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General Motors has a new site: http://www.gmreinvention.com/

From a PR standpoint, there are several thoughts on how GM should proceed.


Not mention the past and stress what they plan to do
Briefly mention they went down the wrong path, then move forward
Take more time to acknowledge mistakes in an attempt to win back customers#1 and occasionally #2 is typical of GM.

They would be better served by trying #3.

Arrogance has been GM's problem for years. They have behaved as if they still had 50% of the US market and could simply deny problems. They could put out half-baked cars like the Vega, the X-cars, diesel Olds. More recently, GM thought they could brag they have the most 30mpg vehicles while not one breaks 40mpg, and sell more 15mpg and under vehicles than any other automaker. They dissed hybrids and embraced the Hummer until their sales cratered.

Serious offenses require more than "excuse me", esp after it's gone on for years. Aside from that, there is the question: have they learned from their mistakes? Is GM really going to be green or when gas is double, will they just blindly try to get us to buy a 30mpg Escalade?

The only issue with #3 (Take more time to acknowledge mistakes in an attempt to win back customers) is that those who were burned are not likely to believe.

The chapter 11 is about the only shake-up in the organization that can change public perception. We've been hearing for years about a new focus on efficiency or reliability or better customer service, but it never changes more than incrementally during each initiative. If the products and pricing are strong after they emerge from the C-11 and enough people take the chance on the new vehicles, the memories of the past will fade. If the product line overhaul amounts to slapping a Buick badge on an Opel instead of the traditional Saturn badge, and there's no four cylinder option but rather only 3+ liter V6s, I don't see how there will be any more buyers than what they had before.

There is a parallel between GM and the TV series "Intervention". On the show, they introduce you to an addict who will first deny the problem, then break down and admit they need help, and then go for treatment. But the last few minutes of the show reveal whether there was any real change in their life. The first 55 minutes of the hour merely document what led them to those last five minutes. And those last five minutes represent the person's hope for the future.

If the new GM is truly new, then memories of the (oil) addictive behaviors of the past can fade and they can concentrate on their new direction. If they fall off the wagon, they will suffer the same fate as the addict - self destruction.

So verbally admitting mistakes is just a skillfully-worded press release. I say show me you learned from the mistakes by taking the product line in a new direction.

I voted #3, but they also need to avoid going to far with that.

Grovelling before the customer will drive them away, but they need to take more time acknowledging their mistakes than they have in the past. It's going to be a fine line to walk, and I am not entirely sure they can do it.

I don't think the vast majority of american car consumers think GM or the other 2 did anything to apologize or acknowledge mistakes for, the majority still want vehicles like GM makes, if only they felt the quality was as good as Toyota, and GM has been trying to claim they are is reliable for many years.

There aren't many people that think that GM screwed up by making Big Trucks, and few gas misers to the point of apology. A lot of people here, but we are an odd minority.

All manufacturers including Honda and Toyota make FSPs too, some are better positioned to provide more fuel efficient vehicles but Honda wants to see Ridgelines, and Toyota wants to sell Tundra's in place of GM.

Please define what GM should be apologizing for or what mistakes should they acknowledge?

Ford sells more Big Trucks than GM, and has for years. Yet somehow they're not taking handouts and going through Ch 11. GM should be apologizing for waiting too long and doing too little to change the business.

Please define what GM should be apologizing for or what mistakes should they acknowledge?

Killing the EV1
Killing Electric streetcars
Killing the Geo Metro
Souring american views of diesels with inferior Olds engines
Waiting too long on hybrids (Chrysler did this too, and Ford almost did)
The Vega, the car that rusted on the showroom floor (there were a few more of those due to bad steel lots)

Killing the EV1
Killing Electric streetcars
Killing the Geo Metro
Souring american views of diesels with inferior Olds engines
Waiting too long on hybrids (Chrysler did this too, and Ford almost did)
The Vega, the car that rusted on the showroom floor (there were a few more of those due to bad steel lots)

That kind of apology wouldn't help, more than likely it would hurt. :eek:

Fix the problem not the blame. Option three seems like a whiny, hand-wringing, time-waster if you ask me. They need to kick @$$ and take names rather than making a lot of vacuous mouth noises that let a bunch of people say "told ya so" without influencing them much to buy cars. I know that's what PR departments are for, but what GM mainly needs is good cars for a good price, not PR supremacy.

Besides it seems pointless to make a company apologize for getting their butts kicked into bankruptcy. It's just adding insult to injury.

Fix the problem not the blame. Option three seems like a whiny, hand-wringing, time-waster if you ask me. They need to kick @$$ and take names rather than making a lot of vacuous mouth noises that let a bunch of people say "told ya so" without influencing them much to buy cars. I know that's what PR departments are for, but what GM mainly needs is good cars for a good price, not PR supremacy.

