My Two Dents on GM's Platform Portfolio

GM's lineup is cancerous, malignant tumors coming in the form of superfluous platforms. Some are only being used for one vehicle; what a waste. The K-platform beneath the DTS is on its death bed, as is the H-platform under the Lucerne. The Chevy Impala will soon be the last remaining car on the W-platform, and plastic surgery will do little to alleviate the pain. Why not consolidate?

Epsilon 2: The Possibilities Are Endless

The Buick guys did it right, moving the 2010 LaCrosse over to this 'bad boy'. Available all-wheel-drive and a direct injection V6? Yes, please. This is the kind of thinking that will turn Buick into the Lexus-fighter it wants to be.

If Pontiac adopted the Epsilon II, it could beef up the suspension and then we have a performance-minded AWD midsize with good fuel economy (What's that? Focused and fuel efficient?). Eventually they could even offer it with a stick, and maybe even a hybrid. Insanity! Pontiac breaking the rules and providing a fun-to-drive hybrid would really put them on the map again, giving the G8 an appropriate little brother. Now that's exciting.

While we're putting good cars on modern platforms, could we maybe stretch out Epsilon 2 for the next Impala? Absolutely. Chevy would lose its V8 options, but sacrifices must be made. The SS could even return one day in turbo V6 guise, a la the Taurus SHO. Hey, if GM wants the V8, they should use the damn Zeta platform as originally planned. This brings me to my next point.

Zeta: You Wanted It, You Built it, Now Use It

GM, while you're thinking straight: don't kill off the Buick's big daddy. Get your money's worth out of the Zeta platform by putting it under the Lucerne. Simply revise the exterior of the G8 a tad. I know at this point I am advocating the dreaded badge engineering, but in these tough times costs must be cut.

Take a look at any one of these: the Holden Statesman/Caprice ((LWB Commodore), Mid-East Chevy Lumina/Caprice, or Shanghai-GM Buick Park Avenue. If not the perfect solution, badge engineering the next Lucerne would at least refresh Buick's top model along with keeping the Pontiac-Buick relationship unique. Suspension tweaks to soften the ride, wood trim, and V6 and V8 power plants; this could be Buick's next stab at counteracting the Lexus infection.

GM, this is being as plain as possible. Do you want to get back to a state of health? That means cutting out the bad parts and helping improve the good ones that are already there. Investing hundreds of millions of dollars to have the best medicine around, and then not taking it? That's just stupid. Furthermore, why take eight old pills a day when two new ones offer the same relief? General, stop being a baby and make better use of the pills in the cabinet. Doctor's orders.

BREAKING: GM Confirms Penske as Saturn Buyer, Says Production of Aura, Vue and Outlook Will Continue

Confirming an earlier report this morning, General Motors has announced that it has reached a preliminary agreement with Penske Automotive Group for the sale of the Saturn brand. The financial terms of the deal were not disclosed but GM said that it expects the close the transaction in the third quarter of this year. The American automaker said that if completed, the deal will save more than 350 dealerships and 13,000 jobs at Saturn and its retailers in the United States.

Under the agreement, Penske, the second-largest retailer in the States, would obtain the rights to the brand as well as certain other Saturn assets while GM would continue production, on a contract basis, of the Saturn Aura sedan, Vue SUV and Outlook SUV - yes, the Astra and Sky Roadster are 'dead'.

"This is the combination of two iconic teams: Saturn and Penske," said Saturn general manager Jill Lajdziak. "GM had the vision to create Saturn and has the desire to see it succeed in the future. There has been a groundswell of support for Saturn, with our retailers and owners urging us to save the brand," Lajdziak continued. "We heard their call loud and clear, and it inspired us as we worked to secure Saturn's future."

"Saturn has a passionate customer base and outstanding dealer network," said Roger Penske, chairman of Penske Automotive Group. "For nearly 20 years Saturn has focused on treating the customer right. We share that philosophy, and we want to build on those strengths."

Smart Distributor Reported to Have Won Bid for GM's Saturn Brand

The Penske Automotive Group, a car retailer that operates mostly in the U.S. and the UK and has the distributing rights for Daimler's Smart cars in the States, is the winning bidder for GM's Saturn unit, Bloomberg reported Friday morning. Citing a an unnamed source close to the negotiations, the news agency said that Penske will pay a price of $100 million to $200 million and that the deal may be announced as early as today. Earlier this week, General Motors announced that it had reached a preliminary agreement to sell Hummer to China's Sichuan Tengzhong Heavy Industrial Machinery Co. while the U.S. automaker that is currently reorganizing in Chapter 11 also plans to sell its Saab division.

