Autosavant Editorial Asks: "Is Anyone Dumber Than a GM Executive?"

[Perian]

Link: http://www.autosavant.net/2008/08/is...executive.html

Autosavant - By J.S. Smith

I am hardly a snarky, cheer-as-the-Titanic-sinks sneerful spectator. I root for the home team and I’m a life-long member of the GM family. Indeed, I worked on the assembly line many years ago at Lansing’s GM North Assembly Plant making Grand Ams and Achievas.

But GM’s management is quite simply stupid. Astonishingly so. Case in point from Autoblog:

Testing of the Chevy Beat is officially underway. . . The Beat will make its production debut sometime in 2010 and will go on sale in Europe in early 2011. As previously reported, the Beat won't be making the trek to the U.S. until it meets the fed's crash-test standards, so we won't get a shot at the Beat until the next generation arrives – whenever that is.

The monumental short-sightedness of not bothering to have the Beat US-certified boggles the mind. It qualifies as less a business move than a bowel movement. The people in charge at GM shouldn’t get salaries from anyone. They should be cleaning chewing gum from sidewalks.

This is particularly egregious in light of the fact that Toyota is bringing the 2009 Yaris 5-door hatch to the states. And Ford’s decision to build some of its tasty Euro models in North America. Even more offensive is the fact that when the Beat (as well as the Trax and Groove) was first displayed at the 2007 New York Auto Show - yes, in the US - and GM had the nerve to pretend that there was a possibility of one or more of the models might be sold in the US if they were well-received by the media and public. Well, they were well-received, partially because of a contest sponsored by GM for the public to vote for their favorite of the three, but it was later revealed that GM had no intent of ever selling them in the US - at least in their first generation. (N.B.: You can still vote on the site; since the Beat was in the lead with 887,666 votes, at least GM may have been listening to customers by greenlighting that one for production, although they mostly were asking US consumers and not the global audience that will get the car instead.)

[natesriv]

I could not agree MORE!

Second...show so many shots and videos of the Camaro 3 years before it comes out that by the time it's here, it's yesterday's news....

Third....no manuals in their best selling models... I'd buy a 4 cylinder 5 speed manual Malibu TODAY if they offered one...Honda does on the Accord

Fourth....who here can name all the Saturn models....bet a lot can't.. GM spends about $0 on Saturn Advertising...

[Perian]

More on the Chevy Beat:

Rare Good News?: Beat Prototypes Hit the Streets

[Perian]

Originally Posted by natesriv

Third....no manuals in their best selling models... I'd buy a 4 cylinder 5 speed manual Malibu TODAY if they offered one...Honda does on the Accord

The manual transmission XFE model represented 13% of Cobalt sales in May.

GM needs a Malibu XFE if for nothing else, simply to advertise a lower price point to draw customers into dealerships...like Toyota does with its manual transmission Camry.

Possible reason for NOT doing this? The MPG figures for a "Malibu XFE" may be higher than those of the existing Malibu hybrid model. This would not look very good in the marketplace.

[BigThreeForever]

Yes, Autosavant's question is entirely valid: the combined IQ of GM's executive ranks now appears to be somewhere in the double digit range.

[johnstarnes]

Yet GM's CEOs get salaries that boggle the mind more than their inept decisions do. Hey, hire me and let ME screw up GM further for just 5% of Wagoner's or Lutz's pay!

[Saturn69]

Originally Posted by natesriv

Fourth....who here can name all the Saturn models....bet a lot can't.. GM spends about $0 on Saturn Advertising...

Astra, Aura, Outlook, Sky and Vue. Do I get a cookie now?

[Ultra Magnus]

I would love the opportunity to sit down with GMs executives just to ask why they continue to run GM into the ground. Is there a larger plan that we arent aware of or are they just completely inept at seeing and meeting the long term needs of the company?

[supraracer]

What I hate most about the Beat situation is that GM had us vote a couple years back on which models that they should produce and the Beat won by a wide margin, both here and abroad. So I want to know is how did this car get designed WITHOUT the US market in mind?

[ronald mcretard]

Excellent article, I agree 100%.

The funny thing is that there are plenty of people on GMI that continue to defend Wagoner and company. Why? Is it blind loyalty? I think harsh criticism of the management for their ineptitude is necessary in these tough times.

[fp115]

Originally Posted by ronald mcretard

Excellent article, I agree 100%.

The funny thing is that there are plenty of people on GMI that continue to defend Wagoner and company. Why? Is it blind loyalty? I think harsh criticism of the management for their ineptitude is necessary in these tough times.

Or maybe these people know things about the company that most can't see past the media?

[supraracer]

Originally Posted by natesriv

I could not agree MORE!

Second...show so many shots and videos of the Camaro 3 years before it comes out that by the time it's here, it's yesterday's news....

Third....no manuals in their best selling models... I'd buy a 4 cylinder 5 speed manual Malibu TODAY if they offered one...Honda does on the Accord

Fourth....who here can name all the Saturn models....bet a lot can't.. GM spends about $0 on Saturn Advertising...

A six-speed stick Malibu LTZ would be great, but alas we're a dying breed of drivers.

[zete]

What I don't get is how GM can say they want to make world cars and then create a car -- the Beat -- that won't meet US standards? How is this even possible. If it's a "world car" then it meets the highest standards, thereby being certifiable everywhere.

It boggles my mind. And the ONLY excuse I can accept is "It is certifiable, and we lied to throw folks off." Other than that, stupid is the only polite word I can think of.

[T-Type]

Originally Posted by johnstarnes

Yet GM's CEOs get salaries that boggle the mind more than their inept decisions do. Hey, hire me and let ME screw up GM further for just 5% of Wagoner's or Lutz's pay!

To be fair compared to CEOs of other companies, they don't make that much. Not saying that they don't make a lot, just that it's nowhere near as much as other screwballs do to run a company into the ground.

[rsbaker]

I'm sorry to say I have to agree. I was always under the assumption that the US would get this model. I'm also very tired of Europe and Austrailia getting all the good product and North America being treated like a stepchild by GM. Foe once GM actually has the right product mix for the US but sadly they are not selling it here.