Tom Carberry, a Quality Network Representative withat GM’s Tonawanda Engine plant, speaks the truth in observing that every GM plant, lab, engineering facility, and proving ground has non-GM vehicles in the parking lot. Because of this, Carberry created a campaign to get more GM factory employees to drive The General’s vehicles.
“If you want your family, friends & neighbors to know that you believe in what you build…you need to drive that message home!”, reads the campaign’s poster.
The decision to buy and drive a non-GM vehicle for employees is understandable for new and recent hires, but not for those who have been working at GM for a decent period of time.
Tom Carberry, GM Tonawanda Engine Plant, UAW Local 774
“I can understand how it is when someone first gets hired, money is probably tight, but after a time, you can at least buy a used GM vehicle if you need to buy used,” says Carberry, who has been with UAW Local 774 and Tonawanda for 41 years.
“I have always thought there isn’t better advertisement for your company than to use what you make. We make engines for GM vehicles, not for Ford, Chrysler, Toyota, Honda, Nissan, Hyundai, Mazda, Mitsubishi, Subaru, VW, etc.
Ultimately, nothing speaks louder than using the product that you help create.  But if you work for a company and don’t use the products you help create, then that says something else entirely.
“If you work for GM and park a Ford in your driveway, what does that tell your neighbors? That GM is so bad that not even a GM employee will buy their products!”
“We learned at the Quarterly business review that for every one point increase in market share, GM earns $700 million in revenue”, add Carberry. “I believe we are all in this together and if each person does their part, we can be the vehicle of choice for consumers. Our success is in the hands of each employee, from the quality products that we build to the vehicles that we buy.”
The GM Authority Take
We couldn’t have said it better than Mr. Carberry: there’s no reason that a General Motors employee should drive a non-GM vehicle, no matter their position within GM. That’s baseline; the bare minimum, if you will.
From there, GM can build on the movement by encouraging its 212,000 and growing employees to share share their new vehicle discount with neighbors, friends and family. That’s what we call a powerful grassroots movement to earn new customers for life, while growing market share and profits.
Comments
In my previous job with an automotive supplier, when we visited the Chrysler plant in Etobicoke (near Toronto) we were told that our rental car MUST be a Chrysler or we shouldn’t even park in the lot. Apparently they took a lot of pride in what they built at that plant, kudos to Mr. Carberry for his similar efforts in “built with pride” at Tonawanda!
I feel this way exactly. Growing up in a GM family, when my sister, brother, and me all had started driving we had all GM cars on our driveway. My mother drove her buick Regal GS, my father drove his chevy, and my sister brother and me all drove malibu’s and grand ams. Great cars. People always seemed a little more comfortable when asking us about newer cars to purchase when they saw we all drove GM cars. And our driveways are still like that today!
I guess this does speak volumes of the company-employee relationship at GM! But I do see this quite a bit out in the real world. For example: I know many McDonald’s employees who’ll NEVER eat there; regardless of culture. Many of them simply choose McDonald’s as an avenue for income, and nothing more. Why? Because there’s not much motivation to support the company! (Usually because they have better employment prospects or perhaps there’s a disconnect with the company) Now I believe GM is a great company to work for. I’d imagine there are many perks employment with this company brings. But as is the case with many major companies, the “peasants” (those who perform the menial labor tasks usually associated with production and distribution) typically get the “scraps” of the massive corporate banquet.
A decent solution to this issue is to offer more incentives for employees. But these incentives need to go deeper than just credit towards purchase of a vehicle…….
I guess the best incentive for the employees at the plant should be to get the opportunity to continue building cars and remain employed. If they don’t buy what they build then that makes a strong statement not just that day but for the entire cycle of your vehicle ownership.
Unlike a meal choice where you don’t have to explain it to anyone else as you don’t really leave a “McD” logo on your forehead, when you buy a vehicle from a competition brand you are in fact promoting it to everyone else every day till you sell it or scrap it. At the shopping centre, in your neighbourhood, on the highway, to your friends and family members.
Every time a GM employee buys one non-GM vehicle it hurts GM as if it was 2 hits. 1 hit b/c they didn’t buy GM and a second hit b/c they preferred a competing brand. All GM employees should feel pride in building their vehicles and be strong ambassadors of their product.
I strongly feel that if a plant is looking to lay off some employees to match the lower demand of their vehicles they should pick on workers who continue to drive non-GM vehicles even after many years of employment. Im sure everyone will understand and there will be no tears shed. Loyalty should be rewarded!
