All Entries Tagged With: "GM"
Lutz on Letterman Talks About The $100K Car
Bob Lutz cuts past the fact that the Volt has a range of 40 miles and costs $40K.
By Gunnar Heinrich | IMG CBS via YouTube
ONE hundred grand seemed to be the magic number.
Soon-to-retire GM Product Czar Bob Lutz was on Letterman recently (yours missed the initial broadcast). This media appearance, the Detroit exec extraordinaire managed a back ‘n forth with our man Dave far better than he did with our man Stephen (Colbert).
In the jolly banter, there was one reference that Mr. Lutz kept coming back to: the one hundred thousand dollar car.
Apparently, the EV1 – conspiracy theorists pay attention now – cost General Motors over $100K per electric car. According to Mr. Lutz:
“The people never owned them [EV1's]. We were absolutely unable to sell them. Finally, we leased them for $300 a month. And the maintenance of this fleet that we owned was becoming so onerous that after a billion dollars the finance guy said that’s enough.”
Mr. Lutz’s account of history did gloss over the fact that there were plenty of EV1 drivers who wanted, nay, demanded to keep their cars – in vain. But moving on…
The next reference to the one hundred thousand dollar car was the Corvette CR1. Our man Dave asked Mr. Lutz why small California car co. Tesla could produce an electric auto with a 200 mile range and mighty GM could only manage a 40 mile range on the Chevy Volt.
Mr. Lutz: “We can. But we need to sell things (Chevy Volts) in volume. We have a $100K car that sells fairly well, it’s called the Corvette CR1…”
-Signature Dave laughter filling time -
Mr. Letterman: “Can I have one of those, Bob?”
Mr. Lutz: “We can’t survive on selling hundred thousand dollar cars.”
Fair enough. But you’d think that a car was ready to be built in America and sold worldwide would have the scale of production to lower the costs of parts…like price on lithium ion batteries. Does the old Ford model of mass production not work for Chevrolet?
Mr. Lutz closed his time on the show by showcasing the $40K ($32,500 +/- after Gov’t incentives)Volt that may appear in what showrooms remain next year. Mr. Letterman pretended to be shocked by the car’s electricity. And Mr. Lutz closed on a note of patriotism.
While this style of present-our-case and pitch-the-product may seem outdated to some- Price Is Right-ish? – we can only hope that it was effective.
Further, though I’ve never had any great love for Bob Lutz, watching him representing GM was oddly comforting. It’s like he didn’t scoot out the backdoor, but was, in fact, seeing this one last sale through.
For an exec who could just as well be sitting back and watching the clock run out until he collects his pot ‘o gold, ending his tenure on a note of commitment to GM was the right thing to do.
Vomit & Probation For GM
By Gunnar Heinrich | IMG Rob’s photostream on Flickr
GM, now widely derided as “Government Motors”, was, I fear, in need of a good purging.
Yes, it’s true.
Think of it this way: if you were a former all-star employee – long drunk on the volatile cocktail of your own binging excesses (truck platformed SUVs, anonymous rental cars) and belabored by the costs of your own projects (unions, pensions, expensive suppliers, etc.), and hammered by your rivals at work who were both sober and perky doing your same job only better, how well do you think you’d do yours if you showed up to the office hung over?
Hence to the vomitorium (C11) where you (GM) can at least be purged and then hopefully cleansed (vomit stinks) of your sinful ways.
The only trouble now, I fear, is being put under the probation of the division supevisor (Uncle Sam) who never liked your booze scented projects (Camaros, Vettes, Pontiac G8 GTs, anything cool) and will brow beat you into producing saintly products that he thinks every family should have but no family will want to buy.
Either way the market flies you’ll still take the heat. But, hey, it’s that or out on your ass, pal.
Memorial Day Caddy
By Gunnar Heinrich
GOD DAMN beautiful!
That’s probably what the old wheel’em ‘n deal’em GM salesman would’ve shouted about this circa 1954 Cadillac Fleetwood as he then tried to sell you on the power brakes “convenience feature” for $48. And you know what? He would’ve been absolutely right.
