You can remove the quotes. GM inventory in January: 107 days. Let’s see what they do now.

Atleast yo have way more evidence with Ford and DCX to prove you may have a point with them but as far as GM goes it seems they are on the right track.

Tomorrow’s “big 2.5″ with look a lot like today’s Fiat group. That doesn’t mean that Fiats are bad (they make some good and some not-so-good products), but their legacy costs and poor work ethic will keep them from ever again becoming a world-class auto producer. Look to companies like Honda, which is obsessed with reliability, versatility, and new clean technologies — but doesn’t obsess about being biggest or setting stock price records — as one of the automakers to be most successful over the long haul. By successful, i mean good for customers, workers, managers, investors, and communities where Honda operates. Everybody wins.

In the good old USA, winning is now defined only by what Wall St. thinks of this quarter’s earnings. We sit atop a fragile house of cards when executives proclaim we all win but everyone else (car owners, workers, communities, dealers, …) all feel they lose. Executives commonly bring home a greater salary in ONE DAY than any professional technical worker with a master’s degree can earn in ONE YEAR. This alone is proof positive that corporate control is steering the economy to the edge of the cliff. What can the hardworking citizens of the USA (remember when we were called “citizens”, not “consumers”?) do to change course? Except for this blog, it seems everything we see, hear, feel, and taste has been imported and copyrighted for the licensed profit of some corporation that is headquartered in the Bahamas to avoid taxation. No surpise why so many nations around the world reject American-style capitalism — it hasn’t kept our industries healthy, and it just isn’t sustainable.

Irresponsiblity at corporate headquarters in the offices of their puppets in Washington DC is killing not only the US auto industry, but the very competitiveness of the USA as a whole. The shame of it is, while we’re fretting about stock price and car sales, other countries look at health of the population (Cuba is far healthier than the USA), literacy (USA does not rank in the top 20), life expectancy, etc. Simply put, the woes of the big 2.5 are direct reflections of continued corporate AND union malfeasance. The US government, being all but owned by corporate underwriters, have shown shortsighted management of our resources, wealth, and responsiblities as global citizens. New superpowers China and India, with all their problems, certainly won’t take our lead of how to sustain a country. If they are smart, they will enrich the lives of all citizens, not set new automotive sales records.

Not always true. Make sure it is a manufacturers warranty (GM Protection Plan for instance) before purchasing. These are backed by the manufacturer and are legit.

We are living in a brave new world whereby it is now incumbent upon workers to “fund their own retirement.” Retirees who are dependent on a retirement pension are in a race with their pension to see who dies first, the retiree or the pension. This is true of all industries – the retired airline pilots are now learning this bitter lesson – but especially true of the now defunct heavy industries (such as steel, shipbuilding, soon to be autos).

“I most certainly DO remember my mother’s pontiac transmission going out at 20,000 miles sometime in the 80’s.”

During the 80’s and 90’s tens of thousands of customers of the D1.5 got stuck with expensive repair bills due to premature failures of ATs. (Not all of them, just tens of thousands.) In all fairness to GM this was mostly the case for Ford and Chrysler customers, as GM ATs have generally had a great reputation for durability.

“Anyway, since I get the GM family price, I went with the Colorado. Would I have gone with it without that price break? I don’t know.”

Purely anecdotal, but I have a friend in Indianapolis whose father retired from Ford. He also purchases new Fords because of the lower family price. Unfortunately for him, his Ford Taurus A/C compressor failed, spitting small bits and pieces of material throughout the entire A/C system, estimated for about $1,500 by the Ford dealer to fix. (But how much would it actually cost for the Ford dealer to fix it?) So he took his familly on vacation to visit his dad in Arkansas one hot summer without any A/C. I do not believe he ever got that fixed; he was so afraid of a repeated breakdown, the actual repair price, and the quality of the repair workmanship on a repair job with such extensive damage to the A/C system.

“I had an extended warrenty from my dealership with my Silverado, and the one thing that did go wrong was covered.”

