GM announces plant closings and ending production of several sedans

[fastball]

Originally Posted by madscotsman

Whoever is creating and approving their commercials should be fired. They are the worse car commercials i've ever seen. Especially the ones with the gasping, amazement, and fake outbursts of joy as "real people" see and overreact to the cheap plastic interiors of their cars. C'mon man who really acts like that when they get inside ANY car, let alone a cheaply mass-produced one. I mean, I like my Camaro, but plastic door panels dashboards and center consoles don't make me ecstatic.

There are a couple of forum members here, and they are welcome to respond directly to me if they read this, who seem to either have "experience" in the automotive advertising field or actually work or worked for any of GM's marketing companies in the past.

They both rigorously defend GM's advertising, especially the lack thereof of Camaro advertising.

Yet, it is very clear to see that the awful advertising campaign of the "real people" and the complete lack of exciting, interesting Camaro advertising is contributing to their decline in sales.

They can deny it all they want and claim they know more than us because "they're in the industry", but the numbers don't lie.

The problem is people like them, working for General Motors. People who do not, cannot, or refuse to accept, the problems staring them right in the face. And there are a lot of people like that who make important decisions and get paid big money who work at GM. I really hope those who cannot see the problems and refuse to fix them quickly and properly are part of the layoffs.

[90503]

I'll just add, get your full-size sedan Impala while you still can!...lol....It's the last of the Mohicans...The only Chevy sedan with a V-6, no start-stop, no cylinder de-activation....

I know they aren't all that exciting to most people, but I like 'em...lol

I got a '17 at a great price a while back...The '18s and '19s are basically the same. Very nice car. I thought they might make them a while longer, maybe into 2020 or longer, but apparently not....So, if you are so inclined, last Chevy full size sedan, etc....They won't be making them anymore.


AMFs!!!!!!……...lol...….Vaya con Dios, Impala!

[cellsafemode]

poor advertising is definitely a factor.

I think the main factor, and one that is touching all car manufacturers is reaching peak market saturation and wanting to continue to make increasing profits year over year.

Capitalism drives profits to 0 when it's working correctly (for the citizens). Companies are slashes products and workforce to maintain historic profit margins when the entire system is designed to benefit the public in general by ensuring that competition drives those profits to as close to 0 as possible.

It's a losing battle and wouldn't be so bad if the short-term wall-street nature of businesses didn't drive all their actions. 0 profit isn't a bad thing. Everyone is still getting paid. Instead, we'll probably see an increasing pressure on politicians to pass laws that protect the profit margins of these companies as they struggle to find anything to make their wall street overlords happy.

[JohnCobalt]

Originally Posted by Airfuel

Big deal.
Has happened before and will happen again.......life goes on.

Tell that to the people losing their jobs.

[dohvb1]

I think the plant closings are just a reflection of the general population's attitude towards cars in general. This might be hard for people on a car enthusiast forum to understand but I think most people see the car as simply a tool. For the longest time it was a necessary tool. But it's not as necessary as it once was.
People are using ride sharing services more. Grocery getters are being replaced by home delivery. Many 15-16 year olds seem seem indifferent about getting their license. I know many people who can't wait for fully autonomous cars to be the norm so they don't have to drive anymore.
I'm not trying to be all doom and gloom here. I'm not saying cars will totally disappear, or that no teenager wants to drive. The ride sharing and delivery services will still need cars. There will always be a portion of the population who wants to race, go on road trips, etc., who will buy cars. But I don't see the auto industry being as important as it once was.

[SSport16]

Unfortunately the writing has been on the wall for a long time for sedans, and really passenger cars in general, big or small. Small compacts thrived when gas /oil was high. Now that gas is pretty low and oil is as well, they don't sell well, same goes for hybrids/electric cars, etc. People want SUV's/CUV's, it is that simple really. The 2nd gen Cruze is a train wreck from a "looks" standpoint compared to the 1st gen. The Impala is very good car, has sold pretty well through its current gen, but was on the chopping block for sometime now, just how it goes. Now Cadillac is an interesting one, will they chop the CT6, that is only a couple of years old and was supposed to be its flagship for now until a CT8/Escala would show up. If they want to compete with the Germans, then I would say no, CT6 is here to stay, but I am not so sure what Cadillac's plans are. I am sour on Cadillac right now, loved my SRX when I had it, but the XT5 is just blah, V-Series is very nice, but who the hell knows what their plans are, all over the place and no clear direction!

[MackSteelPrivateEye]

GM...needs to be revamped from the Top Down...starting with Berra. They complain that can't sell cars. Well look at them...they are boring cookie cutters except for the Camaro and Vette. We all saw the new Caddy they may build, we have other sweet looking Caddys but they never get built. Maybe if they built them they would sell. Trump is right...he told Berra to start building cars that sell instead of just giving up. I think its pretty sad that GM can't come up with a real campaign to build cars that sell. Just shows the wrong people are in place at the top.

[cellsafemode]

these are the death throes of an entire industry. as soon as automated driving becomes norm (and it will be), nobody is going to care about their car except the super rich as status symbols. Everyone else will be renting their vehicles instead of purchasing them because buying a car is super stupid. They depreciate immediately and take significant space to sit idle for 90% of the day. Owning one is a bad financial decision for almost everyone. When they can drive themselves and become a service industry that we just rent when needed all the time, the type of car will matter to you as much as the type of plane you're flying. Brands will collapse locally and eventually around the world.

