GM Gets Out of Neutral and Gets Confident

Chris,

In my car guy “past” I have driven 1971 TransAm (owned), 1969 Charger 383 Mag, ’69 Vette, and the scariest ride of all a ’67 Shelby. Every drivers dream of speed indeed. But here is the question:

How does a company or industry, such as the American car industry, over come decades of perception that has eroded their consumer base to the point they are at now?

The perception problem in a nutshell? Consumers (I am one) believe American cars break, seemed to made without long term in mind, and are maintenance problems.

The retro designs are so cool, they are so slick, and the cars seem like they are built with every modern advantage in mind. But the same old problem dogs them–will this car last or will it be in the shop?

@Dean You’re right. We need to get consumers like yourself to realize that we’ve gone beyond past mistakes and are building high-quality cars. The press and other third-party organizations are recognizing our success with cars like the Buick Enclave, Chevy Malibu, Cadillac CTS and Chevy Camaro, but social media allows to bring this information straight to the consumers. The best way to do this is to create dialogue via social media and then work to get these consumers into the vehicles for a test drive. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve heard, “I had no idea GM built a car like this,” when we engage the social media realm. There is still work to do, but we’re making progress.

We are a family of Toyota drivers but I want to say this.

A year ago I bought a 1995 Geo Tracker from a neighbor (heck, if a neighbor is willing to sell his car to you, buy it, right?)

I’ve fallen in love with this little gem. I’ve had zero problems with it since the purchase.

We did buy a new Geo way back in the 90′s Know what? That little sucker got over 50 mpg and serviced us well. So, why oh why did GM give up on the high gasa mileage vehicles? That is the 64K question these days and, in my mind, a major reason for it’s current problems. That and they let Toyota and Mazda take over as the most dependable cars, at least in the minds of the consumers.

I can’t speak for everyone else, but when I see a Cadillac Escalade I think “Old style American excess.” Sorry, but I feel like people buy them to flaunt it to middle and lower class folks. Class war? Yup. Evil? No.

We are a family of Toyota drivers but I want to say this.

A year ago I bought a 1995 Geo Tracker from a neighbor (heck, if a neighbor is willing to sell his car to you, buy it, right?)

I’ve fallen in love with this little gem. I’ve had zero problems with it since the purchase.

We did buy a new Geo way back in the 90′s Know what? That little sucker got over 50 mpg and serviced us well. So, why oh why did GM give up on the high gasa mileage vehicles? That is the 64K question these days and, in my mind, a major reason for it’s current problems. That and they let Toyota and Mazda take over as the most dependable cars, at least in the minds of the consumers.

I can’t speak for everyone else, but when I see a Cadillac Escalade I think “Old style American excess.” Sorry, but I feel like people buy them to flaunt it to middle and lower class folks. Class war? Yup. Evil? No.

Hey, can you find out when they plan to stop hemorrhaging money? You know, so maybe they can give me back some of my money used to bail them out.

Thanks

@Dean – a fair question. I could offer you the latest JD Power reliability study — not initial quality, but reliability — that found Buick the #1 most reliable brand in the US market… but that would be very PR-guyish of me. :-)

I think three things should be kept in mind: 1) the US industry needs to recognize that for a very we earned much of the perception the market now has of us — and that “why should we believe you THIS time?” is a valid question. We need to answer that over and over again and can’t be arrogant in doing so.

2) Consumers looking to make the best purchase decision in any market owe it to themselves — not to us as a business, but to themselves — to take a fair and objective stock of the current market offerings and base their decisions on today’s reality. I can’t answer for vehicles we built in the past, but I can tell you with confidence that I believe that we now build the best cars on the market and represent your best option.

3) The era of “social media” (ugh! I used a buzzword!) actually keeps businesses more genuine and closer to that goal of providing the best options on the market. If I’m out here publicly stating on Chris Brogan’s blog that I think the Cadillac CTS is the finest luxury sedan on the market today, it had darn well better be (or at least legitimately belong in the team picture), or Chris and his audience are going to call me (and GM) out on it. These aren’t just commnications tools; social media, I think, enables audiences to hold us to higher standards — and also eventually rewards well-founded confidence.

Just a few thoughts. Thanks for your thoughts, Dean.

Thanks Chris. My husband works for a Chevy Store and I have passed this post on to him to read and share.

Thanks Chris. My husband works for a Chevy Store and I have passed this post on to him to read and share.

Thank you for the most honest sounding review I can remember reading, I have always preferred GMC
But had become unwilling to invest that all to scarce dollar.

