Quote of the Day: "False Familiarity" Edition
GM’s constant reference to the “perception gap” is, without doubt, the most galling thing about the company. Despite sucking-up over $62 billion in taxpayer money, the nationalized automaker continues to insist there’s nothing wrong with our products. Oh no, American-consumers are a bunch of [Jap-loving] idiots. If if they would just open their minds they’d see that they’re idiots. And buy our cars. And save the company. And keep Mexicans Americans employed. And get their taxes back. Now, adding insult to insult, they’re launching a taxpayer-funded ad campaign based on that premise: “May the Best Car Win.” Note to New GM: it HAS been winning. Ipso ’effing facto. Now LEAVE IT ALONE. But oh no. In fact, the car Czar who drove GM into the dirt is flooring it, betting the company’s future on this series of comparison ads. And he’s got a new name for “the perception gap” not because he understands the problem but because he’s bored with it.
What does it say about Buick when GM asks folks to identify the most prominent vehicles in the line-up and the answers are “Park Avenue” and “Rendezvous” — neither of which can be found (thankfully) in showrooms?
It says they know where Buick’s been, not where it is or where it’s going. Lutz calls that “false familiarity,” arguably worse than no familiarity at all with what GM’s doing today, just months after emerging from a whirlwind through Chapter 11 bankruptcy.It says they know where Buick’s been, not where it is or where it’s going. Lutz calls that “false familiarity,” arguably worse than no familiarity at all with what GM’s doing today, just months after emerging from a whirlwind through Chapter 11 bankruptcy.
Howes ignores the outrageousness of Lutz’s steadfast refusal to understand that Buick is an un-brand. As has become the norm, the Motown scribe sums-up with a piercing glimpse into the blindingly obvious.
In a company full of tough jobs, Lutz’s is among the toughest. He, his team and their cadre of outside agencies need to persuade skeptical, sometimes hostile, consumers to give GM another try.
Does that sound familiar? Of wait, that’s false familiarity. My bad.
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- MaintenanceCosts Nobody here seems to acknowledge that there are multiple use cases for cars.Some people spend all their time driving all over the country and need every mile and minute of time savings. ICE cars are better for them right now.Some people only drive locally and fly when they travel. For them, there's probably a range number that works, and they don't really need more. For the uses for which we use our EV, that would be around 150 miles. The other thing about a low range requirement is it can make 120V charging viable. If you don't drive more than an average of about 40 miles/day, you can probably get enough electrons through a wall outlet. We spent over two years charging our Bolt only through 120V, while our house was getting rebuilt, and never had an issue.Those are extremes. There are all sorts of use cases in between, which probably represent the majority of drivers. For some users, what's needed is more range. But I think for most users, what's needed is better charging. Retrofit apartment garages like Tim's with 240V outlets at every spot. Install more L3 chargers in supermarket parking lots and alongside gas stations. Make chargers that work like Tesla Superchargers as ubiquitous as gas stations, and EV charging will not be an issue for most users.
- MaintenanceCosts I don't have an opinion on whether any one plant unionizing is the right answer, but the employees sure need to have the right to organize. Unions or the credible threat of unionization are the only thing, history has proven, that can keep employers honest. Without it, we've seen over and over, the employers have complete power over the workers and feel free to exploit the workers however they see fit. (And don't tell me "oh, the workers can just leave" - in an oligopolistic industry, working conditions quickly converge, and there's not another employer right around the corner.)
- Kjhkjlhkjhkljh kljhjkhjklhkjh [h3]Wake me up when it is a 1989 635Csi with a M88/3[/h3]
- BrandX "I can charge using the 240V outlets, sure, but it’s slow."No it's not. That's what all home chargers use - 240V.
- Jalop1991 does the odometer represent itself in an analog fashion? Will the numbers roll slowly and stop wherever, or do they just blink to the next number like any old boring modern car?
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Christy et al: Nope, never heard of the Grand National. I was 7 years old in 1969, not much interest in cars at the time. Reatta? Never heard of it. Sounds like either the name of an exotic disease or one of those drugs that they sell on those long commercials where they tout the product for 25 seconds and then spend the next 2 minutes on warnings and disclaimers.