It's Simple... REALLY!!

[mgescuro]

It's That Simple GM!!
...another commentary by mgescuro...

I had dinner with a buddy of mine last nite.
It was at the Moss Beach Distillery. If anyone ever watches Unsolved Mysteries or The History Channel, you'll know this is a highly publicized haunted restaurant. But anyways...

The topic turned to cars and how Toyota just topped GM and GM in general. My buddy is always straight and to the point.
And when the topic turned towards the Corvette, and the topic of the new super Corvette on its way, what he said was quite a revelation in its simplicity about why GM is where it is.

"GM doesn't need another 500-600-700 HP car. Horsepower has never been their problem. It's about offering features that people want and getting all the details right from the start, and not 2-3 years from start. Driving is more than straight line performance."

And he's right.
If you look at the 911, they've never been concerned with HP. They take into account the car's performance as a whole. Porsche doesn't need the 600HP car to earn anyone's respect.

Has GM learned this yet?
I think, to an extent it has. But GM needs to seriously start taking a hard look at the cars it builds -- not just from a "Can we make money on this car?" approach -- but rather in a "What does our car offer above and beyond the competition?"

Why is there an HHR SS coming? It's the answer to a question no one asked. Money for developing the SS could have been spent on an HHR MCE that really bumped up the interior accommodations and dropped in a Nav System.

Why resurrect the Buick Supers, with cars that are less than super? They could have spent that money into improving Lacrosse and Lucerne, or for localizing Lacrosse and Park Avenue for the US.

Why have the Corvette "ZR1"/Blue Devil? Just to be King of HP and "Affordable Performance?" Will that car REALLY be GM's halo? How about spending that money into a incrementally more powerful Z06 and tons more on a revamped interior using the 2008 Malibu's dual-cockpit design cue?

GM needs to get its car line, across the board, to the point where they don't need to pick and choose its battles. Because if they continue to do that, they'll never regain the #1 spot.

Focus on quality.
Focus on the details.
Focus on the car as a whole.
Show the consumer that they care about building and designing cars again.
Build a car with features and options people have now come to expect in a car -- no matter how trivial. (Build a car with a Nav system; don't point people to OnStar. Build a car with push button start; don't point people to remote start. Build a car with Bluetooth; don't point people to OnStar. Build a car with true attention to detail; don't point to etching a logo onto a headlight projector and call it "detail," while the interior suffers.)

No more excuses.
No more surveys about "which car do you like better?"
No more PR about "Going global" and not offering superior cars in the home market.

Just do it!!

[Geotpf]

Makes sense to me.

[jkennedy293]

Amen!!

[MOOSTOPHA]

So There!!!

[chakis24]

nailed it

[likearock00]

You're right! Now, how long you gonna keep typing like that?

[gmmerc5]

What do you guy think GMinsidenews send some of the outspoken individuals to the GM's share holders meeting, and let them have a piece of our mind?

[mgescuro]

Originally Posted by likearock00

You're right! Now, how long you gonna keep typing like that?

Probably until my meds wear off.

[vxl]

And, to add to the list. Why does GM waste money trying to sell cadillacs to the Europeans? No one wants them.

[Mr. Burns]

very well said, i agree with every point.

[Brglotus]

I have to agree with you and your friend. I've been saying this for years and I think it comes down to one thing........profits. I think GM's bean counters are still in control of everything, even though they've made some strides, they have a long way to go. I think designers at GM set out to make the best car possible but when all is said and done it's half the car they origanlly designed. This goes back to GM's huge overhead costs and on many parts, greed. Will the Corvette ever be a 911, no, not even close. Yes, the Vette can beat it and costs less doing so, in turn I think GM is happy just doing that. GM does need a true Camary and Accord fighter with all you said. Will GM build it? I think they will when it's too late like everything else they do because the beans start getting low and people want more. By then i'm afraid (as history has shown), GM will scramble to offer a true competiter and no one will look.

[TiburonJT]

You're right again, mgescuro. What you said seems like common sense, but I suppose that isn't so common at GM.

[poncho1982]

Well said, I only hope that GM is listening.

Hence the other problem, they probably are not.

[kenman923]

I defintely agree. More horsepower is not going to make them competitive against Honda and Toyota.

[11:11]

I agree entirely. Chevy does not understand that if they were to build more expensive, luxurious, top-quality performance vehicles, people would by them. They keep building these cookie-cutter economy cars thinking American's are interested in inexpensive gas-sippers; but they couldn't be more wrong. For every Aveo, Vibe, HHR, etc. I see on the road, there are atleast 5 or more $100,000+ V8, V10, V12 powered luxury cars and SUV's on the very same road.

Anyone flipped on their TV to hear Matt Dillon narrating the latest Pontiac commercial? Allow me to elaborate:
- "The new 2007 Pontiac Vibe; with more power and better fuel economy than the Scion Xb."
- "And the new 2007 Pontiac G6, also with more power and better fuel economy than the Toyota Camry."

I mean, how do they expect to win people over with 4-cylindar power and minimal fuel economy increases? Pardon my crudeness, but GM couldn't tell the difference between a sneeze and a wet fart.

And the Corvette: if you really think about it, the Corvette is basically the only nameplate left in Chevrolet's history not to be tarnished and ruined as they years have gone by. As far as I'm concerned, they can do whatever they want with the Corvette, because they haven't let anyone down yet. Besides, the Corvette and Silverado are the only two vehicles that Chevy can get right.