GM Bankruptcy

If GM could convince drivers to buy cars as well as they communicated this week, the auto maker would come out of bankruptcy quickly.

From CEO Fritz Henderson, to UAW President Ron Gettelfinger, to other executives, to the rank and file, as awful as the bankruptcy filing was this week, GM spokespersons were consistent and united in their statements about a new GM. In full page ads, Henderson asks the public to follow the company http://www.gmreinvention.com/ GM sent letters to customers assuring them about quality and warrantees.

As David Leonhardt pointed out in the NY Times many of these promises of GM rebound have been made before. One of the questions is whether the public believes the company and will actually come back and buy, OR whether the younger generation of buyers - who have yet to be enamored with GM and who don't read the main stream media as much and see the ads - will put the GM vehicles on their desired purchase list.

Yes, the Harbor and JD Power reports do show that initial and long term quality has improved at GM yet, while the factual and statistical gaps between GM and the competition have shrunk, the perception gap has not changed very much.

What do you think? Do you think that GM can close the perception gap so that car buyers will consider Chevy, Cadillac, Buick and GMC in the same way that they think of other cars and trucks? Car buying is both a financial and emotional purchase. Can the turnaround hit us in the hearts and imagination, not just in the pocketbook?

A personal view of GM and Rick Wagoner

The news that GM CEO Rick Wagoner resigned under White House pressure is time for both sadness and a quick gut check and time to get back to work for anyone in the auto business.

CommCore has been working with GM for more than 20 years. Some of my best friends in the business have come through the Detroit doors - and many are still working in communications, design, manufacturing and quality control. Almost all have been Wagoner loyalists - they have been inspired by his leadership and his low key hands on approach.

In the last couple of months, once Toyota started losing money, it's been clear that the GM, Chrysler and Ford problems are global in nature. At some point, consumers will start buying cars again, but they aren't doing it today. Recent news that Buick had better quality scores than Lexus doesn't create a stampede at the showrooms.

So in the absence of results, something had to give. For GM'ers it's important to pick up on Wagoner's optimistic note to employees. He implored: "Ignore the doubters because I know it is a company with a great future."

If I had the answer I wouldn't be blogging - I'd be in Detroit or working for the Government's auto task force. A Buy American strategy is a nice idea, but it doesn't work. It's critical to harness all of the creative efforts to get people to consider US cars and trucks and into the showrooms.

Driving the Future

I spent Thanksgiving weekend driving around Washington, DC in a Chevy Equinox Fuel Cell vehicle - no gas, no emissions. It drove like any other car but under the hood was this cool motor, no spark plugs and a tail diffuser (no tail pipe) that just gave off water vapor as the exhaust. I did not have the "Prius look" as I tooled around, but it did feel cool to drive it and show it off.

I am well aware of GM's and the U.S. auto industry's issues, but if there was a way to fast forward this vehicle, we would have a lot of answers and some good news for Detroit.

The vehicle is in what GM calls a market test. There are tests in Washington, NY and in the Los Angeles area. Mercedes Benz and Honda are also conducting tests in the U.S. (Honda is actually leasing cars in CA). And of course, the big issue is the lack of infrastructure to refuel these vehicles. There is only one filling station in the DC area, two in Westchester and three in the LA region.

We have also been working on these energy issues at CommCore. One message we have had to address is the lack of range on these vehicles. At the moment, the GM Chevy only gets 160 miles for each "tank" of hydrogen. That does not seem like a lot, particularly since you have to return to the one or two filling stations in the area. The analogy that works: 160 miles is the equivalent of what a New York taxi cab driver puts on a car in a typical work day. That is the total from leaving the garage to returning 10 hours later. When put in that perspective, 160 miles seems like a fair amount of driving.

Gas is under $2 a gallon, politicians are worry about short-term cost reduction and saving jobs, and the liquidity crisis is causing even a magnate like T. Boone Pickens to have trouble funding his wind ventures. What is your take on the renewable energy sector’s communications challenges in 2009?