Posted on 06/26/2008 5:55:45 AM PDT by jalisco555
I agree with you except for Pontiac. It's dead brand walking. Time to kill it.
“Dodge Grand Caravan”
That was your mistake. :)
"I have been in a long running debate with "Chris" who frequently comments on my blog. I have stated many times that GM should have dumped Ditech and GMAC. Chris disagrees. The argument from Chris is that GM needed GMAC to finance cars.
Sorry Chris, you lose. GM needed GMAC to finance cars in the same sense that addicts need the next fix. The "profits" that GMAC provided were an illusion, just as the negative amortization profits at Wachovia (WB) and Washington Mutual (WM) were an illusion.
GM is not really a manufacturer. GM is a subprime lender disguised as a manufacturer. And as long as the junkie could get its fix, the game could go on. GM could have and should have dumped its subprime lending scheme when it had the chance. It would have fetched top dollar.
GM did not need those businesses, there was plenty of financing available numerous other places. GM would have sold as many cars as it did, whether it had GMAC or not.
Ironically, the same holds true today. GMAC is bleeding badly and will have to tighten lending restrictions. Lending restrictions have tightened elsewhere. Now GMAC and Ditech are like lead weights on GM's neck. Things are so bad, GM might have to pay money to get rid of GMAC. That is exactly what GM should do. Instead, it continues to fund it."
“I agree with you except for Pontiac. It’s dead brand walking. Time to kill it.”
I’ve owned 3 Pontiacs, and will never buy another. I just picked Pontiac as the mid-level. Call it what you will, 3 brands, Top, mid-level and entry. And make the offerings within each brand distinctive. Buick is no better than Pontiac in appeal, (but I do think for some reason, Buicks are better made).
Cadillac
Saturn
Chevrolet
How’s that?
i remember in the mid-1980’s discussing with friends, some of whom had worked for gm and quit, that
the management and unions at gm were screwed up.
they’ve had decades to get their act together.
I guess my point is that GM should have two brands, not three. Chevrolet for mainstream cars and trucks and Cadillac for luxury. I don’t see the point of a mid-level brand. One of GM’s biggest problems is a lack of focus. Also, too many brands compete against each other. If you have a mid-level brand it’s high end will compete against Cadillac and it’s low end against Chevy. They need to compete against their competitors, not themselves, but this will inevitably happen if GM keeps a third brand.
I’m with you — I bought a used 04 Toy Highlander last summer. I had a pay a little premium compared to what I could have purchased other makes for, but I wanted Toyota reliability, and resale will hold better than other makes too. And a year later, I have gotten what I wanted. No repairs, zip zero, nada. Just runs perfectly.
I will probably buy nothing but Toyotas from here on out. With gasoline sky high and possibly headed higher, we are all so concerned about mileage, as we should be ...
For me, avoiding those unpleasant trips to the mechanic are just as important as gas mileage. The cost of one or two big car repair bills per year would buy a lot of tanks of gasoline.
The engine and drive train of my ‘95 Grand Caravan essentially disintegrated after a bit more than four years and maybe 50k miles. I would have been out well over $5,000 if I hadn’t had the good sense to buy an extended warranty. This only has to happen once to teach a lifelong lesson.
That is my experience. I steadfastly refused to buy anything but American. But after an 1988 Baretta whose motor blew 2 days out of warranty; an 1989 Cavalier that was in the shop for repairs 125 days in 9 months; and a ‘94 Caprice that had 7 alternators replaced in it’s first year that was it. I might be a slow learner, but even I got the message. The quality was substandard and they had defective parts suppliers that they did not discipline for bad parts and continued to replace defective parts with defective parts that would soon fail. Their engineering designs were not made to be repaired easily and repairs were often and very expensive.
I would not take a GM if they gave me one for free. I find it unfortunate that they are in their current prediciment, but my experience was not unusual and there are many, also burned, who will not buy them again.
“They need to compete against their competitors, not themselves, but this will inevitably happen if GM keeps a third brand.”
I disagree, but either 2 or 3 brands would be better than what they’re doing now. GM’s vision is non-existant.
In the 3 brand scenario, a buyer might buy a Satun X versus a Chevy Y because they want the “better car”. Consumers can be pretty uneducated, not all of them understand that a Chevy Y = Saturn X with different labels. In years past, people would buy a Buick over a Chevy corporate twin and pay more for the better car. At the other end, a buyer with no concern for status symbols my buy a Saturn A vs. a Cadillac B because they are the same car, and the Saturn is cheaper.
Giving customers options, within limits, is a good thing.
The domestics are notorious for their toxic relationships with their suppliers. They try to squeeze every last nickel of cost out of them, driving some suppliers into bankruptcy. The surviving suppliers respond by making lousy parts to meet the unreasonable cost demand. Well run companies have a symbiotic relationship with suppliers, the success of one is the success of the other. Not Detroit.
Yep.
This discussion is moot, anyway. Given the nature of state franchise laws GM can only reorganize like we're discussing after filing for Chapter 11.
Your Kia 10 year/100K mile warranty is only on the powertrain. It’s basic warranty is 5 year/60K miles.
http://www.kia.com/warranty.php
I heard on the radio that GM has enough cash to last another six months. Too bad they and Ford couldn’t make a durable car to compete with the Japanese cars. For years I tried to be patriotic and buy American cars, but they were all poor quality. My Honda Civic has been the most reliable car I’ve ever had, now 12 years old.
Believe it or not, when GM said it had enough cash to last to the end of this year it was meant to be reassuring. Of course, it had the opposite effect, as everyone said "Well, what about next year?".
LOL, wish you'd told me that in 1995. Would have saved me no end of grief.
Those Miatas are micromachines, but they look so fun to zip around town in...
“As General Motors goes, so goes the Nation”. True?
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