If you’ve been following our extensive coverage of current GM discount offers, incentives, and rebates, you may have noticed that certain offers are restricted to “current competitive owners” – those who own a non-GM vehicle. Such discount offers, known within the industry as “conquest offers” that are meant to entice owners of other manufacturers to “switch” to the vehicle from another automaker, are coming under scrutiny, as loyal GM owners voice their displeasure with the fact that General Motors is seemingly favoring new customers over those who have been buying its products.
The comment below, voiced by a GM Authority reader, really highlights the root of the frustration:
I have to agree with others… it feels like Current & Loyal GM Owners are being left out. Why limit it to NON GM owners? If it is offered to everyone, then Current Owners may trade-in their current vehicle for a new vehicle, which would make those used cars available to Current & Non-Current Owners who may not want to or be able to buy a brand new vehicle. It seems like that would be a WIN / WIN situation for GM.
Objectively, the first half of the above statement is sound: if a certain GM discount is applicable to a larger amount of people, then that should, in turn, mean that more people will take advantage of that offer, resulting in higher sales volumes. But we have to imagine that there are other parameters that The General takes into account before rolling out its incentives, such as those associated with specific business objectives and targets.
Specifically, we’re certain that GM is optimizing its incentives for higher profitability over than pure sales volumes, which has been the automaker’s strategic direction for the past several years. However, the strategy seems to be having somewhat of a negative impact, as another GM Authority reader writes:
I own a 2012 Cadillac SRX and am seriously considering a GMC Acadia Denali, but a major discount would not apply to me because I am a GM customer?
The ‘major discount’ referenced above was an $8,000 GMC Acadia discount offered back in May. Thus, it seems the GM discount offers for competitive owners may be problematic, as they’ve been stirring up dissatisfaction amongst existing customers. We should note that the issues presented here are not unique to GM, but are a strategy practiced by most automakers.
So, what do you think? Does The General need to take corrective measures to make sure its existing customers are happy, and extend conquest-level incentives to everyone, or is this much ado about nothing? Let us know what you think by participating in the poll and dropping a comment.
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Comments
GM better worry more about keeping past customers than gaining new customers.
Ol ‘ 55 If I was GM I would worry about both. If not worry I would everything I could to keep my present customers and gain new ones. Offer superior products at better prices or at the least competitive prices. But then again we are talking GM which leaves me a little worried.
Must be a slow day in the office as EVERY ONE knows this has been a standard business practice for generations.
How did the last cell phone or television promo that you saw go Francis, any different?
Who is Francis?
I bought a Genesis for this very reason
Hyundai garbage. A company so unconcerned with quality that they have dragged their feet for several years on fixing their rod knocking Theta II. Denying thousands of low mileage Hyundai owners from warranty coverage when their engines blew up or caught fire for no reason.
That problem didn’t generally start until 100k+ miles and it was due to idiots in Alabama assembling the motor and leaving metal shavings in the internals. The S. Korean assembled Theta II engines where fine.
I remember my GM Grand Am throwing a rod at 65K miles and GM giving me the middle finger. How many Cruz’s can you find in the junk yard with <100K miles. Careful tossing stones in glass houses.
probably wont find many Cruzes in a junkyard with <100k because until 2016 they had a 100k powertrain warranty. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Well GM has already started to offer current owners special discounts about one to two months ago.
Or so says the sales info GMC and Chevy has sent me.
The complaints were just some folks on forums that most were not buying anyways.
No matter what they are covering each at various times.
Scott3,
More complaints and people not buying excuses.
How do you know who is doing what.
I for one am VERY infuriated by this.
What is worse is when your an existing GM owner you cant get a $16.00 known faulty part replaced, but if your a new to GM customer you can get an $8000.00 rebate.
Again not complaining just the real world truth, and also already ordered my 2020 HD Denali Duramax with a MSRP of $77,416.00.
So your Complaining and not buying comments are BOTH WRONG.
Like I have been saying all along. Still a lifelongGMowner but NOT EVER being quite about GM having ZERO CUSTOMER SERVICE.
And GM having a HORRIBLE CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE !!!
I simply can no longer recommend a GM product to anyone !!
It is the people like you who I think are the main problem with GM.
Even after having troubles with your own GM product, all you do is spread the lies of how good the product is.
Again if you spend $37,000.00 on a truck and have troubles with your GM product, YOU HAD TROUBLE WITH YOUR GM PRODUCT.
Your GM product was not GREAT.
So myself as a GM owner would rather have someone, anyone tell the truth and get the problem solved, then go around boasting how good a GM product you own, AFTER HAVING TROUBLES yourself.
