Although DeLorenzo wasn't going into specifics, the same sentiments apply:

http://autoextremist.com/page2.shtml#Rant

I used technology as a basis for my 'perception' argument... The customer's perception could even be about simple things like electroluminescent instrumentation employed by Japanese makers like Honda and Toyota to give the impression that their vehicles are somewhat more 'advanced' than the other offerings. DI and 6-spd autos are just icing on the cake.

It seems that every new Japanese model that debuts tends to leapfrog GM's offerings in many (subtle) ways. Whereas every new GM offering only seems to adequately compete... until the next wave of Japanese/Euro cars debut.

 

Agreed. GM does seem to lack certain things that are now becoming common place in the market.
Does GM have 6spd autos? Yeah, sure they do. But where they first? Nope. And now, its MATCHES cars that have been out for some time.
How about HID headlights? Say what you will, but they are one of the first things people think about when they see a luxury car. When people see real HID lights, it raises the level of sophistication of the car...unless its one of those ebay kits. GM? Same old reflector/halogen light bulbs for x amount of years. How about at least projector headlights?
Navigation. This is something that has been optional on several Japanese cars for a while, when GM has only ONE mid-sized car with a navi unit, the Grand Prix. No other W bodies and none of the Epsilons have it. GM has turn by turn OnStar, but that is an anual investment peopel must make. Some people want the screen and will want that and pay for it at time of buying the car, not having to pay over time for it. Imports are putting these units in cars like the Mazda 3, Honda Civic, and others.
Magnetic Ride, while great, is only on a very small handful of cars, and all priced too high. And in that market, its a drop in the bucket compared to the other luxury cars these vehicles compete with. The DTS has Magnaride, but thats about the best its gunna get. With Mid 90's platform, 4spd trans, and sub-par quality and boring design, the car is no where near luxury. Lets not get started on Lucerne.
Intergrated radios, Keyless ignition, Bluetooth, stability control, etc are all still lacking from a lot of cars.
GM's technology is just catching up, but the next movement will jump so far ahead and GM will continue to chase after it. GM is putting lane departure and other sensing equipment on the CTS and STS, but they needed to be out around the time the release of the STS.
GM needs to either lead or at least catch up. The Malibu should have the option of Navi.

 

Some things like nav are inexcusable marketing decisions, because AFAIK they could be added very cheaply across the line. But other issues like the transmissions are reflective of deeper financial issues. To steal a quote from the thread next to this one:

Of course they aren't helping themselves with their inefficient distribution network that requires them to build 6 midsized sedans while the other guys only have 2 or 3.

 

That's why the Pontiac/Cadillac RWD, Buick/Saab/Saturn FWD plan makes sense to me, with Chevy being kind of a hybrid. It at least gets them down to 4 variations on a midsized sedan.

Btw, I'm assuming that Saab, Buick, Saturn, and Chevy all get an Epsilon2 car. I haven't followed closely enough to know if that's a valid assumption. But if it is, the last thing GM needs is a 5th variant for Pontiac or god-forbid 6th variant for Cadillac.

Saturn will duplicate Euro Opels. Chevrolet eventually will duplicate Daewoos. Holden will get whatever makes sense to GM-Australia (probably a mix of Alpha, Zeta, Opel, and Daewoo, right?).

 

I think what needs to be said here is that GM is not behind in technology, they are just behind in implementing this technology. Year after year GM has great concepts in Detroit that demonstrate their ability to be a leader in the industry. The problem is that these are just concepts.

5/6 autos are a big deal. They keep you in the powerband longer and give you a taller final gear. All of which equals better performance and gas mileage.

How long did it take GM to take DoD or AFM or whatever from a concept to production.

You can also look at little things. How long has it taken for GM to come up with a aux jack for iPods? I know other manufactures have had them for years before GM (not exactly a big step in tech).

The big problem is not GM coming up with technology, but the lag from concept to production, which is what matters. The avg consumer doesn't give a **** what GM has under the hood of a concept, they care about what's on the showroom floor.

 

Not understanding the market demand (for navigation in non-lux cars) is NOT the same as being technologically behind. If they were technologically behind, they wouldn't have the tech in any of their cars.

In a very small number of areas (and nav is one), GM is a little behind the market in terms of offering the options that customers want in the cars that customers want them in. I think, to a large degree, this is simply a symptom of the volume of cars that GM builds. To start including navigation in Cobalts or Impalas means a large increase in the number of navigation units they have to build and deliver, and it takes time to set up that kind of production capacity. Hopefully, they're working on it now, because they're already late.

 

GM used it in caddy's in the early 90's and it was a total, and embarassing, failure.

 

Didn't they also do it in the 30's (same result)?

 

I believe it was the late 70's/early 80's. The "8-6-4" as it was called never worked right. That was truly technology ahead of its time, it's just a shame they were far from perfecting it back then.

 

I could have sworn it was late 80's/early 90's??? Mabe they tried again?

 

The V8-6-4 was produced in 1981 only. The electronics never worked right though it was a way ahead of its time idea. It was replaced by the quickie design 4100, which was also pretty bad to begin with, but it eventually evolved into the 4900 Caddy used until the Northstar arrived.

 

The standard ecotec still doesn't have VVT technology.... Honda had that on the civic in 1992.

 

Whatever happened to the hydrogen fuel cell cars GM was going to produce? One GM quote that stuck out in my head was something like "we're not going to be the first ones to build a consumer fuel cell car, but we'll be the first to make money off a fuel cell car".


Anywhoo, IMO, in this day and age, if GM wants to catch a bit of the technology "glitter" on their halo, I'm thinking they should bring out the Chevy Volt series hyrid out as soon as possible.

 

GM VTEC yo!

 

Yeah I remember reading something along the lines of once the technology is introduced, "GM will have other manufacturers feeding from out of their hands".

OT: Call me a conspiracy theorist, but could the oil companies and vested parties be so powerful that they are curtailing the introduction of hydrogen fuel cells and its infrastructure?