with Ford and all those danged recalls(juz, I can understand 1 or 2 recalls for something minor not 9!). CR loved it, but it would take an act of God before I bought one.
I think the solution to the domestics is many fold.
1. Get some better marketing. I have seen many auto commercials that are nice and enjoyable and make no sense. They give me no logical reason to buy the car. Or they promote the GM name, but not the cars they sell. Or mention an 100,000 mile power train warrenty but don’t remind consumers of the bumper to bumper one. The commercial should assume that the people seeing it are capable of understand two, maybe three dfferent things about the car not just one.
2. Get a nice line up of cheap four cylinder cars for people who are just starting out in the world. The cars should be reasonably desirable as well as reliable. Hopefuly people impressed with their 1st cars won’t leave and best of all these are people who didn’t live through the 80ies.
3. Refresh your cars more often. Toyota’s 4-5 year refeshes allow it to adapt to changing markets(i.e. those seat colors were so last decade) and allows you to get a pulse on where the market seems to be going.
4. Don’t drop model names. Every time you do, people have to find out just what exactly is an Aura(or new model name) and what is it trying to compete with/how?
5. Be the best at something. Be it size, hp, fuel efficiency something other than gadgets(which may not appeal) and price.
That is one problem with us posting on this site. Many think everyone else is like them. "Domestic buyers must be stupid", "foreign car buyers are unamerican", etc. These are opinions only and do not state overall facts for the entire market.
DETROIT (Dow Jones)--General Motors Corp.'s (GM) North American sales chief said Thursday the auto maker will cut its shipments to rental car operators by about 35,000 vehicles in January compared with last year, part of its strategy to boost the residual value of its vehicles and focus on more-profitable sales to retail customers.
In the first half of the year, GM will cut its shipments to car rental companies by about 120,000, Mark LaNeve, GM's North American sales and marketing chief, said during a conference call with reporters. Sales to car rental firms likely will be flat from last year in the second half, he said.
"We are aggressively accelerating our strategy to reduce daily rent to really improve the value proposition of our cars and trucks," he said.
LaNeve's comments amplify a message GM executives made during the North American International Auto Show in Detroit earlier this month. GM, which is struggling to turn around its North American business, early last year set a new pricing and sales strategy to boost transaction prices by relying less on incentives. That also involved reducing fleet sales, such as sales to car rental firms, which typically are less profitable and can lower residual values.
The big reduction in January car rental fleet shipments - the auto maker sold about 90,000 vehicles to car rental companies in January 2006 - will take down GM's year-over-year sales comparisons, but the auto maker is concentrating on retail sales. GM's overall sales in January 2006, including sales to retail and fleet customers, were 296,003 vehicles.
Car rental sales aren't bad business, LaNeve said, and it's "continuing to become a better business for us." But he said having too many vehicles in car rental fleets harms residual values because those vehicles eventually come back to the market.
LaNeve said he hopes to make up for the car rental fleet losses with increases in retail sales, but that won't happen in January. Last January saw an uptick in orders to car rental firms.
GM sales analyst Paul Ballew said the company's January retail sales are "tracking pretty similar to a year ago" so far, while overall U.S. auto industry retail sales look "pretty similar" to the soft sales in the second half of 2006. But he added that the last week of the month can change the numbers.
LaNeve said earlier this month that he expects GM's retail market share to increase in 2007, and he said an "uptick" in retail sales volume is possible.
GM's overall U.S. sales in 2006 were down 8.7% at 4.12 million vehicles compared with 2005. That was partly due to the pullback in rental fleet sales but also due to pressure from competitors, notably Japanese auto makers. LaNeve said earlier this month that GM lost retail share in 2006.
Last year, GM cut its deliveries to rental car companies by about 77,000 compared with 2005.
LaNeve said GM will look to grow its non-car rental fleet sales, such as sales to corporate fleets, as it did last year.
DETROIT -- General Motors said today it will report record revenue it its auto business and will post a profit overall for the fourth quarter of 2006.
But the automaker is delaying reporting its financial results for the fourth quarter and full year of 2006 as its waits for final results from GMAC and corrects financial statements from five years ago.
GM had planned to release its 2006 financial results on Tuesday, Jan. 30. It intends to file those results with the Securities and Exchange Commission by the deadline of March 1, CFO Fritz Henderson said today. GM also will provide an update on its financial results during the week of Feb. 5, he said.
