"Old GM" Dealership Mindset

[skylark68]

Originally Posted by ponchoman49

Quote:As one of the above people I referred to the new Malibu said, “All of the companies seem to no longer care about design…they all look the same. GM on the other hand, seems to actually design their cars [in reference to the 2008 Malibu].”


BINGO we have a winner! I have been saying this for the past 5 years now. It is getting increasingly difficult to tell one car from the next any longer. Case in point; my friend and I were driving on a two lane road and a new 2008 Suburu Imprezza came up along side us. My friend then remarked that he never liked those older Saturn L-series cars. I had to actually let that car pull up ahead so he could read the badge on the rear of the car to see what it really was. I have heard many say that when they see a Ford 500/Taurus clone they emediately think of an Audi or Volkswagon and site styling as very un-Ford like and too generic. Many of the newly introduced crossovers like the Nissan Rogue have prompted repsonses such as "what is that a new Kia" or "what is that thing"?
When I grew up in the 70's, 80's and 90's, I could litterally tell every car apart, save for a few examples and even knew what year that particular car in question was(Japanese car excluded) because the grille was changed, tailights were different, exterior trim was revamped or interiors had new colors or differing tones of woodgrain etc. Now it's impossible for me to tell the difference between a 2007 Camry and a 2008 model or a 2006 Impala vs a 2008 version. Many of todays cars have become so throw away generic that when a company like GM styles something a little different or bolder like the new Malibu that the media gushes over it like it's the second coming of Chris. It just goes to show that when the masses have been conditioned with crap styling for so long it is excepted to be the norm. Thankfully GM still adds a little pizzazz to there recent designs that makes them stand out from the dull boring genric Camry/Corolla clones. Could you ever envision Toyota coming up with something as hot looking as a Vette or Solstice or Enclave or even the new Malibu? Can you ever imagine an Acura that doesn't look like a warmed over Honda or a Lexus that doesn't look like a more subdued Toyota?

You have so hit the nail on the head. One reason I like the Camaro and Challenger is because they don't look so generic like 95% of the cars on the road today.

[KingElvis]

NSAP:

Why would other dealers advertise Saturn? - that would have to be a national campaign.

This whole idea of Saturn being the future of GM is totally off base. Saturn's sales have been moribund and this Opel based hatchback is bound to fail - then they have their sedan which has been eclipsed by the Malibu, and the big crossover truck that is more macho with a GMC badge and more refined in Buick sheetmetal.

[SierraGS]

Originally Posted by BVPBG

Although I enjoy reading many of the posts and responses on this site I almost never join the discussion. This time I must.

What is the point of advertising, and how would you spend your money if you were running a dealership and a budget, you needed to sell vehicles balance inventory and pay floorplan on the cars and trucks you have in inventory.
As I am sure many of you know the highly desirable vehicles can be very difficult to come by and GM is always asking for favors in regard to inventory.

As a BPG point ( and a fairly large one) how many Acadia’s and Enclaves do you think we have been allocated? Other than to tote the corporate barge should I advertise a vehicle that already has more customers coming in to purchase than I can provide vehicles for? And by the way that are being sold in some cases with little discount and no real support from the mfg..

I agree that many of the new products are class leaders and at some point I hope that the slower moving vehicles will be fazed out or replaced with more desirable and "better" product, but until then what would you do?

Those of you who are consumers and talk about canyon or lacrosse and how and what we should stock should open your eyes. For me if the canyon no longer existed (like the Pontiac and Buick Vans) it would not affect me in the least. To inventory a vehicle that can sit for 2, 6, 9 months or more so that I can sell it at no profit is a benefit to whom?

I for one see great things happening at GM and hope that someday I won't need to advertise blow-out deals on old 2nd class product but until then we still need to run a business and if we are not profitable who will be around to sell and survive your favorite American cars and trucks

Sorry if I am all over with this but there are so many things to say that I could write all day on any one of these subjects

Welcome BVPBG.

You bring up some good points that many who post here are not aware of since they have never had to actually sell vehicles to real customers – especially vehicles you specifically ask them NOT to send you or worse when you do ask for a specific vehicle or one that has different option package content than what the “experts” in Detroit come up with, they give you the “there, there you don’t know what you need we have “researched” this and what we send you will sell”

I learned this by having to deal with it and was only successful when I changed the inventory on our lot to what our customers wanted, when I first started we had no trucks with manual transmissions and they were all top level trim packages without any added options and most in colors that were not the most desirable in our area. It took a while to get the inventory “changed” to what we needed since we were “allocated” vehicles that were not big sellers BUT HAD to take them if we ever wanted a chance of getting the ones we could sell in volume.

