Comments on: Autoextremist Hates Everyone- With A Vengeance!

By: fallout11

fallout11 — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 14:51:45 +0000

In the business world, perception IS reality, as any MBA candidate knows. This is why companies spend millions of dollars on advertising and PR. Your product might very well be the best in the world, but if no one thinks so then it really isn’t true.
What is the real value of “X”?
What someone else will pay you for it, not what you think it is.

With this in mind, note GM’s abysmal and ever-declining (for 45 years now) market share. What does that fact alone tell you? The perception is still that GM makes crap. Until GM can change this “reality”, it will remain reality. Yet I can see nothing different that will alter this in the next few months (or years).

By: M1EK

M1EK — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 13:30:02 +0000

The perception gap is crap. Most of us get to try GM vehicles almost every damn time we have to rent a car (I have ‘enjoyed’ an Aveo, a G6, and a Cobalt just in the past couple of months, as well as lucking out and getting a Mustang when I was stuck out in Yuma driving 200 miles/day for a week).

So those of us who travel, at least, know full well how much progress (if any) GM has made.

Also, a couple years back I ended up with a Sonata in Atlanta that convinced me that Hyundai was for real. So it can go the other way as well.

By: WhatTheHel

WhatTheHel — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 02:48:56 +0000

So GM builds the Malibu and the Enclave and they’re supposed to have erased the quality gap? Forgive and forget, is that it?
Product quality aside are we also supposed to forget decades of horrible service from GM’s dealers? Are we supposed to forget Rick’s salary vs. his job performance? Are we supposed to forget that your average GM assembly line grunt makes more than a college-educated nurse?
And now GM & the UAW are asking for my tax dollars to piss away for another quarter in the unrealistic hopes that things will magically get better?
Yes, there is a perception gap, Uncle Pete. Unfortunately it’s yours.

Oldyak… I’m not sure why your even visiting this site.

By: echodelta

echodelta — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 02:37:57 +0000

I heard him on with Paul Brian this past Saturday. He was on for nearly an hour. The show is “Drive Chicago,” which is essentially a brokered hour of radio bought and paid for by the Chicago Automobile Trade Association and their online presence at DriveChicago.com . You can listen here:

You may remember Paul Brian as one of the Chicago Auto Show staffers who ripped into the folks at some other web sites for pointing out that the McCormick Place web cams were live and some unintentional sneak previews might be possible.

By: Stephan Wilkinson

Stephan Wilkinson — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 00:56:24 +0000

Wow, that is one weird rant. Makes less than no sense at all.

By: toxicroach

toxicroach — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 00:08:07 +0000

oldyak…

http://www.autoblog.com

You’d fit right in.

By: Bancho

Bancho — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 23:42:19 +0000

oldyak:

See, that’s the problem. We’re *not* anti anything US made. The transplants build cars herein the US that are very well regarded and sell well (they even sell at a profit!). Workers in the US *are* able to build quality vehicles that people *want* to buy.

Additionally, none of those companies are going to DC begging for more money to keep doing the same wrong things and hoping for a different outcome.

By: oldyak

oldyak — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 23:26:27 +0000

so far…I haven’t seen a comment about tax breaks/incentives given to these “oh my god,their so much better than American car companies.
KIA…gimmie a break…and you all buy this shit?
Hyundai….ha,ha,ha! glad you buyers are now fourth generation,If you only knew their past,it would make Chrysler(oops,bad word here) look like Rolls Royce.
Mercedes…OHHHHHHHH,the most Overrated car in the industry,just read the reviews and durability reports!They were history long before they bought Chrysler.
BMW….If it wasn’t for the yuppie status,and if the owners knew these cars were built in the ’states’ they wouldn’t touch them!
VW…now HERE is the total joke on you US bashers…..
I’m sure with your ‘anti anything US made’ minds you don’t remember the last attempt that VW made making cars here!
Im sure its been mentioned in this forum…..or has it??
Toyota(the beast)
If their so dammed good and have so much money,why don’t they try improving the economy in African or other underdeveloped nations.We Americans would buy them!

YEA…I love to strut in my KIA..ha..ha..ha..ha

bash American AFTER you’ve done your homework!

By: Michael Karesh

Michael Karesh — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 22:40:40 +0000

The perception gap is real. But it’s not the only problem here. And Detroit hasn’t done everything it can to fix it.

By: beken

beken — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 22:38:19 +0000

I think Peter needs to give his head a shake. I usually read his writings with interest. I don’t always agree with him, but can usually see where he’s coming from. But this weeks rant sort of angered me. After decades of being promised by GM that they would “fix it the next time”, it’s now my fault for not believing them this time?

Sorry, Peter. Poorly written rant this time around.

By: Michael Karesh

Michael Karesh — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 22:35:50 +0000

I’ve met Pete. He’s far more arrogant in person than he is in writing.

I haven’t read him in some time, and am surprised by how much he’s changed from his originally critical persona. I believe the change occurred when GM hired Lutz.

I have always been against the “one great man” theory. The failure of GM under Lutz is a failure of this theory.

By: Steve Green

Steve Green — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 20:57:38 +0000

“What they do convince everyone of is the reality that this industry and its flacks have a sense of entitlement that defies belief.”

These are the words someone should carve into Detroit’s and the UAW’s tombstones.

By: psarhjinian

psarhjinian — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 20:32:26 +0000

Somehow, Hyundai, whose reputation was far deeper down the toilet bowl than GM’s ever was, has been able to dig themselves out. How did they do that? By taking steps that GM would never, ever contemplate:
* Admit to past problems
* Price products fairly and consistently (ie, none of this “value pricing” crap)
* Implement a comprehensive, long-term warranty and–this is important–actually honour it.
* Design cars that people want to buy. To GM’s credit, they did eventually do this.

GM would never, ever admit to things being wrong, or their being fallible, so it could never, ever take the kind of steps Hyundai took to resolve the perception gap. For Hyundai, the perception gap was a Hyundai problem, and they took ownership of it and addressed it. For GM, the perception gap was the customer’s problem, not theirs, and they ignored it.

The perception gap exists, but it’s up to GM’s Marketing and Product Planning to fix it. Here that, Misters Wagoner, Lutz and La Neve? Especially you, Mr. La Neve. This kind of thing is your job.

By: 210delray

210delray — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 20:28:55 +0000

The guy is totally amazing, a shill for Detroit. I stopped reading him a while back, could no longer stand his outsized ego. The funny thing is I recently heard him on the radio; you’d never guess he has such a soft-spoken voice compared to the bombast he writes.

About that old perception gap, a colleague at work who moved here from the Detroit area has a 2005 Saturn Ion. Just last week, the car had to be towed from here for its 3rd replacement ignition module. This is apparently another well-known problem that GM refuses to address with a redesigned part. So ye olde gap isn’t just something from long bygone days; it’s still relevant for recent GM products.

By: elloh7

elloh7 — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 20:16:56 +0000

Correct me if I’m wrong, but if the Detroit siblings were “viable” as this autoblogger suggests, they wouldn’t even be in this mess to begin with. Instead, there they stand, holding out a tin cup and hoping for the best.