Comment on Quality and Pricing

[GMPG7783]

Over the past 6 months, I have watched the various 2010 Camaro forums with great interest as postings have run the spectrum from the "well thought-out" to "what planet are they on?". It has been very entertaining and insightful to this
sideline observer. In my opinion, wisdom, temperance, and tolerance are reflected more in the demographics of "older" members and the whimsical, emotional inputs surface more with the "younger" participants. Reading all the posts makes it fun to turn back my calendar about 25 years and revisit an earlier time.

Restating the obvious, clearly GM has really put forth an unparalleled effort in their recent corporate history to truly get this design correct. If readers have taken the time to work through the "play Program Manager" posted a few weeks
ago, one begins to understand how incredibly difficult it is to execute perfectly in todays market with cost, schedule, design quality, and manufacturability.

From the time GM made the decision to resurrect the Camaro, there has been a perfect storm of crippling market circumstances that now make this introduction a potential life and death tipping point for GM's way back to profitability.

There are early, encouraging signs by the press (listed by JasonD) that the Camaro should be every bit of a hit as anticipated. The victory is GM's to lose.

I for one see a few very important aspects of the 2010 Camaro that no one has thought to comment, set expectations, or report on within these forums. Here are some points:

- Quality...must be impeccable! Fit and finish are already high on GMs radar but what about the durability of all the parts under the paint and leather? Premature failures and infant mortality of the subsystems could dramatically
detract from the 'perceived value' that GM is hoping for. As an example, I offer the recent posted picture of the white Camaro underside on the transport. It appeared to be an automatic transmission and there are two catalytic converters
neatly parked on either side of the transmission, radiating heat. To my way of thinking, heat destroys transmissions. Waiting 30K, 40K, or 50K miles (or whatever GM will recommend) before changing the fluid just seems wrong. For less
than $50 on a Saturday afternoon you can change the fluid annually and still be money ahead after 15 years of use. (Where is the transmission drain plug?)

- Systems Integration...must be totally reliable. Intermittent failures between electronic subsystems (any computer on the CANbus) will detract from the long term value of the vehicle. Sourcing the designs of subsystems without full
integration is foolish. "No trouble found" or "cannot duplicate" must be eliminated from the vocabulary. The mean time to repair (at the dealer) needs to drop. In todays world, owners cannot afford to leave a car for an entire day or
half-day. How come you can always get into a dealer on a moments notice but the independent shops you have to wait a week or more for an appointment? (Complicating and encoding the system error messages, forcing the owner to a dealer is the wrong solution. This is contrary to my next point.)

- Maintainability. The cost of ownership beyond the warranty needs to remain low if the "imports" are to be held in check. I have owned many GM products over the years (greater than 10 years) and some of the methods and effort needed to remove and repair a failed component at times makes me ashamed to call myself an engineer. When simple repairs require McGyver-level innovation, the boat has been not only missed, but sunk. As new car prices continue to rise and financing stretches beyond 7 years, "maintainability" will become the next dominant point after fuel economy.

- Pricing. Comments elsewhere within the forum(s) about the speculated $25K price point for the V6 due to "perceived value" is a bad marketing idea. I am concerned that the need for cashflow will force GM to abandon any pricing risk.
Why not price the vehicle between $20K and $22K and break the backs of Ford and Dodge? Beat them using volume, quality, AND performance. This also opens up the market to a larger economic group. (Read all the forum comments about those members that will bail if the price approaches $30K. The pricing strategy may be on thin ice and might not be sustainable if the economy continues to tank long term.) The economies of scale connected with lower pricing will take over and contribute to keep the price affordable, allowing more individuals to buy.

In parting, thanks to all the engineers (and managers) at GM for enduring what must be a very difficult development program with the stakes as high as they are. When you are on the outside looking in, it is very easy to throw stones and make demands without knowing all the behind the scenes struggles.

Thanks to the moderators that held the line when attacked but maintained integrity by not betraying GM with the confidential information shared with you.

Comments welcomed.

[TrickStang37]

Originally Posted by GMPG7783

Thanks to the moderators that held the line when attacked but maintained
integrity by not betraying GM with the confidential information shared with you.

of course they didn't say anything. who'd want a corporate giant ripping them a new one with a fat ass law suit?

[kanys]

Well said . A little longer than the usual post I am used to on this site lol but nonetheless worth the read.

[Pruettfan]

Well said. Nice to see some reasonable analysis. Not sure I agree with your point on the proximity of the transmission and cats but time will tell.

I agree that quality will be a very important factor. It seems that GM is fully committed to building quality. The new Malibu is a great example of this, the car is pretty spectacular in its execution.

Price will be very interesting. No doubt that several of the decisions that GM made have resulted in higher costs than Dodge and Ford are facing. The fact that they didn't just yank interior parts out of the F150 bin and instead decided to acutally build a nice interior that looks like it belongs in this car is great evidence. Independent rear suspension is another. I follow the industry and I know that GM has been surprised that the increase in price for the Malibu has not hurt sales at all. In fact it is great evidence that folks are willing to pay a little more for a nicer car. Since Malibu is a huge hit I assume they will apply this idea to the Camaro. After all if I have to drop an extra grand or two to drive a car that is 25% nicer that is a great deal. Perhaps the price difference will help keep the car out of rental fleets. I know that the Malibu is not filling the rental fleets for that very reason.

I would second your thanks to the GM team for what was a very tough assignment. The end product looks to be excellent and I cannot wait to get mine.

[MauriSSio]

Originally Posted by GMPG7783

.........
- Pricing. Comments elsewhere within the forum(s) about the speculated $25K price point for the V6 due to "perceived value" is a bad marketing idea. I am concerned that the need for cashflow will force GM to abandon any pricing risk.
Why not price the vehicle between $20K and $22K and break the backs of Ford and Dodge? Beat them using volume, quality, AND performance. This also opens up the market to a larger economic group. (Read all the forum comments about those members that will bail if the price approaches $30K. The pricing strategy may be on thin ice and might not be sustainable if the economy continues to tank long term.) The economies of scale connected with lower pricing will take over and contribute to keep the price affordable, allowing more individuals to buy..

easier said than done. Why dont you just ask them to build a crap load of corvettes and price them at 30K or maybe just ramp up production on every vehicle and lower the price.

[ChrisL]

Originally Posted by TrickStang37

of course they didn't say anything. who'd want a corporate giant ripping them a new one with a fat ass law suit?

no, it was more a matter of integrity than worrying aobut lawsuits. trust is not something easily gained, yet is easily lost.

[GTOJack]

Hopefully GM will test the living crap out of it before it hits the dealers. Recalls will hurt sales. The recent recall of vehicles with heated washer systems in many of GMs high end SUVs and trucks looks bad to potential customers. If GM demands the cheapest possible price for components from its suppliers, it had better thoroughly test them.

[8Banger]

The car is hot and will bring the buyers, and if the quality and dependability are
top notch, the car will do very well for years to come.