GM Critics Hit Product Development

[tgagneguam]

GM Critics Hit Product Development
GM needs a Volga, not another Aztek.
by Joseph Szczesny

Lots of brickbats have been hurled at General Motors Corp. designs over the year. But a wilting insult came last week when Evelyn Y. Davis, the omnipresent corporate gadfly, asked GM executive brass why they couldn't come up with a design that looked as spiffy as the old Volga that belongs to Vladimir Putin, the Russian president and maximum leader.

Davis pointed out the old Volga looked pretty good when Putin recently invited President George W. Bush out for a spin in Moscow , and she pointedly asked why GM designers haven't been able to capitalize on the interest in old-is-new-again retro designs like other companies have.

GM chairman G. Richard Wagoner, even in the midst of announcing big job cuts and threatening the UAW while attempting to appease the financial community, wasn't in a position to dismiss Davis since he had been skirmishing all morning with shareholders over GM's unexciting products.

The MGM model

Product-wise, GM is a little like a movie studio that hasn't produced a blockbuster in better than 20 years, or the oil company that hasn't tapped a gusher in a couple of decades. Even the United Auto Workers took a shot at the uninspired products GM asks it to build.

So Wagoner asked vice chairman Robert Lutz to sketch out GM's plans for the future.

Lutz, in reply to the needling from Davis, who suggested he might be "too old" for the task of fixing GM's product offerings, insisted GM was already pushing ahead with bold plans for major changes in the company's model line.

"We see a huge opportunity here for us to capture the essence of the American automobile in its glory days. The Japanese can't follow us there any more than they could follow Harley-Davidson. We believe there is a lot of gold in those hills and we intend to mine it," said Lutz.

However, Lutz acknowledged, grudgingly, that Ford and Chrysler had already beaten GM to the space with the new Mustang and the 300C and new Charger.

Lutz also said GM was adapting to the idea it is not only in the transportation business but also the "arts and entertainment" business. "You can't run the business by the left-side analytical part of your brain. You've got to have a lot of the right-side creativity. We are in the art and entertainment business. In the next two or three years, you're going to see product that takes a back seat to nobody," Lutz added.

Full article

[tgagneguam]

This article oddly gives me hope for GM's product development process - and that may be the first time in a long time I've thought that way. If Smith's focus, and then Wagoner's, were on efficiency and quality, it seems their efforts paid off quite well. Several independent sources suggest that GM has made great strides - more so than many of their competitors - in those two critical areas. While there's always room for improvement, even if they achieve number one status in quality and efficiency, I hope they can multi-task: continue to make great strides in quality and efficiency (particularly in the area of flexible manufacturing) while emphasizing the development of great cars and trucks.

Time will tell, I suppose.

[SobeSVT]

I don't know how many of you are acquainted with Evelyn Y. Davis but for it must be really tough for Bob Lutz being challenged by her in his ability do create hot products for GM, by suggesting that he might be too old for the job.

Mrs. Davis is an advocate for shareholders rights and publishes a very exclusive newsletter read by industry captains and Wall Street leaders and when she addresses a subject you better believe she has looked deep into it.

For more on Mrs. Davis and her famous grilling of corporate captains go here

[AJR]

I just hang my head. I am by no means a big GM fan, so I guess it doesn't matter what happens to it from here on out, but still, reading this article just makes me hang my head. GM is a day late and a dollar short, or however the saying goes. If Lutz has to be put on the spot and questioned, then it is pretty clear that he has not gotten the positive attention he has been asking for. He just needs to work harder to convince people of his plan because it appears this Ms Davis is not convinced at all by Lutz's vision.

My how the mighty have fallen.

[Canuck]

So these critics bring up the Aztec?
Lutz was brought in because of cars like the Aztec. If these shareholders had clue they would know this simple fact.

No hits? What is Cadillac? Mrs. Davis you might have money but common sense is a much rarer commodity.

[desmo9]

""We see a huge opportunity here for us to capture the essence of the American automobile in its glory days. The Japanese can't follow us there any more than they could follow Harley-Davidson. We believe there is a lot of gold in those hills and we intend to mine it," said Lutz."

Holy smokes ... Bravo. I've been singing that song since about 1990, when it was clear what Harley was onto. Despite Honda Shadow type of bikes that were bargain priced, built and performed well, the Japanese never had the mystique.

The Stang and 300C are the 4-wheeled Harleys, and that's why they're doing well. Makes no difference if they're a point or two less on JD Power. Makes no difference if they use pushrods. Makes no difference if they have 4-speed autos. Tap into Americana and you've got a winner. Now, then, where is GM's first offering? SSR ain't it. Too narrowly-focused, too expensive, it's GM's T-bird.