Via: Bloomberg

My Two Dents on GM's Platform Portfolio

GM's lineup is cancerous, malignant tumors coming in the form of superfluous platforms. Some are only being used for one vehicle; what a waste. The K-platform beneath the DTS is on its death bed, as is the H-platform under the Lucerne. The Chevy Impala will soon be the last remaining car on the W-platform, and plastic surgery will do little to alleviate the pain. Why not consolidate?

Epsilon 2: The Possibilities Are Endless

The Buick guys did it right, moving the 2010 LaCrosse over to this 'bad boy'. Available all-wheel-drive and a direct injection V6? Yes, please. This is the kind of thinking that will turn Buick into the Lexus-fighter it wants to be.

If Pontiac adopted the Epsilon II, it could beef up the suspension and then we have a performance-minded AWD midsize with good fuel economy (What's that? Focused and fuel efficient?). Eventually they could even offer it with a stick, and maybe even a hybrid. Insanity! Pontiac breaking the rules and providing a fun-to-drive hybrid would really put them on the map again, giving the G8 an appropriate little brother. Now that's exciting.

While we're putting good cars on modern platforms, could we maybe stretch out Epsilon 2 for the next Impala? Absolutely. Chevy would lose its V8 options, but sacrifices must be made. The SS could even return one day in turbo V6 guise, a la the Taurus SHO. Hey, if GM wants the V8, they should use the damn Zeta platform as originally planned. This brings me to my next point.

Zeta: You Wanted It, You Built it, Now Use It

GM, while you're thinking straight: don't kill off the Buick's big daddy. Get your money's worth out of the Zeta platform by putting it under the Lucerne. Simply revise the exterior of the G8 a tad. I know at this point I am advocating the dreaded badge engineering, but in these tough times costs must be cut.

Take a look at any one of these: the Holden Statesman/Caprice ((LWB Commodore), Mid-East Chevy Lumina/Caprice, or Shanghai-GM Buick Park Avenue. If not the perfect solution, badge engineering the next Lucerne would at least refresh Buick's top model along with keeping the Pontiac-Buick relationship unique. Suspension tweaks to soften the ride, wood trim, and V6 and V8 power plants; this could be Buick's next stab at counteracting the Lexus infection.

GM, this is being as plain as possible. Do you want to get back to a state of health? That means cutting out the bad parts and helping improve the good ones that are already there. Investing hundreds of millions of dollars to have the best medicine around, and then not taking it? That's just stupid. Furthermore, why take eight old pills a day when two new ones offer the same relief? General, stop being a baby and make better use of the pills in the cabinet. Doctor's orders.

Saturn - A Casualty of War

I originally intended to write an article extolling Cadillac for their colossal turnaround as a brand, but alas, that will have to wait. Today's star is located at the other end of General Motors' wide spectrum of products: Saturn, the General's attempt at an entry-level brand. Go back with me for moment to the 1980's. America's auto industry was reeling from the threat of affordable, entry-level foreign vehicles. The Big Three's entries into the market were, for the most part, being clobbered.

In a twisted automotive version of the Second World War, Japan and Germany were flooding our shores with attractive, fuel-efficient models of their own. From the East came the epitome of cheap, reliable vehicles in the form of Toyota Camrys and Honda Civics. From the West came the cars of the people, Volkswagen's highly acclaimed Golf and Jetta: German engineering, Teutonic style, priced to sell. America, with its shoebox designs and aged brands, couldn't consistently compete in the trenches of low-cost warfare. Something had to be done.

Offensive tactics were implemented; some even paid off. Ford dealt the mid-size segment a huge blow with its futuristic Taurus, and Chrysler was back on the front lines with Commander Lee Iacocca and a barrage of successes: the fuel-sipping K-cars, followed swiftly by the Minivan and the purchase of AMC. One member of the big three had fallen by the wayside however: General Motors. Despite the plethora of brands under its wing, the General lacked a punch when compared to the outsiders.

While General Motors' presence in the 1980's was widespread, it lacked variety. To say that GM cars suffered from a look-alike and drive-alike syndrome is an understatement; GM's cars of the 80's were badge engineering at its finest. GM needed a weapon to level the playing field in this new era. The General made the effort, but it was plagued by a problem that has been afflicting American car manufacturers for the past thirty years: product delinquency. The Saturn brand was no exception.