I would never buy an extended warranty from any dealership, foreign or domestic. Contrary to what the dealer may say, you are actually signing a contract with an insurance company that may or may not be in business the next month. These things have a sour history with consumers, as they are nothing more than revenue enhancement for dealerships who “churn” these insurance entities, constatnly creating and then bankrupting them so no consumers ever gain any insurance benefit.

“Which brings me back to part of my orginal question – to people that work in dealerships… is there a difference in how Toyota, as a parent company, operates it’s dealerships? Or do the D 2.5 just have an older network of dealers who came to power (for lack of a better term) during the ‘good ole’ days’ and think that’s simply the way business is done? Wasn’t that the ENTIRE reason for creating Saturn? To create a new dealer culture?”

No, I do not believe that Toyota, as a parent company, operates its dealerships any differently, because these are independently owned franchises, and they are run as the owner sees fit. There are bad Toyota and Honda dealerships, and these owners know that the next nearest ToHo dealership is so many miles away, so they have more latittude as far as what shenanigans they want to operate with.

This is especially true of the same owner who owns both Toyota and Honda franchises. If I was the CEO of either Toyota or Honda of America I would forbid any one owner from owning both franchises for this reason: So many people have (rightly or wrongly) reached the conclusion that the best value for their new car money is either a new Toyota or Honda, and these “double owners” know they have the local market cornered with these people, sometimes up to a 50 mile (or more) radius.

An example of this is this ToHo dual dealership in KY, both owned by the same owner. When I went to buy my first new car in 1997 they had me sit down for ever without any sales assistance while their salespeople where walking around in circles in their showroom with nothing to do. I purchased a new Pontiac partly because of this treatment, and partly because of the lower cost to purchase and finance.

FWIW, here is what this dual ToHo owner has been up to recently:

http://tinyurl.com/27jkez

and also:

http://tinyurl.com/2f7996

“And if the D2.5, as companies, are unhappy with the way that their dealers are treating customers, what recourse do they have against them?”

The companies, both foreign or domestic, either can but will not, or simply can not, do anything. I have heard of only one franchise in N/A (foreign, in CA) being dissolved by the manufacturer because of bad business practices.

Actually, sometimes it is the car companies themselves that encourage this sort of thing. You may remember that leasing fraud used to be the MO of FoMoCo Financing until enough State Attorney Generals put an end to it.

Chysler has never had a 5/50 BBW. In the 80’s they did have 5/50 limited powertrain warranty (the best offered by ANY manufacture at the time) and they later increased it to 7/70. There was a $100 deductible. Later in the 90’s they intoduced a 3/36 BBW warranty. I believe now you can get both warranties but I may be wrong.

From this morning’s Detroit Free Press:

LAS VEGAS — Detroit’s automakers have too many dealerships, and one prominent auto analyst said Friday they need to cut the number of stores by two-thirds to make their retail networks competitive with those of foreign automakers.

In 2006, GM had 13,974 dealerships. Ford had 7,106 and Chrysler 8,541.

The complete article is here.

In the interest of full disclosure, I should mention that I grew up with a dad working for GM 38 years before he retired. So in that sense I am concerned about his retirement, etc.

I most certainly DO remember my mother’s pontiac transmission going out at 20,000 miles sometime in the 80’s. I can’t remember exactly, it was a while ago.

I recently purchased a 2007 Colorado. The only other truck I looked at was a Toyota Tacoma. And for those wondering, yes, the salesman at the Toyota place mentioned that GM was having financial troubles, and that with the deep discounts that GM offered, I would lose the residual value. Of course, he kind of rubbed me the wrong way when I looked at a crew cab 4×4 Taco and said “What do these go for, $30K?” And he says, “No, well under $30,” The sticker on the window was at roughly $29,300… ok, roger that, well under 30. Anyway, since I get the GM family price, I went with the Colorado. Would I have gone with it without that price break? I don’t know. I don’t know if I would have gotten a new vehicle, but I liked the idea of 5/100 warrenty. I had an extended warrenty from my dealership with my Silverado, and the one thing that did go wrong was covered.