How would GM ever know they have a problem if all they hear are people like you lying and never having any troubles, and people like me who have had troubles are just complaining.
Carry on !!
but more often than not, doesn’t gm give out incentives for current gm owners?
anyway, it seems like buy a gm car comes down to waiting until there is a ton of cash on the hood.
it seems like the japanese manufacturers don’t do this nearly as much as the domestics.
The only customer GM is worried about are the suits that sit on the Board of Directors . GM wants their customers to be loyal and a reurn customer but offer discounts like this that are destroying their own base . Old GM buyers are what kept the company afloat yet GM doesn’t reckognize it or simply don’t care anymore .
There are a ton of soon to be former 2019 Ram 1500 owners looking for a truck that isn’t such a quality train wreck. Ford and GM are trying to lure in those people. So far I know two guys that have already lemon lawed their 2019 Ram Limited/Longhorns. A 3rd is getting closer and closer to calling it quits due to all the problems they’re having.
Kent,
I’m not going to say what you are saying isn’t the truth, however I to know at least 3 people who have went from a GM truck to the RAM.
Also can you give a list of the known class action lawsuits against the new RAM like the 8 speed GM junk ?
Or even the other class action lawsuits on other GM products.
And that’s when the lemon law fails to work.
I used to be just like you and do whatever I could to try to brag up GM.
This simply is no longer the case.
In the past 39 years I watched the others fail and still felt GM was the best.
I simply know, way to many people now, who have switched and GM is no longer the leader in anything.
Even the fellow Cadillac owners I know have switched to Mercedes, BMW, and Audi, and when we talk can not believe I still drive a GMC trucks and Cadillacs. And at this point would never think of going back.
But I am sure that is part of the GM plan, switch truck owners to RAM and they will soon find out that GM is better, good luck with that one !!
We gave away our Sonic and are in need of a new car. I am not shopping GM as there is no way I am paying more than someone else who has not been as loyal as me.
Giving a Sonic away? They’ll have to pry my Sonic from my cold dead hands. I bought it in 2013 and it now has over 130k on it. maintenance cost over 6+ years has been well under $2k. The average life expectancy of a vehicle today is 11.8 years and I hope to get close to that. Hopefully GM will make a decent hot hatch in the b/c segment in the next 3-5 years to serve as it’s replacement.
If you gave your Sonic away wouldn’t you now be eligible for a new GMC Terrain With the discount??
yea this always left kind of a sour taste in my mouth, but it’s pretty rare to see an 8000 conquest offer, in fact I don’t think I’ve personally ever seen one that high. Usually its 1500 or 3000. Next time I buy GM, I’ll probably try to make the finance guy feel a little guilty for not rewarding my loyalty, but it’s not a deal-breaker for me, and I don’t need to be convinced as to the quality of GM vehicles. My K2 silverado has been rock solid going on 4 years now, dropping boats in and out of rivers and generally living outside. Not a pavement princess by any stretch, and not a single issue. Not one. Well, I fixed a minor rattle under the dash in my garage. That’s IT. And THAT’S why when it comes time to upgrade, it will be another Silverado. I just feel like GM makes a higher quality product than Ford or RAM and everything I’ve seen and experienced tells me that is true. I need to know my truck is going to get me off the river after a long day and mine does every time. So when I talk to the Chevy dealer it’s not like I am begging for them to give me the conquest discount or anything. I’ve gotten my moneys worth on my truck alone.
I cant get any discounts. I have owned GM products since I was 20 years old. But when I tried to buy a new Chevy truck this year . I didnt qualify because I didnt lease my gmc truck. It was to old and I owned the vehicle. Talk about being a loyal cust. My problems seems that I have a good job , I can put a downpayment and make the payments. And have a credit score in the mid 800. But I’m not rewarded. Maybe Toyota would like me.
Then go. Good luck with your future Toyota truck. No need to troll around here.
I’m a very loyal GM owner starting with my ’68 RS/SS Convertible Camaro, ’11 Corvette GS Convertible, ’17 Silverado LTZ 6.2, ’97 s10 and have owned numerous GM products over the years and have been shopping for a new Sierra Denali but when it comes to trading in my Silverado, they are telling me I will loose my ass on it because they new body style has killed the value, but when I’ve looked at the new RAMS they are more than willing to make it worth my while but I can’t bring myself to buying anything other than GM, but money talks!
Personally I feel like you would be getting more truck for your dollar if you bought a Chevy badged 2500. The Denali is a lot of up charge for some pretty trivial creature comforts imo. The 6.0 gas job with the 3/4 ton chassis is a better overall platform than any 1/2 ton.
Why are you already looking for a new truck after 3 years?
