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I never see ads from other highline makers touting loyalty discounts, and fans of those brands never brag about getting employee discounts when purchasing. It's a negative image factor, and GM needs to admit it.
And a car like the CTS can change that image. You also bring up a good point.....sweetheart lease deals. That's how the Germans get people into their cars, while GM uses incentives. Either way, they are getting the payment down to something (relatively) affordable, and that is what seals the deal.
The CTS is indeed the car that can change that image, but the marketing and pricing strategy isn't perfect yet. I remember seeing loaded 50K CTS at my local dealer too...a lot of car, but it's going to be tough making a conquest sale at that level.
And as the original poster stated, it's hard to justify spending $50K for a vehicle when you have essentially the same vehicle that is a year older (or less) sitting next to it for roughly HALF the price. Add to that it's bigger brother selling for less cash, again only a year or slightly less older. What message does that send to a potential buyer? Having driven and spent considerable time in a CTS, no way would I pay $50K for one; heck I wouldn't pay $40K.
The problem is that lease costs are a function of depreciation, and a GM car which is much cheaper is likely to cost as much on lease. Why lease a GM for $x when you can lease a German or Japanese car worth $10K more for the same $x?
GM is cheaper in cost to procure which is why they have sales deals. They are more expensive in depreciation which is why it is so tough for them to have sweetheart leases.
Just TRY and interpret a lease agreement in every detail. It's easier to buy a house.
Have you comparison shopped mattresses?
Look at buying computers for the home. All kinds of combinations of CPUs, memory, motherboard speeds and capabilities, drives, et al. It's impossible to compare real quality and value from brand to brand. And then there are the closeout, reduced prices on the computers but those are models that may be 2 months old and aren't the latest and greatest in the eyes of the afficianados, therefore they have slightly reduced pricing and are actually much better values than the latest and greatest. But this is really sounding like car buying, isn't it.
2014 Malibu 2LT, 2015 Cruze 2LT,
I put leasing in there with all the shenanigans of funny paper Wall Street folks think of to trade and get people to lose their money on. I don't trust it and never will lease. Father-in-law leased 3 cars for 2 years each on the premise that they would be under warranty if anything went wrong. I kept telling him he'd be better off buying them and selling or trading them with 12,000 on them after 2 years. Finally he quit leasing.
2014 Malibu 2LT, 2015 Cruze 2LT,
A friend of mine does the buying new every couple of years (it's actually at a pre-determined mileage). He makes out better doing it this way and has the option, which he's actually using at this moment, of deciding to hang on to the car an extra few months or more if he wants or needs to.
Bingo - at least you compare Intel and AMD chips pretty easily. Mattresses are impossible.
GM dealers don't do this any more than other dealers.
I just bought a new car Saturday and found the process easier than the last several I had bought at a dealership I liked in a small town. But this was even nicer. I almost wanted to go back Monday and buy another.
The only obfuscation is typical and that is trying to pass the documentation fee off as required and different than the ORC says (Ohio Revised Code). It's a maximum of $250 and not required; in fact the wording sounds like it is for payment contracts (I was paying cash). But the auto dealers' lobby will never allow that to be controlled. The salesman presented it late as a temp plate fee and title fee all bundled.
2014 Malibu 2LT, 2015 Cruze 2LT,
As for GM, if I was in charge, I would shut it down now and save taxpayers in many countries the pain of watching all their tax dollars being wasted on stupidity.
2014 Malibu 2LT, 2015 Cruze 2LT,
What did you buy?
i bought a used car 2-3 weeks ago. The dealership recently changed names and instituted a "salesman-free" zone and other policies to make the car buying experience less threatening. Looked good. I hope it works. the documentation fees were around $170 but they were spelled out. A little higher than if you did it yourself but they do need to pay someone to complete all the paperwork and make sure it gets to the right places. Plus there is the convenience factor.
Yes, but the Germans do it the right way. They have almost a perpetual motion machine that runs basically on status insecurity and a lack of cash. First they develop a brand that is desireable and therefore has low depreciation. Then they offer subsidized leases, not discounted purchases on one time transactions. This way you get a lot of people hooked on a very profitable treadmill cycle of leasing a car every three years. Couple this with free maintenance and a CPO program and virtually everyone (i.e., the factory, the captive finance arm, and the dealers) make money hand over fist as the dealer maintained cars come off lease, are CPOed and resold. The only guy that loses is the guy on the 3 year lease treadmill. He sure looks good though in his always new Bimmer.
Thanks for mentioning New Shoreham. They wouldn't let you into the Yellow Kittens if they thought that you had a leased car outside. They know better.
When I get my moped running, I'll have to go out there for a ride :P
Seriously, I gotta get out there....It's been too long.
As for the leases, I think they can be rediculous. They want $4-5 grand down, and then $400/mo for 3 yrs. Even on a small Beamer or C class, that's 10-15% of MSRP. I think I'd rather pay double per month and come out owning it w/ a 0% financing.
I'm Neapolitan and a bunch of mixed northern European bits (English, Irish, German, Dutch that I know of). Entirely different.
My wife's folks were Irish Catholics from Philadelphia. Her mom was from South Philly and her dad from West Philly. That, too, was something of a mixed marriage.