Which brings me back to part of my orginal question – to people that work in dealerships… is there a difference in how Toyota, as a parent company, operates it’s dealerships? Or do the D 2.5 just have an older network of dealers who came to power (for lack of a better term) during the ‘good ole’ days’ and think that’s simply the way business is done? Wasn’t that the ENTIRE reason for creating Saturn? To create a new dealer culture?

And if the D2.5, as companies, are unhappy with the way that their dealers are treating customers, what recourse do they have against them? I mean, I’m pretty sure that if you treated customers at your Starbucks or McDonalds like crap, and the parent corp heard about it, they’re drop you like a bad habit.

2002 Mercury Cougar with 48,000 miles goes to the dealer for repair of an oil leak, a warning light that goes on for no reason, and a broken passenger door hinge. I sat down with the service manager to explain to him that the car was in a year ago for the warning light and the door hinge, I was charged for the fix on the warning light and was told the hinge was on order however, the warning light came on again after 1,000 miles of driving. I was never called back to fix the hinge. I expressed my opinion that I didn’t think they did anything with the car and that I felt I was charged for a repair they never did.

This time, they took the car in, fixed the crank seal that was leaking. I was told that the serpentine belt was a little nicked and that it should be replaced. Also, the warning light was traced to a bad radiator overflow bottle that was replaced and lo and behold, the hinge that was ordered a year prior was collecting dust on a shelf with my name on it.

All repairs were done timely and expertly.

I was charged $40 for the serpentine belt, $55 for antifreeze to fill the cooling system and new bottle, $25 for the new door hinge, and $32 for an oil and filter change due to the faulty seal.

$152 total THAT’S IT!

The dealership expressed regret that they were negligent the first time around and that this time they just charged me for parts as the labor was on them.

Now, I’ve had my share of charges for mechanic work done and needless to say, I WAS SHOCKED.

I’ve been one of the most vocal critic of the way domestic dealers treat customers, but if this is an indication of the way domestic dealers treat their customers from now on, then I can see a dim light at the end of the tunnel.

and nino wrote: “Frankly, there are a few family owned dealers here by me where the real estate the dealerships sit on is worth more than the franchise.”

In my former home town in KY a Pontiac and Chevy dealer are competing directly across the street from each other. I do not know what the land is worth vis-à-vis the dealerships, but I do know that the owner of a local rental car agency (they rent mostly GMs) told me that these GM service depts. can not fix anything, but you still have to pay for parts and labor that fixes nothing. What can businesses like these be worth?

*********************************************
Glenn A. wrote: “Now, in California, I understand that non-US brands make up over 50% of retail sales.”

and skor wrote: “Foreign branded cars must have a much higher market share in California than 50%. The foreign branded cars have taken about 70% of the market in New Jersey.”

Looks like the D2.5 are getting squeezed at both ends of the stick.

*********************************************
Glenn A. wrote: “Cut down to Chevrolet and Cadillac, only, in NA. Even if the company has to go through Chapter 11 to do it.”

and airglow wrote: “GM bought out Olds dealers and it was so expensive they will NEVER do anything like that again.”

Chapter 11 will be the only way they can do this.

*********************************************
Glen A. also wrote: “To make it more equitable for all GM dealers, and to improve the remaining dealerships, pull ALL GM franchises and only re-assign Chevrolet and Cadillac dealerships to the BEST dealers in any given region.”

Not going to happen this way. Dealerships will be reassigned according to who has the best lawyers, not who is the best dealership. (Who is the best dealership is very objective, who has the best lawyers is not at all objective.)

and also: “Tell the UAW and CAW – we have got this many jobs here, here and here. We want flexiblility to run our own plants and place people where they’re needed. Either sign on with this,
-or- we simply move our machinery to China… No bluffing.”

The UAW will call GM’s bluff, and GM will be forced to move their production to China.

and also: “Put a REAL bumper-to-bumper 10 year 100,000 mile warrantee…”

In the early 80’s my boss purchased a new Chrysler New Yorker with Iacocca’s “5/50 (I think it was 5/50) B-B warranty”. One day his car was towed back to the dealer, and my boss had to pay for “an electrical part” because they are “not covered” by the “5/50 BBW”.

