I HIGHLY doubt that sales would automatically increase if Toyota bought GM.
And why would Toyota do that, anyway? It’s at break-even now, and wouldn’t want all that excess overcapacity. It’ll also get alot of negative press if it tried to liquidate the excess. (Imagine the headline - “Toyota kills off US Automaker”… )
Beck, did I just see your red Civic on the news(At the toll booth). It looked like file footage from warmer weather.
I would think that the process would be
And FWIW, this scenario HAS happened before.
I skipped from page 1 to here cuz i can… I see his point. pretty much turn GM into what scion does. cuz basically, a fully loaded trailblazer is not as luxurious as a fully loaded envoy. but underneath they are the exact same EVERYTHING(frame, engine, trans, mounts, bearings, bolts, etc…) Give people options for different grills(gm, chevy, cadillac, etc…), lighting design, bumpers, leather, stereos, nav, etc… it wouldn’t be hard. only problem is they wouldn’t be available on the lot for you to see. but you could actually create new jobs by introducing a customizing program where the customer could view the vehicle they want inside and out full scale 360* view. you wouldn’t have to remove any dealerships, mayb combine a few of them but no jobs would be lost. more jobs would be created b/c the parts still have to be made, but now they have to be assembled differently. could really do GM some good.
best option for gm in my opinion is cut out the retiree bulshit, go non union (who cares about people on strike, theres plenty of people willing to do the same job for 1/3 the wage) take salary cuts, and downsize the amount of vehicles produced. i can see ditching certain brands or atleast selling them off and if people want options do what scion is, make the vehicles easily customizeable.
if they loose customers or money oh well, they need to be managable again until they are profitable and then they can grow and gain back loyal customers.
great idea
another great idea. Unfortunatly political and corporate america is not capable of logical thinking.
:bigclap:
Beck hit the nail on the fucking head. every single word. seriously.
GM needs too cut the fat
Fuck the UAW you greedy sons of bitches.
yes. that was footage taken probably two years ago when they were taking down the tolls on the 190. Awesome.
I wish this was anything more than a fraction of what GM’s problems were, but in reality it does not cost that much more to cross manufacture a car even when taking into consideration all of the expenses (manufacturing, advertising etc.). If it did cost that much more, you think you would have seen these brands fade away as GM’s market share faded away.
You say GM is competing against itself but what these brands are doing is quite exactly the opposite. When Joe Blow is out shopping in his world where only Chevy, Olds and Cadillac exists, and he knows he wants a midsize sedan… but every guy in his middle working class town drives a damn impala which is only offered is 6 colors, he might start thinking about an accord or a maxima now. At least with Pontiac and Saturn he can grab something with a little more brand identiy. And that is exactly why GM has kept these brands alive for as long as they have. They all have identity to them and as long as our economy was doing ok, people wanted a saab over a saturn because Saab had its “great heritage” or a GMC over their chevy because “everyone knows GMC are the truck guys.” You take away these niche brands and people loose sense in buying a GM all together. They are trying to lure the common customer in with diversity and while I get your underlying point, imho, your plan wouldent save that much money compared to what the obvious problem is (which is pensions and healthcare).
one thing that has really made me upset is that domestic car companies seem to change the name of their cars every 6-8 years or so. the taurus was a 500 then a taurus again and now maybe a mercury millan or whatever? idk not to familiar with domestic cars of late. the cavaler to the cobalt. the escort then the escort zx2 then just a zx2 then a focus or something I can’t fucking keep up
the bmw has the 3 series. the 5 series. the 7 series. honda has a civic, an accord, ect. they have been called those names for 30 years! subaru impreza, nissan maxima, altima, sentra… you see what I’m getting at by now
stop spending money on “hip” new names and make a fucking relable, nice looking car. I would drive a car called the honda fucksore if I liked it.
FUCK THE EDGE. FUCK THE MILLAN. FUCK THE ZEPHYR. FUCK THE GTO. FUCK BRINGING BACK NAMES OF AWESOME OLD CARS TO TRY TO SELL YOUR SHITTY NEW CARS
god
I’d argue though that the more (excess?) brands do take a toll on advertising/promotional costs. I mean, Pontiac’s been getting zip in terms of exposure vs. what Chevy’s getting for the Malibu alone. At least, that’s from my unscientific view.
And in a sense, focusing the brands under fewer, more defined roles would be better - mass market (Chevy) and luxury (Cadillac), rather than having Pontiac do clones of a generic car. The “performance” image took a serious hit when GM decided to rebadge an Aveo as a G3 (not to mention the Cobalt as a G5).
I understand dealers bitched when Pontiac only had the Vibe/G6/G8/Solstice, but hey - if you want to be the performance brand, you have to live with less. And GM killed the Alpha idea, well before following through on the idea of Pontiac being an all-RWD sports-oriented brand - gutted on the altar of CAFE.
Similar examples are to be found with Buick and Saab - but you get my point.
I think they’re doing that somewhat at Chevrolet - the Tahoe, Suburban, Corvette, Silverado, Malibu and Impala have been around for decades, and haven’t changed recently. And although they’re “flashbacks”, both Malibu and Impala have been through multiple generations after coming back.
It’s the Cavalier-Cobalt-Cruze that’s the issue there. But yes, if GM will make a competetive small car, I’d bet it’d keep that name, too.
Actually, Those people will actually go out and buy a cheaper and more reliable Zune, or the like.
So, the 60% of BLACK apple Ipod buyers, lets say 25% of those 60% go and buy a BLACK Zune… now apple is losing on their decision. They would have to take in the difference between production costs and market interest.
OH!!! and god dammit it’s 2008, we have fucking computers that have programs called CAD. MAKE A FUCKING CAR THAT DOESN’T LOOK LIKE IT WAS DESIGNED IN THE 1960’S. The demographic that wants those cars are also the same who can’t fucking pay for their god damn houses in the first place and got the country to where it is now
I don’t agree with everything you said in the opening post, however this is completely true.
Making six figures to put wiper blades on cars/trucks is bullshit. I keep hearing these people whine saying things such as “how are we going to maintain our lifestyles”. They shouldn’t have a fucking “lifestyle” worth mentioning for doing stupid mundane tasks a 5 year old can do.
The only issue there is that there are an increasing amount of people who actually have their degrees in variance studies, and still end up working in the auto-industry because of the pay. I knew quite a few people who had college degrees, a couple with masters, and still found themselves working at Toyota because the pay was that much better.
For younger guys, they can split and find a job no problem. But when older guys need to rely on the degree they recieved 10-15 years ago, they are fucked.
the first time i had my GM is retarded moment was when I could not, absolutly could not grasp the concept of the plymoth neon, the dodge neon, and the chrysler espresso. absolutly identical cars sold as competitors. I was like 10. my dad couldn’t explain it to me. so… :tup: Beck
I’m guessing this wasn’t your first “I am retarded” moment…
You can’t sustain what isn’t there. A lot of people can’t get that, and as such it will be the downfall.
edit for being retarded