What I would do at GM!

[cyberbro]

What I think I would do, if I was the CEO of GM and did not need to answer to Obama.

Close Buick they are lost and to close to Caddy.

Close GMC and if Chevy does not have it Re-badge it and make it a Chevy.

Make all dealers GM dealers and let them all sell anything that GM makes. Except for Caddy they must be more up scale!

Stop making minivans all together no one wants them and other company's do it much better.

Something must be done with the unions to save costs, they are going to strangle the company. Let them get real or bust them up.

I'm sure but they must be way to heavy in middle management, cut a lot of it. No more plants overseas except for China for Car sold only in China.Caddie's made in Mexico, stop!

Any car that is not profitable on it's own is gone no more well the other car line will carry it mentality.

Get Jay Leno on the pay roll of PR, customer outreach and outside consultant along with Chip Foose.

Keep going with Volt and get your Washington lobbyist get BIG TAX breaks on each from the government that will be passed onto the consumer from day one.

Quality will need to be as good as what Hyundai has done in the last few years.

Close Saturn and roll the Vue over to Pontiac stop the Aura it's a Malibu. Make the Astra into Chevy and call it a Cobalt.

Unload Saab ASAP. Buy something cool like Tesla, I bet a lot of talent to be had over there but they need to grow.

More tech see Ford sync with Microsoft.

Hire the best looking girl I can find to get my coffee.

Green light some cool Camaro like projects, Build momentum.

Buy back a lot of your own stock, it's very cheap now!

Keep the hybrid trucks going but make that technology cheaper some how.
It was a good start take it further for less money.

Make the dealers compete with a direct to consumer website to sell cars direct to the customer, that will straighten there ass out real quick.

Factory tours for every line of cars that builds loyalty.

I think that will be it for the first day!

[FenwickHockey65]

Originally Posted by cyberbro

What I think I would do, if I was the CEO of GM and did not need to answer to Obama.

Close Buick they are lost and to close to Caddy.

After GM just invested millions of dollars to revitalize it? Fat chance

Close GMC and if Chevy does not have it Re-badge it and make it a Chevy.

Sure, kill your most profitable division, that makes sense


Make all dealers GM dealers and let them all sell anything that GM makes. Except for Caddy they must be more up scale!

Current dealers barely know anything about the divisions they currently sell.

Stop making minivans all together no one wants them and other company's do it much better.

Other companies do it better, so we should just give up. Okay...

Something must be done with the unions to save costs, they are going to strangle the company. Let them get real or bust them up.

Agreed.

I'm sure but they must be way to heavy in middle management, cut a lot of it. No more plants overseas except for China for Car sold only in China.Caddie's made in Mexico, stop!

GM is a global brand. You will have global production facilities no matter what.

Any car that is not profitable on it's own is gone no more well the other car line will carry it mentality.

What?

Get Jay Leno on the pay roll of PR, customer outreach and outside consultant along with Chip Foose.

Keep going with Volt and get your Washington lobbyist get BIG TAX breaks on each from the government that will be passed onto the consumer from day one.

Already done, $7500 each.

Quality will need to be as good as what Hyundai has done in the last few years.
Agreed.

Close Saturn and roll the Vue over to Pontiac stop the Aura it's a Malibu. Make the Astra into Chevy and call it a Cobalt.

Pontiac is dead. Reduce it to G8 and Solstice or kill it all together.

Unload Saab ASAP. Buy something cool like Tesla, I bet a lot of talent to be had over there but they need to grow.

Saab's already gone.

More tech see Ford sync with Microsoft.

Agreed.

Hire the best looking girl I can find to get my coffee.

Agreed.

Green light some cool Camaro like projects, Build momentum.

Agreed.

Buy back a lot of your own stock, it's very cheap now!

Sure.

Keep the hybrid trucks going but make that technology cheaper some how. It was a good start take it further for less money.

Two-Mode needs to be implemented across the board.

Make the dealers compete with a direct to consumer website to sell cars direct to the customer, that will straighten there ass out real quick.

Illegal.

Factory tours for every line of cars that builds loyalty.

Depends on facility.

I think that will be it for the first day!

My opinions in bold...

Some good ideas, some really bad ones.

[cyberbro]

Originally Posted by FenwickHockey65

My opinions in bold...

Some good ideas, some really bad ones.

But that is why I'm the CEO!

[DGthe3]

some of those ideas are good and some have been implemented (no more minivans, they're reducing brands and trying to be rid of others, and they're always trying to make tech cheaper) but you need more than a title of CEO to do it. 25 billion in cash would help (thats in addition to what you need for day to day spending and research). And the ability to ignore any laws you wish would also be a bit of help too. Such as the ones that say "if you want to sell here, you have to build here" or the crazy laws that exist for dealers, or labour contracts, I'm sure there's others

[PQ]

Originally Posted by DGthe3

some of those ideas are good and some have been implemented (no more minivans, they're reducing brands and trying to be rid of others, and they're always trying to make tech cheaper) but you need more than a title of CEO to do it. 25 billion in cash would help (thats in addition to what you need for day to day spending and research). And the ability to ignore any laws you wish would also be a bit of help too. Such as the ones that say "if you want to sell here, you have to build here" or the crazy laws that exist for dealers, or labour contracts, I'm sure there's others

That might actually be happening.

