tagged w/ Automotive Industry
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Jerry Flint, 03.26.10, 12:00 PM EDT
There's a chief executive, but there needs to be a boss at Chevy, Buick and Cadillac.
The other evening I was at a Buick dinner. They were showing off the new Regal sedan, which is coming soon. It's pretty enough but carries only a four-cylinder engine, which is something different for a Buick. The Buick people were there, but the top executive was what they call a Vehicle Line Executive, and he was in charge of this particular car platform (or architecture) around the world. So his cars were much higher volume and thus more important in Germany and China than this Buick Regal for the U.S.
But I had a problem and I asked: "Just who is in charge of Buick?" I never did find out, and I do believe that No One is in charge of Buick or Chevrolet or Cadillac or GMC. It's the latest management reorganization, and it makes no sense.
I'm not the only who thinks this. Keith Crain, editor-in-chief of Automotive News, the most important trade publication in the business, writes: "A couple of weeks ago General Motors made a number of changes in sales and marketing so that no one outside the company has any idea of who's in charge of what. I'm not so sure that folks inside the company have any idea, either."
What GM did is get rid of the division managers who were heading the nameplates. GM has been reducing their power for decades, but does it make sense?
If you're in the army and your company goes into attack, you don't want it to be led by 10 independent corporals who just got their stripes. You want a captain who knows the territory, who's in command, who you'll follow to hell and back.
The sales and marketing people gained ascendancy at the car lines within GM in 1992 when a head of Procter & Gamble ( PG - news - people ) became GM chairman. They failed miserably to revive GM; in fact, they have not revived a single nameplate in my memory. The only GM divisions revived in recent history were Pontiac, led by William Hoglund, a finance man with gasoline for blood, and maybe Cadillac under Jim Taylor, an engineer.
What leaders at GM don't seem to understand is that the vehicles are key in this business, not the sales or marketing. Sure, they are important, but it's the product that rules. Sales and marketing are most important when the competitive products are all alike: soap--it's all alike but for a little perfume--or cigarettes (of course they're all alike) or breakfast cereal.
My old friend Francois Castaing, Chrysler's chief engineer long ago, said this, and I like to repeat it: "In some industries with little or no product differentiation, processes like advertising or merchandising may be more critical. Imagine an engineer's view of product creation at Kellogg ( K - news - people ) as he adds three more raisins to a box or bran flakes every other year! Marketing is probably a more important process in this example."
FOLLOW LINK FOR REST OF ARTICLE
http://www.forbes.com/2010/03/26/general-motors-chevy-business-autos-whitacre.html?boxes=businesschanneltopstoriesJerry Flint, 03.26.10, 12:00 PM EDT
There's a chief executive, but there needs... more
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The bonnet up front has it’s electric engine tucked neatly underneath. Behond, a spoiler with blades for depth and aesthetic excitement plus a better aerodynamic cW value (drag coefficient.) The headlights up front are oriented to emphasize the cars’ width, while the tail does basically the same thing.
AND THEN! Get this: The spoilers, as a special feature, grow out of the side panels and connect with laser beams when breaking as a symbol of the electric drive system.
INSANE!
http://design.fr/product-design/one-sharp-black-lambo/The bonnet up front has it’s electric engine tucked neatly underneath. Behond, a... more
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jmsrmy
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added this
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2 years ago
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Employee's can be a pain in the ass.. This is a typical day at the shop---NOT LISTENING, and NOT DOING IT RIGHT. Jeff and Geof are just two guys that Can't Get "ER" DONE!Employee's can be a pain in the ass.. This is a typical day at the shop---NOT... more
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2 years ago
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Aston Martin, the maker of luxury sports cars owned by royals and James Bond, has become the latest manufacturer to cut production amid the global fall in demand.Aston Martin, the maker of luxury sports cars owned by royals and James Bond, has... more
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I guess since the US government isn't giving money to the auto industry, they've come crawling to the Canadian government. The Canadian government has agreed on a conditional bailout of C$3.5 billion ($2.8 billion US).
Agree or disagree with the American auto industry asking the CANADIAN government for bailout money? Ontario is the only province that has a big auto industry, it is assumed that if the auto industry falls, there will be over thousands of jobs that will be lost in Ontario alone. Although it is highly beneficial for Canada to give some money into the auto bailout, there are chances that these companies would fail regardless of the money since they aren't popular choices anymore--they produce inefficient cars that pollute the environment, on top of that American cars have a reputation of not being built properly which gives a lot of problems to the owners. To restate my question: given the possibilities, is it going to benefit the Canadian government to provide a bailout package for the American auto industry?I guess since the US government isn't giving money to the auto industry,... more
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Jim Stanford and Justin Fox discuss public ownership of the Big 3.
The CEO's of Chrysler, Ford and GM are still hoping for movement from the US Congress on the $25B bailout of the auto-industry. The Real News asks Jim Stanford and Justin Fox about public control of this sector. Jim Stanford from the Canadian Auto Workers Union says that if the companies are "bailed out" by Congress, they will need to guarantee better efficiency, and regulation from a federal level is a possibility.
Justin Fox is the business and economics columnist for TIME. Before joining the magazine in 2007, he spent more than a decade writing and editing for Fortune, where he was Fortune's chief economics writer. In 2000 and 2001, he was the magazine's Europe editor, based in London. He started the blog, Curious Capitalist, on CNNMoney.com in 2006.
Jim Stanford is an Economist in the Research Department of the Canadian Auto Workers, Canada's largest private-sector trade union. He received his Ph.D. in Economics in 1995 from the New School for Social Research in New York. He also holds economics degrees from Cambridge University in the U.K. (1986) and the University of Calgary (1984). Jim is the author of Paper Boom (published in 1999 by James Lorimer & Co.) and co-editor (with Leah F. Vosko) of Challenging the Market: The Struggle to Regulate Work and Income (McGill-Queen's University Press, 2004).
Related Story:
http://current.com/items/89552557/what_to_do_with_detroit.htmJim Stanford and Justin Fox discuss public ownership of the Big 3.
The CEO's... more
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ANP: The automobile lobby is back on Capitol Hill warming up to some of their best friends - Democrats.ANP: The automobile lobby is back on Capitol Hill warming up to some of their best... more
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Some turn down small severance.
Layoff notifications filed with the state of Michigan show that 352 employees will lose their jobs as Diez Group winds down operations at three plants that are part of Lapeer Metal Stamping, a supplier of metal parts to the automotive industry.
Diez Group told employees in early September that it plans to close three stamping plants. At the time, the company did not say how many would lose their jobs.
The layoff notifications filed with the state show that a plant in Lapeer employed 106, a plant in Sebawing employed 159 and a plant in Dearborn employed 87.
Darryl Bragg, vice president of UAW Local 9699, said employees are getting little in the way of severance. Employees at the Sebawing plant accepted a package that provides one month of health insurance but no additional payments or benefits; employees at the Lapeer plant voted down a similar offer Sept. 30.
"They thought it was a slap in their face for all the years they worked there," Bragg said.
Bragg said the Lapeer plant is almost completely shut down and is being run by about four employees. The Sebawing plant still employs about 120, but is scheduled to close by December. In a notice issued to employees, the company initially said all cuts would be complete by Dec. 1, but Bragg said one plant may continue operating into December.
Some turn down small severance.
Layoff notifications filed with the state of... more
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