Mark LaNeve Still Standing. GM? Not so Much.

by Robert Farago

Published: July 21st, 2009

mark laneve still standing gm not so much

Old GM’s marketing maven is New GM Sales and Service Supremo. Of course, Mark LaNeve held those latter two responsibilities before GM nosedived into bankruptcy. In fact, you could say that LaNeve’s administration of the sales and service elements of his tripartite position helped push GM’s corporate yoke into its maximum forward position. (I couldn’t possibly comment.) LaNeve should take some comfort in the fact that A) he still has a job, despite CEO Fritz Henderson’s dark hints about a sudden shiv in the shower; B) LaNeve still has a high paying job; C) his marketing remit has been filled by Bob Lutz, the only man on planet earth capable of making GM’s taxpayer-fronting taskmasters wish they’d stuck with LaNeve; and D) LaNeve gets a new business card! Automotive News [AN, sub]: “A GM spokesman said an official title remains to be created.” Suggestion box below. Meanwhile . . .

Automotive News also tells us that “ Weak July Sales worry GM.” They’re worried? As in what, wringing their hands? Running around muttering “faster! must move faster! that’s it! speed is everything!” AN has GM “grappling with weak sales” How macho is that? And if sales are so weak and GM’s such a great grappler, why are they so worried? I know! Let’s do the math!

Henderson said he is cautiously optimistic about the second half. In the first half, GM’s U.S. sales fell 40.4 percent to 947,518 vehicles. Industrywide sales plunged 35.1 percent to 4.8 million vehicles.

Well, that sucks. But let’s look at this in perspective, shall we? New GM says it can be profitable with a Seasonally Adjusted Annualized Sales Rate (SAAR) of 10 million—provided they don’t lose market share and the moon lines up with Saturn—I mean, Mars. Who’s SAARy now?

January – 9,818,849

February – 9,052,415

March – 9,325,891

April – 9,521,684

May – 9,905,134

June – 9,546,071

Robert Farago

More by Robert Farago

Comments

Join the conversation

2 of 32 comments

Rnc on Jul 22, 2009

The UAW and government ended up owning the company, but the UAW’s contract is barely touched and its retiree benefits are not touched. 1) The healthcare benefits are being hacked to the bone. 2) Thier shares are essentially worthless and provides an incentive to help the company succeed. 3) There was only so much of an advantage that the Gov. was going to allow GM and Cry. to gain over Ford with the BK with them funding it. Once again I didn't like it, but I do understand that an out of control Ch7 would have been far more costly than what was done. Just think about PGC and Medicare absorbing the retirees and thats just the Retirees. Then add in the much higher cost of providing unemployment and medicaid to whole communities and then transfer payments to cover lost tax base for education and infrastructure. Economy levels and rebounds (albeit at much lower level, but thats what all of closures/buyouts were for) in one/two year time frame and then if they collapse it can be absorbed. And the line of thinking isn't a politcal one, if so, Bush never would have made the original loans and kicked the can. Despite to right wing/left wing reitoric they all knew it.

Like Reply
Panzerfaust on Jul 22, 2009

This is proof that GM does recycle, and uses retreads.

Like Reply

Recent Comments

Lichtronamo Watch as the non-us based automakers shift more production to Mexico in the future.
28-Cars-Later " Electrek recently dug around in Tesla’s online parts catalog and found that the windshield costs a whopping $1,900 to replace.To be fair, that’s around what a Mercedes S-Class or Rivian windshield costs, but the Tesla’s glass is unique because of its shape. It’s also worth noting that most insurance plans have glass replacement options that can make the repair a low- or zero-cost issue. "Now I understand why my insurance is so high despite no claims for years and about 7,500 annual miles between three cars.
AMcA My theory is that that when the Big 3 gave away the store to the UAW in the last contract, there was a side deal in which the UAW promised to go after the non-organized transplant plants. Even the UAW understands that if the wage differential gets too high it's gonna kill the golden goose.
MKizzy Why else does range matter? Because in the EV advocate's dream scenario of a post-ICE future, the average multi-car household will find itself with more EVs in their garages and driveways than places to plug them in or the capacity to charge then all at once without significant electrical upgrades. Unless each vehicle has enough range to allow for multiple days without plugging in, fighting over charging access in multi-EV households will be right up there with finances for causes of domestic strife.
28-Cars-Later WSJ blurb in Think or Swim:Workers at Volkswagen's Tennessee factory voted to join the United Auto Workers, marking a historic win for the 89- year-old union that is seeking to expand where it has struggled before, with foreign-owned factories in the South.The vote is a breakthrough for the UAW, whose membership has shrunk by about three-quarters since the 1970s, to less than 400,000 workers last year.UAW leaders have hitched their growth ambitions to organizing nonunion auto factories, many of which are in southern states where the Detroit-based labor group has failed several times and antiunion sentiment abounds."People are ready for change," said Kelcey Smith, 48, who has worked in the VW plant's paint shop for about a year, after leaving his job at an Amazon.com warehouse in town. "We look forward to making history and bringing change throughout the entire South."   ...Start the clock on a Chattanooga shutdown.