Detroit, 11:07 PM
Sun Dec 6
13 posts in the last 24 hours
Tip your editors:
Editor-in-Chief:
Ray Wert | | AIM
Road Test Editor:
Wes Siler |
Weekend Editor:
Murilee Martin |
Associate Editor - Houston:
Associate Editor - Detroit:
Editor-at-Large:
Contributors:
John Krewson |
| posts about #platformprostitution more → |
GM Ditching GM Logos |
Secret GM-Ferrari Merger Confirmed By NYC Street Spotting |
2011 Buick Lucerne With Rear-Wheel Drive Is Not Dead Yet |
Original material is licensed under a Creative Commons License permitting non-commercial sharing with attribution.
Jalopnik 
08/26/09
***Sigh!*** Don't you guys have the inside scoop? They're ditching the GM logos in favor of THIS....
08/26/09
08/25/09
08/25/09
08/25/09
Here is the new one:
08/25/09
Sad.
08/25/09
They did the number one thing that people bitched at them to do: build better cars. With the glaring exceptions that are the Cobalt and the Aveo (both of which have replacements due in a year), all of GM's cars since the introduction of the GMT800s are as good or better than any of their competitors in almost every respect.
Then they dealt with the number two issue that they got bitched out about: lineup overlap and redundancy. As a result, Saturn, Saab, Hummer, and Pontiac are now gone; thusly that problem is pretty well addressed.
Despite the rampant hate and bitching about GM, amazingly enough, people still buy them. And while they are no longer the world's number one automaker, they are in second place, and within inches of Toyota, which itself has seen vehicle sales drops and quality issues.
To me, from a business standpoint, the only major mistake they have made is not taking a harder line with the unions. We'll see what effects that has in due time, but otherwise, GM has done pretty damn well.
I don't think that that is quite the same has having "...no direction, no focus, and no purpose"
08/25/09
as hard as it is, coming from the Ford fan that I am, I have to agree with you.
What is GM doing differently? Building world-class cars for one. I'm dying for a Lincoln that can compete with the performance of a Cadillac, but I just don't see that happening anytime soon.
Even the Cobalt isn't horrible, and the SS Cobalt is pretty damn fun!
While I'll always be biased toward Ford, gotta give credit where credit is due.
08/25/09
Yes, GM has some great cars right now. However, they don't have anything that's gamechanging or groundbreaking. They are beating the Japanese, but so is Ford. Part of this, as you point out, is because Toyota is having it's own issues with quality and cost structure.
The cars that were "groundbreaking" for GM are gone. No more CTS-V. No more G8 GXP. These cars competed not with another US brand, or an Asian brand, but with the high-end Euro brands like BMW, Mercedes, Audi. And they did well at it! I, as a Ford fanboy, would actually consider a G8 GXP if I were in the market for a car right now. But, in another year or two or three when I have to get rid of the Mustang and get a "practical" car, it won't be around anymore.
Did I exagerate in my comment above? Hell yes, but only to prove a point. The news coming out of the RenCen right now is about removing the GM logo from cars and GM floating loans for the US government over the C4C debacle. They are getting better, but only incrementally and relatively.
08/25/09
Still beats the Aveo, but so does a Smart, an Accent, or (in some ways) a Metro.
08/25/09
But that's not where the majority of the money is made. The majority of the money is made in compact and midsize cars and crossovers. And GM has the best of them at almost every price range. The Malibu, Equinox, and Traverse are all great cars.
We will still be getting the cars that Saturn was bringing in from Europe, this time under the guise of Buicks. And yes, we're all sad about the G8. But that doesn't mean that the Zeta platform is dead, or that we won't see anything like it within the next few years. But right now, GM needs to focus on its cash cows and let bring in a little green for a few years, and they are about half way through that process as we speak. If the Cruze and the Viva are done well, then we'll get more exciting cars.
And quite frankly, GM has made leaps and bounds in the past three years. Toyota may be number one in terms of sales an perceived quality, but GM is winning in terms of actual quality. The fact that Toyota is stumbling does not makes GM look that much better, and does nothing to detract from the progress that they have made.