"The fourth quarter was another record revenue for General Motors on a consolidated basis," Henderson said in a conference call with reporters today. "We expect to be profitable."
Through the first three quarters of 2006, GM had posted a loss of $3.05 billion.
GM lost $10.6 billion in 2005 due mostly to a huge decline in its U.S. auto sales. Henderson declined to say how GM performed in North America last year, when overall U.S. auto sales fell 2.6 percent to 16.6 million units and GM's U.S. market share fell 1.7 percentage points to 24.5 percent.
GM presently has $26.4 billion in cash, Henderson said. The automaker expects a 15 percent return on its pension investments.
"Including the impact of attrition, we expect to end the 2006 calendar year with $17 billion in overfunded status," Henderson said of GM's pension plan.
Courtesy Transportation Interim transportation may be available under the Chevrolet Courtesy Transportation program if your vehicle requires warranty repairs. Please refer to your Owners Manual for details or consult your dealer.
My girlfriend bought a new Buick LaCrosse in March 2005. She has yet to take the car in for any warranty issues. I don't think those 2006 buyers are in any peril. I wouldn't own a GM car if I thought they would fall apart after such a short time nor would I keep them as long as I do. A burned-out bulb drives me bananas. A major powertrain failure would send me into a deep depression.
Heck, when I was in college and short on money, my old Buick was at least one thing I didn't have to worry about. I've been lucky about the headliners and plastic bits inside my cars as well. I know that sagging headliner thing would make me psychotic and I would not settle for the improvised methods many use to hold them up. My sister had the headliner fall in her old Chrysler LeBaron and her boyfriend tried to fix it with spray trim adhesive. The adhesive turned the light gray headliner into a sickly yellow! Yuck!
I think he's referring to the commercial where the guy has a Toyota SUV, crossover, and truck behind him and proclaims "There all assembled in Indiana!" Catch the word "assembled." Where do all the parts from which those trucks are assembled come? The USA? Probably not. Are the engine blocks cast in an American foundry? Does the sheetmetal come from an American rolling mill? Are the fabrics from American textile mills? Do the interior component come from American suppliers? I can buy an unassembled bicycle that was made in China from Wal-Mart and put it together in my basement. Could I then proclaim, "It was assembled in America! I'm a real patriot!"
"GM needs to extend a free rental loaner car for the 200 times you might have to use that 100K powertrain and 50K bumper to bumper warranty. That could cost an owner a potentially large amount if you have to keep renting a vehicle at $30/day for however many times your unreliable clunker ends up in the shop. "
I suppose your post was supposed to be witty. I wasn't at all. How many people do you know with recent GM vehicles that have been in the shop many times? I have had my car for over 5 years and it has been in the shop (meaning for a repair) a total of 3 days. I consider my car to be below average for GM in terms of reliability. My parent's car is a '98 and has had fewer problems than my car.
Comments
We are young, thrifty, wise with credit, and not flashy and/or of questionable character. We earn our money at legitimate jobs and are not rappers, athletes, or celebrities.
One would think that someone well interested in cars would be more open minded. One would think that he would be aware the some problems of the 80s are improved and current cars are much more competitive. But the deeply-engrained prejudice goes on.
I recall an editor who used to have a blog on Edmunds did essentially the same biased approach against GM. That's why evaluations have to read carefully and compared to journalistic, reporter skill or lack of skill used for other cars.
I just read through some reports (opinions) of little SUVs in CR today. I read differently than they want us to do. I read each part for each car. I read the blurb along the little picture detailing something they didn't like to see how the Honda, Toyota, GM, Saturn and jeep compared. I read the paragraph about the interiors one after another. I read about the motor. The writing style still is there. Damning with feint praise is used. Then they say something decent and immediately mitigate the effect of same by one or more sentences with a negative.
Even the pictures chosen for the individual car reports show the bias. Honda CRV has a car in an entertainment area like people would identify with; element had someone loading fertilizer type bags showing a person involved with whom the reader can identify and that the vehicle holds stuff. Guess how the others are displayed? Cold. Alone. In the country.
Even the comparisons of fuel economy are tediously stated to be negative, despite the fact they are very, very variable. So 18 may really be 22 for someone else.
GM has its work cut out for it still with all these groups.
