REPORT: GM tells dealers to think small to sell big
2011 Chevrolet Cruze - Click above for high-res image gallery
After decades of pushing heavy iron, General Motors executives are telling the company's dealers to think "beyond our dominance in trucks" and prepare to start selling small cars (vehicles like the forthcoming Chevrolet Cruze, above). The message was broadcast late last week at the Rock Financial Showplace in Michigan, as representatives from about 430 GM dealers gathered to hear the automaker's latest plans as they emerge from bankruptcy. Brent Dewar, the new vice president of Chevrolet Global, added that dealers, "have to think slightly different... about how to sell the value of the vehicle on content and that small doesn't mean less."
Other news to emerge from the event included the announcement that GM had appointed an executive tasked with retaining the three million GM customers who will lose their vehicle model, GM brand, or dealership to the restructuring, and that Buick is planning a new mid-size sedan for 2010 followed by a compact car in late 2011. GM also said that strong Pontiac sales this summer will allow the brand to exhaust its inventory by the end of the year, ahead of earlier projections.
Gallery: 2011 Chevy Cruze
[Source: The Detroit Free Press]
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 3)
dsuupr 2:01PM (9/01/2009)
So far they are doing the right things and great products have been coming out for the least year ++ (including strong quality).
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Nightcrawler 2:34PM (9/01/2009)
Well, so far so good on recent quality. But you never really know quality, at least in regard to reliability, until the cars are 10 years old or so and still not having significant problems. That's why quality reputations are so slow to change. Customers buy now based on how that manufacturers cars from 10 years ago lasted.
You can say that initial quality is a strong indicator for long term reliability based on studies, but that's not how most buyers think.
Greg Aryous 3:04PM (9/01/2009)
Considering all the Quality issues with the new Camaro, I would NOT say GM is sweating any of these details.
Plus, with their already half-baked decision to build/cancel the Vuick, it appears GM is scrambling and hodge-podging things together to fill holes in their product line and backfill Pontiac losses.
Wow, they even assigned (1) person to fill the loss of 3 Million customers... I'm not impressed!
Plus, today GM announced their August sales were Down over 20% while Ford was Up over 20%... I think we can see the winner in this fight!
Luis 3:13PM (9/01/2009)
Having rented a Malibu for a week I have to say I'm less than impressed with GM's so-called "quality". Hard plastic and pieces coming apart in trunk. Also, drove my friend Torrent with 32k on it, what a turd. Holy crap - it felt worse that the 107K 2001 Tundra I was also using this past weekend. I was actually a little scared driving it past 55 on the highway. Sheesh.
Luis 3:14PM (9/01/2009)
If only I proof-read before hitting "Add Comment". My bad.
Pokey 4:08PM (9/01/2009)
@Greg.
What Camaro Quality issues? Aside from the small battery cable issue (which was resolved quickly), and the transmission problem, which was a problem WITH THE SUPPLIER, not GM, what else was there that I missed that would justify saying that the Camaro has any more quality issues than the average for a first year car.
That is the key, it is a FIRST YEAR car, and most first year cars have a couple small hiccups. Nissan GTR and Toyota Tundra come to mind, and one of the main problems with the Tundra was also a supplier issue.
Or is it just that you like dumping on GM? I am no GM fanboy, I drive a Honda and my wife drives a Chevy, but it does not take a genius to see that GM has been making some HUGE strides in improvement for the past few years.
spa2nky1 9:30PM (9/01/2009)
@luis
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lcMFZ4u3jpE&NR=1
The above video is why reviews of an entire car company that are based on a rental car hold no weight....
Aznauto 2:06PM (9/01/2009)
I still don't think GM will survive past 2012 they still have too much capacity in NA. Combine with low profit margins in small cars they are introducing. They need big shake up like moving their HQ to Shanghai.
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Ian B. 3:48PM (9/01/2009)
The downsizing of all things that are humanity. Welcome to the 21st century.
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Diego3336 2:16PM (9/01/2009)
Well, I like GM and I really want they recover the 1st place, but I am very uncertain about the Cruze as a poster child of the New GM.
This car is just a Daewoo with outdated underpins. There's nothing revolutionary in this car.
Where is the multilink rear suspension? Even the current Focus has one.