A company that could have been the Manhattan Project of economy cars in the 80's, Saturn would not begin building cars until 1990. While Saturn was a fresh idea that gave the General a foot in the doorway to the entry-level market, it was also a long time coming.

Saturn's mission was simple: to have compact, entry level, fuel-efficient cars and to give customers a genuinely pleasant experience. And they did. The brand started out strong, winning awards left and right while being commended for their engineering on a regular basis. People loved them; the media loved them. Saturn was a hit, and for a while it seemed to be a contender. Maybe it was the quirky styling, or maybe just the affordability, but something brought people into showrooms to buy these things.

Then, after the late-90's, things started to get quiet. Awards for value and engineering disappeared. The awards now gracing the walls were superficial: sales satisfaction, customer service, and loyalty. While important on some levels, they hardly represented build quality and innovation.

It gets worse. Rising prices and brand dilution led to a loss of identity and increased confusion, pushing Saturn to become a smaller, niche-like Chevrolet. The brand lost sight of its targets, and having done so did not realize a new war had begun raging in the entry-level market: a Korean war. The Koreans brought their A-game to the entry-level table with insanely cheap cars and eternal warranties, dealing a painful blow to an already befuddled brand.

What happened to the "different kind of company" with a focus on people? In a dangerous gamble, the General tried to revamp Saturn into GM's Euro-American brand by teaming with Opel; a dangerous move, because people could (and still can) buy myriad Hondas, Toyotas, and Volkswagens, not to mention Kias and Hyundais, for thousands of dollars less.

GM Slashes Prices of Remaining Pontiacs and Saturns by up to 46%

If you ever wanted to buy a Pontiac or a Saturn and you don't mind that both brands will soon pass into the books of history, now's the time as General Motors is offering dealers huge incentives to move a few thousand leftover vehicles from the two discontinued marques, the Wall Street Journal reported today.

According to the paper, the Detroit automaker sent a letter to dealers on December 23 stating that it would pay them around $7,000 for every new Pontiac or Saturn on their lot that is moved to their rental-vehicle or service-vehicle fleets.

With this move, the leftover vehicles will be classified as used (even though they're new, the dealers will technically be the vehicles' first owner) thus allowing dealers to sell them at a huge discount which is said to be as much as 46% off the sticker price.

The daily newspaper said that the offer will expire on January 4 which is the last day of the December car-sales month with GM booking the sales to dealers as fleet deliveries.

Saturn's leftover portfolio includes the Vue compact crossover, Sky Roadster, Aura Sedan, Astra compact hatch and Outlook crossover, while Pontiac's range comprises of the Solstice Roadster and Coupe, G6 Sedan, Coupe and Convertible, and the G8 sports sedan.

However, you'll have to check with your local dealer to see which models are available. And if you do, don't hesitate to leave us a comment here telling us what kind of an offer they made you.

Via: WSJ (Sub. Required)

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GM Officially Announces Pontiac's Death, Saab, Hummer and Saturn to be Gone by 2009

This is the end of the road for Pontiac as General Motors confirmed earlier media reports by officially announcing on Monday the death of the 83-year-old marque that will be phased out by the end of 2010. As part of its revised "Viability Plan" that accelerates the timeline for a number of important actions, GM said that it will speed up "the resolution of Saab, Saturn, and Hummer to the end of 2009, at the latest." The General will focus on four core brands in the U.S., Chevrolet, Cadillac, Buick and GMC, offering a total of 34 nameplates in 2010 compared to 48 in 2008, a reduction of 29 percent.

"We are taking tough but necessary actions that are critical to GM's long-term viability," said Fritz Henderson, GM president and CEO. "Our responsibility is clear - to secure GM's future - and we intend to succeed. At the same time, we also understand the impact these actions will have on our employees, dealers, unions, suppliers, shareholders, bondholders, and communities, and we will do whatever we can to mitigate the effects on the extended GM team."

Other significant changes in GM's updated "Viability Plan" include the accelerated idling and closures of powertrain, stamping, and assembly plants while the firm will almost cut its U.S. dealer count in half, from 6,246 in 2008 to 3,605 by the end of 2010. This is a further reduction of 500 dealers, and four years sooner, than the previous plan submitted to the U.S. Treasury on February 17.

And how will all these measures affect U.S. workers? According to GM, the updated plan will see an additional reduction of 7,000 to 8,000 hourly employees. Overall, U.S. hourly employment levels are projected to be reduced from about 61,000 in 2008 to 40,000 in 2010, a 34 percent reduction, and level off at about 38,000 starting in 2011.