Besides it seems pointless to make a company apologize for getting their butts kicked into bankruptcy. It's just adding insult to injury.

Right on!

I do think the white shirts, blue collar and the union folks should run a short thank you commercial to the American people for the bailout funds.

Something along the lines of " You helped us when we needed it. Now we are trying to help our selves and hopefully you. ------ Thank You " Just a thank you message to the people.

Then we all run out and buy Hondas, Yota's, Fords and Fiat's.

Pay back the tax money they've taken out of the treasury. Decline to accept more of that money in the future. If they survive, cease pressuring the Federal government for trade protection and special privileges and actually compete in the marketplace.

That kind of apology wouldn't help, more than likely it would hurt. :eek:

They still need to acknowledge it, and admit it. Up until now it has (almost) never been mentioned at all.

I did say there was a fine line, and ILAveo mentioned what can happen if they go too far with this: "Option three seems like a whiny, hand-wringing, time-waster if you ask me".

Mention it, say "hey, we screwed up", and move on to kicking tail and taking initials (no time for full names).

My reasoning for more than a "BTW, excuse me" is to acknowledge around four or so years of ads, toys and promotionals that screamed:

HUMMER!!!!

A few seconds of sorry does not exactly balance years of getting customers lusty for FSPs.

Here's their actual "acknowledgement" :

http://www.youtube.com/v/q0Vcx3cRdi8&color1=0xb1b1b1&color2=0xcfcfcf&feature=player_embedded&fs=1

Leaner, Greener, and FASTER?

I think they meant faster to market, but still...

Transcribed:


Let's be completely honest. No company wants to go through this. But we're not witnessing the end of the American car; we're witnessing the rebirth of the American car. General Motors needs to start over in order to get stronger. There was a time when eight different brands made sense. Not anymore. There was a time when our cost structure could compete worldwide. Not anymore. Reinvention is the only way we can fix this. And fix it we will. So here's what the new GM is going to be. Fewer stronger brands, fewer stronger models, greater efficiencies, better fuel economy, and new technologies. Leaner, greener, faster, smarter. GM is not going out of business; GM is getting down to business. Because the only chapter we're focused on, is chapter 1.


My brother thinks this just glorified its chapter 11, hahaha :D

Apologize- what is the point of that?? The people who would be doing it aren't the people that killed GM.

GM died because they had too many partially funded retirees in the USA- Honda has close to zero USA retirees/same story for Toyota.
FORD IS ALSO LOSING BILLIONS-Their-Fords's- main advantage over GM is they have fewer retirees because they have/had fewer workers/less market share.

Once Toyota and Honda started building in lower wage mainly southern states-GM was dead!

Yes the remaining USA auto companies will have to be protected.We can't build autos for a little as the Chinese because they pay $2/hr.With the info explosion pretty much all auto companies are "equal" in knowledge-at least the knowledge to build a basic reliable car-just copy a Civic/Corolla/Focus etc-how hard is that!?
If we don't protect our manufacturing we won't have any left.We will be outsourcing military production/jets etc.

We have to suck it up, and just live with a slightly lower consumption level since manufactured goods will cost a bit more. We might be able to make that up by getting a jump on some industries-wind for example.We do have lots of potential wind energy-and plenty of coal(different story).
We can't live with free markets.If we go "free market" we'll have zero military manufacturing capacity. True, we won't be able to pay auto workers the equivalent of $30/hr plus another $30/hr in benefits.It will be more like $15/hr with $10/hr in benefits-still probably 5x what the Chinese pay.
Eventually the Chinese level of consumption will increase, and their competitive advantage will be much less.If we want to have any manufacturing capacity left when that day come, we will have to protect our industries, and consume less.

It is a myth to thin we can compete head to head with much much lower wage countires-we can't-no one can except in a few very leading edge industires, and eventually they fade also as the low wage countries copy and steal their products. The info age is a double edged sword-not all good for 1st world countries.

Conserve more, buy fewer big screen TVs-protect some manufacturing-use the natural resources we have, wind, coal, soil, water in smart ways. Wind will come into its own as oil spikes again. We -USA-are very lucky in respect to renewable resources like wind(mature) and wave/water potential energy(a long way from mature, but has lots of potential)

Don't apologize, but we probably shouldn't lie about being able to compete on equal footing with very low wage countries-can't be done-and we shouldn't pretend we can.It is nonsense for a not at all leading edge industry like car building.
The "Free Market" doesn't care about the national interest of the USA. Makes me want to puke when I hear free market types spewing their BS (no such thing as a real free market anyway-all countries subsidize industry thru schools and other ways). Also makes me puke when I hear the other side pretend we can compete if we are just "smarter".Pure BS!
Charlie

http://gmretardation.com/

Funny Site.