So what to do….

My advice to you (if you can) have some Canyons with manual transmissions delivered BUT equipped with very a unique combination of features – I do not know your market so I won’t try to tell you what this combination should be but I would lean to a “sport look” if you know your customers and what other GM dealers have on the lot – configure yours so it is “the only one like it”. If you do your homework it will sell within a week (probably as a “second” sell to a Acadia/Enclave), and you will be shocked at the sudden “popularity” of Canyon’s at your store.

Same goes for the LaCrosse try getting some CXL’s with bench seats and a mid-level feature list – can guarantee there are none in your zone like it and same thing it will sell in a week – especially if it is Black and tan, even if you can’t give away black cars in your area (common problem in SoCal with the heat/Sun). Order some other CXL with bench seats and a CX or two in popular zone colors (usually are not the popular “factory” colors) and your LaCrosse sales will pick up.

For those of you waiting to share your “wisdom” I can tell you that this worked in a SoCal dealer with domestic vehicles that were in a far worse market position and in similar “product life” cycles as the Canyon and LaCrosse are. I can also tell you how to sell Passenger versions of the Savana (yes I said the Savana) that everyone at the dealer will insist cannot happen and you will sell it to someone looking for a Acadia/Enclave that you probably just ran out of.

The most common mistake I see is falling in to a “just order this cause it sells” mindset that stops working when all the vehicles in a zone become one and falling sales are blamed on “it’s just an old product”. It takes a lot more time/work to keep interest in old products and guts to order “off the wall” popular ones (like fully optioned trucks with a manual transmission and rubber floor covering) but pay off in better sales/margins and more of “the good stuff” sent your way.

This can work (and did for me) with rapidly improved CSI and SSI scores as an added bonus.

If you want to know why I quit doing this – too many hours, too much hassle from the manufacturer (not the friend they need to be) and a great paying job (with half the hours) doing what I went to school for.

[Auto Insider]

I Completely agree that at the dealership level GM has much work to do! Too many people working in these dealerships have the posture of a beaten dog! They need to feel good again about their product!
The Auto Insider
<a
href=“http://www.autoinsidertips.com/blog”
> Insider Car Buying Tips </a>

[Auto Insider]

I Completely agree that at the dealership level GM has much work to do! Too many people working in these dealerships have the posture of a beaten dog! They need to feel good again about their product!
The Auto Insider
<a
href=“http://www.autoinsidertips.com/blog”
> Insider Car Buying Tips </a>

[SierraGS]

Originally Posted by Auto Insider

I Completely agree that at the dealership level GM has much work to do! Too many people working in these dealerships have the posture of a beaten dog! They need to feel good again about their product!
The Auto Insider
<a
href=“http://www.autoinsidertips.com/blog”
> Insider Car Buying Tips </a>

Agree, not to mention who is going to want to work at a GM dealer when all you hear about is them needing to GET RID OF dealers, will the one you work at be next?

GM has to get away from the cut, cut, cut, cut, cut, cut, downsize, cut, buyout, get rid of, consolidate, etc.... mentality - good grief how can expect anyone to take anything GM makes seriously.

[Wagon of Fury]

Speaking of Old GM Dealership mindset, just sat in a G8 GT tonight. Sat in, because it wasn't available for a test drive. OK, whatever, I'm willing to wait. Was in the empty dealership showroom for 10 minutes and no-one even made eye contact with me. The car has a $3000 markup over MSRP, so it sounds like at least this dealer is repeating the same mistakes of past "hot" Pontiacs (GTO and Solstice).

Sorry GM, for $35K ($30k base + leather $1200 + $700 destination + $3k pure greed) there are a lot of competitive cars out there. I could almost forgive the tight headroom, even though my 03 Subaru Impreza has better front-cabin dynamics.

[Sluggz]

Originally Posted by Wagon of Fury

Speaking of Old GM Dealership mindset, just sat in a G8 GT tonight. Sat in, because it wasn't available for a test drive. OK, whatever, I'm willing to wait. Was in the empty dealership showroom for 10 minutes and no-one even made eye contact with me. The car has a $3000 markup over MSRP, so it sounds like at least this dealer is repeating the same mistakes of past "hot" Pontiacs (GTO and Solstice).

GM needs to find dealerships like this and clean house. Dealers like this will be the demise of GM.

[moman]

Originally Posted by Sluggz

GM needs to find dealerships like this and clean house. Dealers like this will be the demise of GM.

GM has two problems - dealers and products. The products problem is fixed, GM has the best lineup in vehicles (although the Cobalt seriously needs a refresh).

