Quote:
Originally Posted by LOWDOWN
If I told you my perspective is tempered by 32 years of flogging GM product, would that count toward any of my "insight"? I don't speak "theory", I speak "practise"...
I have raced, professionally, on GM's dime...
I have current contacts within the RennCen, who take my calls...
Pontiac was blindsided...in Detroit and throughout the land...
Buick, "almost", a couple years' back, until China caught fire...
You can rationalize ANYTHING...anything...
The fact is, there are 10s of thousands of former GM loyalists, from Divisions mow defunct, who will NEVER grace a GM doorstep again...for myriad reasons, not the least of which are some of these "rationalizations" you so heartily concur with...and neither you nor GM KNOW FOR SURE "what will be..."
As the Market moves forward, GM simply has fewer channels to sell through...which most certainly means a lower % of the Overall Market, regardless of its ultimate size. They may enjoy a higher margin on what they DO sell, but their total numbers will be LESS, overall...and their once-dominating position will NOT return...
Not because I say so, but because those silly Pontiac/Olds/Saturn/Hummer/SAAB owners WILL look/go elsewhere...
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Your 32 years of flogging GM product do not make you an expert on how to run the car business. It does appear though, that your hatred toward GM is very personal, not objective, and if any of your business was impacted by the GM bankruptcy, I am in fact sincerely sorry to hear that. That would be a raw deal, and I wouldn't wish that on anyone.
However, GM is a business, and like any business, its purpose and only means of survival in the long run is making a profit. Market share, brand loyalty, bragging rights, etc...are nice to have, but all are secondary. If there is not profit, NOTHING else matters. If GM was losing money on Pontiac, eliminating it was a rational business decision. I'd rather they make a profit on a smaller number of cars, than lose money on a larger number of cars.
Besides, there really isn't a lot of brand loyalty anymore amongst the general public. I don't think most Saturn, Oldsmobile, and Pontiac owners are any more or less likely to leave or stay with GM than they would have been if those divisions still existed. No doubt there were a few loyal enthusiasts, but as in 2002 with the old Camaro, there were not enough of them alone to keep the doors open. The key to GM's future success is appealing to the car buying public in general, not a dwindling base of brand loyal buyers who buy the brand just for the brand.
In short, GM is finally focusing on the product, not the marketing, which is the direction they need to go in.