LaNeve: 0% for 72 mo; Citi reviewing HUMMER; 09 price hikes; no further brands cuts

[jameskz28]

The carmaker will offer 0% financing for loans as long as six years on most of its 2008 models.

Citibank will help GM assess possible offers to purchase HUMMER...will also help GM assess other options...including a possible revamp of the brand's model line-up

For the 2009 model year, GM said almost all car and truck models will have higher sticker prices.

LaNeve would not comment on the future of the Hummer brand...No other brand cuts are being considered, he said.

Article continued at link:

http://money.cnn.com/2008/06/23/auto...sale/index.htm

[Buickman]

Originally Posted by jameskz28

Article continued at link:

http://money.cnn.com/2008/06/23/auto...sale/index.htm

LaNeve and Co claim this sale is to build momentum while in fact it will serve to destroy momentum. when it's all said and done, July will tank and our image will be further damaged by the distress merchandising. furthermore, we will not make any money giving vehicles away and blowing untold millions on a disastrous marketing campaign.

next, why do we always need banks to assist us in the never ending asset sales? don't we know what our stuff is worth and don't we have enough lawyers and accountants on board to handle such transactions? is it any surprise we pay so much in investment banking fees when the Board is stocked iwth banking representatives?

it's one mistake after another under Red Ink Rick, Fiat...accounting scandals, Olds run into the ground and gone, GMAC making bad loans then spun, Buick starved of product, Delphi spun while we're still under obligation, on and on and on.

WHY IS WAGONER STILL HERE?????????? the stock is sure telling us he has to go.

[dindak]

Cutting brands is an error. Good man!

[paul38469]

I am relieved that he said no other brands will be cut. Then again they often say one thing and do another.

I guess they are trying to bump up June's disasterous numbers a little. Results will still be brutal, I think. Fuel hysteria will still be with us for a few more months before people settle down and stop trading in their vehicles for tiny econoboxes. The GMT-900s are never going to sell in the volumes that they did, though, so it is good to hear that they are trying to keep inventories under control.

[NINETY_EIGHT_REGENCY]

I will the be first to admit I recently said cut a brand in another thread. I was wrong. I do still feel something that will not be popular though.

Years ago, I remember either GM wrote me or some outlet printed something to this effect:

The introduction of the suv's and trucks in the market has shifted the market away from luxury cars, personal luxury coupes in favor of truck and suv production. This was around the time the plant here in Texas shifted from fullsized cars to trucks and suv's.

Now they should shift back to more efficient cars and more luxury cars. Luxury cars and medium priced cars can make a profit where small cars cannot. The medium prices cars and luxury cars profit margin would offset the small cars. It would not be a full line brand of course. That was one of the reasons I called for Oldsmobiles return.


Oldsmobile would consist of three to four solid vehicles:

98- fullsized traditional luxury car( people are living longer and getting older)
Toronado- personal luxury coupe- ( GM does not have one)
Custom Cruiser- a true station wagon/ crossover
Cutlass Supreme- GM has no midsized coupes front wheel drive or rear drive.


Before you start bashing me:

Saturn is staying and it is full line Opel North America. I still say drop Outlook.....
You cannot keep adding cars to Chevrolet.
If Saturn was the green division, they would have given to VOLT to them. They did not.
Cadillac is not for everyone in price and structure. It is the higher standard.
Pontiac cannot be everything to everyone sitting in the same showroom as Buick.
Buick is becoming more like Buick China. That is a different type of luxury.

No, the Oldsmobiles would not be in a stand alone showroom either. Sell that at Saturn showrooms to draw people in or Chevrolet showrooms like they did for years anyway..

[FierySolstice]

Originally Posted by NINETY_EIGHT_REGENCY

I will the be first to admit I recently said cut a brand in another thread. I was wrong. I do still feel something that will not be popular though.

Years ago, I remember either GM wrote me or some outlet printed something to this effect:

The introduction of the suv's and trucks in the market has shifted the market away from luxury cars, personal luxury coupes in favor of truck and suv production. This was around the time the plant here in Texas shifted from fullsized cars to trucks and suv's.

Now they should shift back to more efficient cars and more luxury cars. Luxury cars and medium priced cars can make a profit where small cars cannot. The medium prices cars and luxury cars profit margin would offset the small cars. It would not be a full line brand of course. That was one of the reasons I called for Oldsmobiles return.


Oldsmobile would consist of three to four solid vehicles:

98- fullsized traditional luxury car( people are living longer and getting older)
Toronado- personal luxury coupe- ( GM does not have one)
Custom Cruiser- a true station wagon/ crossover
Cutlass Supreme- GM has no midsized coupes front wheel drive or rear drive.