2014 Malibu 2LT, 2015 Cruze 2LT,
Hondas are good, but 300K? We only got 247K and 195K out of 2 of our Hondas. (Others we traded in earlier such as 70K mi because of boredom and wanting later style.) Had no trouble selling the very high mileage ones used. Each of these we bought new and kept each for 14 years. Current 97 Nissan Maxima has 180K trouble-free miles - 10 years old. Last GM I had was a good vehicle, but was full of rattles after owning for 13 garage kept pampered years and about 80K+ miles. Have owned many GMs.
I suppose GM would be afraid to sponsor its cars competing against such as Honda, Subaru, Toyota, Nissan in a run from Alaska to tip of South America. We will never see that. What we get instead are Chevy, Pontiac names painted on specially designed race cars in NASCAR. Not really a "stock" car race.
There used to be a Pan-American race back in 40's, 50's I think that covered North and South American roads. Lincoln and Hudson did well in that.
I do agree though that no one, no matter how hard he/she tries, can be totally unbiased. We're all human after all, and our individual experiences color our view of the world.
BTW, as Pete DeLorenzo of autoextremist.com has said, "the buff books are dying; they just don't know it yet."
The Internet is where the action is, and if the buff books don't get their act together on the net, they ARE dead.
Do you think I'm going to aim ANYTHING at you and risk a 2000-word response?
I'll let grbeck defend himself; he's up to the task.
One fact is most of the "buff books" comparisons are based on subjective ratings and thus their conclusions have to be taken with a grain of salt. Since you seem to know this perhaps you could let some of our fellow posters know since they seem to be wed to the idea that any car praised by a monthly mag in a comparo just HAS to be better than the competition, regardless of the merits of that vehicle.
I think you've been doing that okay, and like I said, my computer's on the fritz. But hear this everybody: the buff books are subjective -- they have their faves and need to rake in the advertising dough!
I suppose that means that any journalist who isnt on the attack agaisnt the domestics is whining. Interesting idea. So if WB changed sides and wrote about GM/Ford losses every week like most other auto journalist I guess he would be OK in your book
No, not at all, just that Warren Brown just plain rubs me the wrong way. I used to subscribe to the Wash. Post but stopped because of no time to read it. Brown's reviews were pretty bad in general. Then he's always talking about sex and libido in just about every review. I mean, sure sex and cars are related, but why state the obvious, repeatedly? (Maybe he's compensating for repressing "impure thoughts" during his upbringing in the Big Easy?)
Ok, gotta go, the boss may step in any moment....
And very few will take advantage of the 5 years since only 20% keep their vehicles that long.
My hunch is it's a far great number.
The recently published Detroit News/JD Power survey indicated that 61% of domestic make purchasers wouldn't consider an Asian make simply because it was Asian.
That is horrible news for the big 2.5, imo, because that can't be a fast-growing (or growing, period) demographic group.
http://www.detroitnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070103/AUTO01/701030382/- 1148
Jay stops at the American Border, of course - the V-16 is an AMERICAN car."
I thought Jay was a Ford loyalist all the way.
See the Japanese and Koreans have their destractors too its just not the Domestic 2.5 that have detractors.
"That is horrible news for the big 2.5, imo, because that can't be a fast-growing (or growing, period) demographic group."
What are you saying that Asian car detractors are not a growing demographic(not in the midwest anyway.) I'll agree with you if thats what you are saying.
Not to mention the wasted time and headaches.
Are you the "Mirror Mirror" version of andre1969?
That sounds like overstatement. Two hundred may be a little hight? I agree about the loaner. My dealer that I bought several cars from gives loaners, from used car lot, even if you bought your used car from them. They do it partly to ease their scheduling because they can do a short job whenever it's convenient during the day; but it really benefits the customer and leaves a _good_ feeling. You drop you car off the evening before and pick it up after work the next day. I've seen lots of posts about warranty work from certain foreign brands where they don't give loaners. And I can emphasize with the people complaining.
The 200 is the type of exaggeration that has maintained a negative reputation for GM, Ford, and Chrysler after it may have been deserved. Perhaps putting executives from the eras of generally bad cars in jail would be a good thing. Look how it worked for the Enron crooks.
