[DMCForum] Re: Ford and GM

["therealdmcvegas" <dmcvegas@xxxxxxxxx>]

--- In DMCForum@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx, "Jack Stiefel" <jackstiefel@xxxx> wrote:
>
> Oh I didn't forget that, my father and I were talking those very
same topics
> last week.  
> 
> It is a top down problem that unfortunately GM is not prepared to
address,
> my optimism is just too good to see a company that big just die
away, plus I
> still want support for my Hummer, event though it is made by AM
General (H1
> and my H2, not the H3 that's GM all the way), GM handles all support
for it.

Pffft!!! You own a DeLorean, and you're worried about losing factory
support for your other cars?!? Don't worry, you'd be fine.

GM's management isn't ready for any type of change. I honestly believe
that they wouldn't be able to cope. The problem is that they've been
fostering their flawed management style within every executive that
they've groomed. JZD is really a great example of this too. He's often
criticized for being hypocritical of how he ran his own company, by
making some of the same mistakes that he criticized GM for in his
book. But by the same token, what other methods did he know of? While
he had a business degree, what other methods had he been *taught* for
practical business management?

Look at companies such as Jet Blue. Even higher-ups empty their own
garbage cans, to save money on maintenance crews. Other executives
wouldn't dream of such an act, because they feel it's beneth them.
However, these people wouldn't dare refuse to pitch in and go that
extra mile, because they have been "raised" durring their carreer
pathing to help pitch in to reduce the bottom line whenever possible.
And they see this as a way to help out.

I don't knock the HHR. I think that it's an alright vehicle, and it's
MUCH more comfortable than the PT Cruiser. However, it too suffers
from GM's chronic over development of "creature comforts" in vehicles.
The controls in the car were not designed for ease of use, but rather
to try and impress the driver. Mostly, I hated those stupid friggin'
"stove burner" buttons for the power windows. Rather than being
clustered together like every other vehicle has ever been, they're
horizontal across the center console, and use a shaded four-sqare to
indicate while button controls what window. Just like the controls on
your stove!

GM is SOOOOO behind everyone else when it comes to cars now days. Ford
and Chrysler are fighting for customers by bringing back the "retro
look" with all their cars. Which IMO is great, considering baby
boomers are feeling nostalgic, and are willing to spend their
retirement savings on some cars, as well as some younger drivers who
dig the look of cars that they too idolized. Everyone has seen the
Mustang, and here is Chrysler's new attempt with the new Dodge
Challenger: http://tinyurl.com/dm4cz (good chance this one will debut,
since they took so much heat over the 4-door charger). I like the GTO,
but GM has failed miserably with their promotion of it. And like
they've always done, they'll blame lack of public interest, over the
fact that they failed to properly push a product. Just like the they
did with Oldsmobile. With Olds, they spent more money on a single
advertising campaign to make customers feel good about a car they
already bought, than they did the 2 years previous to try and actually
attract buyers to the product they were currently building!

GM just can't design cars any more, let alone properly advertise them.
Chrysler has an advertising campaign that focuses on the individual
drivers. "Drive a Charger, be the neighborhood bad-ass!" "Own an
SRT-4, beat the imports!" "You want a truck, you need to town
something, you need the HEMI!" You wanna go off-road to places you've
never seen, and you don't want to get stuck? Buy a Jeep!"

Ford has more of a 'fraternal' feeling. "Buy a Ford, and join our
family. Be apart of the "in-crown"!" "Like towing boats, and listening
to Toby Keith? You need a Ford!"

Honda simply builds upon their sucessfull line of dependable cars.

Hyundai sells cheap cars, as an alternative to buying something used.
Which appeals to lots of people. Myself included, when I bought a
brand-new one years ago as my first car.

GM on the other hand tries to hold a gun to your head, and says, "If
you don't want anything bad to happen to you, or the ones you love,
you'll buy a car with On-Star!, or you might just die!" And that
pretty much sums up all their commercials! GM's current advertising
campaign is nothing more than fear peddling. This is a time of war,
and people want to forget their problems, not heap more worries upon
themselves. But still we have to watch, and listen to all of those
On-Star commercials telling us that some asshole was going to die of a
heart attack, some woman was going to have a miscarrage, some chick
was having a siezure, so senile old, idiot broad was stupid enough to
lock her grandchild in the car, etc. But in all of these cases,
On-Star came and saved the day! WHO CARES!!!! This doesn't make me
want to buy a GM product to gain some sense of security that I now
feel that I'm severly lacking in my own car. It makes me feel better
about NOT owning a new GM product, because it seems that GM is the car
of choice for morons. And I don't want others to see me behind the
wheel of Chevy, and have other people associate me with those people.

GM also keeps driving up the price of their vehicles by installing
useless gimmicks that people don't really want. I had a Monte Carlo
rental down in Houston last June. Pretty good on comfort, and not too
bad on styling. But dammit, I FOUGHT with the car everywhere I drove!
Yes, you read correctly, I FOUGHT with the car. I'd speed up, and the
radio volume would increase and get louder to where it hurt my ears.
I'd slow down, and then I couldn't hear it any more. So I was always
adjusting the volume on the radio. Then I'd punch on the gas pedal,
AND THE A/C WOULD TURN OFF! So I'd get this blast of hot, muggy, musty
air that filled the car. YUCK! You'd flip on the wipers, but they
didn't turn on right away. Nope, they paused for several seconds,
while they gently rose up above the hood, and would THEN come on. Not
exactly safety minded IMO for when I needed to clean the glass in a
hurry while driving! Then there are the reverse lights that turn on
when you open the trunk. Great! I'm in a dark parking lot, and can no
longer see if anyone is hiding behind my car. Then there are the
Daytime Running Lights, the overpriced intergrated stereo systems, the
overly complicated information centers in the dash board (if a gauge
can't tell me what's going on while I'm driving, I don't need to know
it), etc...

If GM really wants to cut costs on their vehicles, let them start by
simplifying their cars, and removing all of the goofy shit that people
don't care about. Simplicity is a BIG selling point with me...

-Robert

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