The dealers are the big problem. When I bought my truck, I looked up inventory on-line and emailed the dealer (via the GM website) for a price quote. The email included the VIN number and a specific instruction to email me with a price. Every time I would get an email like "Thank you for contacting us.....please call us so we can walk through our inventory with you and see if we have a vehicle that will meet your needs". I replied that the d$^n VIN was in the email for the exact vehicle I wanted, and then I received "Please call and we'll work with you on the price". Can dealers not understand simple instructions?

If I went to JC Penney to buy a shirt and the price was not posted, dependent on variables I don't know (including if the manager was laid last night), I would walk out.

There's a large dealer around here, I'll call him Big Bill... have you heard about their practices? Always "WE'LL GIVE YOU TOP DOLLAR NO MATTER HOW MUCH YOU OWE." These kind of commericals make me sick that GM has cheapened their product that much to have a clown circus to sell cars. I found a truck there and called the guy, he wouldn't quote a price, but told me "I'm sure we can come to an agreeable amount". I drove out there and the sticker had a Market Adjustment +$3000 on it. The dealer offered to remove that no problem, and "I just knocked off 15% off the price". I immediately left knowing this was going to be all games.

Point being - until GM gets to a better sales model with more transparent pricing schemes, they are not going to succeed. I strongly advocate the GM Store model where a single dealership has cars from all brands and is owned by GM. These people have transparent pricing (maybe employee pricing + 5%) and are professionals. Pay the people well and let them know taking care of the customer is the number 1 goal.

If people trusted dealerships new cars would be purchased more often. Bottom line.

[montrealvue]

I wandered into a Chevy dealer a couple months back. I was wearing a suit and sat in several cars, I must have been there about 15 mins or so. Salespeople would walk by with papers in their hands, asking questions aloud to one another. Not ONE even looked at me. I must have sat in 6 different models, moving the seats, slamming doors, opening hatches and trunks. I was even reading the spec sheets on the window of each car. Maybe Chevy would sell a few cars if they actually spoke to the people who enter their dealership! Also noteworthy, the same thing happened to me when I wandered in again couple weeks ago!

[ChevroletRevived]

Originally Posted by montrealvue

I wandered into a Chevy dealer a couple months back. I was wearing a suit and sat in several cars, I must have been there about 15 mins or so. Salespeople would walk by with papers in their hands, asking questions aloud to one another. Not ONE even looked at me. I must have sat in 6 different models, moving the seats, slamming doors, opening hatches and trunks. I was even reading the spec sheets on the window of each car. Maybe Chevy would sell a few cars if they actually spoke to the people who enter their dealership! Also noteworthy, the same thing happened to me when I wandered in again couple weeks ago!

LOL, I'm the total opposite! I'd rather them leave me alone.

[GPScott]

There are actually times when it would be nice to have a salesman come up. Last year when I was shopping for cars I went to several GM dealerships and had the same experience at most all -- I had to walk inside to find someone to help me.

I'm in the market again and went to a Dodge dealership today to test a Charger R/T. Parked my car immediately in front of the dealership and walked off to the middle of the lot to check out the car. Nobody came out! I finally walked back up and made eye contact with a salesman through the front glass of the dealership.

It's actually kind of awkard having to go find someone like that. We're all trained to try and fend the salesmen off that having to hunt one down is a foreign thought.

Oh, and this is my first post here
Long time lurker (well over a year), first time poster.

[johnnyl321]

[quote=moman;1369470]GM has two problems - dealers and products. The products problem is fixed, GM has the best lineup in vehicles (although the Cobalt seriously needs a refresh).

The dealers are the big problem. When I bought my truck, I looked up inventory on-line and emailed the dealer (via the GM website) for a price quote. The email included the VIN number and a specific instruction to email me with a price. Every time I would get an email like "Thank you for contacting us.....please call us so we can walk through our inventory with you and see if we have a vehicle that will meet your needs". I replied that the d$^n VIN was in the email for the exact vehicle I wanted, and then I received "Please call and we'll work with you on the price". Can dealers not understand simple instructions?


I see more and more GM stores are taking their web based leads much more seriously. They need to understand that it's not ALL 16 year old kids who are dreaming online. On the GM Training website, on the Certified Internet Manager course they state that "the weblead they receive may be the ONLY opportunity that dealer gets with that customer". More than half the people surveyed said if they had a hard time navigating the dealer or manufacturer's site, they'd probably go to a different manufacturer or dealer. Nowadays, shopping involves clicks of a mouse, not miles of driving or hours wasted. We can't be analog in a digital world.