GM's 14-Day 72-Hour Sale Explained
Jalopnik poses a pertinent question– at least for semantically-minded pistonheads. How can GM "extend" a 72-hour sale into a 14-day event? Andrew Stoy takes us down the spinmeisters' rabbit hole. "But how do 72 sort-of hours in seven days end up being 72 no-we-really- mean-it-this-time hours spanning a whopping 14 days (Tuesday the 24 through Monday the 7th)? By using the eight-hour workday! First, subtract the weekends; that's minus four days for a total of ten. But ten times eight is 80, you cry! A-ha. Don't forget the Fourth of July, friends. Subtract eight more hours, and you end up with a perfect 72-hour-long 72-Hour Sale. Which is exactly how GM intended it from the start, we're sure." As for the financial implications, it's important to remember that the fire sale prices came at the expense of GM's margins. And while the moved metal bolstered GM's sagging sales– from unthinkable to just plain horrible– there will be a reckoning.Quoted by U.S. News & World Report, Credit Suisse analyst Chris Ceraso predicts the 72-hour sale will generate "some pretty severe payback over the coming month or two."
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And how do the customers who got suckered into buying a GM POS the week before this sale feel about all this? Nobody likes to feel like they were made a sucker, and every time an automaker throws a fire sale like this it makes the people who bought before the sale into suckers. But then again, when has GM ever given a rat's *** about a customer after the contract is signed? "What have people been picking up Saturn Sky’s for?" Pontiac has $3000 rebates on the Solstice and they start at a lower MSRP than the Sky, whilst the Sky only has a $1000 rebate. If you really must have one of these, the Solstice is a much better buy for essentially the same car.
John Horner: Which of these companies does care about the customer after the contract is signed?
Actually, Honda later extended that warranty to 108,000 to settle a class action lawsuit. Even the 100,000 wasn't enough for some people... The lawyers made a ton. On OdyClub.com you'll find a thread titled, "So, has anyone made it to 75,000 on their first transmission?"