Press release just hit my inbox... Don't know if this is a sign of brilliance or desperation GM DETROIT - For the first time in its history, GM is offering its employee discount to everyone who takes delivery of a new 2005 GM car or truck from June 1 through July 5, 2005. "Our employees are extremely proud of the company they work for and the products they build," said Brent Dewar, GM North America vice president of Marketing and Advertising. "In recent months there has been plenty of news about GM, but not enough said about our industry leading product line-up. We want to bring the focus back to what drives our business - great cars and trucks. This program gives everybody a chance to drive the vehicles that we drive and pay the price that we pay. "It also is a great opportunity for America to experience high quality vehicles such as the Chevrolet Malibu, GMC Sierra HD and Chevrolet Suburban, which were the highest ranked Entry Midsize, Heavy Duty Full-Size Pickup and Full-Size Sport Utility Vehicle in Initial Quality in the recent J.D. Power and Associates 2005 Initial Quality Study or one of our 19 models that achieve at least 30 miles per gallon fuel economy on the highway," Dewar added. The 'GM Employee Discount for Everyone' provides consumers with a great price right up front. Prices are prominently displayed on eligible vehicles at participating GM dealerships and take into account available rebates, but exclude taxes, title and dealer fees. Consumers also can confirm the price of a specific vehicle by entering the vehicle's VIN number on www.gmbuypower.com. "We firmly believe that once consumers have the opportunity to drive a GM vehicle, they'll know what we, and millions of loyal GM customers, already know about the value represented by the cars and trucks that we build," Dewar said. "The 'GM Employee Discount for Everyone' provides very simple, very compelling prices for consumers and clarity regarding the final purchase price. We believe it will cut through the clutter of all the other offers currently in the market. This is what we mean when we say we want to offer a transparent total value proposition to our consumers." The 'GM Discount for Everyone' program includes all 2005 GM cars and trucks, except for Chevrolet Corvette and GMC medium duty trucks and is compatible with most other incentives currently available.
It's only fair that taxpayers get employee prices since we all will probably end up paying the pensions of GM retirees. Not suprised to see that the Corvette isn't included in the deal... Some of the trucks are ok but Chevy doesn't make anything else that could really be considered desireable when compared to other vehicles on the market. Can't say that I would buy another Vette anyway, the dealers F the customers and GM doesn't care.
That's all they make money on anyway! Seriously, they need to cut out all of those hemmoraging brands like Pontiac and Buick and focus on making ONE great car per segment and have Caddy be the luxury cars ala Lexus. One GM compact, one GM full size, etc. GM and Ford are the only ones it seems that make 4 crappy iterations of the same chassis that compete in the same class. Honda, Toyota et al don't bother repaneling or giving each model 4 economy interiors - you just pick an Accord and the options. Or, an Acura TSX if you want the luxury. Simple.
GM is going to start scaling back on rehashed models starting with Pontiac and Buick. But this will take a few years since certain models are already to far down in the pipeline to stop. They want to focus on certain cars that are good at what they do for each division.
I dunno, for the money a GTO is pretty appealing. To anyone who owns a GM vehicle currently, your resale just dropped another 10%. A friend of mine bought a Yukon XL last year and told me Sunday he was going to trade it on another one (20k miles). I asked him how much he thought he'd lose and he told me only a couple of thousand. He will be in for a shock I think.
I'd bet if you really do the math on this you'd find it's just another gimmick to sell cars. For example will they still offer the 0% financing(or low financing) and the supposed employee price? What they appear to be giving away they'll probably make up in some other way. Maybe they are giving away the store
I agree. I think the only mistake GM made was calling it the GTO, which implies much heritage with the target customer for the Goat, knowing that it was going to be based on an imported Aussie platform. They should have simply kept it the Monaro and sold the car on its own merits.
I'll still take the Dodge Charger SRT-8 And since when is the Malibu a high quality vehicle? I just don't see how "high quality" and "GM" belong in the same sentence.
Couple of points here GM is making quality, their manf facilities are better now then they have ever been GTO Taint a domestic (Aussi) Azteck - was the first car GM put in the market in 50 years that was a RISK it tanked but it also showed EVERYONE that it is not fatal to risk. Azteck was the best thing that ever happened to GM in it woke the sleeping drones up to the idea that they could take a risk. the New head of North American Design is the guy who used to be the holden there is hope New product from Caddie is worth the trip New Pontiac GXP IS THE WORST CAR I HAVE EVER DRIVEN IN 20 YEARS OF DOING THIS
Employee pricing is no big deal guys...........you can probably negotiate a deal in the showroom that is the same or better. Ford has a plan as does Chrysler and when I did some comparisons a while back the prices at the "employee" level were similiar to what the cars were being sold for to retail buyers.
This is the same gimmick as 0% financing - increase sales, but at the expense of profits. The end result will be the same: there will be some pickup in volume, but when the music stops, GM will still be in a difficult position, with high fixed costs, an uninteresting line, and declining market share.
My work internet is acting quite slow. What is the average discount that GM is giving, relative to MSRP?
funny thing is some of the new stuff coming in the pipe is not so bad but they keep the "pontiac" look and it just makes it into Retro Rental
I completly disagree. The Aztek was one of the worst things that has happend to GM. Do you know the guy who was behind it? John Samale. He is the one that came up with brand management, and that was his first brain child. Woke them up? Maybe. Guess what, the car has been out for a while and GM is still failing. GM hasn't woken up. They are still saying the same old thing, and still saying the same old thing, but they will come around. Interesting thought though.
