As we've all herd or read by now, GM is headed for bankruptcy, and they are about to undertake some fairly drastic changes and eliminations.

We know 2 - 3 brands may be headed for the big showroom in the sky, Saturn- (If Penske doesn't buy it), Hummer (Unless the Chinese company buys it), and Pontiac.

We've already seen two storied brands fade away in the last 9 years (Plymouth and Oldsmobile), and along with them some pretty cool cars (Prowler, Cutlass, Aurora).

If I were in charge, I think I'd keep some of th ehot models from a particular line, and still offer it as it's known- and just offer service for said models at any GM dealership. So, the popular/hot sellers (and the potentially hot) I'd keep (Pontiac G6, G8, Saturn Aura, Vue) with the names people are accustomed to, and sell off- or do away with the rest.

That's what I'd do- However, this idea is not based upon knowledge of the facts or cost involved in doing so. From the outside looking in, I just think it's a bad idea to get rid of noteworthy vehicles. I tdon't think you have to keep the entire division in place, to keep their most noteworthy vehicles.

Chrysler is even talking about doing away with the Viper, or selling it off to a buyer. I think the only move they could make that would be "dumber" would be to sell off the Caravan/Town & Country. Those two vehicles and the Ram are the only reasons people even pay attention to Chrysler, and their recent successes with the 300 / Charger and now Challenger (Jury is stil out on how successful it will be).

 

I would keep Chevy for a similar lineup to what they have now. Trucks and cars. Get rid of GMC. Keep pontiac for the G6 and the G8. Combine buick and cadillac. Get rid of hummer, saab, izuzu, saturn, and the rest.

 

I would take the highest selling vehicles. Re-name them with either Chevrolet or Cadillac. I think I would stay with only a couple brand names, maybe three. I would keep Hummer just make it less gay, and make it a chevy.

 

I would do exactly what their doing now. Retool. Except I would have done it 20 years ago. - Og

 

get rid of the chevy truck line and have gmc take over all truck design and production.

 

First off, I wouldn't ask for one more red cent from the gov't. If that means the sinking ship is going to sink then so be it. I'll start back up under a new name. BTW, what did they do with the bailout money again?

Secondly, I'm going to have to restructure my work force. I will work w/the unions but right now we're not making any money(GM) so your not going to either. Of course you will still receive a salary and be able to support your family but you just going to have to hold off on the luxury items. Your going to have to make a sacrifice and take a cut in pay. You may have to sell the 24' speed boat but hey, least you've got a job! Once things turn around we will revisit this contract. If that's not going to work for you then sayonara, I'll get someone else.

Thirdly, I'm going to have to look at the efficiency of my "office" team or the people that aren't actual hands on. Where can I cut? Obviously the 1st and 2nd items listed above need to happen first but I need to look at the situation 360. As Spock once said " The need of the few or many out weigh the need of the one"! People are going to have to wear multiple hats and that's all there is to it. No more golf outings and no more free lunches.Do I really need 50 marketing agents? Maybe I do maybe I don't. Do I really need 500 receptionist fielding warranty or complaint calls? Maybe I do maybe I don't. What new practices do I need to adopt to run more efficiently in tough times?

Now I need to sell cars a little cheaper. I need to drop some of my unprofitable lines or slow moving lines. I need to appeal to the consumer. I need to know my adversaries. My profit margins will definitely shrink but what choices do I have. Once I'm back on my feet then I will re-visit the numbers. I need to renegotiate with my suppliers. Renegotiate my credit terms. If they can't role with me for a while then I need to find someone else.

Keeping in mind that I can't sacrifice quality.

 

Keep Chevy and Cadillac. Make them go through bankruptcy first to teach them a lesson. Normally I would not be that cruel, but they have been messing around for decades... they need to learn a hard lesson. Honda/Acura does fine with just two brands... why can't GM?

 

Put a 5 day sale on 2010 Camero's

10G for the V6
13G for the V8

I promise every one will be sold. Including one to me.

 

If you didn't know, Ed Whitacre has been selected to run GM as CEO. If I know ED, he will take all brands and make them one brand- GM. You'll see the GM Impala, GM Silverado, GM LeSabre, GM CTS, etc. There won't be a bunch of the same cars with different name plates. That costs way too much to inventory and far too much to finance. He will probably unload all non-profit making models and some of those are going to make some folks cry. Look for most of the performance cars to go away and look for newer smaller econoboxes. I'd just about say anything that isn't getting 25+ mpg hiway is in major jeopardy of being history. They've already stopped all new V8 development and I would expect you'll start seeing more engines like the EcoBoost. For GM to survive, they have two masters to please- the buyer and Yomama. Look for GM to become another small car and truck maker but look for more quality, intelligent design, and much better reliability and fuel mileage. Ed's a nice guy but he doesn't take prisoners. If the job can be done, he's the man. I'd compare him to Mullaly any day. It's going to be interesting to see how this shakes out.

 

Id definately dump GMC. Theres no point in having a whole lineup of nothing but rebadged Chevy's.

 

I've never understood that....

 

First off I would give all the money back to the government and give the finger to the Feds.

Next on my hit list is the UAW. They would have one month to agree to reasonable terms. At the end of the month if an agreement had not been reached I would start selling every manufacturing facility in the US and Canada. I would then relocate everything to Mexico. I doubt it would take more than two or three factories before I had a better deal. This move alone would save me several billion a year.

During that month I would evaluate every product that I sold in every market in the world. From this list I would eliminate duplicate parts. Once I had my parts sorted out I would consolidate models and brands. Hummer would be gone. It's played out. Face it they stopped being cool about the time the H3 came out. I would keep Buick and start using the slogan, "We made the fake portholes cool." Saturn and Pontiac would become one group and duplicate cars combined. GMC front ends would replace the Chevy version and then be killed. This process would continue across the globe. One car would be built for all global markets in one facility. There might be a few minor changes for local laws but I would make the cars as common as possible.

I would buy back my aircraft because it will be used quite a bit. As CEO I would make a world tour of sorts to every facility. While I was there the house would be cleaned (aka managers with poor track records removed) and new players instated. Then on the the next plant. I would work the us vs. them mentality between the workers and management.

Design & Engineering would also be hit. GM has turned out some crappy cars that would stop. The cars would be designed correctly from the start. This would allow my new production lines to make a quality product.

While this was going on I would have the marketing team working lots of OT getting a better idea of what people want. They would also spend a lot of time to determine what it would take to repair our image with the consumer.

 

The only trucks that are good are the Chevy 2500/3500 Izuzu Diesel with the Allison Transmission...

The rest of them are stinky.

 

the only pontiac that i would buy is the G8. i dont like front wheel drive cars!!!