LOL, Agreed. But wait it's not the product, it's the marketing!

 

The color isn't the product. Neither is the lease incentive, or the advertising campaign. Those ARE all marketing issues.

 

How is the color not the product?

 

I meant that giving money off on certain colors is marketing. This wasn't a case of an extra expensive to produce. it was done to have an effect on sales. The Model T being available in any color, as long as it was black, was product.

 

I read Jerry's articles.

Hmmmmm...

Mebbe he needs to look a little closer.....he extolled the virtues of Bill Hoglund.

--guess who the new General Manager of Buick is?

(hint: Bill Hoglund's son-in-law)

As to the problem of combining Buick and Pontiac....and having too many nameplates to stock........Canada doesn't seem to have had a problem with that ......Pontiac and Buick are always dualled in Canada.......and in fact, the dropping of repetitive lines will only help the dealers up there....if, in fact, badge engineering is what he's getting at.

Zeta wasn't killed.....it was a name only.

See.....the problem, once again is that everyone's an expert on how to save GM.....of course, most of them don't have a stake in it.......(I'm not saying you don't have a stake in it, Buickman......)

Jerry's a smart guy. But I see some misinformation in his article.......not his fault...but he's jumping to conclusions (the Zeta point being one of them....)

 

Who do you suppose Wagoner is related to?

 

Wow I go on vacation a week and still no valid replies from Buickman, how sad.

 

Hope you enjoyed your vacation. What would you like a reply to? Be specific.

 

Post number 331 of this thread. It was a response by me to one of your posts.

 

Been away, here's your answers:
Olds - from 1.1 million units into the ground. Wagoner should be fired for that one alone.
Delphi - Spun to generate cash and rid company of UAW workers.
Hughes - Was good diversification. Sold for cash even though a great profit center. Gets tough when the comapny relies only on autos. Bad move.
Detroit Diesel - Another asset gone, the shelf is getting bare. You can't grow by constantly cutting and disposing.
Daewoo - Agreed.
Profits - Hell we made a billion in the depression. Today's profitability is a disgrace.
Junk - You're actually going to try and defend this? Get real!
Any astute observer will tell you GM is in trouble and who would you blame if not leadership?

 

I blame past leadership. The downsizing of GM in the 90s, when I was in my teens to put this into perspective, was done to get GM back to what it was and should have stayed an automotive company. GM's current leadership has not even had itsfirst cars hit the streets and already you want to skin them alive. You have been around long enough to know this, don't mix business with pleasure (or hatred for that matter). It will NOT get you very far.

 

Wagoner became President of North American Operations in 1994 and CEO in 2000. That's more than enough opportunity. Time for the showers. The Fiat fiasco alone is reason enough.

 

But bigger is not always better. GM is the third biggest company on the planet. That doesn't make them profitable. GM needs to be smaller so that it can focus on its core business. It's fine to diversify, but not if your core business is rotting as was the case for GM in the 90's. It's wonderful that GM did well in the Depression, but guess what, that was over 70 years ago! Time for a different way of doing business.
I think your attitude is exactly what got GM in trouble. Your afraid or unwilling to see big changes at GM, so you go back to what GM executives have indeed gone back to time and time again - marketing. Sorry, not gonna work. Wagoner is making some tough decisions and dealing with fundamental problems. Over the next decade, he will be judged by how well GM functions as a global company, how they dealt with their unworkable cost structure, and most importantly, the quality and success of the cars they produce.

 

The guy wasted 4.4 Billion on Fiat, lost Olds, and gave us junk bonds. Still you defend the man? Sorry, I respectfully disagree with your position. Arlington Cemetary is full of people some thought we couldn't do without.

 

Buickman,

You work for a dealership. You sell cars.

Why not diversify yourself and sell refrigerators and stoves as well?