The Fleetwood is a beautiful car. And it’s the kind of misty eyed throwback to GM and the US auto industry’s heyday that made the two-ton chrome plated behemoth more fitting to share with you in honor of Memorial Day than the Blower Bentley, many Ferraris, or solar powered three wheeled metallic-coffin that I spied.
Circling the sedan that’s at least a foot longer than the current gen. DTS, I almost expected Ike with a secret service detail to return after an afternoon of grip ‘n greets. Not so, sadly but that doesn’t stop the Fleetwood from channeling post war presidential magnetism.
Eisenhower’s seal of approval is what likely moved a few Cadillacs in the day. That and the omnipresence of lascivious chromium, those jet age cues, and that commanding presence…. beautiful.
Weekend @ The Movies: Cars & Surrealism
Drifting toward the edge of reality
By Gunnar Heinrich | IMG Paramount
I had to pinch myself.
The funny thing about being part of the mass of literary humanity that “covers” what we handily call the “auto industry” is that you tend never to look at the subject of innocent observation quite the same after having “covered” it.
Take, for example, the Corvette Sting Ray.
In the film Star Trek, which yours traveled in thick of Saturday night’s fog to Providence (Rhode Island’s aptly named capital) to watch it on IMAX, there is an action scene where the young James Kirk steals the step dad’s Sting Ray and drives it into the Grand Canyon.
Funny thing is, all I could think of when I watched this flash production lay waste to a slickly beautiful piece of 60s sheetmetal was that not quite a year ago I talked with the man who designed it – Bob Veryzer.
Regrettably, the constraints of time meant that only a smidgen of our conversation made the cut into a recently aired Automobiles De Luxe segment on CPTV. But before long, you’ll see Mr. Veryzer – in all his retired understatement – at an event we attended and reflect on his car – a boldly captivating icon – and maybe marvel at the discontinuity of it all, as I have.
I also saw Angels & Demons which was a conspiracy theorist’s affirmation in the power of recognizing surreal patterns that uncover an awesome (or horrible) truth. You know, stuff journalists live for.
Having had my share of moments that defy coincidence – like watching Errol Morris’ The Fog of War in China and then a month later brushing past former Defense Secretary Robert McNamara (the film’s focus) on a street in Washington- I pondered another cognitive dissonance when watching the various police cars featured in the latest Dan Brown thriller.
It must be surreal to executives on both sides of the Atlantic.
Fiat – whose Lancias and Alfa Romeos feature prominently in the Robert Langdon’s clue chase across the Eternal City – once partnered with GM, then “divorced” the General winning a $1 Billion in the “settlement”, which in turn allowed the 500 to be re-born which in turn empowered Fiat to be, perhaps, the “savior” to some parts of the beleaguered US auto industry which may include some of GM’s European divisions.
The weak link became the strong force and now decides the fate of the former power which has now become a weak link.
It all brings home that this world is by far stranger and more interconnected than we let ourselves realize. Which is why I’m still pinching myself.
GM: No Confidence for Saab
By Gunnar Heinrich
GM is wasting no time in washing its hands of Saab. And with that, Saab’s set to fall into a grey area should GM file for Chapter 11 protection. While Cadillac or Chevy warranties would be insured under the Federally backed GM Total Confidence Plan should GM go bankrupt, Premier Channel VP Mark McNabb has told Saab USA dealers that GM chose to exclude Saab from the government backed warranty plan. Love lost? The letter >>>
Pontiac Succeeds Despite GM Playing Favorites
Pontiac has become one of the General’s stronger performers.
By Gunnar Heinrich
SHOULD General Motors survive from… pick possible cause of impending doom:
- Chapter 11
- UAW
- The Obama Administration
- Act of God
it would then be wise for the good folks at GM to reconsider Pontiac’s future.