[diddiyo]

If I was CEO at GM I would resign

[Chevyrocker]

Edit - sorry for the super-long post.

Some good points here, some terrible...

I say have two types of dealers:

Cadillac/Buick (have to keep Buick for the foreign markets)

Chevrolet/Pontiac (kinda like Toyota Scion)

-side note, make pontiac a niche brand that is very cheap and performance/technology oriented.

say good-bye to Saturn, Saab, Hummer.

I know GMC has a huge market for commercial trucks, but let's be honest, they are all re-badged under Chevrolet and Cadillac. Come up with some incentives to transfer all GMC fleet truck buyers to Chevrolet. Plus, wouldn't it be cheaper not having to change the front end of Sierra's/Silverado's? If they were all just Silverado's, they would be building the same amount of trucks, only it would cost less.

I would then get out of the "let's buid a $2.5M concept and never consider building it" mentality. Granted it generates hype, and some ques are taken here and there for other vehicles, but this is a colossal waste of cash.

+1 on the two-mode hybrids accross the board. I bet if the Malibu were a full two mode hybrid, rather than a "mild hybrid" the fuel economy would be outstanding and Lord knows it's a better looking vehicle than a Prius.

Get more into small 4 bangers with turbos (I know they're starting to head in that direction) to keep fuel economy averages up so we can still get out V8's 5 years from now. Stick with the DI, it's doing some impressive things and making some great power plants! 29 mpg and 304 hp out of a V6 = homerun

-side note - current Impala SS has the 5.3L V8 and only gets 303 hp...

For the following vehicles, I would use up what parts I have remaining and axe immediately then replace with the vehicles I have listed after them:

Cobalt - Cruze (it's already ready for EU, can't be too hard to modify for US)
Impala - need a new body style here...let's get another neo-retro thing going or just try to make the Volt look more like the concept originally did and make it available as not only an EV, but a two-mode and a regular gas vehicle.
HHR - Groove or Trax
Aveo - Spark
Colorado - they just don't sell, but there is a need for a better mid-size truck
Corvette - Can we get a new body style for the centennial, please?

Rather than closing US plants, how about we keep them and close the plants in Mexico and others outside our country so we don't have to let go of so many American workers. I understand it may be cheaper to run those factories, but it hurts our image every time there are layoffs.

Get leasing back! Two years ago, almost half of the vehicles that we sold were leases. I understand GMAC lost the a$$ in the leasing game, but with better vehicles comes better resale value. In turn, GMAC will not lose thousands everytime a vehicle is returned.

Keep it up with the payment protection. This whole one month thing is bogus. From what I understand, it only costs about $140 - $160 a vehicle to have this coverage. This would not only give buyers peace of mind, it would drop the number of repos considerably.

Fire/"layoff" a lot of middle management/directors/supervisors/etc.

Come up with new standards for excellence (SFE) regulations. Get away from relying on flawed surveys from customers who will never be happy and move into the dealerships themselves.

I know my product. I can answer questions without having to look in a book or go ask for help. I can tell you the size/hp/fuel economy/trim levels/safety features/engine size/etc of every vehicle in the Chevrolet line up. The fact that there are guys that have been with Chevrolet for 20+ years and can't tell you the difference between a 1LT, 2LT, 3LT, and 4LT Corvette sickens me. Managers/salespeople ask me product knowledge questions on a daily basis. If we get phone calls about features, they go straight to me because almost nobod else can answer them. See, the old school way of selling cars does not work anymore with most customers. Right now, more than ever, salespeople/dealers need to be able to tell you why our vehicles are better than others on the spot when needed. Not every customer needs to know hp and torque and such, but every customer has a hot button whether it be technology, safety, performance, reliability, or whatever. We as dealers need to make sure that our staff really understand our vehicles. What better way to make sur ethis happens than to take money away from people if they fail?

Get some new technology that is exclusive to GM. OnStar is a few months away from being available on a number of different makes/models outside of GM, so it's time to build a new boat to get on. Ford got Microsoft Sync. Granted Ferarri got their hands on it too, but that's beside the point (different market). What I want to know is who's talking to Apple? We should be at their doorstep banging down their door everyday until we get something. The fact that you can get Nav in a Prius and not in a Malibu/Impala/HHR/Cobalt/Camaro is unacceptable. Yea, not everyone needs it, but many customers die for that stuff. Technology is very very very important and GM has dropped the ball numerous times, though they are showing promise with some of the upcoming vehicles and some that are already out (see 2009 CTS - that is one bad car)

Stop building vehciles with rear drum brakes.

