New Sales Chief Wants To Break GM's Bad Habits.

[carbarrister]

New sales chief wants to break GM's bad habits.
It is not like Susan is inventing anything. It is Déjà Vue All Over Again.
Go back and read the Rick Wagoner and Mark Lavave quotes.
The only challenge is that GM no longer has GMAC.
Good luck!

[smith7629]

Originally Posted by armycam68

Good luck to this lady. She will know what it's like selling snow to Eskimos!
As I walked through a Chevy/Buick dealership on Saturday.........I watched at least a dozen salespeople looking at a total of five customers. My wife and I are looking for something to replace our 2007 IMPALA and my 2008 GMC Envoy.
As we looked, we both came to the conclusion that Chevy/Buick has nothing to offer us.
A new Impala has increased in price nearly $3000 since we bought ours. The only change I could see was the dials on the heater/air switch.
The TrailBlazer is gone so now I must buy a Traverse or an Enclave to tow my boat.
My wife said no way on the Enclave or the Traverse...........she reminded me what a chore it would be to drive this miniture school bus in a Walmart parking lot...........even with the camera..........BTW........both the Traverse and the Enclave on the florr stickered for over $44 thousand dollars.........are you serious??????
I had a 2004 Chevy Colorado..........a real piece of junk, that took an airfield to turn.......and BTW......no changes on this thing either other than wheels and body side mouldings, and the price increase.
I looked at the new V-6 Equinox..........no frame, questionable towing and a loaded Nox on the floor was $32,700.........about $2K more than my Envoy was two years ago with all the rebates.
The Buick Lucerne on the floor was a 2009 or ??? since they haven't changed it either.
The dealership didn't have a new LaCross.........but it's over priced and BTW, the Walmart/Mall shoppers will have a field day with the new LaCross.........no body side mouldings on a $30K car..........oh the doors and shopping carts!
Do the people that design these vehicles live on this planet........do they all ride the bus..........do they ever ask their custoners for an opinion?????????
Maybe GM strategy is.......sell a few at a big profit........

Sir, sorry you're having such a dilemma with new vehicles. For what it's worth, my wife drives the new Enclave and it turns tight, rides smooth and quiet and we got it for under $40K. We didn't get the back up camera, nav or rear entertainment because it's our "around town-er". The suburban, (and soon to be 2010 GMC Yukon XL SLT) have the expensive nav and electro-gadgetry for trips. So you can save some money by not getting them loaded but still have lots of luxury. My wife loves the enclave and we've had it for a year and a half without a single issue. I know what you mean about no side moldings too, but the vehicles now-adays have composite doors/fenders that don't dent or scratch like they used to. Take a test drive.

[Flyingbunnys]

Originally Posted by armycam68

Good luck to this lady. She will know what it's like selling snow to Eskimos!
As I walked through a Chevy/Buick dealership on Saturday.........I watched at least a dozen salespeople looking at a total of five customers. My wife and I are looking for something to replace our 2007 IMPALA and my 2008 GMC Envoy.
As we looked, we both came to the conclusion that Chevy/Buick has nothing to offer us.
A new Impala has increased in price nearly $3000 since we bought ours. The only change I could see was the dials on the heater/air switch.
The TrailBlazer is gone so now I must buy a Traverse or an Enclave to tow my boat.
My wife said no way on the Enclave or the Traverse...........she reminded me what a chore it would be to drive this miniture school bus in a Walmart parking lot...........even with the camera..........BTW........both the Traverse and the Enclave on the florr stickered for over $44 thousand dollars.........are you serious??????
I had a 2004 Chevy Colorado..........a real piece of junk, that took an airfield to turn.......and BTW......no changes on this thing either other than wheels and body side mouldings, and the price increase.
I looked at the new V-6 Equinox..........no frame, questionable towing and a loaded Nox on the floor was $32,700.........about $2K more than my Envoy was two years ago with all the rebates.
The Buick Lucerne on the floor was a 2009 or ??? since they haven't changed it either.
The dealership didn't have a new LaCross.........but it's over priced and BTW, the Walmart/Mall shoppers will have a field day with the new LaCross.........no body side mouldings on a $30K car..........oh the doors and shopping carts!
Do the people that design these vehicles live on this planet........do they all ride the bus..........do they ever ask their custoners for an opinion?????????
Maybe GM strategy is.......sell a few at a big profit........

I agree with your statment, GM does still have fairly bad models hanging around that are in much need up updating and you hit most of them Lucern, Colorado, Cobalt, Impala. , ect... They have a few bright spots however that you ignored to mention such as the Malibu, Equanox and Silverado.

You also mentioned the higher cost of their vehicles, this is due to the economy, the cost of most consumer goods are on the rise, not just cars. This is something that is not just happening at GM but happening everywhere. I would like too see the prices drop more inline with other car manufactures and stabilize a bit though, I'm sure once GM is out of the water they can fine tune and fix thier pricing.

[prototype66]

Originally Posted by vanshmack

See my comments in BOLD:





And before you call me a pimply-nosed punk, I state for the record that I'm 39 years-old and have owned 24 GM vehicles in 23 years of driving. I think I know a little bit about what GM offers now and what they've been offering for the better part of 2 1/2 decades.

