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GM Blows Away Competition In Latest J.D. Power Customer Service Index Study
by Manoli Katakis
Posted February 25th, 2010 at 4:37 pm

With the proverbial hammer having dropped on Hummer just yesterday, it’s somewhat refreshing to discover that GM’s brands, both “core” and discontinued, have the very best to offer in customer service according to the most recent J.D. Power and Associates Customer Service Index study.

In the “Mass Market Brands” category, GM dealers beamed with customer satisfaction – taking six out of the top seven spots. Ironically – Hummer took first place with a score of 815. The scores were based on a scale of 1,000. Following Hummer is the now-discontinued Saturn with 808 points. Buick came in third with 805 and Chevy took fourth wit 787. The euthanized Pontiac scored 785 (sixth) while GMC got 783 (seventh). All GM brands rated well above the industry average of 758 while PR afflicted Toyota came in eighteenth with 741 points.

In the Luxury Brand category, Cadillac finished second with a score of 827, following Lexus in the rankings. The average score was 813 for the category. Of note – (now Spyker-owned) Saab fell short of that average with a score of 796, followed by Audi, Porsche, Infiniti, and Volvo.

Experts say that most of the improvements may be attributed to lower foot traffic volumes of dealers, but it’s great to see GM brands doing so well in this nation-wide study. We have the full press release, along with J.D. Power images, right after the jump!

[Source: J.D. Power and Associates] (more…)

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GM Works On Brand Loyalty For Shuttered Saturn
by Wilson Nunnari
Posted February 15th, 2010 at 11:20 pm

Now that the proverbial axe has freed General Motors from the financial obligations of too many brands, the company has to face the other side of the double-edged sword (all about the proverbs today). The negative end of the equation, among other things, is the potential loss of customers and market share that comes with having less brands. In order to combat this, GM is offering strong incentives to current Saturn customers.

How strong? Between February 2nd and the end of March, current Saturn owners are being offered $2,000 in cash to stick with another GM vehicle.

The catches are few and mild. Owners are required to have owned or leased their Saturn vehicle for at least 6 months. Besides that, GM is not requiring anything; customers do not even need to trade in their Saturn vehicle. In addition, the $2,000 offer is on top of any other currently running incentives. This could amount to serious cash on the hood for some GM vehicles.

General Motors needs to take any customer retention it can get, especially with Saturn owners. In fact, research shows that Saturn buyers are the least loyal to the parent GM, which is quiet logical as Saturn was always intended to be a “Japanese auto maker within GM” – a unique brand compared to other GM products. As such, Saturn customers are (were?) not you average GM buyer (if such a profile exists).

As of the end of January 31, 2010, Saturn inventory was at an all-time low of 405 vehicles (compared to 32,647 at the end of May 2009).

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Nostalgic Scenario: If I Could Control GM’s Departed Brands.
by Manoli Katakis
Posted February 13th, 2010 at 3:00 pm

We know the fate of Pontiac and Saturn. We know that Saab is taking off with Spyker while Hummer, the uber American SUV brand, is close to becoming a Chinese-owned entity. Yet secretly somewhere inside, we wish GM had room for all of these brands.

Let’s step into the Twilight Zone of GM proposals, imagine that I just became the owner of all four of GM’s departed brands, and started another major American automotive company. I want to succeed where GM failed. Assuming I will have access to GM’s engines and platforms – future and dormant, here’s how I’d do it, brand by brand. (more…)

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Big Discounts On Remaining Saturn And Pontiac Inventory!
by Wilson Nunnari
Posted January 28th, 2010 at 1:29 pm

Unfortunately, Pontiac, Saturn, and Saab have been sent to the automotive graveyard. But not all is lost, since the many Saturn and Pontiac fans will be able to take advantage of huge discounts on remaining dealer inventories.

General Motors may allow dealers to sell new vehicles from both brands as used cars that carry large discounts. Obviously GM wants the remaining late-model vehicles off dealer lots and dealers are desperate to get rid of them. GM is also offering zero percent financing to buyers trading in a Toyota model. The combination of these offers equates to serious savings on a brand new car.

General Motors is offering Saturn and Pontiac dealers $7,000 dollars in cash for each vehicle they sell. Dealers can choose whether to pass this incentive on to consumers fully or in part. We’re assuming most of this money will end up as cash on the hood since consumers are reluctant to buy into brands that no longer exist. That said, there is very little reason to be worried about buying a vehicle from any one of these marques, as vehicles will still be covered under manufacturer warranty and use parts present in other GM vehicles, which should eliminate many concerns most people will have about buying Saturn and Pontiac cars.

Want a new Saturn or Pontiac with cash on the hood? Then run (don’t walk) to your local Saturn and Pontiac dealer!

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The Holidays Are Here And All GM Brands Are On Sale!
by Alex Luft
Posted November 27th, 2009 at 3:07 pm
The holidays are upon us, the holidays are here – what shall we do now, but sit here and drink beer sell cars… or something like that.

As is common practice in most major organizations, General Motors is looking to clear out its stock of 2009 vehicles. GM is expecting all 2009 models to be cleared out by January of 2010, with Susan Docherty, GM Vice President of sales saying that “All of our efforts will be to sell down our remaining 2009 inventory.” The holiday clearance efforts are already underway and each GM brand gets its own name for a sales event, the details of which can be found on each brand’s website:
- Chevy is having a “Red Tag Sale”
- Buick-GMC is using “Holiday Event”
- Cadillac is offering the “Season’s Best.”
Taking a look at the brand graveyard, the last bit of Pontiac and Saturn inventory is set to be sold for good. As of right now, there are about 10,000 Pontiacs and 8,000 Saturns remaining on dealer lots and Docherty said that GM is “…actually winding down those products quicker than we had anticipated.” So if you’re still in the market for a Saturn or Pontiac, we suggest you walk run to your local dealer and pick one up. Who knows, maybe the last set of Saturns and/or Pontiacs will be considered a high-priced antique in half a century (although we doubt it).