Close a bunch of dealerships. Less dealers = less floorplan = less debt = smart move. I understand you can't close privately owned places, but all the GM owned stores would be a good start.

I understand the UAW is difficult to deal with, but it must be done. I'm not saying get rid of them, because that's unrealistic and a lot of people would lose their jobs and that's not what I want. But get realistic with the benefits and payscale. Their president needs to go (cough cough Obama fire him now cough cough).

I will openly admit I don't know every aspect of this industry and much of what I posted above could in fact be impossible, but I'm also sure some of it would help. I love GM and Chevrolet, and I support anything they decide to do. But times have changed, and I think they realized that over the past few years, but still they need someone or something to really push them into this century.

[TJTKSDMJ8]

I would focus on making the best product we could. Regain the consumers trust by saying I know you want your product but we will take a bit longer in order to give you a top of the line product. I would focus on one of the most prolific vehicles we have made and make it a mix of technology, power and a splash of retro. I would ask my customers to be patient because it's not like making a Yugo. A Camaro is not a disposable vehicle. It is a part of your life.


Ahhh crap. They are doing that now huh?


I guess I would just get a hot secretary.

[FenwickHockey65]

My plan for GM...

Chevrolet: Bread and butter, everyday vehicles...

Spark
Aveo (Sedan, 3/5 door hatchback)
Cruze (Coupe, Sedan)
Malibu (Epsilon-II, Coupe, Sedan)
Impala (RWD LWB Alpha)
Camaro (Zeta)
Corvette (Y-body)
Colorado (GMT-700)
Silverado (GMT-900)
Tahoe (GMT-900)
Suburban (GMT-900)
Avalanche (GMT900)
Production Orlando Concept (Delta-II)
Equinox (Theta-II)
Traverse (Lambda)

Pontiac: Affordable, RWD performance niche brand

G6 (SWB Alpha)
G8 (Zeta)
Solstice (Alpha)
Firebird...maybe. (Zeta)

Buick: Entry-level, comfortable luxury

Skylark (Small sedan, Delta-II FWD)
Regal (Chinese Buick Regal, sedan/hatchback/wagon)
LaCrosse (Epsilon II, FWD/AWD)
Rendezvous (Restyled, updated Saturn Vue, Theta-II)
Enclave (Lambda)

GMC: Upscale to luxury/commercial trucks, RWD/AWD/4WD only

Canyon (GMT-700)
Sierra (GMT-900)
Terrain (GMT-700 SUV)
Yukon (GMT-900, replaces current Escalade)
Yukon XL (GMT-900, replaces current Escalade ESV)
Avalanche-based truck (GMT-900, replaces current Escalade EXT)
Savana

Cadillac: RWD performance luxury cars, AWD crossovers

Compact sedan/coupe (SWB Alpha, BMW 3-series/Mercedes C-class fighter)
CTS (Sigma-II, BMW 5 series/Mercedes E-class fighter, sedan/coupe)
STS/DTS replacement (Zeta, Cadillac flagship)
SRX (Theta-Epsilon, AWD)
Escalade (Lambda, AWD) <-- It's going to happen anyways...
XLR (Y-body, redesigned)

And, if we find a bunch of money lying around...
Production Cien concept, limited production...maybe...

[DGthe3]

As far as products go, I think the engineering of the Camaro represents a very good model. Like it or not, there are relatively few major components in the Camaro that aren't shared with something else. But everything that you see is unique. There needs to be more of that. So make a couple of SUV's that share the same guts, but I don't want to be able to swap body panels.

Oh, and for the "Stop building vehciles with rear drum brakes" comment, interesting bit of trivia: on the redesigned silverado they went with 4 wheel disk, regular buyers didn't notice and guys who took their truck off road complained (disks don't work well when muddy). So they went back to rear drums.

[cyberbro]

Originally Posted by FenwickHockey65

My opinions in bold...

Some good ideas, some really bad ones.

http://www.detnews.com/article/20090...445/1148/rss25

Maybe someone read my post!

[Supermans]

Originally Posted by DGthe3

some of those ideas are good and some have been implemented (no more minivans, they're reducing brands and trying to be rid of others, and they're always trying to make tech cheaper) but you need more than a title of CEO to do it. 25 billion in cash would help (thats in addition to what you need for day to day spending and research). And the ability to ignore any laws you wish would also be a bit of help too. Such as the ones that say "if you want to sell here, you have to build here" or the crazy laws that exist for dealers, or labour contracts, I'm sure there's others

Some good points.. Do you think Chapter 11 will occur and if so, perhaps some of those crazy laws get re-written perhaps..Hope so as another bailout of 25-50 billion would be a mistake without lots and lots of positive changes for the company.

[FenwickHockey65]

Originally Posted by cyberbro

http://www.detnews.com/article/20090...445/1148/rss25

Maybe someone read my post!

LaNeve said yesterday that they're just rumors and nothing more.