Chevrolet Corvette Stingray C7 Forum - View Single Post

LOWDOWN · 05-26-2010, 03:28 PM

Heather, at the risk of repetition ad nauseum, and begging forgiveness for straying off-topic here, a bit, "the process" employed (no pun intended) was brutal, underhanded (in many cases, people AND product), not thought out (long term), but damned expedient and, unfortunately, deemed largely necessary...

It's amazing what can happen when everyone finally realized "the end is nigh"...

SAAB and HUMMER were deals for the sake of empire-building. "Ford's doing it, we better too".

The Fiat fiasco...$2 Billion + for what? THAT money is $2 Billion + more than Fiat paid for their chuck of Chrysler's carcass... Sir Sergio to the rescue, again...

That money, reinvested in PRODUCT? Gee, why would they? They were making TON$ in sub-prime mortgages, a "can't miss" investment...

20 years of Saturn, early on a "tribute" to what labor/management relations COULD be, down the drain. NO saved results, of any kind, pulpable...other than another surplus factory...

"Why are you bringing all this up, now? Dead issues..."

What assurances do we have that history won't repeat? There is a CLEAR history of looking over the cliff, being "saved" temporarily, and returning to "the days of old", in practise AND in deed, only to return to the cliff a few short years' hence. These scenarios have been repeated time and time again, for 30 years. In Detroit. REPEATEDLY. It's NOT the first time the Gulfstreams have been parked, only to re-lease 'em when times turn better, to use but one applicable metaphor...

For "new" GM's sake, I hope ALL realize this is their LAST CHANCE, cuz "too big to fail" has been stricken for the lexicon...

Sadly, there have been skillsets and simple raw talent excised that will NOT be replaced...ever...simply because "numbers had to be reached". NO "Ben Franklin Charts" used, NO visible rationale, NO real effort...just a chainsaw to reach "the numbers" target...

VERY expedient...but VERY shortsighted...

NOT all the employees, or plants, or dealers, or management excised were the "weakest", or the weak links, but that did NOT matter. ONLY "the numbers"...

So, beyond the obvious, GM is diminished BEYOND what it might have been, or deserved...which means LESS for us as consumers AND as stakeholders for, whether we want to be or not, WE ALL ARE...

As to guesstimates of 25+% Market Share, here, "we'll see". This fact remains: It's FAR more expen$ive and difficult to CONQUER sales than it is to MAINTAIN your current base. Those Brands excised, and their faithful followings, now go into the CONQUEST column...and coupons to buy another "maybe" GM product, alone, will only be part of that much more expen$ive challenge...and those coupons are GM's admission that what I state is TRUE...

You can BUY your way to Market Share...GM has done it for 30 years. The true test is, can they EARN Market Share with "in demand" Product instead of "have to give" Incentive$??

"We'll see..."

Stay tuned.

05-26-2010, 03:28 PM	#93
LOWDOWN Downright Upright Drives: Daily Join Date: Apr 2009 Location: Cruisin'... Posts: 4,145	Heather, at the risk of repetition ad nauseum, and begging forgiveness for straying off-topic here, a bit, "the process" employed (no pun intended) was brutal, underhanded (in many cases, people AND product), not thought out (long term), but damned expedient and, unfortunately, deemed largely necessary... It's amazing what can happen when everyone finally realized "the end is nigh"... SAAB and HUMMER were deals for the sake of empire-building. "Ford's doing it, we better too". The Fiat fiasco...$2 Billion + for what? THAT money is $2 Billion + more than Fiat paid for their chuck of Chrysler's carcass... Sir Sergio to the rescue, again... That money, reinvested in PRODUCT? Gee, why would they? They were making TON$ in sub-prime mortgages, a "can't miss" investment... 20 years of Saturn, early on a "tribute" to what labor/management relations COULD be, down the drain. NO saved results, of any kind, pulpable...other than another surplus factory... "Why are you bringing all this up, now? Dead issues..." What assurances do we have that history won't repeat? There is a CLEAR history of looking over the cliff, being "saved" temporarily, and returning to "the days of old", in practise AND in deed, only to return to the cliff a few short years' hence. These scenarios have been repeated time and time again, for 30 years. In Detroit. REPEATEDLY. It's NOT the first time the Gulfstreams have been parked, only to re-lease 'em when times turn better, to use but one applicable metaphor... For "new" GM's sake, I hope ALL realize this is their LAST CHANCE, cuz "too big to fail" has been stricken for the lexicon... Sadly, there have been skillsets and simple raw talent excised that will NOT be replaced...ever...simply because "numbers had to be reached". NO "Ben Franklin Charts" used, NO visible rationale, NO real effort...just a chainsaw to reach "the numbers" target... VERY expedient...but VERY shortsighted... NOT all the employees, or plants, or dealers, or management excised were the "weakest", or the weak links, but that did NOT matter. ONLY "the numbers"... So, beyond the obvious, GM is diminished BEYOND what it might have been, or deserved...which means LESS for us as consumers AND as stakeholders for, whether we want to be or not, WE ALL ARE... As to guesstimates of 25+% Market Share, here, "we'll see". This fact remains: It's FAR more expen$ive and difficult to CONQUER sales than it is to MAINTAIN your current base. Those Brands excised, and their faithful followings, now go into the CONQUEST column...and coupons to buy another "maybe" GM product, alone, will only be part of that much more expen$ive challenge...and those coupons are GM's admission that what I state is TRUE... You can BUY your way to Market Share...GM has done it for 30 years. The true test is, can they EARN Market Share with "in demand" Product instead of "have to give" Incentive$?? "We'll see..." Stay tuned.