PacerX

I've been thinking about GM and all their divisions lately, and the fact that I believe that there just isn't any room to cram in 4 divisions (or more...) between Chevrolet and Cadillac.

I'd like to qualify that...

With the way GM is structured right now, I don't believe that there is any way to do it.

That being said, if GM were to change it's structure, you might be able to...

And here's how I think that might work...

Go back to the Divisional Entrepenurial structure that previously existed.

I like Bob Lutz. I think Bob is gutsy and bold and willing to put his *** out on the line for the things he believes in.

The problem is, in my mind, that there's really only 1 Bob Lutz at GM, when every division used to have a Bob Lutz... who happened to also run the division itself (or be very high up in the chain of command...).

DeLorean is a good example of this, and there are many others...

See, GM used to have at least one of those guys for every marketing division who's *** was on the line for the division's success... but at the same time was empowered to drive that same division.

Good examples of the successes possible in this type of structure are cars like the original GTO, and the Camaro, and the Cutlass. All driven through by strongly independent, responsible managers who saw their chance and took it.

In truth, at one point (and even now to a large extent...), you can put a bowtie on a breadbox with four wheels and it will sell. You CANNOT, however, do that with a Pontiac or a Buick or a Saturn.

I think that it is honestly the only way to save those divisions. They have to become light and flexible and entrepenurial... and it can't only be Lutz doing it. There's not enough Lutz to go around.

Darth Xed

Take it a step further, and break up GM Powertrain, and let the divisions go their own routes with their own unique powertrains like back in the day.

It'd be fun, but I think these sorts of moves would be very cost prohibative in today's world, no?

skorpion317

Not only is it cost prohibitive, but the higher-ups in the company don't want any individuality among the divisions. Everything must be under their control.

R377

The thing is, back in those days each division was more than just a "marketing division" ... they had their own engineering, powertrain, and design staffs and way more control over the product they'd be selling. And that worked okay when Chevrolet had as much marketshare back then as all of GM does now. As Darth said, it would be way too expensive to do that now, especially given all the safety and other laws each car must meet.

PacerX

Breaking up Powertrain would certainly be cost prohibative.

Empowering the marketing divisions to attack their own niches as they see fit... well, at least in a less centralized manner... probably wouldn't.

notgetleft

A structure like that just sounds like a recipe for more infighting and bureacracy then anything else.

The problem with some of the brands is lack of coherency and focus. So while that concept might be able to help that problem some, if all the product decisions are focused in the divisions then you'd have team pontiac fighting team chevy over development money for a firebird to go with camaro.

PacerX

Not true.

In the mid/late 70's and 80's, the marketing divisions no longer made their own motors.

Fisher Body was ALWAYS the centralized source for all bodywork from the firewall back... with one exception... Corvette (which is part of the reason such brilliant decisions as vacuum operated wipers and headlamps with a propensity to stick popped up happened... but I digress...). The marketing divisions were basically responsible for the front end from a manufacturing standpoint, and that's it.

There was standardization, but at the same time, the marketing divisions were more free to do what they felt they needed to do. In truth, what they seemed more inclined to do was specify what they wanted for a car, and then have the other divisions make it happen, or bring them closer to a manufacturable reality.

The sterling examples are Pontiac GTOs and Olds Cutlasses and Buick Grand Nationals and LeSabres...

Right now, the system just seems broken. The G8 is a competent car, driven by one man, with some rather odd content decisions...

Like no available navigation...

Or an oddball 361hp LSx derivative.... Erm... an LS3 would have broken the bank???

Now, in general, I like the car. Problem is, that the spirit that resulted in what we got doesn't carry over to anything else. Lutz can't live and die every division.

PacerX

Damn right you would.

And may the best business case win.

Right now what you get is a mealy-mouthed LaCrosse and Grand Prix fighting it out with each other, instead of those funds being devoted to whichever one has the best chance of being successful, and then getting the development funds to make it successful.

In truth, Chevy isn't really part of the discussion...

You could take a cardboard box and slap a bowtie on it and it'll sell. Chevy doesn't have a problem making business cases for cars.