2014 Malibu 2LT, 2015 Cruze 2LT,
All I'd ask to ever consider an American brand of car again is to not only give me the solid warranty, but to back it with BMW/Mercedes type service perks, which includes a free loaner rental vehicle everytime you need warranty service or maintenance. Free maintenance isn't a bad idea either, I see they are doing that with SAAB. Now if only they can add a year to the powertrain coverage, another year to the bumper to bumper, and rental coverage...
I agree with this paragraph except for the first full sentence.
"Lets remember that one rule amongst certain people is that WHATEVER the Big 3 do it's wrong. Cadillacs and 300s appeal to athletes, actors and rappers and that has now been turned into a negative by many. People said Cadillac needed younger clients and a better image but those same people will now describe Cadillacs in derrogatory ways because they have seen rappers/athletes drawn to Cadillacs."
I disagree with this paragraph that people look down at 300's and CTS's because rappers or actors drive them. Yeah Caddy needed younger clinets and a better image and I think Caddy has both of those(younger clients and a better image) than they did pre 02 Esaclade and 03 CTS.
"Interestingly enough those same people wont swear off MBs, Ferraris, Maybachs, Range Rovers, etc. even though celebs love those as well."
Those car companies that you named haven;t through any recent rebuilding like Caddy has gone through in the last 5 years(none that I'm aware of it.) Range Rover had been bought by BMW and sold to Ford in the last 7 years that I know about that any of those brands you listed that has gone through any rebuilding phases. Those brands you named don;t even sell as many cars as Caddy in the US except for MB which outsold Caddy in 2006.
"Oh come on, I'm making a valid point. Anyone who's owned a
domesticforeign vehicle like I did once upon a time knows that it can cost a fortune in time and money to keep it running, even when its brand new and under warranty."Perhaps that explains people being unhappy about sluding in one foreign brand, and people having transmission problems through the same company's group of similar vehicles with DBW, and transmission problems in another brand--and people should be boycotting those cars as well. One had a super number of recalls finally last year after the change in recall requirements. That's changed the perception and people are calling for not buying those brands?
2014 Malibu 2LT, 2015 Cruze 2LT,
Of course there are plenty of people that will consider Honda or Toyota. No argument there escpecially because I like honda.
As for American branded Cars I don;t know if you know this but alot of American branded Cars(with the exception of Chrysler in the 90's) like I said before in the 90's/early 00's the exterior styling was not right and the interiors were not as high quality as the Japanese car makes interiors were at the time. The styling and interior issues in American Branded cars were to blame partly(not just poor perception of reliability)for Domestic branded cars(with the exception of Chrysler in the 90's)loss in sales year in and year out in the 90's/early 00's. I think the product(styling, and interior) are alot better now than they were 5 years ago in American branded Cars.
I agree they should offer both a generous warranty and cover the costs of a loaner car. I'd say free maintenance would be good as well, but I don't know how cost-effective it would be. At least it might cut down on those owners who would otherwise blame their own neglect on the manufacturer.
I think your talking about Honda and toyota problems of late. Remember it took years for GM and Ford to damage their reputation. I mean Toyota's and Honda's problems were very recent. I didn;t know there was even a change in the recall requirments.
This also must mean, again if true, that not that many people will keep a new car till 100K miles.
I guess this is "foreign" to me, because every new car I've owned (except the first two, which were VW Rabbits -- 'nuff said), I kept for at least 7 years and 111K miles. The one I kept the longest, not new, was the Volvo 240: 21 years and about 245K miles.
Similar to my situation with my '03 Honda Accord V6 Coupe, she had transmission problems just a bit past the standard powertrain warranty coverage (within 10K miles of the warranty expiration milage wise).
In both of our vehicles the transmission needed to be replaced. In both of our vehicles, it was a sophisticated and very expensive tranny (5 speed autos).
Difference: Honda stepped up to the plate and took care of me, ordering a tranny assembly overnight delivery, and getting me back on the road at no charge 2 days later. They were embarrassed about the problems in their car.
At Land Rover, she complained, appealed, even wrote letters, but still near the 50,000 mile range they will not fix her broken transmission. They are basically saying, screw you, we have your money, you're not wanted again.
Result: Although I didn't buy a Honda again for my next vehicle, I still strongly considered them, and would consider buying them again in the future, plus my wife has an '05 Civic that is bulletproof in the first 25K miles.