I believe that eventually (out of desperation) the D2.5 will sell new cars with a 6/60 or 8/80 or 10/100 (pick numbers, any numbers) “BBW,” but nobody will honor their warranty beyond 3/36.

Won’t this by God be an incentive to make the cars right the first time? YES.”

No, it will not be an incentive to do anything any better because nobody will honor it beyond 3/36. It will only expedite their demise as word gets around that nobody honors it beyond 3/36.

If GM can’t build a car to withstand that, then GM should close up shop, roll over and die.

Nobody can build cars that can withstand an honest 10/100 BBW, not even Toyota/Lexus or Honda/Acura. (None of the profitable outfits are even offering 10/100 free maintenance.) Look for the D2.5 to come out with this 10/100 BBW sales gimmick out of desperation, it will mean the end is near.

and also: “… and just make good cars, or nothing at all in any given segment.”

They will build nothing at all in all given segments.

*********************************************
jp3209 wrote: “Excellent piece. I am a GM fan, read GMinsidenews. I think that some of the new product will change things, but even I don’t realistically think that GM will be back to it’s former glory – ever. The world has changed, simply put…

…Anyway you cut it, GM’s back is to the wall. For me, more important than their month to month results, the question is do they even admit that they’re in the fight of their lives? I think the answer is yes. Do they know they’ve lost an entire chunk of the car buying popular? I think some execs do, others, sadly, have yet to admit this.”

jp3209, I have alot of compasion for you because the auto manufacturer that you either trust or want to trust is in very deep trouble. I know how you feel about the tens of thousands of UAW jobs that are at risk, and your concern for these jobs is commendable.

Sadly, the firm that you are a fan of is losing their customers, one by one. I know of a very senior fellow in KY who served in the Pacific theater during WWII. A few years back he ditched his Buick for Acura’s (very expensive) flagship made in Japan. He was totally demoralized because he did not win in arbitration per the KY lemon law. What might this man be telling his grandchildren, and great grandchildren, about GM?

I had a new GM lemon. I understand how these GM dealerships have learned to “game” the lemon law system. What they do is instead of opening up a new work order for the same problem, they simply do an addendum to the previously existing work order. So if they attempted repairs on the same problem 3 times in 30 days then it was only “one attempt to repair” this problem. They also use different nomenclature on the work orders for the same problem. Totally dishonest way of doing business. What makes me think any GM dealer will honor any 10/100 BBW that Glenn A. is talking about? (The 10/100 BBW may be coming to a GM dealership near you.)

Earlier in this post I wrote that the owner of a local rental car agency told me that these GM dealerships can not fix anything, but expect to be paid for parts and labor that fix nothing. (And I know for a fact from my own personal experience that one of these GM dealers, the Pontiac dealer, can not fix anything.)

I also ditched my Pontiac lemon for a Honda. One by one, the D2.5 are losing us.

What could GM do to win me back?

Not a 10/100 BBW and a GM certificate for 50% off the new car price. In fact, if GM was to ever contact me to offer me a free new vehicle I would very graciously decline, since I would not even want to be bothered trying to sell it. (Selling new cars is not how I make my living, I am not a new car salesman.)

Hhmmm, well there is one thing that GM can do for me. If Mr. Lutz where to call me personally to inform he will agree to give up flying around in jet fighters for a few years if I agree to give up driving around in Hondas for a few years (for a new free GM in its stead), then I will abide by this agreement. (Hey, I almost gave up my life on several occasions in his death trap, he should be able to give up something.)

You mean Focus, no?

Escorts have been out of production for a while.

But a Focus ZX3 hatchback at under 10K new is actually a pretty good deal…a better deal than a Honda Fit, in my opinion.

GM dropped their Malibu Maxx that while not the best looker, definetely had a lot of versatility going for it and included such unusual features as a glass roof over the rear seats and multi-adjustable rear seats. Why is it that I feel that a better looking, decent performing new Malibu Maxx has the potential to be a hit?

