GM Inside News Forum - View Single Post - Autosavant Editorial Asks: "Is Anyone Dumber Than a GM Executive?"

KingElvis · 08-07-2008, 02:14 PM

In Europe the beat is an 'average' car because most cars sold are small hatchbacks. In the US, it will be called an 'econobox' and everyone will wonder why they should buy it instead of the upcomging Cruze sedan.

For us the difference between 35mpg and 45mpg doesn't seem worth getting a smaller "deathtrap" like a tiny hatchback, while in Europe, that's the difference between acceptable gas mileage and unacceptable mileage - that's what you get with $8 fuel.

Even with $4 gas, GM will not be able to have any decent profit margin with an "ECONOBOX." That word is pejorative in the US - it's a euphemism for "sh!Tbox."

With the US gas price situation, you can get a lot more car by just giving up what we consider "marginally" better economy. That's really the rub guys.

I think this is a relatively wise decision in beancounting terms.

08-07-2008, 02:14 PM	#64 (permalink)
KingElvis 6.0 Liter Vortec V8 Join Date: Feb 2003 Posts: 1,637	Re: Autosavant Editorial Asks: "Is Anyone Dumber Than a GM Executive?" In Europe the beat is an 'average' car because most cars sold are small hatchbacks. In the US, it will be called an 'econobox' and everyone will wonder why they should buy it instead of the upcomging Cruze sedan. For us the difference between 35mpg and 45mpg doesn't seem worth getting a smaller "deathtrap" like a tiny hatchback, while in Europe, that's the difference between acceptable gas mileage and unacceptable mileage - that's what you get with $8 fuel. Even with $4 gas, GM will not be able to have any decent profit margin with an "ECONOBOX." That word is pejorative in the US - it's a euphemism for "sh!Tbox." With the US gas price situation, you can get a lot more car by just giving up what we consider "marginally" better economy. That's really the rub guys. I think this is a relatively wise decision in beancounting terms. Last edited by KingElvis : 08-07-2008 at 02:19 PM.