Well maybe current owners should become competitive owners. Say a new Toyota. Then in four or five years they’ll qualify for the discount.
Have you not seen how Chevy in particular bows at the alter of JD Power in every commercial the last many years? This is all about buying a “more people switched to…” marketing line. Whatever end of year number they’ve given up in conquest discounts is the price they’ve put on obtaining the yearly switch championship. The GM owner discounts this year had a particularly nasty slap in the face of “must finance with GM financial” at their garbage 10% rate while your local credit union will give you 3%. Conquest has no such obligation. Even the GM card holders among us have been reduced to a once every January bonus offer that varies between something nice like your earnings + 1,500 above, or as paltry as removing a redemption cap but in a bad incentive month.
The company switch title is not worth pissing off the loyal base. Or maybe it is and some bean counter could prove it and that’s why they don’t care.
Doesn’t GM know their competitors offer the “Conquest” incentives. Seems like we just have to alternate car companies as we purchase cars.
All the ads I’ve been seeing lately are for current owners or lessees.
I just bought a Terrain Denali but GM did give us the extra 2% on top of their 15-17% off for the current GM owners
I tried to buy GM 10 years ago when I was looking for a full sized truck. They were $6k more expensive than the Toyota Tundra I ended up with. Most of my friends with GMs 6-10 years old complain about problems all the time. My Tundra, 111,000 miles.. not one problem. Did my first major fluid change at 98k. Still on the Same plugs til 120k. One thing I have learned, Toyota makes trucks that run forever….
Well, why are you on this site? If you don’t buy GMs, then why bother with the input. If you don’t own one, then you can’t speak to whether or not it is a good product. I have owned GMs for 35 years and haven’t had any problems. I get tired of hearing “I haven’t owned one, but my friends have.” Here’s a story for you. A friend of mine tells me I should buy a Toyota as I was picking him up from the repair shop. He said I should sell my GM because Toyota was more reliable. All manufacturers have problems with vehicles. Don’t come on here writing negative stuff when you’ve never owned one. It gets old.
Jeff,
You are also the problem with GM.
GM and YOU need to hear WHY CUSTOMERS are buying other brands !!!
Like at a GM dealership, if you get bad service they will not do service on your vehicles any longer.
This is what GM is doing, GM only wants a 5 star rating so if you can’t give GM 5 stars GM doesn’t want you as a customer.
And it shows in the “good enough” GM products.
If all you want to hear is how great your product is form your current customers, GM will never improve the product line !!
I have owned GM products for 39 years and have had MANY problems !!
And have had HORRIBLE CUSTOMER SERVICE !!
I to get tired of the “fan boys ” that even after replacing parts on new GM vehicles, still think it has had no troubles and is great !!
How after buying a new GM truck, having transmission troubles, having transmission replaced, can you STILL spread the GM word of greatness ? (just one example on this site)
Lets hear ALL the ” potential ” CUSTOMERS reasons WHY and WHY NOT they have or continue to buy GM products !!!
Maybe GM will get the drift and make a better mouse trap !!
Because all this GM is great because GM says it great is just that !!
IT GETS OLD !!!
Ive owned plenty in the past… All Garbage. but when I tried to buy the last one they couldn’t come close. The ones I had in the past fell apart at 50k, 74k and 80k. I’m all for reliability and cost, But when you can get Toyota reliability WITH a cheaper cost… why would you buy GM. If GM had competitive pricing I would have considered them. Its finding the best deal. If the GM product was the best deal, i would have one now.
Maybe you offer longer warranties for existing owners.
Ha! Warranties…..
Part of my warranty runs out in 36 months. My lease lasts 39!
Guess what happens when you don’t buy their extended warranty….. They throw your info to the wolves, who will be calling you weekly for years to come, no matter what you say!
Bye bye GM
Targeted incentives have been my problem with GM for a while. I hate the idea of going into a dealership to buy a car and finding out or knowing that somebody else could have gotten the exact same car for less money for various or random reason.
Some people get GM card top off offers, some don’t. Sometimes it’s a conquest rebate but not a loyalty rebate, sometimes it’s the other way around. I really hate that I might want to purchase a GM car, but someone turning in a lease could get a lot more money off the car, but I can’t because I am trading in a car. It’s maddening.
We have a couple GM cars still in our extended family, but a lot of us have gone to other brands, it’s not just because of this, but because of the way incentives are done and how they fluctuate so quickly.
it’s a small part that makes some people lean towards other brands with more consistent pricing, which leads to better residuals on the trade-in.
I have read many of your concerns, but as a GM employee that brings you the lineup of GM products, how do you think I feel when I see employee discount for everyone? Not very important
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