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.
Totally agreed. I know I will not buy any care from any company that raped the American people.
Meh, no big loss. They lost my business when they scrapped the only two brands I used to buy: Oldsmobile and Pontiac.
An inferior product does not hurt in the decision either.
Reluctant? No. I absolutely refuse.
I drive a Toyota Tundra CrewMax 4x4 Limited 5.7..... and mine was made in Texas. I’d never buy an Obama car.
I’m with them. Dodge neither.
A year and a half ago, when I was in the market for a new car, I didn’t even look at what GM had to offer. Buying anything from GM is simply out of the question.
We will never buy any vehicle from Government Motors. EVER. Never before have bond holders been screwed like this deal which gave the company to the labor unions.
I knew I should have been a Texan. I’m stuck in a state second only to Massachusetts when it comes to anti-American values (Maryland), and I will never under any circumstances buy or rent another GM product. I don’t deal with crooks, and GM is an inherently corrupt organization.
Ford sales up and all others down.I always tee off on someone who drives an obamamotors car.There lame ass reply is that it was before the bailout and I just laugh at them.
I’m reluctant to buy GM and I’m from Jersey.
I believe Chevy’s reputation regarding trucks is that they are more expensive than Ford or Dodge but higher quality. With the other truck makers seeing sales increases and quaility not an issue, all that is left is that truck buyers don’t want government motors.
So am I and I need a new truck!
Not surprising - Government Motors is pretty much “scorched earth”, so far as consumers are concerned. Once, the General Motors brand was unassailable, putting solid products out in the market place and giving fair measure for goods purchased. You knew a GMC or Chevrolet pickup truck had the lifetime of a horse and could be maintained with a minimum of attention to the basics. Not a fussy or temperamental vehicle at all.
But GM became a massive retirement and health care plan, and only incidentally manufactured motor vehicles and related products. When some 30% of the price of that vehicle is going for coverage of workers who may be long retired, and is not available for technological upgrading or engineering excellence, something had to suffer. Toyota, Nissan and Ford all kicked the butts of the “post-bailout” products from Government Motors, or at least, that is the perception.
Studebaker and International were once producers of light and medium duty trucks, too. And what remains of either of them today? An occasional one will show up at a “veteran” or “antique” automobile show.
I have an 03 Avalanche that I like a lot. I would consider buying a newer one ‘08 or earlier. But never any GM product after that date.
I hear ya. Nissan's upcoming 5.0 Cummins turbodiesel Titan is the one I'm waiting to see. It should a game-changer in the pickup market.
Chevy trucks are not higher quality than Ford. Ford has outsold GM in the truck department for years now. The Chevy is a good looking truck and if it weren’t a GM, I’d look at them. It’s Ford for us, we have two. A Flex and a Superduty.
I’m considering leasing a Chevy Silverado, extended cab, with the 6.0 engine. But I am open to suggestions of a Japanese P/U that is comparable. Do you have a suggestion?
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