As a car enthusiast I am quite puzzled by the way GM is conducting its business. CNN says that this morning a "New GM is born." They did that by splitting the hapless old GM into a new one that shed most of its debts, and an old deadbeat one called Motors Liquidation Co. that'll remain in bankruptcy for years and presumably deal with the wrath of those who were stuck with all the billions of debt the "new GM" shed (it's not quite clear to me how the "new" and newly almost debt-free GM will escape that wrath and get anyone to trust it).
In the meantime, the "new" GM has rid itself of the following undesirable brands: Poniac (no excitement left, although whatever they had sold quite well), Saturn (crappy cars, but a really good dealership model), Saab (cleansed by "old" GM of its trademark quirkiness, there wasn't much left), and Hummer (a giant Jeep with 28-inch chrome rims was never a good idea).
What did the "new" GM keep? Chevy, of course, bland though it is. Cadillac, which now makes 500 horsepower BMW and Mercedes wannabes. GMC, which sells Chevy trucks with a GMC badge. And Buick, extra-bland barges where the average buyer is at least 65, but which sell well in China. To sell that wondrous mix of brands and cars the "new" GM retains 4,100 of 6,000 dealerships and 68,500 of 88,000 employees. Talk about a whole load of really odd decisions.
How this is supposed to work in a cut-throat automotive market with some really good vehicles and brands out there is anyone's guess. Maybe GM will operate like the US Postal Service, subsidized and clobbered by newer and better competition and technologies, or maybe it'll simply wink out, like the British auto industry did decades ago.
But really, what were, and are, they thinking?!
In the meantime, the "new" GM has rid itself of the following undesirable brands: Poniac (no excitement left, although whatever they had sold quite well), Saturn (crappy cars, but a really good dealership model), Saab (cleansed by "old" GM of its trademark quirkiness, there wasn't much left), and Hummer (a giant Jeep with 28-inch chrome rims was never a good idea).
What did the "new" GM keep? Chevy, of course, bland though it is. Cadillac, which now makes 500 horsepower BMW and Mercedes wannabes. GMC, which sells Chevy trucks with a GMC badge. And Buick, extra-bland barges where the average buyer is at least 65, but which sell well in China. To sell that wondrous mix of brands and cars the "new" GM retains 4,100 of 6,000 dealerships and 68,500 of 88,000 employees. Talk about a whole load of really odd decisions.
How this is supposed to work in a cut-throat automotive market with some really good vehicles and brands out there is anyone's guess. Maybe GM will operate like the US Postal Service, subsidized and clobbered by newer and better competition and technologies, or maybe it'll simply wink out, like the British auto industry did decades ago.
But really, what were, and are, they thinking?!