That the General intends to keep Buick, Cadillac, Chevrolet, and GMC as part of a focused core of four comes as no real surprise when you consider how company management lavishes those divisions with extra-special love and affection.
Such is the top brass’ favoritism that time and again the company’s resorted to taking R&D limelight away from other divisions (ex. Saab) to benefit the cherished ones (ex.Cadillac).
Meanwhile Pontiac which didn’t make the final four cut, has been treated more like the redheaded step child.
Yet for all of GM’s bad parenting, the present-day sales numbers tell an illuminating story.
Year to date sales in March for both of GM’s upper market divisions – Buick and Cadillac – have been dismal. Cadillac sold 8,209 units while Buick parted with 7,369 so far this year. That’s down from last year by 53% and 40%, respectively.
But, you say, it’s the economy!
Well, consider then the dreaded foreign competition.
In the same period, Lexus sold 14,239 L-Badged Toyotas, Mercedes-Benz parted with 15,602 tri-stars, and BMW – 17,520 roundels.
And those figures were down from last year by 43%, 25%, and 24%, respectively. This tells us that Cadillac and Buick sales weren’t all that strong to begin with.
Pontiac, on the other hand…
GM’s sporting division which has produced the most-excellent G8 GT (can I get an Amen?) was down 30% from last year with sales to date adding up to…drum roll please… 17,583 units.
Nice.
Pontiac sales have so far eclipsed all of GM’s luxury competitors and are still more than all of this year’s Buick and Cadillac sales combined. So much for playing favorites. In GM’s American family, only GMC and Chevy have sold more cars this year.
So, should GM survive, Detroit would do well to consider giving Pontiac another shot.
Obama Plans For Recovery Panel, Not Car Czar
By Gunnar Heinrich
PRESIDENTObama is said to be set to announce a task panel rather than a simple “car czar” to oversee the restructuring efforts of General Motors and Chrysler, the AP reported today. And the same people who brought you last week’s market crash, Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner along with Lawrence girls-can’t-do-math Summers will oversee said task panel. So, for now we’ve got two car czars, really.
All United For Saabs United
A 900 turns into a 9-3
By Gunnar Heinrich | IMG Saabs United
MY good friends “Swade” and “Eggs ‘n Grits” (those are web 2.0 noms de plumes, if you haven’t gathered) have established a new website that obsessively covers the world of Saab.
Formerly “TrollhattanSaab”, the new site is “Saabs United” which sounds like a firm defense against the oncoming unknown.
Frankly, the GM Swedish division is in rough shape. But there are silver linings including a new 9-5 replacement and maybe just maybe a 9-X (Lord, hear our prayer!) so that means that there should be product for Swade and Eggs to opine on.
Trollhattan Saab and now Saabs United are testaments to the best kind of marque-centric blogs.
They do not faun or merely act as automatic regurgetators for the corporate press machines they receive relentless PR statements from. Rather, Saabs United offers insightful, often positive accounts of the good, and critical thought on the bad, and the ugly of their Svenska corner of the car biz.
That they hold GM to account for Saab’s current state is another reason for reading.
In this vein, Saabs United has every bit the chance to surpass the original Trollhattan Saab success story for standing out among the generalist automotive blogs on the web.
Cheers to them for being the role model for other car sites.
[Linked: Saabs United]
Bob Lutz Signing Off
The writing was on the hood
By Gunnar Heinrich
BOB LUTZ has announced that he will retire from GM at the end of this year.
In comments published by the Freep, GM Vice Chairman of global product development gave strong hints that the sour market and overbearing Federal regulators had succeeded in killing off whatever drive he had left in molding GM design.
Not News, But Here It Is: GM Ranked Second in 2008
GM slips in global rankings
By Gunnar Heinrich
TOYOTA executives probably didn’t want their global sales victory to happen this way.
Given that last year was dreadful for most car makers and that ToMoCo global sales shrank from 2007′s grand figures by 4%, it’s got to be a pyrrhic victory for the efficiency minded, profit driven ToMoCo team.
