Quote Of The Day: Das Beste Oder Nichts Edition

Edward Niedermeyer
by Edward Niedermeyer

When GM’s head of North American operations, Mark Reuss, was giving The Detroit Bureau some choice quotes about GM’s newfound commitment to excellence, it may not have occurred to him that Mercedes had recently laid claim to the very cliche-laden territory he found himself on. To wit:

Reuss insists the new GM philosophy is to “be the best, or we’re not going to do it,”

Yes, Daimler may have to answer to some higher power for the insipid video above, but at least its lack of imagination has pedigree: the line “The Best Or Nothing” killed for Gottlieb Daimler back in the “good old days” of the early 20th Century. Reuss’s lyrical inspiration, on the other hand, is a corporate process. To be fair, the “knothole” as it is known, is a Lutzian legend of a mythical corporate process, aimed at

The perpetuation of excellence and the destruction of mediocrity.

Which sound like mighty fine goals for our fine public investment. So let’s give Reuss a pass for stomping into Mercedes’ marketing-cliche territory, and ask: what is this amazing “knothole” and why doesn’t every automaker have one?


Unfortunately, details about what exactly a “knothole” is are hard to come by. TDB gives us two paragraphs

The Knothole Process was inspired by former GM “car czar” Bob Lutz, who spent his decade with the giant maker struggling to refocus its product development operations. One of the steps Lutz took was to bring in a handful of former automotive journalists, such as one-time Motor Trend Editor Jack Keebler, to give the company a less biased view of how General Motors products compare to key competitors.

With the Knothole Process, the evaluation process is a little more formalized though, Reuss suggests, it is anything but rigid. “Experts in every field of the car development process” take part in the evaluation process, which takes place at several key points during the path between concept and production.

So, they’re not giving the execs ringers to drive anymore… that sounds like progress (if you buy the whole “secret weapon” angle). But what are we getting here that we wouldn’t get from any quality-oriented ad from any other manufacturer? Less timely products, apparently.

The Knothole Process has already resulted in a number of GM products being delayed or killed off entirely, Reuss revealed. It was the primary reason why the launch of the U.S. version of the Chevrolet Cruze was delayed – though GM’s bankruptcy also was a factor, said Reuss – and led to the maker deciding not to sell the Chevy Orlando crossover in the North American market.

At least two other products have been scrubbed because they failed to pass muster, Reuss hinted, declining to name the models. Others have also been delayed.

But wouldn’t the Cruze have had a better chance at getting a toehold in the US market if it arrived with the global launch in 2009?

In its original form, said Reuss, Cruze “wasn’t something anybody would be proud of.”

To be fair to Reuss, TDB’s Paul Eisenstein probably left off his words “except, of course, our beloved Korean partners and the thousands of people around the world who bought the pre-Knothole Cruze before it arrived in the US” from the end of his Cruze comment. And hopefully, Eisenstein left out Reuss’s words of regret at having foisted a car that “wasn’t something anybody would be proud of” on his Australian friends, when he launched the Holden Cruze Down Under in 2009, saying

It is a world class small car that has the perfect blend of both style and substance, all from the base model to the top of the range.

Well was it, or wasn’t it… mate? Less than a year ago, Reuss was bashing the Cobalt in order to hype the Cruze, and now he’s resorting to bashing the global Cruze to make the US version look good? If Reuss is serious about not allowing mediocrity “slip back in” at GM, we as taxpayers should support him… but he needs to be more careful about his credibility.

Edward Niedermeyer
Edward Niedermeyer

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  • Quentin Quentin on Feb 04, 2011

    I just grow tired of the constant talk by automaker executives. I don't care how you try to spin it. A good product is good and a bad product is bad. I don't want excuses or explanations why I should overlook a certain issue or believe in your product. Design and manufacture a good product that meets expectations. It seems like most auto execs (Bob Lutz especially) spend a majority of their time defending their product or process and talking about the next big thing where they should be leading their teams to make the best product and processes. I want a lot less talk and a lot more action. All this knothole and secret weapon talk out of GM seems to be put out to appease those angry about the bailout. Why bother? If they are that angry about the loans, no amount of talking is going to convince them to buy your product. Continue rolling out products that are better than what they replace, become profitable (in that order!), and even the diehard bailout bashers will only avoid you out of pride. I.E. Prove them wrong. Action, not talking, does this.

    • Beken Beken on Feb 04, 2011

      A lot of wisdom in this post. I too am tired of being apologized to when I take my car in and they mess up the repair. Or when something is wrong with my car and they can't/don't fix it. Produce the best possible car competitively priced. Continually refine and improve it and build a great reputation for said model. Take care of your customers. The constant hail Mary new models and marketing hype has me tired and gives a manufacturer (GM is not the only company guilty of such tactics) little or no credibility. Prove me wrong and I might come back and look at a GM car sometime in my lifetime.

  • Mike Kelley Mike Kelley on Feb 06, 2011

    It wasn't a fluke that Obama had to bail out GM and Chrysler to keep their unions afloat. Consumer Reports listed reliability by manufacturer in their April, 2010 issue. Honda was first, followed by Toyota, Mitsubishi, Hyundai, Porsche, Subaru, Nissan, Mazda, Ford, Volvo, Volkswagen, Mercedes-Benz, and BMW. Dead last were, you guessed it, GM and Chrysler in that order.

  • Dukeisduke Womp womp.
  • FreedMike China's whining about unfair trade practices? Okay.
  • Kwik_Shift Hyunkia'sis doing what they do best...subverting expectations of quality.
  • MaintenanceCosts People who don't use the parking brake when they walk away from the car deserve to have the car roll into a river.
  • 3-On-The-Tree I’m sure they are good vehicles but you can’t base that on who is buying them. Land Rovers, Bentley’ are bought by Robin Leaches’s “The Rich and Famous” but they have terrible reliability.
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