Enjoy

http://money.cnn.com/2008/01/07/news...tune/index.htm

 

Dang Rick is tall!

 

Great article. Rick will pull it off, him and Lutz are an excellent team. I like the Ed's as well. Just takes time.

 

For once, I enjoyed reading an article about GM.

It's been a while coming.

 

I'd dare say that the stock market is also a bit disappointed.

At some point, damn soon, GM needs to figure out what "X-factor" it needs to capitalize upon in order to start making some money. All the barriers that GM used to claim as its obstacles to success are gone, and all the magic-bullet fixes have been implements, and all the "key metrics" of GM now rival its competitors. Simply blaming "the market" or "the economy" isn't going to cut it if other competitors are able to continue making money and winning market share.

I do hope that the General is able to pull this turnaround off, though - if not, there's little hope left for Detroit.

 

If all of the so-called obstacles are gone, it's going to come down to product. But they also need to get back to being a leader and coming up with innovative ideas and products. It's time to stop following and start leading by example. With gas prices probably high for good, they need to be the leaders in fuel mileage, alternative fuels, clean diesels, lighter weights, and exciting and well made products that will set the tone for the industry. They have the brains and talent to do it, whether they have the money and vision is another story.

 

The X-factor is perception, and has been for some time IMO.

Dan

 

Well, "perception" isn't exactly an X-factor, but it's a big problem - so where's the investment in talent on the sales and marketing front? It's clear that GM can produce awesome product, but man, I just don't see the same sort of excellence displayed by the people who need to convince customers.

 

Word. Even if GM made a product superior in every way to a Toyota, and the Toyota outsells it 12:1, people will blame GM for making an inferior product, GM will blame the market for it not selling, and then GM bashers will claim GM is scapegoating the market for it's own stupidity.

If peopel don't want it, they don't want it. Nothing you can do about that but keep trying.

 

Agreed.

Also agreed....though I do think marketing is getting better. Perceptions won't be changed by fancy marketing campaigns though. Look at Toyota, do they do anything extraordinary in their commercials? No. They have a reputation that preceeds anything else, built upon quality vehicles in the 80's and 90's. GM must build/keep building quality product and engineer their vehicles to serve their buyers well for a long time. And I don't just mean powertrains.

 

GM is stuck in the Rock and Roll advertising instead of saying, hey we have a great product at a great price AND the money we make stays right here in the USA. What is American Revolution? Whats the purpose? Whats your mission statement? These are uncertain times, I dont care about rock and roll.

I know brand T is moving me forward.

 

I agree it's time to start telling people that GM cars are better than the competition. True or not get the message out there. Feed these people with the same crap the foreign car makes have for years. The only goal is to get them into a car/truck and then hope the product is good enough to keep them comming back. It's almost like picking up a chick at the bar....
I'm always amazed at how smart and stupid car consumers are. They can quote safety ratings on a minivan, mileage for a Prius or say the Tundra can tow 10K lbs. but don't know what DOHC means. I'd say a large group of car buyers are nothing more then lemmings that heard from a friend the Accord was better than the Malibu and that a Honda will last forever.