They are buying employee discounts;not the cars. LOL!

[KlatooBNikto]

After GM made available its Employee Discounts to everyone, its sales have surged but the profits have practically disappeared.The dealers are complaining that they are losing money because they have to shoulder 50% of the discounts.

I found the comment by one of the analysts very appropriate.That the public is buying the discount and not the car.That tellls me that GM's efforts need to be on the product.They have now conditioned the public to expect discounts in the future.Any thing less and the dealer lots will be filled in no time with unsold cars.

When you don't pay attention to your core business, making an attractive product that the public perceives as a valuable purchase,
you will be in deep doo doo before long.

[Lerkfish]

1. well, GM cars are crap, pretty much.

As much as I like to buy american when possible, I don't when it comes to cars.
If GM could make as GOOD a car as Honda, then they'd have no problems, even at a higher price.

[BrainRants]

2. GM is GM's problem, not health care and pension costs.

Open a "Car & Driver" magazine any month and show me a GM car that wins when compared to anything foreign.

Honda introduced their FIRST full sized pickup, and C&D reviewd it as the best pickup on the market. How the hell can their FIRST attempt become number one after GM/Ford/Chrysler has been building trucks since, ohhh, about the turn of the LAST century?

I've never owned a foriegn car, but alas I'm afraid GM is on the brink of disaster.

[KlatooBNikto]

3. When compared to anything foreign.That phrase is where the problem

is.For eons, GM pretty much ruled the car world because there was no competition. All of a sudden the public now has a choice;no make it many choices.GM is totally lost in this new world order. Only a ctalyzing event, such as being liquidated into bankruptcy, would resolve things for the yo-yos who run GM now. They are not even lame ducks.They are dead ducks.

[ProfessorGAC]

10. GM Mgmt. Is The Problem

I'm a Buick guy. My wife has one now. We've had 5 since we've been married. My dad sold them late in his life. He always drove one.

So, right after we buy our limited edition two-door Regal with the supercharger and all the bells & whistles, they decide to make NO MORE TWO DOORS!

So, sales fall off. What do they do? They introduce a "me too" SUV, way late for the SUV craze and just in time for gas prices to skyrocket.

So, now they've got a new "sport" coupe. But, it's ONLY available in a four door! So, they sign Tiger Woods (a 28 year old endorser) and release cars that still fit the mold that Buick is an old person's car.

In an era where choice is limited (since practically everyone has that Mercedes/BMW body shape) they haven't released a new convertible design in 15 years!

This is indicative of a management locked in glacial inertia that keeps believing that they're so big they can't fail. At their scope, they should be at the front of the innovation curve and should be able to market any new ideas like gangbusters.

This company would be better served by dumping the top 5% of the firm and starting over.
The Professor

[Ready4Change]

4. Link?

Is this from a story somewhere?

[KlatooBNikto]

7. Yes.I will find the link and post it later.

[ReverendDeuce]

5. GM's products are downright laughable...

Even in the face of domestic competition. Chrysler is clearly making the most different vehicles of late and are at least making an attempt to compete with imports. Ford is kind of making an effort, sort of, but it's half-hearted. GM is just floundering... their vehicle designs are stagnant and the quality is poor.

Even the Cadillac brand. Go drive a new CTS and tell me it doesn't feel like it will fall apart in two or three years.

As another poster put it... GM is GM's problem.

[KlatooBNikto]

8. GM may be GM's problem but not the engineers and hourly workers.

It is the total lack of imagination and arrogance that the public be damed attitude of management that has killed that once great corporation.

[Coyote_Bandit]

6. I Had GM car once

Bought it new. Loved the way it drove and looked. Pampered it. Took care of it. Maintained it. Never had an accident while driving it - not even the tiniest fender bender. And it had a cracked engine block at 50,000 miles. POS. I'll never again buy a GM vehicle - not even with an employee discount.

Since then I have purchased vehicles from most of the major auto manufacturers. Currently, I am driving a Mercury. But I have also owned an assortment of Fords, Dodges, Hondas and Toyotas over the years. All of them - including the rebuilt Dodge Intrepid - have been more durable and reliable than that GM car.

[scarlett1]

9. My Last GM car engine block cracked

around 50K miles as well. After that I bought a Honda drove it 100K now I have a Toyota it is around 45K my husband has his 1991 Toytota Corolla at 212K. I want him to get a new car, but he just loves it.

[KlatooBNikto]

11. That sounds like my old mocs.They are going on 17 years now and I just

love the way they feel.My wife keeps yelling at me to get new shoes but I won't part with them. I guess that is the way one gets attached to things that work well.Now take my wife......,shhhhhh.