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http://www.cleanmpg.com/photos/data/2/AmericanFlag.jpg GM is particularly weak among consumers in their 20s and buyers who live outside the Midwest, where most of the company's plants are located. (http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-gm10-2009jul10,0,2965015.story)

http://www.cleanmpg.com/photos/data/501/gm-green.jpgJim Puzzanghera and Martin Zimmerman - LATIMES (http://www.latimes.com) - July 9, 2009

Winning the confidence of the American consumer will make the 39-day bankruptcy seem easy. Guess who's staying? (http://www.cleanmpg.com/forums/showthread.php?t=23458) --Ed.

Excerpts:

Amid speculation that GM will change the blue in its classic logo to green to highlight its environmentally friendly rebirth, the company will have a tough time turning its bottom line from red to black, analysts said. Vehicle sales have plummeted worldwide because of the global recession. And GM's image, already battered after decades of declining quality, has been further damaged by its plea with the government for billions in taxpayer money to keep it from the corporate scrap heap.

"It's impressive that they got through bankruptcy that quickly," said Karl Brauer, editor of auto website Edmunds.com. "But . . . when it takes you three or four decades to tear down a car company's image, it takes more than 39 days to bring it back."... http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-gm10-2009jul10,0,2965015.story

GM is going to have to do a heck of a lot more than change the color of their logo. They have to start making cars that don"t disintegrate after three years. They have to start making something other than $70k luxury hulks that sit on top of $8,000 cheap truck frames. Making hybrids that cost less than $55k would be nice.

The reason why no one in their 20s buys GM is that the company doesn't build anything that people in that age bracket would even possibly consider buying.

Aveo vs a Scion xD? No comparison.
Cobalt vs a Honda Civic? No comparison.

I hope GM can learn how do do something other than add sheet metal and leather seats to truck frames, but I'm not holding my breath.

If GM were to change its color and marketing to be "green" before they made real changes in their product, it would be a signal to me that "new GM" is the same old company as it was before. I would ignore them just as I did prior to the "rebirth".