xcel
08-11-2009, 02:42 PM
http://www.cleanmpg.com/photos/data/2/AmericanFlag.jpg GM all but promises there will be no more mediocrity in their future vehicle lineup. (cleanmpg.com/forums/showthread.php?p=226907)
http://www.cleanmpg.com/photos/data/501/2009_Saturn_Aura_-_26_mpg_combined.jpgWayne Gerdes - CleanMPG (cleanmpg.com) - Aug. 11, 2009
2009 Saturn Aura w/ the 2.4L I-4 and 6-speed AT (the Malibu’s twin) – Excellent vehicle other than the sunshade was rattling away and destroyed the cars attributes with less than 5,000 miles :mad:
Detroit, MI -- At a GM sponsored Product and Technology media event this morning, GM’s President and CEO, Fritz Henderson gave the lowdown on the state of GM. The emphasis was on the just released Chevrolet Volt’s 230 Miles Per Gallon in City Driving (cleanmpg.com/forums/showthread.php?t=24185) rating but also included frank discussion on the state of the company through a Q&A afterwards. Included in the discussion was a very brief overview of GM’s upcoming cars and crossovers which will arrive in dealership showrooms from now through 2011.
One of the highlights came when discussing GM’s targeting mediocrity in all but their most expensive vehicles. Is this a direction GM pulled out of Honda and Toyota’s playbook or simply more rhetoric to keep the stumbling automotive giant from tripping up at the expense of the tax payer once again?
Comments directly attributed to GM’s President and CEO, Fritz Henderson:
“We have a number of quite interesting products coming into our showrooms. Largely in the Chevrolet brand, that are intended to provide a very new, interesting and unique experience with Chevrolet. As I thought about what our small cars and crossovers need to be, they need to be dynamite. They need to be fantastic cars. The days we would do a dynamite Silverado and do an adequate small car is over. We cannot do that as a company. Everyone of our vehicles needs to be a great vehicle. Whether it’s a Chevrolet Spark or Aveo up to a Silverado or Tahoe or a Cadillac CTS, it doesn’t make any difference. If we do that well particularly for these interesting vehicles coming into the Chevrolet showroom, I think we reopen ourselves backup to a market that we have frankly not done as well as we should have.”
“As we went through bankruptcy, we did pull back on our capital spending. First thing we did early on was eliminate our spending on Hummer which was a huge amount of capital actually... We eliminated our spending on the brands that are not core brands.”
“What we said was we need to focus our resources in terms of cars and crossovers. Every vehicle we launch between now and 2014 will be a car or crossover. The money we spend on P/U’s and full-size SUVs will be to improve fuel economy, heavy duty application and towing capabilities... The power of our engineering will be largely in cars and crossovers.... Doing a bunch of average products, we are not going to win.”
You be the judge but from my perspective, GM has “got it” with regard to some aspects of their business. The real question will be can they execute with the HQ cars they have lacked for decades? This includes the latest Chevrolet Malibu and Cadillac CTS which in some consumer’s hands are already rattle traps with less than 25,000 miles and well before the vehicles expected demise.
http://www.cleanmpg.com/photos/data/501/2009_Saturn_Aura_-_26_mpg_combined.jpgWayne Gerdes - CleanMPG (cleanmpg.com) - Aug. 11, 2009
2009 Saturn Aura w/ the 2.4L I-4 and 6-speed AT (the Malibu’s twin) – Excellent vehicle other than the sunshade was rattling away and destroyed the cars attributes with less than 5,000 miles :mad:
Detroit, MI -- At a GM sponsored Product and Technology media event this morning, GM’s President and CEO, Fritz Henderson gave the lowdown on the state of GM. The emphasis was on the just released Chevrolet Volt’s 230 Miles Per Gallon in City Driving (cleanmpg.com/forums/showthread.php?t=24185) rating but also included frank discussion on the state of the company through a Q&A afterwards. Included in the discussion was a very brief overview of GM’s upcoming cars and crossovers which will arrive in dealership showrooms from now through 2011.
One of the highlights came when discussing GM’s targeting mediocrity in all but their most expensive vehicles. Is this a direction GM pulled out of Honda and Toyota’s playbook or simply more rhetoric to keep the stumbling automotive giant from tripping up at the expense of the tax payer once again?
Comments directly attributed to GM’s President and CEO, Fritz Henderson:
“We have a number of quite interesting products coming into our showrooms. Largely in the Chevrolet brand, that are intended to provide a very new, interesting and unique experience with Chevrolet. As I thought about what our small cars and crossovers need to be, they need to be dynamite. They need to be fantastic cars. The days we would do a dynamite Silverado and do an adequate small car is over. We cannot do that as a company. Everyone of our vehicles needs to be a great vehicle. Whether it’s a Chevrolet Spark or Aveo up to a Silverado or Tahoe or a Cadillac CTS, it doesn’t make any difference. If we do that well particularly for these interesting vehicles coming into the Chevrolet showroom, I think we reopen ourselves backup to a market that we have frankly not done as well as we should have.”
“As we went through bankruptcy, we did pull back on our capital spending. First thing we did early on was eliminate our spending on Hummer which was a huge amount of capital actually... We eliminated our spending on the brands that are not core brands.”
“What we said was we need to focus our resources in terms of cars and crossovers. Every vehicle we launch between now and 2014 will be a car or crossover. The money we spend on P/U’s and full-size SUVs will be to improve fuel economy, heavy duty application and towing capabilities... The power of our engineering will be largely in cars and crossovers.... Doing a bunch of average products, we are not going to win.”
You be the judge but from my perspective, GM has “got it” with regard to some aspects of their business. The real question will be can they execute with the HQ cars they have lacked for decades? This includes the latest Chevrolet Malibu and Cadillac CTS which in some consumer’s hands are already rattle traps with less than 25,000 miles and well before the vehicles expected demise.