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How to fix GM in little time...
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Posted by Coolknight [Email] (more from Coolknight) on Mon, 6 Jun 2005 08:02:56 Share Post by Email
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If find situation which GM has managed to get itself in, quite amusing.

Again and again it is the same bread of "Accountants" that have managed to damage GMs products to a point where they have become hard to sell. Also there has been a total lack of vision concerning new engines, gearboxes and dealing with far too expensive OPEL plants in Germany.

While GM was busy destroying its product lineup with the gifted input of accountants and absence of engineers, the marketing people had to focus mainly on pricing to move product that is hard to sell.

GM has failed to get the job done in the last 10 years, while they were busy failing, even the French managed to fix their Renault and Peugeot companies... which btw nowadays turn out cars which are way better then Chevys, Opels, Pontiac's and Buicks. If you don't believe me, drive a Chevy then a brand new French car of similar type. GM has a huge problem!

So must GM do ?

1. Deal with the Opel crisis!
The Opel plants in Germany need to be closed and the engineering moved to lower cost countries. It used to be that an Opel of similar quality then a Ford or VW would cost around 10 to 15% less then these products. Today, a Opel of inferior quality to a Renault costs near 15% more. No matter what GMs marketing folks and accounts think, Opel has always been an "affordable" brand. Well nowadays Opel is charging prices like VW which are ridiculous and of course, sales are soft. It also essential that OPELs score as well in crash tests as Renault does, you see why would someone pay 15% more then for a Renault when at the end of the day the Renault is the safer car. People aren't dumb they pay for good safety. It is about time that GM managers have the guts to kill those expensive German manufacturing units, and move manufacturing to a country where one can make money, GM is to make cars profitably and not help German politicians.

2. Deal with the engine crisis!
Of course V8s are what the American consumers wanted, but the fact is that oil prices are not coming back to $20.- a barrel. China just needs to much oil for that to happen. So it is about time that GM replaces some OLD JUNK engines with some modern ones. Take the good old 3.8L engine and DUMP it! What GM needs are the following gasoline engines. a) 2.0L 4Cyl 16V engine with 125/150hp. b) 2.2L 4 Cyl engine with 155/165hp. c) 3.5L 6Cyl 24V engine with 225/265hp. add a bunch of turbo engines d) 2.0L 4Cyl. 16V Turbo 185/205hp. e) 2.3L 4Cyl. 16V Turbo 230/280hp. f) 3.0L Turbo 6Cyl 24V Turbo 250/325hp, now also GM needs to have the guts to put these into its cars, pickups and SUVs. Fact is, GM has most of these engines, it just needs to adapt them quickly to its existing products to replace, the no longer wanted V8s.

3. Deal with the gearbox crisis!
No more 4 speed automatics! Dump all these gearboxes! All new automatics must be 5 gears or more! This way GM can void the gap between the 3rd and overly long 4th gear, this will help provide better performance and also improve fuel burn.

4. Fix the interiors!
No more GTA style interiors with cheap looking rubber and plastic everywhere. One can do nice car interiors by simply coming up with nicer designs using the same materials, maybe GM engineers should look at some of the so "inferior" French cars to understand the idea. There are also alternatives to leather interiors... you can make em, part leather part cloth which is less expensive and might often even look better, being creative is important. No every customer wants leather, many do but many will be happy with a nice cloth interior if it is done nicely.

5. Fix the handling, tires and brakes!
To many GM cars handle like pigs and have lacking brakes. GM needs to spend more during manufacturing to get the brakes up to a modern standard and also to improve the damping of its cars. All too often the springs are too hard and the dampers too soft which results in a bumpy ride with poor handling. It is also time to end the "high-treadwear" and "all season" nonsense on cars that are sold as sporty models. Ship the cars with the tires the customers wants. "Summer" "Winter" or "All Season", no big deal for a dealer to swap 4 wheels.

6. Be the spearhead when it comes to overall safety!
Things like tire pressure control systems are cheap options on many "French" cars. If they can do it, GM can also do it. GM must make sure that modern features like "automatic" windshield wipers, lights and tire pressure control systems, keyless go and park assist are inexpensive options on all models. Features like these enhance the value of a vehicle,
they make it more user friendly and safer and thus more attractive. Of course modern airbags and improved crash safety are also a must. Many safety devices are very basic, such as standardized child seat mounting points or side sun shields or defrost side mirrors. Things that are simply to add to existing cars for no R&D. Things like heated seats and defrost side mirrors and fog lights should be standard on all GM cars destined for Northern states, not for those who go to warmer states. In order to deliver the same value, cars sold in different climatic areas should come with different standard safety features. For example cars sold in southern areas should then include front double sun blinds and in the rear doors sun shields. Point is, differentiate the product according to where you are going to ship it to, this way one can standardize only the useful options for different areas. (I strongly doubt that many customers in Wyoming need vented seats , leather, a sun roof, extra potent automatic AC and rear door side mounted sun blinds, for these customers heated seats and a nicer non butt freezing cloth interior, basic AC and a good heating system along with defrost side mirrors, keyless go and fog lights are of more value and improve the safety for them.)

