Your Opinion on the Future of US Automakers
JT9-D
Joined: Jan 2004
Posts: 309
Likes: 0
From: No. Virninja
Re: Your Opinion on the Future of US Automakers
Economically speaking, I'd love to buy an american made car.
Realistically speaking, I'll never buy one because I have Zero confidence in the product and the massive re-badging doesnt appeal to me.
On a side note... You guys know that GM financial owns Ditech.com?
Realistically speaking, I'll never buy one because I have Zero confidence in the product and the massive re-badging doesnt appeal to me.
On a side note... You guys know that GM financial owns Ditech.com?
Registered member
Joined: Jan 2003
Posts: 3,041
Likes: 0
From: Working my life away
Re: Your Opinion on the Future of US Automakers
I can totally agree with ToyRolla's comments. Working for 7 years as a Saturn tech, I wonder the same thing. The new products are horrible compared to what they were before in terms of inital quality, and that's pretty sad. We are seeing more and more issues with the cars just comming off of the trucks. And while they are finally after years and years restyling their interiors to make them look more upstream, they are getting closer and closer to simply rebaged GM products versus the complete seperate complany that they were.
I understand that this may be a cheaper alternative for GM, howver what is the point in it all... Who needs 5 versions of the same minivan?
As for the UAW... well.. I better keep those opinions to myself.. Lets just say I own foreign cars
and the occasional Saturn
I understand that this may be a cheaper alternative for GM, howver what is the point in it all... Who needs 5 versions of the same minivan?
As for the UAW... well.. I better keep those opinions to myself.. Lets just say I own foreign cars
and the occasional Saturn
Revenge of the Nerds
Joined: Sep 2003
Posts: 272
Likes: 0
From: Va Beach
Re: Your Opinion on the Future of US Automakers
You've got great points ToyRolla 
I would definitely be worried if I were top brass at GM. I see what has been happening to them as something that happened to us a few years ago. I work for a Hampton Roads dealer group that branched out to have 11 stores at one time. We thought that more stores = more volume = more profit, but found it to be just the opposite. Our profitable stores were carrying the weight for our non-profitable stores. We downsized to 5 stores and have never been so profitable!
Another Hampton Roads dealer group currently has 23 stores and they're seeing the same thing. The difference between my dealer group and that dealer group is the other one is buying and buying more and more franchises to make the business more appealing to a larger national auto group to purchase. Only downside is those national groups take one look at the stores' financial statements and see that they're going to have to do a lot of work to bring the non-profitable stores up to par. In the meantime the local auto group's price gets lower and lower, as he gets older and older with nobody to leave it to.
I would definitely be worried if I were top brass at GM. I see what has been happening to them as something that happened to us a few years ago. I work for a Hampton Roads dealer group that branched out to have 11 stores at one time. We thought that more stores = more volume = more profit, but found it to be just the opposite. Our profitable stores were carrying the weight for our non-profitable stores. We downsized to 5 stores and have never been so profitable!
Another Hampton Roads dealer group currently has 23 stores and they're seeing the same thing. The difference between my dealer group and that dealer group is the other one is buying and buying more and more franchises to make the business more appealing to a larger national auto group to purchase. Only downside is those national groups take one look at the stores' financial statements and see that they're going to have to do a lot of work to bring the non-profitable stores up to par. In the meantime the local auto group's price gets lower and lower, as he gets older and older with nobody to leave it to.