Buick, Pontiac and Saturn DO.

Todd80Z28

I see room for Chevy, Saturn, and Cadillac. To me, these seem to carry the most weight in today's market. Keep the Buicks for the Chinese market, I guess, but do them there a la Opel in Europe.

jrp4uc

Good suggestion. Go to a structure with separate BPG, Saturn, Chevy, Cadillac/Hummer, and Saab leadership and let them make the best decisions for their brand(s). The current system (platform-based leadership?) isn't getting it done and it's a whiny dealer network away from being bypassed (Pontiac G5, G3, etc).

I understand there needs to be shared resources and collaboration, but there also needs to be some amount of "creative freedom" and independence amongst the brands.

dav305z

I've thought this might work too. Sharing resources is smart, sharing management is not. You cannot artificially create six different brands if one guy is running all of them. What GM needs is less agreement in their boardrooms and more competition.

So the way I see it, GM's top management should decide they need say, two midsize cars. Obviously one of those is going to be a Chevrolet, so that leaves one for the rest of the brands to fight over. Rather than arbitrarily decide which should get the scraps, let Pontiac, Saturn, and Buick present a design and a case for their getting the car. Competition improves the breed.

99SilverSS

GM has moved from a group of seperate divisions acting like their own car companies to a Corp. supporting different divisions that are just marketing and sales of different interior and exterior design.

This is because it's far to expensive to support different divisions with employee overlap and R&D for each division to have their own engine. Very expensive.
These changes and the ones to come are due to market competition and cost cutting to stay competitive.
GM will move to even less model overlap as they restructrue. Pontiac-Buick-GMC will be grouped in and as a whole will deliver a car line that will equal Chevy. It's the only way to keep the divisions and yet cut more costly model overlap. GM isn't looking to repeat Olds again but can't justify the added cost to get each division a Trailblazer for instance.

JakeRobb

I agree with PacerX -- each marketing division needs a head guy, like Bob Lutz, to make sure that the brand stays true to its passion, stays current, and remains profitable.

There's a lot that goes on independently of the marketing divisions, though, and I think GM needs to model the rest of the business after GM Powertrain. GM Powertrain just does what they do best: build some of the best engines in the world, and stay at the leading edge for all engine technology. The rest of GM then just picks from the resulting engines and puts them in cars.

I'd like to see parallel "engineering divisions" for several other aspects of the business:

GM Platform - maintains a set of varying-size, modular vehicle platforms, including chassis and suspension designs, for various purposes
GM Drivetrain - builds transmissions, differentials, etc.
GM Interior - seats, instrument panels, center consoles, HVAC systems, entertainment stuff, etc
GM Safety - airbags and other restraint systems, plus working with GM Platform to incorporate crash safety in the platforms themselves
GM Exterior - paint, glass, composite body panel materials, better window seals, etc.

I'm sure there are a few more divisions that would be good additions to the team. Each of these divisions would design and engineer various automotive components for use in GM cars.

I suspect that GM already has departments that basically make up my "engineering divisions," but I suspect that there is not enough focus on the modular, component-ized methods I'm suggesting. GM has it right with Powertrain, and I want to see that approach get adopted across the board.

PacerX

Costs cutting DOES NOT EQUAL an increase in competitiveness.

This is a major, glaring fallacy that GM has fallen victim to.

VALUE is not solely defined by COST.

centric

And this is what will kill ALL globalized, cost-cut, centralized, MBA-led companies.

Eliminating the competition and insisting on consensus is nothing more than suicide. While you are building internal support and wasting billions of dollars trying to figure out how your brands fit together, smaller and leaner (or smarter) competitors come in, do things right, and take your market.

The good news is that once they come in, do things right, and take your market, they are usually invaded by MBAs who go on an acquisition spree, which results in them having to worry about how all their brands fit together, how to irritate the fewest people possible with all the acquisitions, and in general screwing everything up.

And then it starts all over again.

Bottom line: if GM's brands were allowed to compete, they would be stronger.

Right now, they need nothing less than GM Brand Thunderdome. Two brands enter, one brand leaves. Until only the strong ones are left.