The advantage to the buyer is that at the end of 60 months after paying for roughly 100% of the MSRP, assuming we don't have a gas crisis or an economic meltdown he can dump the 5 year old E Class for maybe 25% of the MSRP and put that 17K or so in his pocket. Not bad. The renter (AKA , the lessor) after paying for 50% of the MSRP in his 36 month lease walks away and gets to pocket nothing. He was able to have MB pick up all the risk, though. Because of that MBUSA is going to make him pay a premium. As with houses, usually but not always, in the long run buyers do better than renters.
The new GM will focus on four brands - Chevrolet, Cadillac, Buick and GMC. Environment and fuel efficiency will be top priorities."
The "New" GM Focuses On Customers, Cars, Culture
I dunno, sounds like too much marketing talk there Fritz. I do like the sell 'em on eBay idea.
That's great! That will work if they allow the dealerships to be customer-service oriented. That was the advantage gained by foreign brands in the 90s and that is the "process" of ownership allowed them to fix problems via TSBs while the cars were in the shop for other service and the customers didn't know they had problems repaired in advance of being problematic. That led to a feeling by the customer that their car never had problems.
Also GM needs to let the dealers fix those problems over and above the warranty. Now the newer GM should be more profitable per car (except they didn't get rid of UAW's high labor rate) and GM should be more willing to fix that niggling or that big problem that eventually cost them customers.
>"Today marks a new beginning for General Motors, one that will allow every employee, including me, to get back to the business of designing, building and selling great cars and trucks and serving the needs of our customers," said Henderson.
Why would they ever have left that customer-oriented attitude!!!
2014 Malibu 2LT, 2015 Cruze 2LT,
1. GM still does not have a killer product. The best I've heard is that the Malibu and the CTS are the equals to the Infinities and BMWs. Not better than, just as good as. But being "just as good as" may not be enough.
2. GM will still beholden to the jack-booted UAW that helped bring it to bankruptcy in the first place. The only thing that may salvage this relationship would be a no-strike clause, similar to what the Air Traffic Controllers have.
I mean, it only makes sense. If GM is such a national asset that we have to give it $60B+ to keep it going, then, from a national security standpoint, we sure shouldn't allow those nasty UAW folks to shut it down because somebody didn't get their smoke break one day :P .
"The UAW agreed not to walk out at GM or Chrysler before 2015, ceding leverage at the bargaining table."
Detroit Free Press
Never mind....
Even if they can't strike, there are other things union workers can do that are almost as effective, like working to the rules.
In any case, I still think the UAW is a millstone around the neck of GM.
Let's see if they are serious about being profitable. If they continue give aways which destroy the value of the prior owner's purchases then it will be same-old, same-old.
If OTOH they take a leadership position and eliminate massive rebates and low interest incentives then I'll give them credit for beginning on the right foot. Right now they have almost no debt and ultra low costs. Whereas they used to sell Malibu's at $23000 less $5000 to $6000 incentives they could sell the same vehicle now at $21000 take it or leave it....and make a bundle on each one. Do they have the balls?
Toyota and Honda would follow in a heartbeat. Probably Ford too. We'll see.
The UAW can't be ditched and it can't strike for 6 years.
While the CTS competes with these German luxury models in price, size-wise it's closer to the 5-Series and E-Class. It also competes with the Infiniti G models and the Lexus IS, among rear-wheel-drive based sedans. In addition, the CTS competes with the Acura TL, Audi 4 and Lincoln MKZ (?), but I don't know to what extent buyers of rear-wheel-drive sedans cross shop those that are based on front-wheel-drive architecture.
I'm thinking that an Alpha platform car could also be appropriate for Buick. If not a sedan, then a knock-em-dead sporty coupe and/or convertible. This could be Buick's halo car.
And let's not forget the next generation Camaro. It'll have to be somewhat smaller and lighter than the 2010 model, to comply with future fuel economy standards.
My parents said that I shouldn't judge a person based on whether or not they make mistakes -- because everyone makes mistakes -- but on whether or not they accept responsibility for their mistakes. GM has made lots of mistakes, including promising more benefits to its employees than it could afford, ignoring cars and focusing its development money almost exclusively on trucks, and repeatedly failing to follow through on promises to improve the quality of its vehicles. Now, GM has run with its tail between its legs to the government and the bankruptcy court rather than accept responsibility for these mistakes. So, will I buy a vehicle from a company like this one, a company that has reneged on promises made to its employees for decades, is refusing to accept legal responsibility for all of the vehicles it made in the past, and thinks that it's OK to break legal contracts with dealers and suppliers? Not on your life!
Michigan's unemployment rate could hit as high as 20 percent with the Obama administration to blame, one Michigan congressman warned Friday.
Rep. Thaddeus McCotter (R-Mich.) said that Michigan's unemployment — already the highest in the country at 14.1 percent — could go even higher as General Motors and Chrysler continue to shed jobs after their government-financed bankruptcies.
"Sadly, we've seen estimates, because of the radical restructuring that the auto task force demanded, that this year, Michigan wind up over 20 percent unemployment," McCotter said during an appearance on a conservative news radio program.
http://briefingroom.thehill.com/2009/07/10/michigan-could-hit-20-jobless-thanks-- to-obama-congressman/
this Democratic versus Republican BS that goes on in DC is getting old.
This is not directed at you Gary.
Agreed, as this does nothing to help the situation or those unemployed, so to be unemployed and /or underemployed.
About $10 million. :shades:
Former GM CEO Rick Wagoner Gets $10M Retirement Package (Fox News)
GM's Lutz Already Making 'Em Nuts (AutoObserver)