I agree that GM employees should get substantial discounts over any other customer… and they do. But if they feel they deserve an additional cash incentive/discount to buy the very product that they manufactured at the factory then maybe they should consider taking a pay cut and freezing salaries.
Don’t bite the hand that feed you!
But employees already get huge discounts. Check out http://www.gmfamilyfirst.com – they’re all on there.
GM Employee discounts are hardly “huge” when you compare them to the price that people actually pay for a vehicle after negotiation. Nobody pays MSRP for a car, not even non-GM people.
And what would I assume if I saw someone pull up to work in a Ford? 1) They are a contract employee, not direct, so they only qualify for the supplier discount, not the employee discount. And 2) they probably have a spouse or other relative who works for Ford, so they got a better deal through the Ford employee discount.
I totally concur with your statement. It is costly to a company’s reputation and profit to see its employees purchasing their competitors’ product. For these employees to not show pride and confidence in what they build for a living is VERY discouraging! Which is why I’m convinced that this issue more than a mere matter of personal preference, or even lack of employee incentives.
Whatever it is, I stand by my belief that it’s a company-employee disconnect. Employees are either discontent with new GM’s management or they’re not confident in what they’re putting out on the market. Or some other issue that’s being overlooked…..
GM has not been giving substantial discounts over other customers. The 20% they have been offering off on several of the models is more discount than we can even get on the corporate driven vehicles… Now that they have been driving those cars for 1 year they are coming out with ridiculous miles. The last two GM vehicles we purchased were without any benefit from GM… they sell them cheaper to the public than we can get using all GM employee discounts.
If you are a good employee,you should be able to drive what you please. I don’t work for GM but I own a Chevy truck. My car is a Challenger and would not want anyone telling me I could or couldn’t drive it. I somewhat understand GM’s point of view, but I don’t believe that I should be told where I can park or what I should drive.
Nice Cobalt and Envoy on that poster. And then are we really still asking why some have made the switch to well made cars?
The plant still wants them to come to work reliably, so if it’s GM you better have three in the driveway in case one doesn’t run and another has a major safety recall at any given time.
Is there a friends/family plan available in Canada?
What’s a GM? If I parked a Holden in my driveway many neighbors would wonder why I didn’t buy an American Chevrolet. If I parked an Opel in my driveway many neighbors would likewise be wondering why I didn’t buy ‘American’. Is driving a Nissan NV200 acceptable?? Would have a Toyota Matrix been acceptable?? After all, those are/were Chevrolet’s and Pontiac’s.
The average person on the street has no idea that most of GM’s old companies (now brands only) had or have anything to do with eachother.
It doesn’t matter how it came to be a GM a vehicle. Rebadged vehicles still required some amount of work for development (even if its just badges), marketing and distribution.
Above all its about that Chevy, GMC, Buick, or Cadillac badge which provide brand visibility and recognition.
With that said I don’t completely agree with this. A car is a major purchase and people should have the freedom to get what they want when they’re spending that kind of money. GM does not provide a vehicle for every product category. For example, they do not offer a premium or sporty small car like a Mini or Fiesta/Focus ST. I have a GM credit card with $2000 towards a GM vehicle. However if Hyundai green lights the Santa Cruz and it lives up to it concept, that will most likely be my next vehicle. When it comes to styling and features, different people will have different wants and needs. They are more than willing as an employee to design a vehicle to the spec set by their market research and superiors, it just might not be the best fit for them.
Shouldn’t this Local be using their time on something other than harassing their members into purchasing a product they may not want or need? Maybe just advertise that “we can help you find the right GM car for you at the right price” and have a program for that instead of just “buy GM”. Despite GM’s prolific product lines and competitiveness, they are not the end-all be-all and having free choice of purchase shouldn’t include even an inch of potential discrimination – this is a bad mentality that can quickly sour attitudes on both sides. Where do all the new GM minivans park?
This isn’t a “new” idea . For the members of local 652 and 602 in Lansing , the union actually put up signs on the chain link fence surrounding the parking lots that non-GM vehicles were not to park on company grounds . And this was back in the early 90’s . It worked for a time and then slowly returned to some people not caring about it . You can pay your employees a decent wage but you can’t control what they will spend their money on . Plus , nowadays the workers can’t even afford to buy what they build anyway . And maybe they dont want to buy a used GM car .
