Mark LaNeve Doesn't Have TiVo

Edward Niedermeyer
by Edward Niedermeyer

Poor Mark LaNeve. It’s bad enough that he’s gonna be fired soon for having overseen some of the worst sales declines in GM history, including a 45 percent plummet last month. Now, those twisted bastards over at Toyota won’t even let him enjoy a freaking football game without publicly humiliating and annoying him with those damned “saved by zero” ads. Luckily, LaNeve always has a sympathetic ear over at the Detroit News. Or six. No fewer than three scribes get credit for giving voice to LaNeve’s tortured soul in a terse paragraph that tugs at the funnybone heartstrings. “I’m a football fan,” LaNeve told DetN during the weekly GM sales call. “I saw (“saved by zero” ads) 52,000 times,” he reportedly “moaned” of his Sunday otherwise well spent. Well, I guess you gotta say something during those sales calls. Y’know, once you get past the “we’re down 45 percent” bit. (Warning, Video NSFS (Not Safe For Sanity))

Edward Niedermeyer
Edward Niedermeyer

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 4 comments
  • Jgh Jgh on Nov 10, 2008

    Annoying as those ads are - LaNeve is just jealous because he's run out of money to advertise. But even if he could advertise (much less foot the bill for another 0% APR bonanza), Toyota would outsell him anyways.

  • Indi500fan Indi500fan on Nov 10, 2008

    I think Mark played linebacker @ Virginia. If he's a Lions fan, he gets my condolences. That's even worse than being a Browns fan like me.

  • SherbornSean SherbornSean on Nov 10, 2008

    No offense, Mark, but have you considered working on a Sunday? I mean, if I were head of marketing at a firm whose sales were off 45% and had one foot in the grave, I might have better things to do on a Sunday than sit around watching football. Especially given the quality of play displayed by the local team.

  • Cicero Cicero on Nov 10, 2008

    Years ago analyst Maryanne Keller expressed concern that she saw no "sense of urgency" at GM as foreign auto manufacturers steadily locked up key segments of the American automobile market. GM is a sinking ship, so what's LaNeve doing spending his Sundays watching football? When you're an astronomically-compensated executive who's asking for billions of taxpayer dollars to paper over years of managerial incompetence, you could at least tell anyone who will listen that you're living at RenCen 24/7, even if it isn't true. These guys still have no clue.

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