Posted on 10/09/2013 4:07:47 PM PDT by 2ndDivisionVet
More than half of Texans said that the nearly $50 billion taxpayer bailout of General Motors may deter them from buying from the company, according to a survey released Tuesday.
The National Legal and Policy Center (NLPC), a nonprofit ethics watchdog, surveyed more than 500 Texas residents and found that 40 percent said the bailout would “absolutely” affect their decision about buying one of GM’s new pick-up trucks. More than 22 percent said it would “likely” or “very likely” affect their decision, while just 24 percent answered “not too likely.”
About 150 of those surveyed said that they were in the market for a new truck.
“Truck buyers are older, less urban and more politically conservative than other consumers,” according to the NLPC. “Ominously for GM, the percentages of those who said their buying decision would be influenced by whether the company received financial assistance from the government were higher than those not in the market.”
Texas is the largest truck market in the United States: pickups represent 20 percent of all new vehicles sold in the state, according to Bloomberg Businessweek.
The state will serve as a bellwether for pick-up demand. The company plans on sending 40 percent of new Chevrolet Silverados to dealerships in Texas.
GM executives have been working hard to woo Texas residents. Mark Reuss, president of GM’s North American operations, visited the Texas State Fair in September to bolster the company’s image.
It also embarked on an ambitious marketing campaign, posting nearly 80 billboards across the state and scheduling more than 40 marketing events to promote the Silverado, according to Bloomberg Businessweek.
Despite its heavy push to increase its market share against the best-selling Ford F-Series, GM pick-up truck sales fell 8 percent in September from one year ago, according to the NLPC.
The company has pulled back its marketing push for the Chevy Volt and other vehicles to focus on pick-up sales—but the memory of the bailout could come back to hurt them.
“GM doesn’t want the Volt out there reminding traditional truck buyers that it’s a bailed-out company, as that message clashes with the values of patriotism and self-reliance that truck marketing depends on,” auto expert Ed Niedermeyer told the Washington Free Beacon on Tuesday.
The Treasury Department is in the process of selling off more than 100 million shares of GM stock owned by the federal government. Taxpayers are expected to lose $10 billion on the bailout—a 20 percent loss.
GM President Mark Reuss acknowledged that the bailout could come back to haunt the company.
“We … know that the government ownership influence is highest among truck buyers. … Being owned by the government is problematic for now,” he said in October.
However, some say GM’s falling market share may not be that problematic. The company has streamlined its operations and created more common components, such as universal radio systems, to cut down on costs, according to Autopacific analyst Dave Sullivan.
“Long-term if you’re looking at GM, maybe their market-share isn’t increasing, but they’ve gotten smarter and engineered their products making them more profitable,” he said.
GM Canada President Kevin Williams said on Monday that GM’s past focus on market share has led to risky business practices that plunged the company into bankruptcy in 2009. GM leads the industry in subprime auto-lending to move vehicles off the lot, which Williams said could have catastrophic results for the automaker.
“The real question is, are you going to run the business the way you ran it in the past in order to drive market share exclusively. The answer is that’s not our intent because it [led to] a failed company,” Williams told the Globe and Mail editorial board on Monday.
You should buy whatever you think you look good in.
My American made Tundra, made by nonunion American hands, came with 386HP and it now has nearly 400HP. I like my truck to have guts when I hit the throttle. I needed it to tow a 6,800 pound Airstream trailer and occasionally an 8,000 pound boat. My truck is rated for 10,500. I can feel the boat a wee bit, but the truck doesn’t even know the Airstream is back there when towing.
Go drive one.
I bought this truck new in 2010 and I have not had ANY troubles with it. The dealership treats me like a king.... and for what I paid for it, they should.
Bottom-line, I think it all depends on what you like, what you need it to do and how much you’re willing to pay to get what you want. I am living my dreams, I would hope you will be able to live yours.
i won’t. no gm or chrysler. they basically suck anyway. especially the chryslers, they look like cheap frickin toys.
Thank you. I will definitely test drive a Tundra before making a decision.
Thank you. I will also consider your suggestion when I am ready to lease or purchase.
They better put a decent rear axle under that thing with the diesel. The Dana 44 is ok for Jeeps but pretty undersized for a half ton pickup. I’m sure all the rear end failures have affected sales.
Won’t buy a truck assembled by the UAW....that means GM, FORD, or Fiat.
Buy the pickup that’s made in Texas - Toyota.
I am in the market for a pickup, probably used, and refuse to look at any GM product manufactured after 2008. I have purchased only GM products since 1976 including Vans (custom), SUV’s, and pickups. I currently own five GM products.
I will not buy another post-obama GM product.
Our local GM dealer was closed by obama’s GM...
BTW, I would be considered a rancher by a lot of folks but due to high speed roads,droughts,and land hungry lawyers, I am in wildlife management (not for profit).
In reference to lawyers, a cow gets out and jumps in front of a car, my fault; if a deer jumps the fence and then wreaks a car, not my fault....
For 50 years I owned nothing but GM.
I have bought my last one.
When my 95 Chevy pick up gives up , I will be buying a Ford or Toyota.
GM was not bailed out. GM went bankrupt. The UAW was bailed out.
I was, until that point, a lifelong GM guy. I will be again, as soon as the UAW repays the $50 billion it grafted from the taxpayers. Until then, I will never drive another UAW built car.
Have two Toyotas now. It looks like it may be become a habit.
Had a coworker who’s wife had a Honda and he kept talking about how it was made in America. I asked him if he would fly a Jap flag in front of his house if it were made in America.
When my 05 Express gives up the ghost (either any day now, or it’ll never die. it’s got 313K on the clock) the next will be a Ford.
I hope the express hangs out long enough for the large Transit to be in my price range.
I’ve driven the transit connect. it can’t get out of it’s own way and can’t tow a thing.
Got a 2010 F-150 at work that I love to drive. Also have a 2007 Silverado with 176,000 and my personal 2004 GMC has 182,000. Saw my 1999 Silverado that I sold the other day and it currently has 225,000 and my 1994 that I sold had 272,000 the last time I saw it. I hated driving the 2004 F-150 we had at work as it had that dumb ass steering column lever like all the foreign cars went to and now days lots of the American ones where you have to push down the lever, tilt the whole column and then push back up the lever. The steering wheel never came down far enough. I don’t know why people have to take something that works great for decades and screw it up. Glad Ford went back to the old tried and true tilt wheel.
I suspect that Nissan has decided to go big, rather than go home. There are rumors of an increased interest in the basic, no-frills "work truck" market (Ford's bread and butter), as well as reasonable speculation that the company's selection of this 5.0L, V-8 Cummins engine indicates a possible move into the 3/4-ton truck market. That could be interesting.
I'm not sure any of that will really bring success for Nissan, though. Most pickup purchasers are still as brand-loyal as musclecar drivers were in the '60s and '70s, right down the smack-talk. I know several guys who have bought recent model GM trucks, even though they think the "bankruptcy" was an outrage. They just can't bring themselves to drive anything else, because they conditioned themselves to hate the competition.
Would you fly a Jap flag in your yard if it was made in Texas?
Of course then again...look at all the other Jap and Chinese crap I have in and around my house. :) :) :)
We will never buy GMC. Toyota for us.
Well, I’m Massholeistan and I won’t consider either GM or Chrysler products.
I own two Fords but have driven cars. The GM’s always felt cheap to me, and the Dodges were always incredibly uncomfortable (the morons *still* don’t understand that you need a place to put your left arm!).
I’ve never been more glad to say that I bleed Ford blue.
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