The Conference Call Question That Kicked Off GM's Production Goal Controversy

by Edward Niedermeyer

Published: October 12th, 2009

the conference call question that kicked off gm s production goal controversy

Thanks to KixStart for providing transcripts of the exchange on September sales that launched the current GM production goal controversy.Chris Russo, Credit Suisse:

“I noticed in the comments, in prepared remarks and [others], there’s an increased focus on market share from your company, which can be good but which can also be dangerous, is this a shift in tone at the company is gm, do we have to learn about industry pricing, is GM, not having learned the lessons of the … going after market share at the expense of profit and price? Is there a new regime here?”Mark La Neve, GM:

Very good question. I would say that there is certainly a viewpoint from GM management and our board that we need to be aggressive in the market place, that we need to put a line in the sand on losing share, I mean, common sense, you know me, I’m pretty practical… you keep eventually it gets to zero… Got a deal right now with the bleedoff of the 3% share points of our wind-d0wn brands, gotto do it with less dealers and modelsGotta be aggressive in the market place, gotta defend our share, grow it at some point. … don’t get bogged down in numbers floating around. Continuing to lose isn’t a good strategy. Want to do it profitably I think we’ve got a pretty good track record onWant to do it profitably. I think we’ve got a pretty good track record of holding disciplined levels on incentive spend.Overall strategy gain share on product and marketing.We’re going to spend some more dollars on advertising. … We’re going to properly tell our story.

“But we’re not going to go out and buy it [market share], if that’s what you’re worried about, Chris. From an incentive standpoint, we’re not going to go out and buy it.”

Edward Niedermeyer

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2 of 6 comments

Anonymous on Oct 13, 2009
lol….always be wary when the response to a question starts “that’s a good question.” It really annoys me when clowns like LaNeve, instead of answering the damn question, patronize the questioner and kill time by mumbling what a great Q it is.

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Klossfam on Oct 13, 2009

Mark La Neve looks like Eddie from "The Munsters" and knows about as much when it comes to running a large corporation.

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