7. Be aware that weight = fuel consumption!
Too many GM vehicles come standard with features which increase weight and that not everyone wants. The sunroof is a good example. Many people love it, however tall people don't love sunroofs cause they take away head space. Also, we don't all need the roof rails on our SUVs. They are weight, they increase drag and often simple fixating points for mounting an optional roof rail system would be enough. Give the consumer the choice! Allow em to swap unwanted options for other options if they so desire. There are plenty of people out there that are willing to wait 3-4 weeks if they can get their dream vehicle without the options they have no use for! Same applies to the spare tire. How many people are able to swap
a tire ? Very often a tire repair kit is enough, and rather make the extra trunk place available, reduce the weight of the vehicle. In Europe, the spare tire has become a zero cost or $60.- option for most cars. This is a far better alternative then to manufacture cars with options for which ultimately GM doesn't get paid for or which cost it sales.

8. Stop the ULTRA premium CAR AUDIO nonsense!
Too many of GM cars come with sound systems that are way more then what the consumer wants. If someone wants a super premium sound system, let him pay for it. If not simply install sound systems that are "Good" for most of us. Did you ever sit in a Ferrari ? Do you honestly believe that they come with 600W AUDIO systems ? With all the music from the engine, simpler
systems are fitted which are lighter and less expensive. Fact is that too many cars some with AUDIO systems that are bad for the hearing and will never be used at full strength by the consumer. GM should spend more effort on sound quality then on db capacity! Things like a standard 6 CD changer / radio and 4x40w are of more use to most of us then a single CD player with equalizer and 300W!

9. Abandon the build in GPS effort.
Lets be honest here, a GPS system remains an expensive option for any car and very often the consumer does not need it or can't afford it. Instead of that, on the top of the DASH GM should integrate a port for portable GPS systems that can be plugged into it, as to get the cars speed and
other useful data. Every base model GM car should have this port then when the consumer wants to, he could buy a portable GPS that is compatible and hook it up into any of his GM cars when needed. Integrated GPS systems should be only available on top of the line models where the consumer is likely to order them. This way GM only needs to make a port available
on most models which reduces R&D expenses to integrate the GPS into the dashboard. A manufacturer like Garmin could then simply make a portable GPS that can be hocked into the GM data and power port with a simple click.


Example... Take a Tahoe and put in the new turbo engines which BIG intercoolers (not small ones which increase the fuel burn!) and new 5 gear auto gearboxes. Give the new vehicles a limited 5year/50'000 mile warranty, but in any case, cover parts for a turbo replacement up to 7years or 70'000 miles to inspire confidence into the NEW turbo engines. Fact is, an nice Tahoe has a list price of around $45'600.- and with these improved more fuel efficient engines, it will not be necessary to sell em with a discount between $6'000.- to $8'000.-, the added manufacturing cost
would be around $3'000.-, but now you can reduce the discount to only $2'000.- which means... every unit you sell you make between a $1'000.- to $3'000.- more. Also, it will be less trouble to adapt the new engines then one might think into many SUVs, as most people order these two wheel drive and not all wheel drive. It is real simple to fit a newer smaller size engine into a RWD car, new engine, new gearbox and mount adaptors and revised electronics. Simply use an adapter, one that allows you to use the existing mount points, this way you can get fully assembles engine gearbox units to the plant and put em in along with the revised electronics, no need for expensive frame redesigns.

As to the engines, GM already makes most of what is needed, what it takes is to have the guts to put these into bigger cars and to do the right marketing. There is no reason why the good old SAAB 2.3L Turbo engine attached to a new auto gearbox would not fit under the hood of a ie. 2wd Tahoe, plus GM could simply use the same engine and only Tweak the ECU to pump out enywhere between 230hp to 280hp and plenty of torque in the 1800 to 4400 rpm range, which would translate into very good cruise economy.

Of course, to start with, there might be limited availability of some of the new engines until production is shifted, however done over the whole GM lineup, this might me 50'000 to 100'000 units a month that come with new engines after a setup of only 6 months, after that it rises. Which translates quickly into some real money... probably as much as 1 Billion more a month after only a year for only the engine changes.

Of course, not only SUVs need new engines, quickly GM will have to adapt its new engines and gearboxes into its existing FWD cars. Over next 2-3 year the design of the lineup needs the some improvements in design and also in feature packaging. Any GM car should come with a bit more then there is now, ie. every GM car should have a engine RPM meter, not just the "better" models, also features like modern front/side/head airbags systems must be standard on every GM car sold in the US.

If GM can achieve this, sales and profits will improve, the key is to offer cars which aren't cheap, but a good value to those that buy em!

Regards,
Coolknight

posted by 212.77.42...


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