During the recent GM Investor Day presentation, GM President Mark Reuss discussed how the automaker is implementing its “Winning with Simplicity” initiative. By eliminating thousands of unique parts and orienting its business toward simplicity, GM is reducing costs and increasing efficiency in its manufacturing processes, with the ultimate goal of increasing profits.
“Let me talk briefly about our profitability efforts with a phrase you have heard us mention before; that is, ‘Winning with Simplicity.’ About making our customers’ lives easier while taking costs out of the system. It goes hand in hand with our retail innovations because as you reduce the complexity of building a vehicle, you also reduce the complexity of buying a vehicle. We optimize trim and option packages across all brands, and we save on engineering, tooling, manufacturing, and logistics costs. It affects everything from processes to plant space, as you saw today.”
When Reuss talks about optimizing trim and option packages across all brands, he could also referring to the Y trim strategy that’s in effect in one way or another in all four GM retail brands in North America: Chevy, Buick, GMC, and Cadillac. Using the Y trim strategy, GM consolidates and eliminates trims while adding some new ones to create more simplified lineups that are easier for consumers to shop for.
“This has become a real focus over the last 18 months and has already provided huge benefits. We have eliminated about 2,700 unique part numbers, including expensive items like seat assemblies, fascias, wiring harnesses, and much more. The part reductions cover both ICE and electric vehicles. On average, we see about a 10-percent reduction in total part numbers per vehicle with a strong focus on delivering the right content to the customer. All of our programs now in development have this increased focus on efficiency and simplicity right from the start.”
Parts bin sharing is nothing new for GM, but based on Reuss’s comments, the automaker is focusing more intensely on simplifying manufacturing and supply chains by using fewer unique parts.
“For example, if you take the 2025 Cadillac Lyriq versus the 2024 model, we reduced the part count by 24 percent. That is a long list of parts we no longer have to design, engineer, source, warehouse, install, and validate. And we are not stopping there. The next generation of simplicity will build on these efforts and focus on controlling total build combinations for the reducing parts and helping our plants run even more efficiently.”
If implemented well, the “Winning with Simplicity” strategy we’ve heard about from Mark Reuss and Mary Barra should be beneficial to both consumers and GM’s bottom line.
Comments
Surely beneficial to GMs bottom line. But to customers? I have some doubts. Eliminating base trims isn’t all that great in some cases.
They’ll be eliminating a lot more than base trims.
Customers love less choices and paying more for the privilege. Didn’t you know?
It hasn’t stopped the Tesla sheep.
If GM is going the way of Honda whereby trim levels effectively embody option packages, then this is a good thing. Nobody is going to miss the dizzying array of options and options packages within a multitude of trim levels.
Toyota prides themselves over this efficiency and hopefully those savings will go in making their cars more competitive (they arguably already have been pretty competitive but they haven’t convinced people that look beyond the stigma).
As for Cadillac, I hope they don’t do the confusing mess Lexus does with their packages. I try to build a Lexus online and nothing is explained (like what cobtents from another package is included in the higher up packages) and nothing is compatible with each other. I remember at one point I couldn’t get an around view monitor on the NX with the Mark Levinson sound system. What a mess.
I remember going to a GM dealer in the ’60’s and sat down with the sales man ,and asked “What can I do for you”.I responded I’m looking for a GS 400 convertible, he then proceeded to give me a brochure,color chart and an option sheet. I ticked off the boxes I wanted,left him a deposit and got delivery of the car “that I wanted” Today the dealers are shoving what you don’t want or need down your throat. As a long term GM enthusiast I am very disappointed in their market stragedy You can’t get any information on what you want,and DON’T tell me to go on the computer because that isn’t the answer!!!
I remember when they did that with the Cadillac Cimarron