@Greg – I bought a Geo Tracker the first year they came out. I *loved* that car. It was also my first major car accident. I crossed in front of a lawyer in a Volvo. His car EXPLODED pretty much. Every piece splayed out like an engineering drawing. Mine was crushed, but my friend and I both came out just fine (albeit shaken). I loved that little guy. : )

@Greg – I bought a Geo Tracker the first year they came out. I *loved* that car. It was also my first major car accident. I crossed in front of a lawyer in a Volvo. His car EXPLODED pretty much. Every piece splayed out like an engineering drawing. Mine was crushed, but my friend and I both came out just fine (albeit shaken). I loved that little guy. : )

Hey Chris,

Looks as though you had a blast with some of the new GM cars. Problem is that the mainstream models, the ones that need to sell to keep the business intact, still leave a lot to be desired.

The only GM car I’ve been interested in for quite a while was that Pontiac GTO which was built by Holden in Oz.

I wonder what the future holds – Chapter 11? Breaking up the company? Getting rid of lame old brands? (why dump Saturn which was actually pretty good by GM standards?)

Nice to see how they have moved into Social Media on the maketing side though.

@David – I think lots of the lame cars go. They’ll keep the best-of, and figure out ways to migrate some of them into a tighter package. Bankruptcy? Possible.

And so far, the lion’s share of GM’s social media seems to be on the PR/Comms side. If I had my way, there’d be a big wall crumble in there, so that marketing and comms would reunite. That might take a while.

Adam,

Thanks for providing a solid answer. I appreciate how difficult it must be in the current economy along with the bail out news and the initial nightmare your industry “leaders” caused you when then landed in Washington.

All of that aside, now I am speaking directly to the men who own or run the American auto industry. I grew up in California the biggest car culture in the States during the 1970′s. My father bleeds red, white, and blue. I was indoctrinated to be a “Pontiac guy” back when American’s identified themselves, not by the country their car originated, but by the brand and then model.

This is where the past mistakes, of the american auto industry CEO’s, changed my course of brand loyalty. My father, disgusted with gas prices, purchased a 1972 Honda Civic aka the “tuna can” for his commute. He has never left the Honda brand having purchased their products for 37 years.

My last American car purchase was in 1977. I have driven either Honda or BMW the past 32 years.

I appreciate the quality and the true ingenuity that the American car industry is showing us today. I appreciate the style, the power, and the true coolness of the return to retro the industry is bringing forward.

Unfortunately it’s difficult to change my perception of flawless trouble free operation coupled with performance and longevity that my Japanese and German products have provided me.

I truly understand your challenges and I am rooting for you to survive and thrive. But at age 49, it will take more than a JD Powers report to change my purchasing habits.

The toughest thing of all for me is the fact that I would have never changed brand loyalty from American to anything else–if the previous regime(s) had cared, had engaged, and had made products that took care of me.

One day I might buy an American muscle car again but with the economy as it stands now my budget and buying tendencies are in “lean and mean” mode.

Adam,

Thanks for providing a solid answer. I appreciate how difficult it must be in the current economy along with the bail out news and the initial nightmare your industry “leaders” caused you when then landed in Washington.

All of that aside, now I am speaking directly to the men who own or run the American auto industry. I grew up in California the biggest car culture in the States during the 1970′s. My father bleeds red, white, and blue. I was indoctrinated to be a “Pontiac guy” back when American’s identified themselves, not by the country their car originated, but by the brand and then model.

This is where the past mistakes, of the american auto industry CEO’s, changed my course of brand loyalty. My father, disgusted with gas prices, purchased a 1972 Honda Civic aka the “tuna can” for his commute. He has never left the Honda brand having purchased their products for 37 years.

My last American car purchase was in 1977. I have driven either Honda or BMW the past 32 years.

I appreciate the quality and the true ingenuity that the American car industry is showing us today. I appreciate the style, the power, and the true coolness of the return to retro the industry is bringing forward.

Unfortunately it’s difficult to change my perception of flawless trouble free operation coupled with performance and longevity that my Japanese and German products have provided me.

I truly understand your challenges and I am rooting for you to survive and thrive. But at age 49, it will take more than a JD Powers report to change my purchasing habits.

The toughest thing of all for me is the fact that I would have never changed brand loyalty from American to anything else–if the previous regime(s) had cared, had engaged, and had made products that took care of me.

One day I might buy an American muscle car again but with the economy as it stands now my budget and buying tendencies are in “lean and mean” mode.

What a great use of a blog? Telling the story of a struggling American car manufacturer and sharing ideas with their team on how social media could help them engage and grow.

Perfect example of the power of blogging.

Thanks Chris.