Like the article stated even the lots of the Corporate offices are not all filled with GM cars .
Must be re-election time for the union heads .
I agree this is just a old play from a very old play book.
Unions for years have played this card often as a prelude to contract negotiations. This is not even limited to the auto industry as I have seen it in other fields where the product is in the parking lot. The tire companies here in Akron have had union and even the company put notes on cars that you do not have the companies product. At least in Goodyear’s case they did give a good rebate and often a sales flyer.
The fact is we have many auto makers here in northern Ohio and most of them have the product build by them in the parking lot with a minority of other product also present. The fact is most workers buy the product their MFG makes as they do feel some pride and do get some sort of discount though it is not as great as some think.
There are a lot of factors why people drive what they drive. I owned a Cougar [the car not the wife] for a few years that came with my marriage. I was not going to trade it in just because I hated the car after I just bought a new house. I lived with that car for a couple year till it had to go. I also owned a T bird I bought new because it was cheap. At times you have to make due with what you can afford.
The bottom line is this is just a move by the union to look pro company before they go into negotiation I bet they have this summer.
The fact is what is in the parking lot at the plant really has very small bearing on the companies bottom line. Most do buy but GM, Ford and Chrysler’s futures do not hinge on what their employees drive. It does hold some pride but not much else. This is more an emotional issue than economic.
I bet few people on the line at the 911 plant or any Ferrari line owns what they build. Maybe a VW or Fiat but not much else.
I do know many GM employees who by a new Corvette every year and sell the car for more than they paid for it a year later after the ownership time has expired to were they can sell it. What they do is buy one each year and after so many years they begin to make a profit as most times you can sell a Vette for more than the discount price. GM sells a lot of them this way.
Anyway do not make this out to be more than it is. This is just a union action to lay ground work for future issues.
I retired from Corvette, unless it has changed in the last 3 years no discounts on Corvettes.
Someone may have a friend at a Dealership that can give them a discount but there are no Employee discounts.
Retiree…..We had a rule many years ago that foreign cars had to park in the back.Then people wanted to know what % had to be made in USA.Some foreign brands had more USA parts than the US makers.It soon ended after that.
I used to work for a major Canadian bank and many of the employees had loans, mortgages, and credit cards with other financial institutions. When are new CEO became more sensitive or aware of this he increased the employee discounts and incentives. They were not substantial discounts or incentives, but something none-the-less. Many employees argued that they could get better deals and rates from competitors. Whatever pride and loyalty they had with the employer was quickly eroded when a competitor offered better deals. The automotive industry is no different. Employees, family and friends should be offered deals over-and-above what you can negotiate at a dealership – even if it’s only $500.00 to $1,000 bucks.
Hughes discount…that’s a joke…my husband retired after 30 years…the last pickup we bought we couldn’t use hm discount…it would have cost us more than what they are selling to the general public…and pep vars are now driven a year..most are coming out with over 20000 miles…that is not a good deal….they use to give great employee discounts and drive the car 3 months…in case you didn’t know..they didn’t change the executive drive and buy program
You are correct, good discounts are no more.
I bought a new Malibu for my wife couple years ago and I drive a 95 C1500 truck. The truck takes me to the cleaners buying gas, the Malibu is a great car and I’ll buy her another one later. I needed something cheap, economical etc. I looked at the bottom of the barrel Chevy Spark, was gonna cost me high $15,000.00’s ($600.00) GM Discount. Mitisibishi had new 2015 Mitsubishi Mirage’s for $11,600.00. Out the door plates registration sales tax $12,600.00. I now own 2 GM vehicles and a Foreign Vehicle. Cost and necessity is the reason I own it.
Talk about discrimination.
I’m a retired GM employee and have always bought GM products but I can tell you the employee discount isn’t all that great anymore. I got a better deal not using it when I bought my 2017 Impala which is a great car by the way. I guess I’m old school and never believed in biting the hand that feeds you.
Hmmm GM took plenty of tax payer money to bail out themselves out…I bet a lot of those folks drove non gm cars too.
What car an employee parks in their driveway is their own business. Perhaps GM does not make a vehicle that best suits a particular employee. I can tell you if I am making payments on brand X then that is the car I will be driving. I suppose a spouse has to park on the street if they drive a Chrysler?
Next think is GM will force everyone to wear their unis at home.