Land Rover: She paid dearly to fix it, sold it, and will turn around and buy a reliable vehicle (ie Honda/Toyota) and will never ever consider buying or spending a dime on a Land Rover again. My experience with Dodge and Dodge dealerships was similar to hers with Land Rover. We have your money, now screw you!
Honda's position: We have your money, but you deserve to get a car that will last and not cost you anything to keep running other than regular maintenance.
I still have a problem swallowing the 5 year/100K thing. Does that mean their cars rust away if you don't drive them a lot? Does it mean that they are designed to last only 5 years no matter how much you drive them, then on year 5 and day 1 they fall apart?
Free maintenance for the warranty period does more than keep boneheads who don't normally maintain their cars properly. It also keep arguments about what is maintenance/what is warranty work down. Of course... a lot of companies are starting to exclude all wear items, even suspensions!!!
Free loaners do more than market the car you get to drive, but that is one major benefit. Unfortunately, the Audi dealer in San Diego has chosen to loan out Suzuki's and VW's instead of showing off the Audi's. Maybe the idea is to make you appreciate the higher quality and control Audi has over those brands even more so?
With a Honda.. it doesn't matter really what the warranty is, or if they provide a rental. My wife's Civic that has a VIN number that starts with a J (for made in Japan) has never needed any warranty service in 25K miles. So the rental would only be needed for service/maintenance days? Also, Honda steps up to the plate and covers things that should be covered, whether its under warranty or not.
But part of the credit has to go to you for taking good care of your cars. Plus you have the larger GM cars, which in general have a much better reliability record than the smaller cars. With your Brougham, you're likely to pass my 21 years of ownership of a single car. Job well done!
Regarding my 3 "imports" (all built in the US), I can say the same thing -- how little it costs to keep them going. But my oldest is "only" 9 years old.
Are they just left out in the cold to rot? Is GM extending the warranty to 2006 models?
Cheap shot: Just because the sludge issue is back in the news because of the recent class action settlement doesn't mean the overwhelming majority of Toyota owners with the affected engines really had the problem. As I've said before, there was a very heated debate on Edmunds on this subject. I also had one of the affected engines. Guess what? With regular oil changes (and conventional oil no less), I never experienced the problem in 7 years and 111K miles.
Besides this is really old hat now -- the cars were 1997-2002 models.
Tranny problems -- yes the Camry V6 6-speed has a fair amount of complaints on Edmunds, but we have no way of knowing how great the true extent of the problem is. Still the fact remains that 4-cylinder sales far exceed 6-cylinder sales, and complaints about the 4-cylinder have dwindled to a trickle.
About those "record" recalls, that's already a year old story: Toyota's recalls declined from 2.2 million in 2005 to 766,000 in 2006. I've provided the Detroit News link before.
As for Honda, they've been defended above.
And I'll put in a good word about your LeSabres: like Lemko's cars, the big Buicks (and Buicks in general) have tended to have good reliability records, according to both JD Powers and the much-derided Consumer Reports.
So, can't we all just get along?
I am going to take a wild guess and say that the Land Rover Andres3 bought was a Freelander?
I don't want to get this board more off topic so if anyone has any questions for me RE: my opinion of the Freelander they can email me.
My older brother's girlfriend is the moron who bought one. I'm not sure what model it was, but it is definitely the last for her, for me, and for my brother or anyone who's heard her story and complaints.
All of the problems you are talking about scream typical Freelander problem...
Back on topic now.
I am still working on the story board of that commercial idea for Caddy.
I have all of the pictures I need for it I just have to organize and write it up.
I have been served well by the cars
Ier we chose on an overall cost basis. They have held up well with the plastics inside. I have never had a headline drop, seats tear cloth or leather, plastic crack in soft door or dash areas like I've seen on cars parked next to me at stores after they get some sun years on them.I cross shopped with the idea that all cars have warts. It just depends on where they are and if you think they are beauty marks or not. It's subject folks.
2014 Malibu 2LT, 2015 Cruze 2LT,
A serious question: has it been to the dealer for routine service where they might have done some "recall" work without your knowledge? I realize about the "J" from reading in other forums.
2014 Malibu 2LT, 2015 Cruze 2LT,
As for routine service.. I don't believe it's been to the Honda dealer... unless they gave her a first free oil change (first time only/one time) like they did with my Accord. I don't know for sure, but I do know the other regular services have been done by JiffyLube. I think an air filter, tire rotations, and new cabin filters (expensive cause there are two of them) is all it has needed thus far.