[Source: Automotive News, subscription required]
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Think The Equinox Competes With The CR-V and RAV4? Think Again!
by Alex Luft
Posted November 8th, 2009 at 2:50 pm

Being the newest addition to Chevy’s line-up of CUVs, the Equinox has recently become the focus of much critical acclaim. However, many who reviewed the Equinox incorrectly identified its main competitors as the Toyota RAV4 and Honda CR-V. Let me set the record straight:

The Equinox does not compete with Toyota’s RAV4 or Honda’s CR-V. It competes in a size-class above those two vehicles, with its most direct competition being the Toyota Venza, Ford Edge, and Nissan Murano. How so?

Size

The Equinox is eight inches longer than the RAV4 and a full eleven inches longer than the CR-V (see charts below). While most car shoppers don’t make a buying decision based on inches, they do unscientifically measure the car’s dimensions based on “feel.” In that regard, a buyer cross-shopping a RAV4, a CR-V, and an Equinox would feel that the Equinox is much bigger compared to the other two. (more…)

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The New Auto Industry Breakdown
by Alex Luft
Posted October 3rd, 2009 at 1:21 am

This awesome poster has been floating around the interwebs for some time, but we thought we’d publish it (for fun).

It’s interesting to see how GM has fared compared to the other big two American automakers, selling off or closing half of its operations. Of note, Daewoo and Holden remain full subsidiaries of The General.

Daewoo, the South Korean ex-conglomerate, is now part of GM’s global small-car engineering team (playing a big role in the design and engineering of the Chevy Spark).

Holden will continue to do what it does best – make high-performance rear-wheel-drive cars that the U.S. market won’t be getting any time soon (hopefully that will change).

Of course, the Saturn deal to Penske Automotive Group fell through earlier this week – so it looks like the Saturn space on the poster should be updated to “Phased Out in 2010.”

[Source: Mint]

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Penske-Saturn Deal Falls Through – The Full Report
by Alex Luft
Posted October 3rd, 2009 at 1:01 am

When GM filed for bankruptcy protection in the summer of 2009, it made a deal with the Federal Government to trim down its brand portfolio. Certain brands were to be phased out (Pontiac) and other subsidiary brands were to be sold off (Saab, Hummer, Opel). Saturn fell into the latter grouping and the (old) GM crew has been looking for a suitor for the brand ever since. Saturn was planned to be sold to the Penske Automotive Group (of Roger Penske fame). To everyone’s surprise, the deal fell through at the final hour on Wednesday.

The purchase of Saturn by Penske Automotive Group was called off for multiple reasons, none of which were related to GM. Here’s how Mr. Penske described it:

Penske Automotive Group negotiated the terms and conditions of an agreement with another manufacturer, However, that agreement was rejected by that manufacturer’s board of directors. Without that agreement, the company has determined that the risks and uncertainties related to the availability of future products prohibit the company from moving forward with this transaction.

Basically, the Penske Automotive Group wasn’t able to secure the vehicles it needed to sell from “another manufacturer.” Sources close to the deal have let us know that this other manufacturer is none other than Renault, the French auto giant that, due to its unique partnership (ownership) with Nissan/Infiniti, is the world’s 4th largest auto maker.

I’d propose two reasons as to why Renault’s board of directors declined the Saturn deal: (more…)

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GM Cancels Planned Buick Crossover and PHEV (aka Saturn Vue)
by Alex Luft
Posted August 20th, 2009 at 12:40 am

Earlier in August, we were shown a picture of an upcoming Buick-badged CUV that was nothing more than a grille-and-logo swap of the now-extinct Saturn Vue. The product was planned to receive the two-mode hybrid powertrain after its launch. But before the vehicle was even born, we received word that it has already been killed. Michelle Bunker, Manager of Buick Communications, confirmed to Autoblog earlier today that this is, in fact, the truth: GM has canceled the program.

The biggest reason for the cancellation is the widespread initial negative feedback from the media, employees, and dealerships about the upcoming vehicle. The product seems to have not been a good fit for the direction the General has planned for the Buick brand. (We will have more coverage of GM’s product portfolio going forward in an upcoming post.)

Not all hope is lost, however, as it’s being reported that the plug-in hybrid powertrain of the discontinued Vue will be transferred to another GM vehicle and will come to market with no delay from the previously planned 2011 sales date for the Buick. Details such as whether the vehicle will ride on the same (Theta) platform as the outgoing Vue, what body shell it would have, or what GM badge it would wear are not known at this time, but GM promises to reveal the replacement for the PHEV in the not-so-distant future. If you asked me (which I know you probably did), I’d say the awesome powertrain will be carried over to the 2011 Chevy Equinox and possibly – down the road – to the recently-redesigned Cadillac SRX. This would allow GM to realize greater economies of scale by making available the same powerplant across a broader range of vehicles.

The move to cancel the Buick program and carry the work over to a different product is evidence that things really are different at the New GM. Just a few months ago, the same decision would have most likely taken multiple meetings and countless delays. Also, this works to further underline CEO Fritz Henderson’s dislike for rebadging – since the Buick-badged CUV would have been little more than a nameplate swap with the Saturn Vue.

[Source: Autoblog]

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