Originally Posted by Doc
Unfortunately it may already be too late. If they knew how to save the Camaro, they would have done it already. The lead time takes too long to make significant changes and they need to make significant changes.
For the last few years in Camaro5 and this forum, I've been harping on the need for them to get a vision of what a great pony car is and should be, and reinvent it. I got all kinds of flak from the fan boys who insisted they loved the bunker housing cabin, big hips, transformer toy looks. That's great except it completely misses the mark. GM priced the Camaro out of the range of its former Camaro base, and we saw the effects of that last year when 4 months of unsold inventory was sitting on dealer's lots. Those cars didn't begin to sell until they drastically reduced the prices, which probably didn't make any money for GM and made it clear price was an issue.
GM is a business, not an emotional passion club. If it doesn't make money they aren't going to continue it, as we've seen in the announcements today. By making the Camaro an expensive track toy, they nailed the 2% of the market base that wants that, which is most of what's in here. It's probably not enough to keep the car alive. They could keep those cars, but should have also (maybe they are but we haven't seen it yet) reinvented the pony car and made it affordable again for the market base they used to have; the 98% that isn't/didn't buy the Camaro as it is now.
They're caught in old-school thinking of one-customer, one-vehicle buyers. That's no longer the case today. Yes SUVs and trucks are selling, but those buyers also have more than one vehicle. If they'd position a reinvented pony car as a second or third car choice, and put it in a price range that makes it appealing for that purpose, they'd see a lot more sales. This won't be a track monster; there won't be videos of it at the 'Ring setting lap records. The 98% doesn't even know what that is, nor do they care. They're never taking a car to the track. While appealing to them might seem like sacrilege to those in here, if the 98% decide to buy in big numbers, that's what will keep the Camaro track cars in business that you guys like and buy.
GM is in real trouble. What they announced today wasn't a growth strategy. Blaming Trump or anything else is a fatal mistake; the problem lies within. They're carrying a huge amount of retirement costs. They're not leading anymore, they're following; design by trend rather than by vision. What they announced today is their plan to make the company appear profitable by amputation. That has absolutely no vision for future growth.
I saw this coming and was warning about it years ago; it makes me terribly sad to see it happening. I feel terrible for the employees; there's nothing like finding out you're losing your job right before Christmas.
GM... don't blame; think and change. GM execs... drive around neighborhoods and notice what customers are actually buying. Don't put all your eggs in the SUV/truck basket because that basket is getting close to saturation. Think; look ahead. People aren't going to be replacing those expensive SUV/trucks every year. That market is going to experience an adjustment, and it'll be pretty severe. If you think electric is going to save you, take a look at Tesla; business-wise it's a crap sandwich. It can't stand on its own without subsidies. If you're going electric, you need to start NOW with a dealer/support/charging infrastructure so that by the time you go 'all-electric' the way you think you want to, it will work. As a poster already said in this thread, how is the electricity generated? You want to sell electric? Make solar charging stations at every GM dealer, and make it free to charge there; that would be a good start. Start negotiating NOW with a major gas company to invest in solar charging units at their gas stations. You have to do more than follow trends, or you'll follow them right over the cliff.
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