And why is it that everybody seems to be dropping their hatchbacks? I think that hatchbacks are one of the top five best ideas in cars.

I counted every single one of them myself.

This still didn’t have any difference on the argument at the time as 52 is still a significant number of Corvettes.

I’ve driven a FIAT Ritmo Diesel, a BMW 3 series with a Diesel, and a Renault Megane with a Diesel, and have to say that I was very impressed by all three of them.

The Ritmo could cruise all day at 100 MPH and return 55MPG very easily.

The BMW was a newer model (pre Bangle though) and had all the goodness and performance that one expects out of a BMW….along with combined fuel economy of 37 MPG.

The Megane, while pretty funky looking, offers very good performance while giving you real world economy of almost 50 MPG combined! If you give up a little performance, you can opt for a smaller Diesel that returns almost 60MPG in combined driving.

I found that no sacrifices or compromises were needed with these vehicles and really feel that especially the BMW would be a great success here. The Megane is built on the same platform as the new Nissan Sentra, so don’t be surprised if Nissan brings in a 50MPG Diesel Sentra sometime soon.

A Toyota Hybrid that used a Diesel instead of a gasoline engine, would return real world fuel mileage in excess of 65 MPG. The Volkswagen Jetta TDI already sold in this country, returns about 55 MPG on the highway without resorting to hybrid tricks like narrow, hard tires, engine shutdown, etc.

GM should do all it can to bring in Diesel engines for both the Aura and the new Malibu.

I don’t think the Chinese could build that much metal and sell it at a profit, at that price. Little wonder GM is going broke and losing money on every new vehicle.

Ford was trying to flog Escorts locally new for $9999. This even got my wife’s attention.

All I had to say was “um, it’s a Ford, dear.” After our last ‘dorf’ product, she doesn’t want anything to do with them again.

You know, the train of thought that goes like this. ‘Uh, wow, with all the bad press, ya hafta wonder – is this company going to be in business next week and am I considering the expensive purchase of an orphan?’ And of course, the more people who think those thoughts, the faster it becomes fact and the company(ies) fold up and die.

Interestingly, it was largely GM, Ford and Chrysler dealers who were muttering to their prospects about Studebaker which ‘helped them into the grave’ (along with Packard, Kaiser, Frazer, Hudson, Tucker, etc. etc.)

This time, I don’t believe any reputable dealers will be verbally commenting adversely about their competition. The Japanese are so sure of themselves, they don’t have to.

Even so, the ’studebaker syndrome’ may well come to GM, Ford and DCX.

All I can say is “kizmet” and “ain’t paybacks a bitch?”

a) After their last diesel engine fiasco, how many GM tolerant buyers will give them a 2nd chance.

b) The euro-cost of the engines (exchange rate) would pack on even more cost than the additional cost of the diesel engine itself, compared to an el-cheapo gasoline OHV V6 or Eco-Wreck four banger.

c) They won’t pass the new emission standards so it’s a moot point.

Drove a GM Vauxhall Zafira (with the prior gen 2.0 diesel) and 5 speed when on ‘holiday’ in the UK about 20 months ago and it was gawd-awful.

Gutless? Check.

Bus-like driving position? Check.

Agonizing clutch? Check. (My left leg hurt for the first week).

Smelly fuelling and standing in spilled diesel fuel at ‘petrol’ stations? Check.

Fuel costs more than petrol, just like in the USA? Check.

To think I asked for a diesel (because of the 20-30% better mileage and only 10% additional cost of the fuel compared to gasoline).

Give me credit, though. I tried for six months, to get someone to rent me a Prius in the UK. Nope. Toyota UK didn’t even return my emails. (They rent cars in the UK).

Apparently there are no Prius cars for rent in the UK because nobody there buys them, they’d rather drive diesels (see above for some of the disadvantages, please).

I saw maybe 4 Prius cars in the UK in nearly 3 weeks, I see that many in my home town of 20,000 in about 2 days.

Yeah, I do think the Brits are as dumb as a plank for being pro-diesel.

Coincidentally, the only 1/2 hour of TV I watched in ‘holiday’ was a BBC TV new show – on which they commented on how bad diesel fumes were for the health…….