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inline6 2:23PM (9/01/2009)
Ask that of the Civic.
MikeofLA 2:33PM (9/01/2009)
You are incorrect about it being a Daewoo... Read Below
"For the 2008 onwards second generation model, the "Cruze" moniker has been applied to a globally-developed compact sedan, designed, manufactured and retailed entirely within GM. Compared to the original, the second series is related only in name, and does not serve as its successor. Instead, the new car replaces two unrelated cars—the Chevrolet Cobalt and Daewoo Lacetti. Badged as the Daewoo Lacetti Premiere, the South Korean-market Cruze entered production in 2008, partially replacing the Daewoo Lacetti sold since 2003. This previous Lacetti was sold internationally as either a Buick, Chevrolet, Daewoo or Holden, but for the Cruze, GM have retained the "Chevrolet Cruze" name for most markets. Besides the South Korean Daewoo branding, Australasian-specification cars are badged Holden Cruze, with Holden set to commence production of a more upmarket version from 2010. The North American Chevrolet Cobalt will also be phased out in 2010, replaced by the Chevrolet Cruze. Production of the Cobalt's twin, the Pontiac G5 will also cease, coinciding with the Pontiac brand's discontinuation after 2010."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chevrolet_Cruze
Nightcrawler 2:39PM (9/01/2009)
At least the Civic has an independent rear suspension. The Corolla doesn't even have that, and it was new last year.
Bloke 2:48PM (9/01/2009)
"You are incorrect about it being a Daewoo... Read Below" - MikeofLA
To all intents and purposes, the Cruze is essentially a Daewoo. It replaces the Lacetti and its badge-engineered variants in almost all global markets. In the States, it replaces both the Suzuki Forenza and the NA-only Chevrolet Cobalt.
The main difference between the Cruze and its Lacetti predecessor is the fact that it uses a platform engineered at Opel in Germany, plus some other international input, but the car is a GM-DAT product all said and done, just as the Lacetti was.
Despite sharing the Delta II platform, the Cruze's initial reviews here have been pretty much average, but certainly not class-leading. Autocar's inital verdict, for example, was as follows:
"The Cruze has been conceived to provide conventionally engineered, contemporary family transport at a relatively keen price and, up to a point, it delivers. Its chief drawback, as a 1.8 LT, is a petrol engine that’s sub-standard in its performance, refinement and willingness.
This Chevrolet certainly isn’t a thrill to drive either, but it’s capable, comfortable and civilised enough to make a decent motorway car. The cabin is attractive and spacious, too.
The Chevy also scores with the strength of its structure and contemporary styling that’s vastly more appealing than its predecessor’s. Quality is much improved as well.
But to make real headway, the Cruze needs to come as the hatchback that most buyers want, and its ultimate success will be blunted by the fact that, at best, it is no better than rivals from Skoda, Hyundai and Kia."
I wish GM well and it ought to do well in North America where buyers of cars in this segment are usually very price-sensitive. In Europe, however, the Cruze can't compete against the best of the class.
Evan 2:57PM (9/01/2009)
"...at best, it is no better than rivals from Skoda, Hyundai and Kia."
It's not enough that GM is equal to competitors. GM will have to be BETTER than competitors if they want buyers to switch from competing brands that they trust better.
Luis 3:16PM (9/01/2009)
The Cruze will sail easily into rental car fleets. Unfortunately GM is 2 years late to the party. It's pretty typical that they release a car that looks fresh when they announce it but by the time it hits the streets it's outdated. The Cruze is just the latest example. The Volt will be the next. The Volt was needed 2 years ago, not in another year (maybe). By that time we'll have other plug-ins and electrics buzzing on the street and the Volt will already be an also-ran.
FThorn 2:31PM (9/01/2009)
so many people like the cruze design...and I am on the other side.
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Luis 3:16PM (9/01/2009)
no, you're not...
Ted 2:34PM (9/01/2009)
Uggh - this is the car that is going to save GM? It looks like a small malibu - with a cheesy interior.
The Ford Fiesta is going to bury this thing.
-ted
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alex 2:44PM (9/01/2009)
The fiesta and the cruze aren't even in the same segment. they aren't even close to the same segment. you might as well say that the lincoln towncar is gonna bury the cruze