Autoextremist has hopeful words on GM.
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From: Chicagoland IL
Autoextremist has hopeful words on GM.
GM. In the last two weeks, GM has been bringing in journalists and analysts to the GM Design Dome at their Technical Center in Warren, Michigan, for one-on-one sessions to view most of their upcoming products for the next 30 months. Though we can't provide anything more than sketchy details, suffice to say, anyone counting GM out at this point will be surprised, make that shocked, at the array of new cars and trucks they have in the pipeline. Most impressive was the attention paid to the design of their interiors across the board, something that has been long overdue. And the new products are, in most cases, jaw-droppingly beautiful in their execution and details. Cadillac will continue to gain momentum, with a handsome new Escalade and a stunning new CTS that will flat-out reassert GM's design leadership in the industry. It's that good. And new entries for Chevrolet, Saturn and Buick are remarkably on-target and will be ultra competitive. Saturn dealers in particular should be high-fiving in their showrooms. And the new full-size SUVs and trucks are exceptionally detailed and should set new standards for dynamic performance, ride and efficiency in the category. These new vehicles reflect "Maximum Bob's" influence everywhere you look. Those looking for signs that the Lutzian era has waned in this business will be sorely disappointed, because this new stuff bristles with the kind of detailing and design integrity that have marked his best efforts in the past - and then exceeds them. This is the first time that we have seen hard evidence that all of the work behind the scenes at GM has been worth the effort. The talented men and women working in the trenches at GM have finally been turned loose - and the results are truly extraordinary. Is GM out of the woods yet? Not by a long shot, no. But whereas before they were getting lost on the way to the playing field, they're now well and truly engaged in The Game. And it's about time.
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From: The Golden State
Re: Autoextremist has hopeful words on GM.
Sounds alot like me. 
Seriously, like I've been saying, GM has some outstanding engineers & designers, and is more than able to produce some of the best cars in the world. GM has tons of vehicles in their pipeline, and by every account, these are some great prospects that's due to come out.
But like I've also been saying, GM's product approval mechinism is dysfunctional, and that's putting it politely by far. The approval process almost guarantees that any great car the designers & engineers create today won't be available to the public for years and years. Meanwhile, someone else not only creates the same car and gets it out before GM, they are on the 1st restyling by the time GM gets to the party.
Then thers the guys that ruin a car after it's approved, but before it hits the streets. Bob Lutz has had to intervene personally just to keep certain bozos from screwing up specified interior materials and quality simply to save a few pennies. Something a Vice Chairman of General Motors Global Product Development shouldn't have to be doing.
Instead of GM spending $$$ to fix the stuff that these twits screw up (costing the company more money than doing it right the 1st time) and being forced to delay the new products that fall victim to these people's narrow vision, GM would probally save a ton of money by simply giving these guys a pink slip and severence pay.
Having Rick Wagoner taking over GM North America is probally a great leap in fixing that problem (the people that gave Lutz a hard time probally will think twice about giving the CEO & Chairman a problem), but these people should still be downsized IMHO.
GM is up to the task of creating competitive cars that the public wants. Getting past certain gatekeepers intact or at all is an entirely different story.
Seriously, like I've been saying, GM has some outstanding engineers & designers, and is more than able to produce some of the best cars in the world. GM has tons of vehicles in their pipeline, and by every account, these are some great prospects that's due to come out.
But like I've also been saying, GM's product approval mechinism is dysfunctional, and that's putting it politely by far. The approval process almost guarantees that any great car the designers & engineers create today won't be available to the public for years and years. Meanwhile, someone else not only creates the same car and gets it out before GM, they are on the 1st restyling by the time GM gets to the party.
Then thers the guys that ruin a car after it's approved, but before it hits the streets. Bob Lutz has had to intervene personally just to keep certain bozos from screwing up specified interior materials and quality simply to save a few pennies. Something a Vice Chairman of General Motors Global Product Development shouldn't have to be doing.
