http://www.thedetroitbureau.com/2009...-cts%E2%80%9D/

 

I've been saying: forget what you think you know about GM's future plans ever since GM's recovery plans got trashed so badly the CEO was forced to quit..... it's a whole new game..... and I think GM's upper management finally has their collective heads out of their.....cubicles.


The initial plan was typical Wagoner "Go Slow and Steady", with a healthy does of "Weening off of large trucks and SUVs". The bulk of GM's new direction wouldn't take place till well into next decade.

In a rare instance of the government actually doing something better than the private sector, the government shot that idea to kingdom come.

First, GM is being forced to divert resources back to cars.
Next, GM is being forced to quickly kill off divisions that aren't sustainable.
Finally, GM is being forced to get cars out more quickly and with higher quality.

A car that GM might have gotten around to bringing out in 2015 might actually be brought out in 2012, limited only by GM's recources to make it possible.

Fewer divisions sooner rather than later means more money and resources available to make it happen.

GM has had the ability to get new models out quicker than anyone else pretty much this entire decade, but their decision making process was... should we say, dysfunctional... to say the least. But by forcing out Mr Wagoner, and gutting GM's plan (publically, and in plain language that even a 9th grader can understand) had the effect of finally forcing the powers-that-be at GM to actually run a car company instead of a bureaucracy.


Once the dust settles, and GM has either gotten federal backed loans or has completed bankruptcy, I'd be willing to say that the 1st Alpha should be out between 18 and 20 months later. Not because of the 24-30 month prediction made in the article, but because that's about the maximum speed that GM can get an all new vehicle to the marketplace.

The group that was making the case for killing Alpha again (it started off as the Kappa, which was also supposed to create a line of small RWD cars) in favor of more Espilon cars seems to have been trampled to death in the mad scramble that's taken place at GM since March 31st.


Once GM (and even Chrysler) gets through this federal business, I think we're going to see a golden age of the 2 companies. Better run, better quality, models that actually compete with what comes from Japan (or even Europe), and a lineup that is broadbased (instead of focused on a narrow group of vehicles).

Hopefully, everything comes together.

 

Me too. This "24-30 months" is abit sooner than I was expecting, but good news if true.

Variants of this architecture will be Cadillac's highest volume sellers and be the most important program the division has had in recent memory. If Cadillac wants to go global - these cars ARE the franchise.

And, if all the stars line up, Chevy may get a very sporty, world class, little ponycar out of this.

 

I wonder how the government thinks that little "oxymoron" is accomplishable?

You can't rush greatness

 

I think that it's finally a case of actually committing the resources and making it a priority, more than anything else.

 

If you are marketing 7 divisions and are attempting to supply product for each, of course not.

But if you're focused on just 3 or 4 divisions, then it's not rushing.

We aren't talking about a Michaelangelo painting, or building a new Versailles for a French King. We're talking about building a simple, frigging automobile. That's all...nothing more. This is something that automobile companies have been doing for over 100 years.

Today, a modern automobile can be created out of thin air in 18 months. There is no more "take your time and get it right" in the automobile world. It's all a matter of "how much do you want to spend on the seating material?, or "do you want to cut a corner making a single piece hard plastic interior door cover, or one with soft covering and multiple pieces glued on?".

Today, a few key punches on a computer program will give you the type of metal, and how much metal will be needed on a suspension part given the weight of the vehicle. Crash testing is done on a supercomputer nowadays, with real testing done as part of final validations.

The only thing that takes time today is fine tuning. creating the right sound of the turn signals, the perfect grain pattern of the interior plastics. Picking and tuning the exhaust sound. Finally, the start up on the assembly line (which alone in Camaro's case has been well over 6 months of the less than 24 since it's approval) in order to both work out bugs, but also to save a few pennies.


All this is based on things I found out when I went through Holden some years ago, before Bob Lutz cut even a few more steps in the development process.... so GM can create a top quality car even quicker today!

It's all about how to allocate resources.

In the past, GM's product approval process was geared against new products, and placed an extremely heavy emphasis on return on investment (the reason why the new Camaro would have never seen the light of day if it had gone through GM's normal approval process). Trucks and SUVs (and now crossovers) have a very high return , and that's why GM focused more resources on them and all but forfeited the car market.... and what Rick Wagoner's plan was all but based on.

With fewer divisions and fewer cars to develop, GM's cash and personnel go a lot further. Instead of loafing around pushing Alpha back to 2015... if even then... GM is being forced to get the car done, and get it on market... and make it good! No unnecessary cutting corners, no one shaving pennies and creating 2nd or 3rd rate interiors simply so someone can get promoted.

And it's great GM has no choice.

Toyota, Lexus, Infiniti, Nissan, BMW, Mercedes, Mitsubishi, and a whole host of other global automobile players aren't going to wait for GM! They are going to simply frigging flatten GM while GM spends time puttering around with that old, outmoded idea of not "rushing greatness".

Greatness is competing, making the best products possible.....as quickly as possible..... then find ways to make it even better and even quicker!!!

Alpha is shaping up to be that first test.

And that GM got off it's can, kicked the Espilon-based naysayers out of the way, and is moving this project up, says alot about how this new GM is shaping up.

I like what I'm seeing so far.

 

FINALLY..and thank you for posting what I know a lot of people have been thinking and saying for a long time..sums it up right here!

 

Does this mean that Camaro and Impala could share an architecture?

 

Keep in mind that this is a small car architecture.

 

That sort of implies that you won't have a Chevy sharing the architecture. I also note that nowhere in that article does it mention RWD. I hope that doesn't imply FWD.

I don't know that the market's big enough, but it would be neat if Chevy could build a coupe from this to compete against the upcoming Toyobaru and Genesis. Having only to support an I4 and a V6, it could be quite a bit smaller and lighter than the Camaro, and probably even a little smaller than the Genesis coupe, though a little larger than the flat-4 Toyobaru.

Given the way that CO2 emission and fuel economy standards are going, it's really hard to see how a V8 Chevy variant could come from this small RWD architecture (assuming it really is RWD).

 

I dunno....sounds a little pie in the sky for me when your looking at a company who can't afford new lightbulbs. I mean the government can say "make better, more efficiant cars cheaper, and faster"..all day long. Doesn't mean it will happen. I am actually more worried we are actually headed down the same road to the next K-Car. Where the idea of getting something profitable, cheap to make, and high volume leaves us with a product that is ultimatly pretty crap and hurts GM's reputation for years to come.

 

The K-car was actually a rather exceptional car by early 1980s midsized car standards.

It was actually pretty well made, spawned alot of spinoffs, and made Chrysler rich within a few years.

To top it off, it enabled Chrysler to pay off it's Federal loans in 3 years instead of the 7 it was supposed to take.

 

I don't think it's pie in the sky at all. Just more like focusing resources. About time if you ask me.

I'm with Guy on the K-car too. It saved Chrysler.

 

The K-Car may have saved Chrysler..but again...no one looks back on those today as "great" cars...in terms of relability or engineering. No one is saying...man I am gonna buy a Avenger now because that Dodge Shadow I had was a great car! They were cheap and profitable..which is what Chrysler needed. To say that GM is gonna make cheap, and profitable cars, faster, and with better reliabiliy and efficiancy....just because now they are out of money and the government in involved IS the definition of pie in the sky. What your gonna see is a return to see is GM having a more car skewed lineup with an increased focus on figuring out how making money. Most people forget..the money GM makes on cars is a drop in the bucket compared to margins on cars. If GM survives...GM is either gonna have to sell their cars for more, or take a lot of production cost out of them.

 

Branden, I'm not getting how you make the connection between Alpha and the K-car.