If Cadillac switches back to RWD for these cars they will have just another me too product instead of offering a unique architecture with unique advantages.

The 1977 downsized big cars (launched in the fall of 1976, during the waning days of the Ford Administration) were a huge success, especially the Chevrolet, Oldsmobile and Cadillac versions.

The X-cars – launched in April 1979, during the Carter Administration – were a huge initial success. Even into 1980, dealers literally could not keep them on the lots. Of course, we all know what happened later…which is why I wrote that they were a huge “initial success.”

Kevin Kluttz :
SherbornSean : How are they supposed to know how to launch a successful car? They haven’t had one since Nixon was in office.
And what was the GM car that was successful between 1968 and 1974? Maybe the Camaro/Firebird or the Grand Prix/Monte Carlo, but that’s about it.

Maybe he meant in office as vice president.

Where are you getting this from? Wrong, wrong, wrong. They are having some quality spills yes, but saying they are ‘on their knees’ is grossly inaccurate to put it mildly. To the average Joe Toyota is tops on quality, reliability and economy and while there is awareness among pistonheads of some of the recent issues most people are simply not aware of it. There is no opportunity for GM to take even in the area where they excel P/U’s. At the end of the day Toyota’s profit this year exceeds GM’s entire market capitalization. From a financial standpoint alone Toyota could torpedo the entire GM corporation any time it wants to. They don’t/won’t because it’s not in their interest to do so.

But it’s still better if supply is below demand than the other way round. At least GM will make some money with the Malibu this way. When was the last time that happened (with a car)?

I see a surprising number of (non-rental) Lucernes around. I don’t really see the appeal of paying premium price for a car with an interior that looks like it belongs in an early-00s Toyota, but hey, it is a gorgeous car (in my highly subjective opinion).

Buick has the styling down across the board now (I even see a bit of Mazeratti in the Lacrosse). If they just made them look as good inside as out, and gave them the driving dynamics their handsome exteriors suggest, they could be a competitive player in $30k-50k segment.

If Impala supersizes, upmarkets, and says FWD (which it will), and the Lucerne upmarkets (which it has to), that really leaves the DTS with no market.

Actually, since the DTS has no market currently, maybe that isn’t really a problem…

That would be true, if not for the fact that GM sales are sliding in virtually all directions, while the Europeans and Asians are gaining sales volumes and market share at GM’s expense.

In theory, GM is in the game, as it has products in every imaginable segment. In practice, they are not competitive because Americans not named Hertz and Avis generally don’t want these vehicles. Maybe it would help GM if we all changed our last names to Budget or Alamo and bought accordingly, but until then, GM brings virtually nothing to the table that isn’t low margin, slow selling gunmetal.

Compact (competes with Civic/Corolla/Sentra):
Cobalt (mainstream)
G5 (redundant)
Astra (performance/premium)

Midsize (competes with Accord/Camry/Altima):
Malibu (mainstream)
G6 (performance/convertible)
Aura (redundant)
Lacrosse (premium)
CTS (luxury)

Large FWD (competes with Accord/Avalon/Maxima):
Impala (mainstream/premium)
Lucerne (premium/luxury)

Large RWD (competes with Charger/Lexus GS/Infinity M):
G8 (mainstream)
DTS (luxury)

12 cars across 4 segments, only two of which are truly redundant. Assuming GM is moving in the direction I think they are moving in. In this scenario, it makes sense to leave the Impala FWD to occupy the Avalon segment rather than move it RWD to cannibalize the G8. RWD is a smaller market, and there really only needs to be one “mainstream” and one “luxury” model. The G8 could become the standard police cruiser offered by GM.

Of course, they have no choice but to forecast demand for the car. Forecasts are essential, if but to manage the labor and supply chain needed to build the product and distribute it.

Of course, the forecasts are subject to adjustment. But there must be initial sales and profit projections, for which they should be managing accordingly.

You got me beat, I have a poli sci degree. I’m just doing this to take a breather from 19 years of school before going on to law school. But I do agree with you. However, I’m way to low on the food chain to make any changes.

Do you go by the marketing guys over developed imagination as to how many vehicles will sell or some marketing survey from hand picked responders or a crystal ball?

This is why I never started my own business.

Queensmet :

If GM loaded the pipeline with cars and the car bombed, you would all say what a bunch of fools. Now they have to discount the cars.

This is a damned if you do and damned if you don’t.

Wrong. There is an optimal supply for ANY product on a car dealer’s lot. Most industry analysts peg it at 60. (Mind you, Lexus and Toyota do just fine in the mid-40’s.)

Again, not having cars to sell that you’re encouraging people to buy is the worst kind of madness. Madness that hurts dealers, damages brands and costs precious marketing dollars.

IF GM had soft-launched the ‘Bu– letting word of mouth build-up before the ad campaign and plenty of stock– then fine. But they didn’t. So not fine.

This is a damned if you do and damned if you don’t.

We are awful quick to criticize. Why don’t we all just wait and see what happens.

This just boggles my mind. How can an MBA infested corporation be so screwed up as to have a massive new product advertising campaign going on during a time of severely limited supplies. Whatever “demand” is drummed up with this campaign isn’t going to wait another six months until the factory is humming. Get people into a shopping mood and they are going to shop, not wait.

They should take a page from standard retail new store opening practices. Retailers normally do a soft opening where they are open for business, but don’t do any advertising yet. Work out the kinks, take in a little money from people who happen by and then … have a big grand opening event with lots of advertising, special events, etc. Smart retailers do this all the time. Chevy should have done that with the 2008 Malibu. Start the supplies tricking into the dealerships, let people get their feet wet, start a little buzz from early adopters who will brag about their new find to friends and get the factory rolling. Then when the thing is humming along, do the big advertising splash.

It is so simple and so well understood that I just don’t understand how the millions of dollars worth of GM management could screw this up.

My money is still on the “silos” theory I posted earlier. Probably at some point in the past the manufacturing and advertising schedules made sense … and then **** happened and the ad people didn’t adjust.

However, the whole launch of this vehicle has been just damned infuriating. I get about ten phone calls a day of dealerships wondering where the hell their Malibu is. Blitzing the hell out of the advertising, but don’t expect to be able to buy one. Oh well.