Instead of GM spending $$$ to fix the stuff that these twits screw up (costing the company more money than doing it right the 1st time) and being forced to delay the new products that fall victim to these people's narrow vision, GM would probally save a ton of money by simply giving these guys a pink slip and severence pay.
Having Rick Wagoner taking over GM North America is probally a great leap in fixing that problem (the people that gave Lutz a hard time probally will think twice about giving the CEO & Chairman a problem), but these people should still be downsized IMHO.
GM is up to the task of creating competitive cars that the public wants. Getting past certain gatekeepers intact or at all is an entirely different story.
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Joined: Aug 1999
Posts: 2,610
From: Cincinnati, OH
Re: Autoextremist has hopeful words on GM.
...a stunning new CTS that will flat-out reassert GM's design leadership in the industry. It's that good.
With the current CTS selling as well as it is after a few model years (6,500 each of the last two months), just imagine how well one described like this will sell.
With the current CTS selling as well as it is after a few model years (6,500 each of the last two months), just imagine how well one described like this will sell.
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Joined: Dec 2000
Posts: 8,504
From: Ohio
Re: Autoextremist has hopeful words on GM.
Originally Posted by Chuck!
...a stunning new CTS that will flat-out reassert GM's design leadership in the industry. It's that good.
With the current CTS selling as well as it is after a few model years (6,500 each of the last two months), just imagine how well one described like this will sell.
With the current CTS selling as well as it is after a few model years (6,500 each of the last two months), just imagine how well one described like this will sell.
Ya, I'm kind of intriqued to see how the first real A&S car gets re-designed... I am just hoping it doesn't get "watered down", styling-wise... gotta keep the edge!
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Re: Autoextremist has hopeful words on GM.
Originally Posted by guionM
But like I've also been saying, GM's product approval mechinism is dysfunctional, and that's putting it politely by far. The approval process almost guarantees that any great car the designers & engineers create today won't be available to the public for years and years. Meanwhile, someone else not only creates the same car and gets it out before GM, they are on the 1st restyling by the time GM gets to the party.
Then thers the guys that ruin a car after it's approved, but before it hits the streets. Bob Lutz has had to intervene personally just to keep certain bozos from screwing up specified interior materials and quality simply to save a few pennies. Something a Vice Chairman of General Motors Global Product Development shouldn't have to be doing.
Instead of GM spending $$$ to fix the stuff that these twits screw up (costing the company more money than doing it right the 1st time) and being forced to delay the new products that fall victim to these people's narrow vision, GM would probally save a ton of money by simply giving these guys a pink slip and severence pay.
GM is up to the task of creating competitive cars that the public wants. Getting past certain gatekeepers intact or at all is an entirely different story.
Then thers the guys that ruin a car after it's approved, but before it hits the streets. Bob Lutz has had to intervene personally just to keep certain bozos from screwing up specified interior materials and quality simply to save a few pennies. Something a Vice Chairman of General Motors Global Product Development shouldn't have to be doing.
Instead of GM spending $$$ to fix the stuff that these twits screw up (costing the company more money than doing it right the 1st time) and being forced to delay the new products that fall victim to these people's narrow vision, GM would probally save a ton of money by simply giving these guys a pink slip and severence pay.
GM is up to the task of creating competitive cars that the public wants. Getting past certain gatekeepers intact or at all is an entirely different story.
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Joined: Oct 2004
Posts: 1,296
From: Beaumont, TX
Re: Autoextremist has hopeful words on GM.
Another reason why it takes so long for good changes to be brought to market is the jumbo size corp. red tape & beurocrocy. I used to work for ExxonMobil, talk about red tape & beurocrocy! They wrote the book on it. Actually, 2 books. Giant corp. like these have to get their a$$ kissing suckups & preventers of progress out of the way to do what's right for the products & customers in a timely manner.
Sorry for the rant.
Sorry for the rant.