[PrenupTB]

I have a school assignment for Accounting class and I chose GM as my group's company to analyze. I'm thinking we could analyze 5 or 6 problems they have, and give our recommendations on how to solve these problems. We then have to give our outlook on the company if they follow our advice, and if they don't follow our advice.

So far I have:

Too many brands

Too many large cars in a market that is heading towards small vehicles

Management's ineffectiveness and general denial about their state of affairs.

Healthcare costs

Foreign markets




What am I missing that would make a compelling case for analysis?

Thank you.

 

[ChevyRules]

Lutz not being able to keep his trap shut.

The obligatory mentioning of the UAW.

 

[rhvfd10]

Perception of GM as a big evil gas guzzling company that sells all its vehicles at thousands below MSRP.

 

[hrcslam]

I have a school assignment for Accounting class and I chose GM as my group's company to analyze. I'm thinking we could analyze 5 or 6 problems they have, and give our recommendations on how to solve these problems. We then have to give our outlook on the company if they follow our advice, and if they don't follow our advice.

So far I have:

Too many brands

Too many large cars in a market that is heading towards small vehicles

Management's ineffectiveness and general denial about their state of affairs.

Healthcare costs

Foreign markets




What am I missing that would make a compelling case for analysis?

Thank you.

The lake of fair trade demolishing domestic manufacturers. Not just the automobile either, I'm talking ALL of the domestic manufacturer's. They're packing up a leaving the country.

Foreign markets aren't a problem for GM, it's the domestic market.

Lutz not being able to keep his trap shut.

The obligatory mentioning of the UAW.

Yeah, can't forget the costs of the UAW.

Perception of GM as a big evil gas guzzling company that sells all its vehicles at thousands below MSRP.

Yeah, this perception thing takes time to get rid of, but it happens faster when we all start preaching for GM. If enough people endorse GM's new products, like the Malibu is, the more people will fell better about actually going to look at one. Then the car will sell it's self.

 

[PrenupTB]

Yeah, I didn't want to do foreign markets because I don't see a problem there. It was another person in my group who thought that foreign markets present a challenge fo GM because of the sheer amount of foreign companies vying for market space. I'll have to tell her on Monday to change it to something else.

Perception is a great one guys, but should I put that under management's incompetence, or start a whole new problem heading for perception alone?

 

[skepticman]

Read the Risk Factors section of their 10-K.

http://www.gm.com/corporate/investor_information/earnings/hist_earnings/pdf/200710K.pdf

 

[91 s-10baja]

I second Perception as a huge culprit. Followed by timing. They never seem to get the correct products debuted at the right time, they never seem to get a brake w/ certain striking employees, it just never seems to work out for them.

 

[Subtle_Cynicism]

Lutz not being able to keep his trap shut.

The obligatory mentioning of the UAW.

:yup:

He has a right to an opinion, but he needs to think about how the media is going to use it against him, and therefore, against GM, before he speaks.

 

[F14CRAZY]

GM quality in the past has not always been the best

GMAC

 

[Wolfman01]

I'll second the quality statement. There are still some new vehicles that are generating too many quality complaints. They need to fix THIS problem, before they can truly worry about some of their other ones.

 

[FenwickHockey65]

Brand perception.

 

[Htay7500]

lack of manual trannies.

pontiac consists of rebadged chevys currently(save the G8 and solstice).

people think their interiors are somewhat cheap even since the malibu and CTS have came out.

 

[HoosierRon]

Dealers.

 

[t-rex]

Rather than bringing the mountain to Mohammed, I'll simply list what GM's doing right...

Malibu
CTS
Solstice
Opel
Flogging Chevrolet in Russia and E. Europe

It gets pretty thin after that...

 

[marinerbc]

:yup:

He has a right to an opinion, but he needs to think about how the media is going to use it against him, and therefore, against GM, before he speaks.

Bang on, my learned friend.

That and perception, GM is part of the Global Warming problem while Nissan Titans and Toyota Tundras are part of the solution...blah blah.

 

[Uzzy]

The UAW/CAW

and

It's fractured and confused dealer network.

Get rid of those two problems and most of the rest of the problems will work themselves out.

 

[New_Mexico_Sunset_on_Rt66]

Perception. Way to fix? Continue the committment to product.

I say continue, because I believe they are producing the products they need to reverse negative perception already. Note the Kappas, the Lambdas, the current Malibu, and the new G8 and near Camaro.

Excellent product getting consumers to say, "That s GMC?", "That's a Pontiac?" and "That's a Buick?" under their breath at teh stoplilght will get consumers to associate the product with the nameplate, and establish a new positive percpetion for the brand.

 

[F14CRAZY]

Lack of a modern V8 for luxury vehicles.

Comparing models to offerings from other brands that are better (Buick aside from the Enclave is not truly a threat to Lexus, XLR is outclassed by Benz', STS is lagging behind the CTS...). Actually a number of GM vehicles are outclassed...Aveo gas mileage, G6 lingers while there's the Aura and the Malibu and heck 9-3 have received significant updates

 

[Uzzy]

"That's a Pontiac?"

You mean "That's Car?" Oh ya, another thing that stinks....their marketing team. Pontiac is anything but Car, Chevy is car, Saturn is car, Buick is car, Pontiac is supposed to be Excitement, but it's not really right now.

 

[I-Love-Pontiac]

Their marketing. All of their brands except for Cadillac and Hummer have really horrible ads. GM needs to find some agencies like Lexus' Team One.