Sure.
As for the commercials... There are certain commercials that make me stop and watch.
The Calibre commercial where the lighted cupholders, the removable cargo light so the guy can run off in the bushes. But there's something about the tone, visuals, people's behavior, appearance, or music at the beginning that makes me watch.
Same for the Toyota Patriotic commercial showing short clips of each of their vehicles without saying patriotic theme. The pictures catch attention or the music or something just keeps me listening.
Cadillac needs to find that same advertising company. All of GM needs it too.
2014 Malibu 2LT, 2015 Cruze 2LT,
What's a Toyota Patriot?
The problem for GM and the domestics is that the folks who lived through the 80ies still remember those darned lemons like it was yesterday and have gone to the imports. The imports for the most part haven’t upset them and so they stick with what ever import treated them right. If an import does upset them then they are likely to just try another import before giving gm a chance. And Even if they did give GM a non-biased chance with so many imports to choose from they still might not like the GM product. It is much much harder to get a lost customer than to keep a satisfied one.
I know that that is my attitude towards Ford. The 88 Tempo and the Escort, were both a heck of a lot more trouble than the 94 Camry and 94 Trecel that replaced them. I am a domestic hater for the most part.
I think that has been the key to the import’s success. I don’t think Toyota is better at getting people to try their cars than GM. They are just better at keeping people coming back for more.
The domestics at least until recently have had good styling(well now some of them are trying to look Japanese!). So if money and the fact that I had a new well running car back in the 90ies were not and money for the possible repairs were not an option I can see someone purchasing one.
The other kind of buyer who MIGHT go domestic, is the kind that wants to purchase the biggest sized car they could buy (and I will bet these folks are the ones who went SUV). I also doubt they were the kind that would be driving an import in the fist place.
A final kind of buyer who might go domestic is one who loves to try out different makes/models. Only trouble is, he isn’t likely to stay domestic before something else catches his eye.
However there are some domestics that I like. For instance if I were in the luxury market, I would not want a Lexus(too boring). I would defiantly go Cadillac or Mercedes depending on the amount I had. The imports will always dominate the high end of the luxury market just because they are costly and less common than the Cadillac. However Cadillac is to me a car that just loves to flaunt how much it the owner has. It is the working man’s Luxury car not the tastefully understated import Mercedes. About the only way GM could compete with Mercedes is to do a Toyota and open a new division and distance themselves from it.
The ford focus isn’t bad looking, and the interior isn’t nor fuel effcency isn’t that bad. But between my attitude with Ford and all those danged recalls(juz, I can understand 1 or 2 recalls for something minor not 9!). CR loved it, but it would take an act of God before I bought one.
1. Get some better marketing. I have seen many auto commercials that are nice and enjoyable and make no sense. They give me no logical reason to buy the car. Or they promote the GM name, but not the cars they sell. Or mention an 100,000 mile power train warrenty but don’t remind consumers of the bumper to bumper one. The commercial should assume that the people seeing it are capable of understand two, maybe three dfferent things about the car not just one.
2. Get a nice line up of cheap four cylinder cars for people who are just starting out in the world. The cars should be reasonably desirable as well as reliable. Hopefuly people impressed with their 1st cars won’t leave and best of all these are people who didn’t live through the 80ies.
3. Refresh your cars more often. Toyota’s 4-5 year refeshes allow it to adapt to changing markets(i.e. those seat colors were so last decade) and allows you to get a pulse on where the market seems to be going.
4. Don’t drop model names. Every time you do, people have to find out just what exactly is an Aura(or new model name) and what is it trying to compete with/how?
5. Be the best at something. Be it size, hp, fuel efficiency something other than gadgets(which may not appeal) and price.
That is one problem with us posting on this site. Many think everyone else is like them. "Domestic buyers must be stupid", "foreign car buyers are unamerican", etc. These are opinions only and do not state overall facts for the entire market.
Three was no price increase. You seem to really think that GM cars have a reliability problem. The facts (JD Power/GM warranty cost) show otherwise.
said Thursday the auto maker will cut its shipments to rental car operators by
about 35,000 vehicles in January compared with last year, part of its strategy
to boost the residual value of its vehicles and focus on more-profitable sales
to retail customers.
