Comments on: GM Cutting Product Development for Two Years

By: AlanM

AlanM — Sun, 09 Nov 2008 16:48:10 +0000

Great Idea!!

Skip a whole Model year- we don't need more FASHION! Instead, invest those resources in R and D for a BETTER car!

This is a No-Brainer, GM!

By: RKRB

RKRB — Fri, 31 Oct 2008 17:43:18 +0000

Reply to HybridGuy1271:
Ford has had a factory in Britain since around 1911 and in Germany since the mid-1920's. Ford owns a controlling share in Mazda, and Ford and Mazda share design teams, so the compaints about Japan not accepting American cars is not quite solid -- Ford and GM have decided if you can't beat them, join them. Apparently Ford and GM have tried to build different cars for different driving conditions around the world, but that is now changing and future designs should be nearly the same (but not identical -- Mazda and Ford often share the same basics but finish them differently).
GM has owned Opel in Germany and Vauxhall in Britain for a long time. They also share ownership of many other car companies in Asia.
Apparently the quality reputation which seemed to plague American cars in the past were more a function of the factories than the design, although no cars made in the '60's and '70's were as reliable (or as environmentally sound) as the ones made today. European and Asian cars had their share of quality problems in the past too (witness Mercedes recently, and witness the relativly high cost of ownership of most European cars) but for some reason they avoided the lemony tarnish that affected US-made cars of the same age.
This is hard to generalize, but when I lived in Europe in the '70's, most of my German friends were much more concerned about the gas mileage than about durability or maintenance. Germany had a very strict inspection system for older cars (inspectors could keep a car off the road if it had rust on the muffler pipe or the bodywork, for example) so high maintenance costs just seemed to be a fact of life. If a part looked bad, it had to be replaced, even if the car could keep going. I just don't know how they coped with the high cost of vehicle ownership!
German designers generally had relatively high safety standards in the '70's, and, importantly, seemed to rely more on technology for safety rather than just cheaply building a stylish high-mass car, like the American designs seemed to do (maybe this entire philosophy is one reason why US cars ran into trouble, and this fetish with style over substance can help explain many of our political and social woes over the past 16 years).
Both companies have component factories all over the world, and appear to be doing well in the growing Chinese market. They seem to be doing quite well in non-US markets in terms of reputation and sales. In America, Ford has been doing nicely in Powers surveys for quality, even in comparison with Japanese makes, and seem to be doing adequately with cost and dependability (lemons seem to be rare these days IMHO). Despite all the urban legends and hype you hear about anti-Americanism throughout the world, Americans seem to hate their own name brands more than foreigners do!
Hope that helps.

By: Bryce

Bryce — Fri, 31 Oct 2008 17:06:16 +0000

Foreign is exotic in a persons mind. That’s why.

By: Vc

Vc — Fri, 31 Oct 2008 16:49:39 +0000

This is a good excuse for GM for not rolling out the green cars, which I considered as PR stunt anyway,

By: HybridGuy 1271

HybridGuy 1271 — Fri, 31 Oct 2008 12:58:06 +0000

Did GM enter those markets later, i.e. after the 1970s-1980s, when quality had improved? (I honestly don’t know). Are the vehicles in those markets as advanced, from a technological and safety perspective and do the buyers in those markets have a differing perception of quality than U.S. buyers? Just a thought, I really don’t know the answers to these questions. Considering the reputation Ford has with it’s European vehicles and GM’s Cruze, though, I suspect that like Ford GM has the potential to create a Toyota or Honda-quality product, if they are so motivated.

By: HybridGuy 1271

HybridGuy 1271 — Fri, 31 Oct 2008 12:51:31 +0000

Not that I love GM by any means (I own Hondas), but I did have some hope that the domestic auto industry would begin to pull out of their slump for the good of the economy as a whole, if nothing else. What was it, 35%+ of potential new car buyers will sacrifice horsepower for mileage according to recent Ford market research? Pausing, even “temporarily,” the development of high-mileage, high efficiency vehicles is a mistake that will ultimately cost GM market share and sales, especially with the new Prius, Insight and Ford hybrids hitting the market in the next year. Toyota and Honda could afford to take a loss initially on their hybrids when they were brought to this country at the turn of the century, GM does not have that luxury with the Volt. I sincerely hope this decision does not play out to be “penny wise and dollar foolish.”

By: Bryce

Bryce — Fri, 31 Oct 2008 06:21:07 +0000

lol, good point. Honestly, I don’t care where the vehicle came from, if a factory goes over sees, it is just globalism. It means vehicles will be that much cheaper for you and me. : ) Besides, it makes a nice little middle class over seas to buy our vehicles, which, surprise surprise……they are, in exceptionally large numbers. : ) Now if Japan just lowered the barriers to trade over there, then we could finally make some inroads into that market. If we treated their cars the way they treat ours and others from other non Japanese automakers, Toyota, Honda, and Nissan would have never sold a single car here.

By: RKRB

RKRB — Fri, 31 Oct 2008 02:16:21 +0000

--Forbes magazine recently put forth an interesting idea.
GM is profitable in all major world markets EXCEPT North America. Outside North American, GM has an excellent reputation, fine popular products, a loyal customer base, and a good manufacturing and design program (even the Syrians and Iranians drive Suburban taxis). North American manufacturing and design threatens the viability of the entire company.

Therefore, according to Forbes, the obvious solution would be for GM to cease nearly all manufacturing and design in the US and Canada (presumably, some Chevy and Cadillac models would survive, but most pickups, SUV's, and other cars would go the way of the dinosaur and DeSoto). GM would sell in the US, but would design and assemble most vehicles overseas (sort of like, well, Toyota and Honda, which never had difficulty selling cars in the US even before making some of their cars here). Many Americans, including many bloggers here, hate US cars and prefer foreign. Would the corporate headquarters stay? Well, who knows (this probably depends on the labor, trade, and tax policy of the new administration, and if it isn't favorable to GM shareholders, well ... ).

--The same would seem true of Ford.

--Perhaps GM's commendable loyalty to its US dealers and workers is the only thing keeping them here -- it's certainly not the loyalty of American buyers!

By: Will S

Will S — Fri, 31 Oct 2008 00:34:00 +0000

Just think of how many Prius’ have been delivered.

By: Bryce

Bryce — Fri, 31 Oct 2008 00:01:01 +0000

lol beerkens......

Really though, where are all the Teslas the world was promised?