Another sign of GM's desperation

The sad aspect of Mikes' posts is that there is a great deal of truth in
many of them. His blind loyalty to American producers does have the effect
of making everything he posts appear foolish.
Yes there are differences in the philosophical approach to the design, and
execution of the production of autos by American, and the different non
American producers.

I have NO LOYALTY to any brand or manufacturer. I am only concerned about
how well a vehicle meets my needs, wants, and desires. Having owned cars and
trucks new and used for over 40 years, I can say that while all manufactures
have produced great cars and total pieces of crap by the standards of the
time they were made, IMHO, TODAY, there is only an insignificant difference
in comparable cars produced by whom ever.

My current vehicles are 03 X-Type Jaguar, 01 GMC Jimmy SLE , just unloaded a
92 Taurus and about to pick up a Toyota Solara Convertible.

The vehement hostile attitude expressed by so many here against the
different manufacturers does not make sense to me. I can understand
despising a dealer for the way they conduct the service and sales
department. Yes no matter who the manufacturer is some, poorly produced cars
will come off the assembly line.

My biggest bitch about cars are poor ergonomics, and cheesy interior
materials that look like crap. As far as reliability goes IMHO they are all
within acceptable tolerances.

 

Well, they could sell a few more divisions and lay off some more workers.
That will increase their bottom line and dollarwise make them viable agai.

They sure as hell can't do it selling cars...

 

The problem is that the odds of getting a poorly produced car are MUCH
GREATER with some manufacturers than with others.

So why take the chance?

 

It's a good strategy with one flaw...

The CNN article states:

"Part of the reason GM is willing to take this step, said LaNeve, is
because the company has little to lose. Midsized sedan shoppers often
don't even consider GM products, he said, instead going straight to
Honda and Toyota dealers."

If they don't even consider GM products, they won't be in GM showrooms
to begin with.

 

GM would be wise to simply put every dealerships next to a Wal-Mart.

 

Perhaps, but according to the US Department of Commerce's site, as of this
month GM is still ahead of Toyota by several million vehicles, year to date,
in the US.

mike

 

You are confusing US sales with international sales that include markets in
which GM does not operate. GM out sells all other Manufactures in the US,
domestic or imports

mike

 

Merely stating a fact, GM out sells Toyota in the US

mike

 

After my ten years is the fleet service business that serviced thousands of
vehicles every month of just about every brand, I can tell you our years of
record show there is no
significant difference from one brand to another. Every manufacturer is
making great vehicles today. The only real difference is style and price.
After a dozen Toyotas and Lexus, I personally no longer buy imports because
they simply cost too much more than the domestics I now buy. I do not own a
GM vehicle.

Toyota should be worried more about the Koreans than the US manufactures.
They are the ones that compete with Toyota in more of the worlds growing
markets. They are building great cars that sell for thousand less in those
markets


mike

 

Not so, they are not MUCH greater but rather closely bunched together. If
you look at all of the surveys of owners problems, not as the 'list' that
they are presented, but as the percentages they actually represent, you will
discover they ALL have a failure rate of around 2%. 2% is the average
failure rate for all industries, that is why ALL products offer a warranty.
The question one should ask is, do I really want to spend 20% to 30% more to
buy a particular brand in the hope I will NOT get one of THEIR 2% that are
problematic?

Any brand one buys new today will easily run well over 100K or more before
needing a major repair. One should therefore compare shop rates, part
prices and the availability of parts, if they plan to keep a vehicle longer
than the US average new cars buyers regimen of three to four years, or 60 to
80K on the clock before they buy another new car, since all manufactures
today warrant their cars drive train for longer than the average trade
time/mileage that buyers keep their cars

Since I switched for Lexus to domestics in 1999, I have saved thousands when
buying another new car and hundreds annually on the prices I pay to have
them serviced at the dealerships

mike

 

That assumes they develop the marketing strategy of having competitor
products in a vacuum. If they don't have it yet, they will have an ad
campaign that challenges Toyota and Honda buyers to stop by and look at the
Aura, or whatever it is.

They don't need to attract all of the Toyota and Honda buyers out there,
they only need a few of them. All they want if for some guy to say, "Gee
honey, the new Saturn looks kinda nice, let's go look at one." When they get
to the lot, "Look honey, they even have the other cars we were considering.
We can drive two or three cars right here! Isn't THAT cool?"

Maybe they settle on the Accord instead of the Aura, but that is the chance
that Saturn is taking.

 

Really? It would be quite a trick for GM to be ahead of Toyota by
"several million vehicles, year to date" since GM has only sold
1,220,781 vehicles in the US as of April 30. Toyota sold 816,312
vehicles in the US during the same time frame.

So GM might outsell Toyota by about 1.2 million vehicles in the US
this year. But if you look at the trend over the last four years,
Toyota could surpass GM in US sales in 2009 or 2010.


Here are my references:

http://www.theautochannel.com/news/2007/05/01/046236.html

http://www.theautochannel.com/news/2007/05/01/046202.html

http://www.theautochannel.com/news/2007/04/24/045313.html

Where are yours?

 

Don't worry, Mikey has never been one to let facts get in the way of his
desired conclusion.

 

Jackpot, your last paragraph needs no further explanation.

 

"Siskuwihane" ...
Coffee Lover
"Wickeddoll"
A non coffee lover Said:

Oh my...

Natalie

 

IMO, it is a gutsy move and, it may just work. Just that fact they have the
balls to do such a thing will get some attention and it may be what gets
people into the showroom.

 

he he ...Mike Hunt...he...he....Mike Oxwelling...he he..

 

Guess what Mike, the whole world matters to a business, not just the
USofA.

 

Mike, I'm in Australia and in my humble opinion Korean-made cars are crap,
particularly the Daewoo models that are going under the GM badge.
Unless you're getting a different build Korean car in the US then I suspect
you may be smoking something.

 

"simon" ...

He's actually a resident Toyota NG troll who lives in his own little fantasy
land. He does not help the cause of promoting domestic cars. He's the
worst enemy in that regard, because he never has facts to back up his
bullshit.

Hell, he doesn't even bother to chime in when we *do* praise certain
domestic vehicles. He only shows up to try to discredit any praise we have
of Toyotas, or amplify any problems we may have (and yes, Toyotas have
problems that we're not blind to).

If you want a more reasonable discussion regarding domestic vs. foreign
vehicles, I suggest other posters. This one will never admit he's wrong
about anything. Ever.

Natalie