Thank you!
well stated and completely true.

Way to judge before giving someone a chance to make a difference.
Same ol same ol shooting down GM withour giving the new team time to fix 20YEARS of mis management bu armchair CEOs!

[t-rex]

Originally Posted by armycam68

Good luck to this lady. She will know what it's like selling snow to Eskimos!
As I walked through a Chevy/Buick dealership on Saturday.........I watched at least a dozen salespeople looking at a total of five customers. My wife and I are looking for something to replace our 2007 IMPALA and my 2008 GMC Envoy.
As we looked, we both came to the conclusion that Chevy/Buick has nothing to offer us.
A new Impala has increased in price nearly $3000 since we bought ours. The only change I could see was the dials on the heater/air switch.
The TrailBlazer is gone so now I must buy a Traverse or an Enclave to tow my boat.
My wife said no way on the Enclave or the Traverse...........she reminded me what a chore it would be to drive this miniture school bus in a Walmart parking lot...........even with the camera..........BTW........both the Traverse and the Enclave on the florr stickered for over $44 thousand dollars.........are you serious??????
I had a 2004 Chevy Colorado..........a real piece of junk, that took an airfield to turn.......and BTW......no changes on this thing either other than wheels and body side mouldings, and the price increase.
I looked at the new V-6 Equinox..........no frame, questionable towing and a loaded Nox on the floor was $32,700.........about $2K more than my Envoy was two years ago with all the rebates.
The Buick Lucerne on the floor was a 2009 or ??? since they haven't changed it either.
The dealership didn't have a new LaCross.........but it's over priced and BTW, the Walmart/Mall shoppers will have a field day with the new LaCross.........no body side mouldings on a $30K car..........oh the doors and shopping carts!
Do the people that design these vehicles live on this planet........do they all ride the bus..........do they ever ask their custoners for an opinion?????????
Maybe GM strategy is.......sell a few at a big profit........

You're far from a "troll" and I find your complaints, for the most part, sound, honest, and crucial in any discussion regarding "old" and "new" GM practices.

I agree wholeheartedly with your wife's "school bus" assessment of the Lambdas. I've driven both an Acadia and Rendezvous, and while I found their handling to be terrific for such large vehicles, the bottom line is that they in fact are quite bulky and not so easy to park. Many fans on this site seem to hold the contention that the Lambdas are the size of a Highlander or a Ford Edge, but they're MUCH bigger, more Tahoe/Expedition-sized. I know a lot of Americans like this sort of bulk, but not all people live in vast suburbs with huge parking lots and wide driveways. It's not just those of us in older cities (I'm in New Orleans, with VERY narrow streets and near-zero off-street parking) who are put off by this bulk, there are simply many customers who don't like wielding so much metal through the parking lot at Home Depot. GM sorely need a 7-seat midsize crossover. An "Equinox EXT" if you will...

I agree with your complaint that the death of the GMT360s has forced GM to capitulate an entire market segment to Nissan and Toyota. Detroit was spoiled to a decade of Explorer-type wagons selling a bazillion units per year, and once sales dropped off, there was the notion the segment was dead. The segment isn't dead, it's just returning to its erstwhile "niche" position in the market. I can name two friends who recently bought a 4Runner and a Pathfinder, respectively, simply because they're the last midsize SUV's on the market that can tow (boating is VERY popular here in Louisiana, with our endless waterways). The Lambdas are not suitable replacements for the GMT360s. Given the excess capacity at Shreveport, GM could have even considered a BOF GMC model based on the Hummer H3's chassis to capture the midsize BOF customer. Though given GM's dire situation just recently, it's understandable that there was likely no funding for such a model, even if GM had wanted to remain competitive in that segment.

What I disagree on, though, are complaints about rising prices. We have become absurdly spoiled to ridiculously low car prices in this country. Nobody wants to pay more for a vehicle of course, but GM slashing thousands off of sticker to get the metal out the door was part of the reason it got itself into its financial mess, not to mention its "discount brand" image. I think a $44k Traverse is absurd, but it's a fair price for the Enclave, and I'd go so far as to say it's a bargain, considering the mountain of style, quality, and metal you get for the price.

[SS3]

Originally Posted by fp115

Who let the troll out of his cage???

armycam68 is a previous GM owner, a potential customer, who related his very recent buying experience, NOT a troll.

Your response is old GM -dismiss what the customer is saying because you know better.

I hope GM has learned that that doesnt work.

[joemac]

Originally Posted by armycam68

My wife and I are looking for something to replace our 2007 IMPALA and my 2008 GMC Envoy.
As we looked, we both came to the conclusion that Chevy/Buick has nothing to offer us.

There are many other brands and manufacturers out there, no distress needed.

A new Impala has increased in price nearly $3000 since we bought ours. The only change I could see was the dials on the heater/air switch.

The USD has gotten considerably weaker throughout the economic recession, thus a dollar doesn't go as far. Commodity prices, gas, steel, rubber, etc all remain and adjust for the weaker dollar by increasing in price. Manufacturers typically adjust vehicle prices to compensate. GM is not alone in this action. Thus if one made $12 an hour before the downturn it might feel more like $9 now after.

