GM has a real shot, if the True Believers have their way.

Detroit. I've got news for the auto industry "experts" on Wall Street who believe they have a handle on what will pull GM out of its quagmire. Hint? You don't have a clue. It won't be the Rick Wagoners and the Fritz Hendersons of the world. It won't be some unexpected jolt of common sense received by the UAW, or a sudden infusion of light and clear thinking in Washington, D.C., either. No, GM's future lies with its True Believers, the men and women who actually go to work each and every day with one mission in mind - to design, build and produce the best vehicle they can possibly muster. These are the people who don't concern themselves with the waffling winds blowing in from Wall Street, or the doom and gloom prognosticators who seem to be hanging around every corner gas station around town here. No, they let their creativity do the talking, because it's much easier to express themselves that way. And Exhibit No. 1 of their creative efforts?

The sensational Chevrolet Corvette Z06.

We had the pleasure of driving the Z06 last week, and we found it to be an eloquent rebuttal to every half-baked instant expert, every media talking head with a thimblefull of knowledge and a large dollop of "America can't compete" attitude - and every so-called automotive pundit who had Detroit dead and buried long ago.

The Corvette Z06 is simply the most seductive combination of power, speed, drivability, value and overall efficiency that exists in the world today. A high-performance super car for the real world, it is a milestone achievement that deserves recognition as much for its capabilities, as for the people behind it.

"They" basically said that what was accomplished with the Corvette Z06 couldn't be done. You couldn't design and develop a high-performance car that was tractable, relatively affordable and fuel-efficient - yet capable of delivering the kind of performance numbers previously reserved for super cars costing thousands upon thousands more. Well, "they" were wrong. The Z06 demonstrates conclusively that when GM focuses its best and brightest talents on a goal, they can deliver the goods. Period.

But at this point in the discussion, "they" will weigh-in again to suggest that GM can do the high-performance, low-volume niche stuff all day long, but they can't deliver a "mainstream" hit to the market to compete with the Toyotas of the world. And "they" would be right - but only to the degree that it applies to the old GM, because these critics are failing to understand the significance that the Z06 holds for GM's future prospects.

The technical and executional aptitude demonstrated by the Z06 bodes well for the future of GM - IF (and this is a huge, game-changing "if") the company appreciates it, nurtures it and makes the most of the talented resources it has at hand. And that means that the True Believers have to be cut loose, because the bean counters can't deliver what's needed. They can juggle the numbers and do the financial dance with Wall Street, but when it comes right down to it, if the goal for the company is to build the kinds of desirable cars and trucks that consumers want to come in and buy of their own volition, then it's the True Believers who will have to deliver. It's simply beyond the realm of the bean counters' area of expertise.

GM needs to unleash their finest talent on the most pressing product programs coming up. For example, let's consider the new rear-wheel-drive Chevrolet that's in the works. No, not the hot new Camaro, but the replacement for the current Impala. This car should be the embodiment of the '55 Chevy - no, not a retro-mobile, but a car that delivers style, performance and value in an irresistibly alluring package. GM had a chance to deliver that with the 2000 Impala, but they blew it badly. Now, they have a shot with the all-new car - and they must deliver. There has been a crying need for a standard Chevrolet that has universal street "buzz" for, well, forever - and it would behoove GM to let their True Believers loose without restraint to deliver what's needed.

The spirit of innovation and the design and engineering creativity that bristle in the Z06 are slowly but surely making their way throughout the GM product roster in cars like the Cadillac V-Series, the Pontiac Solstice, Saturn Sky and Aura, not to mention the standard Corvette. They point to the direction that GM must go if they're going to survive, let alone thrive. That means the True Believers have to be unleashed on every future GM product program, from mini cars to super cars and everything in between. Anything less, and GM will not be able to stay in the game.

After all of this time and after all of the trials and travails that have befallen GM in recent years, believe it or not, there are people walking around the halls of General Motors who still fail to see the connection between the tremendously successful Corvette Racing program and the sheer brilliance of the Corvette Z06 - that somehow they are unrelated entities and that it ultimately doesn't matter in the larger scheme of things or in their "regular" products. And they would be dead wrong.

The Z06 is not just the best car GM makes, it's a glittering technical showcase representing everything that GM is capable of when the right people are given the reins.

Way back in the day, when Chevrolet was still learning how to market the Corvette and learning about what it could do for the brand, the sales minions came up with their concept of "halo" marketing - the idea that "there's a little bit of Corvette in every Chevrolet we sell."

It's time for GM to update that concept.

There has to be a lot of Z06 thinking and creativity in everything GM sells.

Thanks for listening, see you next Wednesday.

 

Amen

 

The next Impala could really make a difference. Any new info out there on the car?

 

Good stuff for the Auto Extremist, once again.

 

Good read!

 

Kinda sad the current one is barely on the streets and we're already looking forward to the next one.

 

It's strange because I see SO many new Impalas on the streets but I guess the people who want a really bold Impala are anxious about the next gen.

 

The only problem I see with the article is the deriding of the “bean counters” as if all that’s wrong at GM is their fault.

It is the financial arm’s responsibility to challenge what other areas (design, engineering, etc) want to do…it’s for the management of the company to decide what advice to take and to what extent…no one “area” is always right or always wrong.

Left to their own devices, designers/engineers would create a car that no company could build and say in business because only two people on the planet could afford to buy it even if they wanted it. Left to their own devices, the financial areas would never allow a car to be built that anyone would want to buy…the key is striking the right balance between the two.

You can build exciting cars that people want without sending the company into bankruptcy but it’s not necessarily easy!

 

I don't see how selling 250,000-300,000 Impalas a year "blew it".

 

I think that engineers and designers have a far greater grasp on finances than finance guys have on engineering and design, but somehow more control always goes to the finance guys.

I suspect that if you got a bunch of engineers and told them to design a car to sell at $18,000 they'd do just fine on their own.

 

Granted, most finance people so have little engineering experience and engineers probably do have a better understanding of “finance” than financial areas do of engineering. However, I have daily personal experience with how most engineers view financial concerns. Were the engineering VPs not insistent that they keep to financial constraints, most engineers would not give a second thought to financial considerations; they may “understand” the theory but they don’t necessarily apply that knowledge on a day to day/project to project basis.

Were your $18,000 example true, manufacturers would have no need for purchasing, logistics, parts arrangement, supply chain management or any other general/administrative area…all they would need would be design engineers and line workers to put the parts together; get a few more robots and you don’t even need the line workers!

The fact is, saying you don’t need any one area, be it finance or any other, makes about as much sense as your left eye telling your right hand that it isn’t needed.

 

Funny you should say that. I have lots of experience with how most bean counters view engineering concerns.

 

Humm...that is funny.

What isn't quite so funny, however, is the apparent need by some to call someone who has spent 4-6 years in under-grad/post-grad work, passed a CPA and/or CMA exam, maybe even has one or two advanced degrees and perhaps 20-30 years experience a "bean-counter".

 

Is it not funny because they never actually interface directly with the "bean" ?

 

Let's hope they will use the new Camaro to showcase how they can put world-class performance into an affordable package, and once again shut up the nay-sayers.