Wow....some of you guys.

Okay GMC is not going anywhere, Imagine a brand that has near ZERO development cost, that when added to chevy outsells Ford. GMC buyers will not simply switch the Chevy, we found this out when Oldsmobile drivers didn't switch to buick, they switched to toyota.

The SUVS are what keeps GM alive, SUVS are what pays for the devlpoment of the SS supercharged. For ever 1000 dollars they make on a SS, they make 10x that on a SUV.

I agree that they need to stop rebadging, but platform shareing will never go away, its abundant throughout the industry, Toyota does it with their Lexus cars, Ford does it with Mercury, Nissan and Infinity..Dodge and ALL THREE of the LX cars (300C,Charger,Magnum).
Companies have to do this in order to make building a mutli million dollar factory profitable.
What GM needs to do however, is differentiate more between the versions. The Torrent and the Equinox are a prime example of this, it is basically just a rebadge chevy, literally. What they need to do is change the vehicles more, take the Solstice and the Sky, same platform but much different styling. The Impala and the Grand Prix for example are a good measure, while they could use a bit more, they look quite different.

Chevy has the Impala for the Camry, the Malibu for the Corolla...

The Fit and Finish gap is no longer there, the new SUVS and Cadillacs are great and have gotten Rave reviews because their fit and finish are up their with the rest of the industry, now all GM needs to do is get the media behind them, and off the Toyota Kool-aid, and keep binging attractive products that won't stagnate the market. One reason I fear a retro Camaro is because of this.

Look at this example, the SSR, EVERYONE at the auto show said BUILD IT, they did...yet then they wen't "oh you want ME to buy it...uhhh no thanks". The same thing will happen here im afriad. All retro cars, every single one has suffered from market stagnation when their styling grows.."out" of favor, and with the retro theme, there leaves little to change about the styling.

I think they need to continue the work they have done; the GM900s, and mainly need to get the Media on their side, and the huge albatross that is the UAW off their back.

 

Oldsmobile hasn't been making cars for a couple years buddy.

 

could not have been said more beautifully.

 

They still make Aleros and Silhouettes up until last year. Hence why they need or needed to kill it.

 

GM IS doing everything they need to do to get back to profitabilty and are not in such dire straights as the media portrays . Yes , they are indeed in some serious trouble financially . But , the product is not the main reason their in the boat their in now . It takes a portion of the blame but the main blame is the way they operate . Companies like Toyota , Nissan and Honda have such high profit margins because their very efficient companies on a global scale , do not carry the immense burden of high healthcare cost and their workers are not paid as much as a typical GM line worker . All of this doom and gloom of GM closing plants in the US and laying off so many people is something that really shoulda been done years ago . The media would like to portay GM as company that will surely file bankrupcy , but its really just cleaning house to compete in todays modern economy to survive and prosper . GM was a VERY inefficient company with far too much overlap in jobs , people with same jobs but different titles ect ect . GM NA , GM Europe ect. instead of operating separatly in different parts of the world are streamlining into 1 GM . Working together throughout the world . GM spent a HUGE amount of money on a computer network that links engineers , designers ect . For instance , the Camaro is being developed by both US( design) and Holden(chassis) in Austrailia . Given the time difference , the car could be worked on 24 hours a day . If Holden got another Monaro , which wold give Pontiac a new GTO as well , it would likely be built in the US . Working so close with Holden will be a major contributor to the return of RWD sedans for GM NA . Its sad , yes that so many US engineers lost their jobs , but the overlap was simply not needed under the new way of business , with austrailian , europeon and US engineers all working together on cars and trucks throughout the world . As far as plant closings go , GM will lose 12 , but with technology , it is modling existing plants to manufacture several layouts in single plants , allowing them to do low volume niche cars and still make a profit . For instance is the Sky/Solstice plant , along with the Vauxhaul Lightning with build other models as well not related to the kappa platform to utilize the plants HUGE capabilty .

As far as product goes . The new cars at this years Autoshows are the 1st examples of FULL on Lutz cars and trucks . Look at the interior and the fit and finish of the Buick Enclave concept , the Buick Lucerne , new GM SUV's , Soltice/Sky , C6 vette , new STS , the Camaro concept , the Saturn Aura , the new Wild looking ( yes really) Saturn Vue ( the concept , not the new 06 front clip) . There your guides to GM's future , coupled with GM's rock solid powertrain dept . I cant wait to see GM's new RWD's . Cars like the Cobalt , G6 , current Malibu ect. where partially developed under Lutz , but still had old GM ties . So if you base your opinion of what GM has coming in the future based on their recent newer models ( 04-05) , your gonna literally be shocked to see how wrong u are . The 08 refresh on the Cobalt , I bet the interior doesnt change much on design , but I bet the apperance of the plastic and everything else will improve dramatically to current day standards . Good stuff is coming all around . Im not worried about GM's future at all .

As far as public perception goes , its still gonna take long time for both the automotive media and the general population to actually consider GM a desirable purchase . The Ron Zarella era of GM , with heavy use of badge engineeing , tupperware interiors , shoddy quality ect ect ect , long periods of time before redesigns are gonna stick in peoples minds like the plague .

Im done , I wrote too much .

 

April 04 was the last year and they were 2004s. I know I am being picky