Before you start bashing me:

Saturn is staying and it is full line Opel North America. I still say drop Outlook.....
You cannot keep adding cars to Chevrolet.
If Saturn was the green division, they would have given to VOLT to them. They did not.
Cadillac is not for everyone in price and structure. It is the higher standard.
Pontiac cannot be everything to everyone sitting in the same showroom as Buick.
Buick is becoming more like Buick China. That is a different type of luxury.

No, the Oldsmobiles would not be in a stand alone showroom either. Sell that at Saturn showrooms to draw people in or Chevrolet showrooms like they did for years anyway..

Where would Oldsmobile be positioned? How does Saab factor into this? You say that GM has no midsized coupes, what about the G6 coupe/convertible? The upcoming Camaro? As long as GM has Saab, Saturn and Buick, there is no chance to bring Oldsmobile back.

[HoosierRon]

Originally Posted by NINETY_EIGHT_REGENCY

Oldsmobile would consist of three to four solid vehicles:

98- fullsized traditional luxury car( people are living longer and getting older)
Toronado- personal luxury coupe- ( GM does not have one)
Custom Cruiser- a true station wagon/ crossover
Cutlass Supreme- GM has no midsized coupes front wheel drive or rear drive.

Fullsized traditional luxury car


Personal luxury coupe


Station wagon crossover


Mid-sized coupe



Now you know why Oldsmobile is gone: Pontiac to the left of me, Buick to the right, stuck in the middle with you.

[Chaz_23]

"Citibank will also help GM assess other options for Hummer, including a possible revamp of the brand's model line-up."

If GM needs bankers to assess brand model line-ups, they're more desperate and incompetent than I thought.

[Ambalanche]

LaNeve is a PR hack! I don't take anything he says as gospel.

[AMERICA 123]

Good - no Great!!!

Exactly how they should play it.

I thank God that everyone from the professional Toyota Spin Doctors to the misguided GM supporters have nothing to do with the decision making process and plan making at GM's HQs.


Most of you don't realize how bad the Toyota people are leading you around by the nose.

[RamJet502]

Isn't Citibank about to go out of business, why are they reviewing Hummer?

[ghughes]

I hope they pay laneve 2 cents/year, he really grates on me- BTW- no 0%, 72 month on the enclave or I would have gone and got one this weekend.

[goatgary]

Originally Posted by ghughes

I hope they pay laneve 2 cents/year, he really grates on me- BTW- no 0%, 72 month on the enclave or I would have gone and got one this weekend.

That would be a sweet deal but you must agree that GM has to make a profit on SOMETHING that will actually sell.

[nadepalma]

Dont know how much faith I put in this.

If the market is going the way it is - and they are NOT considering what to do with some of their other brands - then they are not good corporate officers.

I'm not saying "Cut this or that" but every option should be on the table if they are seeking to right the ship.

I didn't like the idea of cutting Olds - I hated it in fact - but looking back I recognize that it was arguably the right thing to do. I dont like the idea of killing any other brands - but moving forward, if it means killing Hummer, GMC, or any other brand to keep the ship afloat, then they should examine it closely.

Just my two cents - and don't know if I take LaNeve at his word.

[NINETY_EIGHT_REGENCY]

Never mind. There are too many holes in the arguments against what I said. I knew that was coming.

I will leave it at this:

G6 coupe is not even midsized.That car is really not that much larger than Grand Am was ,and Grand Am was classified as compact. If Pontiac got the Alpha platform, that G6 coupe would be smaller. So, technically now and future, GM does not have a midsized coupe. Buick is not producing or selling a coupe now or in the future. Malibu is larger and wider than a G6.

A midsized coupe is about the size of the Grand Prix, the departed Monte Carlo. No, GM does not have anything that size. That Riviera concept is smaller than that.

I said crossover station/wagon not a TAHOE sized crossover which is what Enclave is.


I know when GM got rid of Oldsmobile they push me and other Oldsmobile owners out. They left GM or they went to a competitor or keeping their cars like I have. They did not stay with GM. I will tell you from personal experience, GM does not offer Oldsmobile owners anything anymore.

If I wanted a Buick, I would have bought a Park Avenue when I bought my Ninety Eight. What makes you think I would be interested in the Lucerne? That car does not even have many of the features my car has. It is not even the same type of car.

If I wanted a Buick, I would have bought a Riviera when I bought my Toronado. Why would I go buy something smaller like a Pontiac G6 that has no where near the room or space or features I have on my car?


What you are doing is what GM is doing. You are trying to sell me something I do not want or interested in. Please do not tell me how a Lucerne or a G6 is like buying an Oldsmobile. It is not.

That is why GM is in the situation it is now because of thinking and decisions like that.