Project 2000 Claims Toyota Cut Deal With GM to Deep Six Oldsmobile
I think it's safe to say to place this theory somewhere between Big Oil/Detroit's alleged conspiracy against the electric car and Erich von Daniken's Chariots of the Gods, ascribing human technological advances to alien visitations. Robert Horvath is the former Coral Gables Oldsmobile dealer who somehow decided that Oldsmobile's road to oblivion wasn't paved with good intentions and/or the inevitable result of a confederacy of dunces. While I haven't read Horvath's tome Project 2000, I read the press release, which, sensibly enough, makes no mention of the Toyota angle. By the end of our chat, I was feeling sorry for Mr. Horvath. No matter what you think of the wisdom of killing Olds, it behooves us to remember the executive actions have very real human consequences.
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windswords - I always wondered why most Olds were standalones as opposed to the other dealerships. I guess because back in the day an Olds dealer did enough numbers with just one brand?
blautens, Actually it was the opposite, most of them were not. It's a lot easier to kill a brand that shares floorspace in a dealer with 2 or 3 other brands. Try doing that with hundreds of stand alone dealers. That's why DCX had no problem (comparatively speaking) with Plymouth because there were no standalone Plymouth dealerships. They were paired with Chrysler, or Chrysler and Jeep, or Chrysler and Dodge, or Chrysler, Jeep, and Dodge.
Guess that was my limited south Florida experience...all the Olds dealers here were stand alones.
it's very sad to hear a man so distraught. you can hear his voice crack during the interview. it's the classic case of the big guys (GM) making bad moves and squashing the little guys just because they can. big power and money often times leads to deception and greed. it sounds like GM thought their power and money wouldn't end, and made some VERY bad decisions. GM lost sight of what they needed to do to stay on top. no matter what retail business you're talking about (and selling cars = retail), closing down 2,800 locations (all Olds dealerships) is NOT going to help gain GM customers and market share. it's easy to see how GM opened up the door for foreign competition whether it was the Japanese or German automakers. it's also VERY sick for people to listen to such a story and poke fun at the man, especially after hearing about his wife's illness, as Blautens pointed out. Sherman Lin has it right, "no one in his position could believe that GM could be so incompetent and stupid." with 2,800 dealerships closing, tens of thousands of american lives had to be hurt - this is not a laughing matter at all.