In the first half of the year, GM will cut its shipments to car rental
companies by about 120,000, Mark LaNeve, GM's North American sales and marketing
chief, said during a conference call with reporters. Sales to car rental firms
likely will be flat from last year in the second half, he said.
"We are aggressively accelerating our strategy to reduce daily rent to really
improve the value proposition of our cars and trucks," he said.
LaNeve's comments amplify a message GM executives made during the North
American International Auto Show in Detroit earlier this month. GM, which is
struggling to turn around its North American business, early last year set a new
pricing and sales strategy to boost transaction prices by relying less on
incentives. That also involved reducing fleet sales, such as sales to car rental
firms, which typically are less profitable and can lower residual values.
The big reduction in January car rental fleet shipments - the auto maker sold
about 90,000 vehicles to car rental companies in January 2006 - will take down
GM's year-over-year sales comparisons, but the auto maker is concentrating on
retail sales. GM's overall sales in January 2006, including sales to retail and
fleet customers, were 296,003 vehicles.
Car rental sales aren't bad business, LaNeve said, and it's "continuing to
become a better business for us." But he said having too many vehicles in car
rental fleets harms residual values because those vehicles eventually come back
to the market.
LaNeve said he hopes to make up for the car rental fleet losses with increases
in retail sales, but that won't happen in January. Last January saw an uptick in
orders to car rental firms.
GM sales analyst Paul Ballew said the company's January retail sales are
"tracking pretty similar to a year ago" so far, while overall U.S. auto industry
retail sales look "pretty similar" to the soft sales in the second half of 2006.
But he added that the last week of the month can change the numbers.
LaNeve said earlier this month that he expects GM's retail market share to
increase in 2007, and he said an "uptick" in retail sales volume is possible.
GM's overall U.S. sales in 2006 were down 8.7% at 4.12 million vehicles
compared with 2005. That was partly due to the pullback in rental fleet sales
but also due to pressure from competitors, notably Japanese auto makers. LaNeve
said earlier this month that GM lost retail share in 2006.
Last year, GM cut its deliveries to rental car companies by about 77,000
compared with 2005.
LaNeve said GM will look to grow its non-car rental fleet sales, such as sales
to corporate fleets, as it did last year.
But the automaker is delaying reporting its financial results for the fourth quarter and full year of 2006 as its waits for final results from GMAC and corrects financial statements from five years ago.
GM had planned to release its 2006 financial results on Tuesday, Jan. 30. It intends to file those results with the Securities and Exchange Commission by the deadline of March 1, CFO Fritz Henderson said today. GM also will provide an update on its financial results during the week of Feb. 5, he said.
"The fourth quarter was another record revenue for General Motors on a consolidated basis," Henderson said in a conference call with reporters today. "We expect to be profitable."
Through the first three quarters of 2006, GM had posted a loss of $3.05 billion.
GM lost $10.6 billion in 2005 due mostly to a huge decline in its U.S. auto sales. Henderson declined to say how GM performed in North America last year, when overall U.S. auto sales fell 2.6 percent to 16.6 million units and GM's U.S. market share fell 1.7 percentage points to 24.5 percent.
GM presently has $26.4 billion in cash, Henderson said. The automaker expects a 15 percent return on its pension investments.
"Including the impact of attrition, we expect to end the 2006 calendar year with $17 billion in overfunded status," Henderson said of GM's pension plan.
Interim transportation may be available under the Chevrolet Courtesy Transportation program if your vehicle requires warranty repairs. Please refer to your Owners Manual for details or consult your dealer.
http://www.chevrolet.com/warranty/
The warranty includes free roadside assistance and a loaner in the event of a powertrain failure in the first five years.
second quarter....362 million
third quarter.....696 million
fourth quarter....1 billion??????
the above are from profit statements w/o one time charges like employee buyouts/health care agreement/plant closing charges/GMAC 51% sale/etc.
I am only guessing on the fourth quarter.
I suppose your post was supposed to be witty. I wasn't at all. How many people do you know with recent GM vehicles that have been in the shop many times? I have had my car for over 5 years and it has been in the shop (meaning for a repair) a total of 3 days. I consider my car to be below average for GM in terms of reliability. My parent's car is a '98 and has had fewer problems than my car.