If you haven't checked in lately with GM's top blogger Bob Lutz (he's GM's global vice president for product development), head on over to FastLane right now. His most recent entry - Stop Me If You've Heard This One Before - is a cogent rant on GM's "image" problem. He comes about as close as he can to acknowledging the elephant in the room (GM's financial woes). He writes:
This issue, this question of how do we increase awareness, improve our image, and enhance public opinion of our cars and trucks, is weighing on everyone’s mind in this company, from the plant floors to the boardroom. We are all weary of hearing that “GM doesn’t have any vehicles that people want” or that GM “doesn’t excite anyone” or doesn’t have any products that are “relevant.”
And then further on, after citing a bunch of recent awards for GM cars (the Solstice, the Corvette, the Hummer):
And yet, the coverage of our financial state [I bolded this] continues to point out our alleged lack of cars and trucks that people want. All the while more than a quarter of the vehicles sold in America are ours.
And finally:
We need to step up our non-traditional communications and word of mouth, and get our message directly to the people on a grass roots level. This blog is one example — but we need more avenues, and bigger ideas. What do you think?
I don't know about you but that sounds pretty transparent to me for a Fortune 500 blog. Translation: we've got a problem. Can you help? So far, 178 readers have left comments on this entry. Fascinating to read: lots of specifics, on warranties, 1-day take-home test drives, tips on how to deal with MSM's approach to the GM death spiral story, etc.
Previous Comments
Anibal Miranda said on March 5, 2006 at 06:07 AM
Your site is really interesting…hopefully I am going to embark in a research about how corporate blogs are a source of competitive advantage for organizations…surely, I will use your site for research
kind regards
Anibal
Debbie Weil said on March 8, 2006 at 09:38 AM
Mark,
You might try leaving a comment on the FastLane blog with your question. This seems to be the new way to contact senior execs - through their blogs!
Brian said on April 27, 2006 at 07:10 PM
A thorough reading of Lutz’s blog reveals him to be a clueless GM cheerleader. He uses carefully selected information to try to disguise the fact that decades of mismanagement have left GM a financial cripple. I discuss this at greater length in a post at my blog (http://tsw2.brianjb.net/?p=500).
This most recent salvo from Lutz is more of the same. 25% for an organization the size of GM might be considered a marginal success at best if it were on the level. What Lutz fails to mention is that ultra-generous incentives amount to paying customers to buy GM products. This makes it very difficult for the automaker to translate this “success” into cash.
So, if by “transparent” you mean that it is easy to see through Lutz’s diversionary rhetoric, I agree.
Marilyn K Montell said on February 23, 2008 at 07:29 AM
Dear Mr Lutz I agree 100 percent this global warming crap is just that CRAP!
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