That may be doom and gloom to some, but something new will come up for people to do.

[fastball]

Just a little food for thought...... you don't see Mercedes, Honda, Toyota, and Hyundai cutting out their bread and butter sedans. The Accord, Civic, and Camry still sell like hotcakes and make big bucks for them.

Only Ford and GM seem to be saying "sedans are out, SUVs and electrics are in, lets kill all our family sedans"

Is there something in the water up there? I mean, yes, literally I know there was lead in Flint's water a couple years ago, but really.... they seem to be the only ones here.

[oftenimitated]

Just bought a new Honda Accord Sport. $23,500 before tax. its a 4 cyl turbo, manual, with a good number of features, adaptive cruise, lane assist, etc. Has 19" wheels on it, LED heads and tails. Only thing I wish it had was full leather and heated seats, maybe sunroof.



GM doesn't even have a car to compare at that price point. Cruze is smaller, malibu looks horrendous and doesn't have the options or price point with the options or even a manual option, smaller wheels etc. Impala looks good in LTZ form which is more $$, but is also a dated style. Chevy needs to stop putting so much chrome on their front ends, it looks cheap!! Like the styling of new chevy truck minus the mirror placement and they really didn't modernize the interior anymore like RAM did.



Other GM brands are more expensive, the regal is nice but again, not as sporty in my eyes unless you go GS and then you are at $38k


Honda has better resale and reliability and is made in Ohio.



Don't think this has much to do with the tariffs, they could have made the blazer here in Ohio at Lordstown but instead picked Mexico because of cheaper costs. Ppl just like to bash trump at every chance including Kasich. Trade deals are being redone, it may just take some time. Other countries need us more than we need them

[lawguy85]

Originally Posted by fastball

Just a little food for thought...... you don't see Mercedes, Honda, Toyota, and Hyundai cutting out their bread and butter sedans. The Accord, Civic, and Camry still sell like hotcakes and make big bucks for them.

Only Ford and GM seem to be saying "sedans are out, SUVs and electrics are in, lets kill all our family sedans"

Is there something in the water up there? I mean, yes, literally I know there was lead in Flint's water a couple years ago, but really.... they seem to be the only ones here.

False. All sedan sales are down. ALL. Ford/GM just had less market share so it had a disproportionate effect on them.

Typed/deleted a bunch of ad hominems, realized it's pointless. The new normal is baseless arguments, best way to combat is just post facts and go.

Unrelated, tax cuts were $157M in value to GM thus far, tariffs cost them $1BN. These are facts. Literally all the other nonsense being spouted is baseless opinion formed off emotion/political cheerleading. I don't expect any of you to be real with yourselves, so flame on.

[Snowbird12]

Here is some ideas for GM
Forget the GMC. And Chevy brands
Have one truck not 2 like the F150
Have one big Suv. Line not 2
Get 3 sizes of cars That look different
We bought a Cruze because of the style, now it looks like a malibu or Sonic or Impala
Stop the same product with different names like the small suv line
There are too many choices in the Camaro line with no easily defined model like the ss with the very small logo
Also with the age of computers, why cant we custom build our cars like the old days
Not everyone wants an SS with all the bells and whistles just a greatV8 with few options
I dont like the package option system they have
Dare to be different GM
Not everyone wants a cookie cutter car with black interior

[DaveC113]

Originally Posted by lawguy85

False. All sedan sales are down. ALL. Ford/GM just had less market share so it had a disproportionate effect on them.

Typed/deleted a bunch of ad hominems, realized it's pointless. The new normal is baseless arguments, best way to combat is just post facts and go.

Unrelated, tax cuts were $157M in value to GM thus far, tariffs cost them $1BN. These are facts. Literally all the other nonsense being spouted is baseless opinion formed off emotion/political cheerleading. I don't expect any of you to be real with yourselves, so flame on.

IMO, it would have happened anyways, as small cars have never been profitable vs the Japanese gov't subsidized auto industry.

I also think Trump's Tariffs are the straw that broke the camel's back at both GM and Ford. It pushed these cars into the red and it just doesn't work anymore.

So the strategy is to just let the Japanese and Koreans have the car market. US automakers are out. They make far more money selling vehicles that cost $35k+, and they just can't afford to compete.

The writing has been on the wall for decades. This shouldn't be a surprise to anyone.

And it shouldn't be a surprise that tariffs are going to cost Americans jobs and financial well being either.

[fastball]

Originally Posted by DaveC113

IMO, it would have happened anyways, as small cars have never been profitable vs the Japanese gov't subsidized auto industry.

I also think Trump's Tariffs are the straw that broke the camel's back at both GM and Ford. It pushed these cars into the red and it just doesn't work anymore.

So the strategy is to just let the Japanese and Koreans have the car market. US automakers are out. They make far more money selling vehicles that cost $35k+, and they just can't afford to compete.

The writing has been on the wall for decades. This shouldn't be a surprise to anyone.

And it shouldn't be a surprise that tariffs are going to cost Americans jobs and financial well being either.

So were we supposed to just let China continue to rape us on the trade deficit? American companies would rather go bankrupt than fix their trade deficit with China, and that's why Trump had to do something. Is the tariffs the right answer? Probably not, but it's a good attempt and smacking the people who need to be smacked.