A few months ago, there was bit of news from Scotland, where scientists had determined that “high speed diesels” (i.e. small diesels for CARS) emitted very tiny particles of soot which they’d proved to be the culprit in a huge increase in heart attacks in Scotland since diesels had become popular.

I never would have imagined that the size of the pollutant would factor into whether it harms us, but apparently that’s the case….

For anyone who cares, the Prius is approximately 20 times cleaner for emissions compared to a 2006 VW Jetta. Prius also emits less pullution AND CO2 than a SMART car diesel.

In my opinion, it is easier as the first gear is a bit more ‘permissive’ because of the higher torque, it is more difficult to stall a diesel car and helps too in slopes and when parking. The only thing you have to be careful about is rpm as diesel engines spin slower, but I suppose you get used to it after a while.

Good question. A buddy recently switched to an automatic I4 Accord (from a Buick). I asked him if he’d thought about going with a stick.

“No. With an automatic, these cars are as good as cash.”

I’m not immune to that logic, myself. I saved money on my most recent Toyota by purchasing one with a stick (I prefer it, anyway). A stick Malibu might be a difficult thing to move.

And, I hadn’t considered this, is it more difficult to drive a diesel stick than a gas stick? Trickier takeoff? More unpleasant coast-down?

In any event, the gap between auto and stcik has narrowed a lot over the last few years and some vehicles have better EPA ratings with an auto vs their stick versions.

Arguing about whether or not the GMT900 is a “success” is like discussing whether or not a surplus of deck chairs on the starboard side helped sink the Titanic faster.

I’ve never seen so many negative numbers in my life. Gaa! And on just about everything, including the Corvette, the new roadsters, etc. I’ll bet the increase in Cadillac SUV sales can be attributed to the fact that they’re so heavily discounted that they’re stealing sales from the lesser SUVs. If you’re crazy enough to disregard the last gas price shock, why not go all the way? Especially if it’s not much more than you’d planned to spend, anyway?

After reading GMInsideLineNews – of all things – I think what GM needs is a new “halo” car of sorts. Not tne usual kind, though, with V8 power, etc. They need a Corolla-killer. Toyota’s apparently got a new ad campaign, “40 is the new 30.” That’s gonna hurt.

And the truth of the matter is, Toyota has the lead in the fuel economy race. I have no doubt that GM’s fan club could point to any number of comparisons where GM is “equal” to Toyota and I consider most of those bogus but they don’t matter.

What matters is that Toyota has several cars that can put a ‘40′ sticker on the window and GM has none. If nothing else, this wins Toyota tremendous “mindshare.”

Frankly, I don’t see GM has the technology to put up a ‘40′ with a gasoline engine, so they might as well be bold and introduce a diesel ‘40.’ If they could get a ‘40′ with a bigger car than the Corolla, it just might help.

Can they get a decent (and, please, God, RELIABLE) diesel engine into a Malibu and squeeze 40mpg out of it? Even with a stick? By fall?

Of course, if GM believes, as I do, that an Accord may soon (fall ‘08) show up with a diesel that gets well over 40mpg or a gas drivetrain that gets into the high 30’s, maybe they think a 40mpg Malibu would be a “why bother?” proposition.

Excellent piece. I am a GM fan, read GMinsidenews. I think that some of the new product will change things, but even I don’t realistically think that GM will be back to it’s former glory – ever. The world has changed, simply put.

The question I pose to other readers/posters, is how exaclty does the dealership network function? If GM can’t get rid of dealers that are underperforming, is it possible they’re trying to allow certain dealers to fold? Is that a viable business strategy? Does Toyota’s dealer network operate under similar restrictions? I assume that franchise law is the same for everyone, but contracts could be different.

Anyway you cut it, GM’s back is to the wall. For me, more important than their month to month results, the question is do they even admit that they’re in the fight of their lives? I think the answer is yes. Do they know they’ve lost an entire chunk of the car buying popular? I think some execs do, others, sadly, have yet to admit this.

Read your email.