My wife said no way on the Enclave or the Traverse...........she reminded me what a chore it would be to drive this miniture school bus in a Walmart parking lot...........

Park out comes to mind. The Enclave and Traverse are hardly school bus like. I drive a 2500HD long bed crew cab and manage Walmart and other shopping centers just fine. Parking out seems to help considerably. Walking another 100 ft hasn't killed anyone that I know of.

even with the camera..........BTW........both the Traverse and the Enclave on the florr stickered for over $44 thousand dollars.........are you serious??????

Maybe not getting a vehicle optioned to the hilt would lessen the impact of the price. Additionally trading one, two, three year old vehicles isn't traditionally beneficial to one's finances over the term. Thus keeping a vehicle for 5 to 10 years often nets a more affordable result when shopping for that next vehicle as one has a considerable amount of time without any payments to save and put down on the next one.

I looked at the new V-6 Equinox..........no frame

Same as the Enclave, Traverse and all of the crossovers, unibody construction. If a BOF design is that important keep your 2008 Envoy.

questionable towing and a loaded Nox on the floor was $32,700.........about $2K more than my Envoy was two years ago with all the rebates.

Again weaker USD means commodity prices are up, GM is not having to fire sale their new vehicles that are under launch currently, so actual price to purchase one has increased.

The dealership didn't have a new LaCross.........but it's over priced and BTW, the Walmart/Mall shoppers will have a field day with the new LaCross.........no body side mouldings on a $30K car..........oh the doors and shopping carts!

I think someone mentioned parking out. Lord knows no one else will take pristine car of your vehicle wedged into parking spaces in Walmart or any shopping and or parking situation. Therefore it's a choice knowing the consequences if one decides to park up front, or park out. Amount of damage may vary.

Do the people that design these vehicles live on this planet........do they all ride the bus..........do they ever ask their custoners for an opinion?????????
Maybe GM strategy is.......sell a few at a big profit........

If other manufactures are doing some fantastic job while GM hasn't a clue one might suggest to take your shopping and spending one of those other manufacturers that's doing that bang up job.

[AMERICA 123]

Originally Posted by eaton53

If I were in GM marketing this would've been done a long time ago:

Take advantage of CR's flawed methodology by giving every single employee at GM and their dealerships a subscription and have them flood it with tens of thousands of positive surveys. Were CR a true random survey you could never do this...

Exactly.

That's part of how it works for the others - evidently she hasn't a clue about CR.

It's actually even scarier than that because it also means .......

[GMJoe]

Allright.

If Fritz and Susan are gonna use Consumer Reports as the standard, take the top rated vehicle in each category, compare it to its GM competitor, vehicle to vehicle,metal to metal, and make the GM competitor better.

[Idler Arm]

Originally Posted by GMJoe

Allright.

If Fritz and Susan are gonna use Consumer Reports as the standard, take the top rated vehicle in each category, compare it to its GM competitor, vehicle to vehicle,metal to metal, and make the GM competitor better.

They dare claim "May the Best Car Win". Had better hope the customer doesn't pick up a copy of Consumer Reports, would kind of blow their theory eh?

[longislander]

Originally Posted by smith7629

I know what you mean about no side moldings too, but the vehicles now-adays have composite doors/fenders that don't dent or scratch like they used to. Take a test drive.

Sorry, but the Saturn Ion has been discontinued...

[OLDSCHOOLGMFAN]

Originally Posted by fp115

Who let the troll out of his cage???

WHY is he a "troll"? Because GM doesn't build anything that meets his needs anymore and he ain't happy about it, you call him a "troll"? Come on partner, that ain't right and it ain't fair. If GM loses his business, that's GM's fault and nobody elses, period.

[OLDSCHOOLGMFAN]

Originally Posted by KingElvis

Shopping for a car anywhere is a drag. These guys are mostly grifters. Sticker shock is nothing new, but I feel for you.

But go look at crossovers from Audi and BMW - that'll truly scare you.

But, why replace the Envoy if you like it and it's only a 2008?

Originally Posted by vanshmack

See my comments in BOLD:





And before you call me a pimply-nosed punk, I state for the record that I'm 39 years-old and have owned 24 GM vehicles in 23 years of driving. I think I know a little bit about what GM offers now and what they've been offering for the better part of 2 1/2 decades.

[kgm777]

Unfortunately, there are only three current GM models that I would consider. The DTS - being replaced by the XTS in 2012 (please don't make this a MB, BMW, or Audi fighter with a truck-like ride; we need a Lexus LS fighter). The Lucerne - 2010 is its last year, then gone. Finally, possibly the new Lacrosse, but it's a somewhat smaller car than I want.

Shouldn't GM try to compete with more cars that appeal to old school fans?

What I want: New full-sized Fleetwood Coupe and Sedan, and Eldorado. Also, a full-sized Buick and Riviera. There would be nothing wrong with a full-sized Chevy Caprice, either.

[vanshmack]

Originally Posted by OLDSCHOOLGMFAN

Unlike some folks, I don't need to list every single GM vehicle I've ever owned in my signature to have credibility.