Think of it this way: in 2005, Chevrolet's lineup consisted of the Cavalier, Monte Carlo, old Malibu, TrailBlazer, and Impala. All of them sucked, though the Impala and TrailBlazer weren't horrible per se; they just weren't great. Now look at GM. Again, barring the small cars, which will be replaced in a year's time, they have the best damn lineup of any automaker at that price point. Ford is right there from a product standpoint, but not from a sales standpoint. Chrysler is still in the corner coloring, VW is still trying to figure out how transmissions work, Mitsubishi is on life support, and Toyota, Honda, and Nissan have almost nothing exceptional or of interest.
Again, I would say that that is more than just "incremental and relative improvement".
08/25/09
If that's all that's on the docket, then I would say that GM is doing very well in terms of its plans to turn the company around.
08/25/09
08/25/09
08/25/09
08/25/09
08/25/09
08/25/09
08/25/09
So what, exactly, are you talking about?
I want the G8 and Solstice back as much as the next Jalop, but that doesn't mean that GM doesn't make other good cars.
08/25/09
As for the cars that suck, I'm primarily referring to all their existing small-car lineup. All the rebadged Daewoos are rubbish; sorry, but they are. The Cobalt is mediocre at best, as are its platform mates. The Allure is... bland, uninspiring, and uncompetitive.
I refuse to put ANY credence in pre-production reviews anymore. Remember just before the Cobalt came out, how we were told it would make everything else look like cheap crap? Yeah, not so much. Same with the Fusion, the Focus, the Sebring, the 300C. It's entirely possible that their new lineup will be fantastic, but as I say, I've heard that story before. Only time will tell if it's true.
08/25/09
The Astra never sold in large numbers, and had Saturn stayed around, it would have been entirely redundant with the advent of the Cruze, which is currently available in Europe, and has gotten positive reviews. The same goes with the Aura. In fact, the new Malibu is a better car for several thousand less.
When the Focus first came out, it really was one of the best small cars on the market. The problem is that Ford has done little to replace it. The same goes with the 300C; it was the best car in its class when it came out, and while it is no longer at the top of the class, it's not exactly bringing up the rear, either. The Fusion did, and still does, make the Camry look like crap. As for the Sebring...well...I don't like to talk about that. But for every time that someone brings it up, I'll simply bring up "Mitsubishi Galant". But in any case, they are all completely irrelevant, as none of them are GM cars.
08/25/09
Gas had gone from ~66c/litre to ~$1.00 litre, and The General responded by pulling the plug on a couple of small car and CUV programs in order to pull the GMT900 ahead.
The Canyon/Colorado hit the market with a dull thud, the pre-production Solsti were ergonomic nightmares, and the Cobalts were no great shakes either.
Prognosticating that oil would continue its unceasing march upward, and GM's lack of decent small cars and trucks was going to become a massive liability, I started to test the waters outside of the company.
Then all the managers across the company left for a week to go talk strategy, and when they came back, their rallying cry was "BUILD BETTER CARS!"
And to achieve that, they were going to stick little square GM logos on all of their cars, to build brand recognition across the line. This was the straw that broke the camel's back, if you will allow me to presume myself a camel in this instance.
That the management couldn't fathom the need for decent cars was forgivable, especially considering the salary and benefits I was pulling as a new grad. However, to believe that the best strategy for what was at the time a nine-brand company with an ever-decreasing market share was to create and promote yet another brand snapped me into the realization that GM was run by incompetents, and that bankruptcy was a foregone conclusion.
So Good Bye, Mark of Excellence, may future business school students study you evermore as a classic case of "Grasping at Straws".
08/25/09
Good rid...Good read...
08/25/09
08/25/09
Do these same customers also have trouble associating brands like Coca-Cola as...a Coca-Cola product?
08/25/09
08/25/09
08/25/09
Can we find something stupid to spend the money on?
08/25/09
08/25/09