A Tale of Two Cities or There for the grace of God go all...

[STS05lg]

It’s the Christmas season in Northern Ohio, but the blessings of the holiday will not fall evenly on all God’s children. In Toledo, they are preparing for the arrival of the Gladiator. Since September, FCA has been preparing a third shift for the plant based on Wrangler volume alone; Gladiator makes it a certainty. More than one thousand new workers will find their lives permanently changed by membership in the UAW and a job assembling one of the most steadily popular nameplates in the auto biz.

A few hours to the east, the workers at the General Motors plant in Lordstown are preparing for a closure on or about the first of March. At the Los Angeles Auto Show, while FCA showed off the Gladiator and Honda announced the discovery of a previously-unknown gap in its tall-wagon lineup that would be immediately and profitably filled by a shrunken Pilot, GM announced the corporate equivalent of a high-school girl cutting off all her hair and putting on Goth lipstick because her boyfriend dumped her for someone thinner. Lordstown is just one of the several plants being closed on short notice. Their products will die with them. The vast scale of the ignorance and wastefulness on display is breathtaking to behold; the brand-new CT6 V-Series, equipped with a massively expensive bespoke engine evocatively yclept “Blackwing”, is dead on arrival. Pause, if you will, to admire the stupidity verging on genius here; it was already a nearly impossible task to sell an S63AMG competitor with a Cadillac badge on the grille, so GM simply went the rest of the way by declaring in advance that the car would be discontinued. Thus the CT6 V-Series ticks every possible box in the disaster checklist: hideously expensive, undersized, impossibly complex, terrifying in the contemplation of future maintenance expenses and resale value, abandoned by its parents at birth.


GM’s nonentity of a chairperson, the inscrutably useless Mary Barra, allowed as how perhaps Mr. Trump had killed the plants with a “billion dollars” worth of tariffs on steel and aluminum. The press repeated her blather as fact, perhaps forgetting that Ms. Barra had been on Hillary’s shortlist for vice president and could be again. Not considered by anybody on Twitter or in the automotive press: why the tariffs were deadly for GM but seemingly livable for everyone else, particularly since the company makes a relatively low percentage of its vehicles in the United States. While Honda adds Alabama production for the Passport and says nothing about the effect of tariffs, GM takes its ball and goes home to Mexico.

Left unsaid in all of this: while GM chases Korean electric dreams and Chinese autonomous hopes with blank-check naivete, while Chevrolet wastes God knows how many million dollars on astoundingly stupid garbage like their Call Me Out application, and while the firm bets the farm on a new generation of trucks that appears designed to increase the resale value of their predecessors â€" FCA takes the time to design and build vehicles that people actually want to buy. My suggestion: GM should approach Honda about building Passports at Lordstown. Or they could build Jeeps there, the same way that Ford was reduced to building the Willys quarter-ton truck during WWII because their own design didn’t cut the mustard.

It’s trite in this business to say that product matters, and it isn’t always as true as we’d like it to be, but there are times that you just have to face the cruel fact that auto companies can live or die on the strength of what they put on the showroom floor. It doesn’t matter so much for Ms. Barra, who will continue to earn approximately twenty-two million dollars a year â€" about an eighth of the Lordtown workers’ salaries in total, by my rough calculation â€" regardless of her ineptitude, and it does not matter at all for Sergio Marchionne, dead at America’s retirement age. Rather, it is the blue-collar families of Ohio who will thrive or suffer in the year ahead, through no fault of their own. Has it ever been any other way? In the meantime, however, as the holidays approach, let us hope that God blesses us, every one.

[59-in-pieces]

Lynn,
Well written.
GM IS floundering from lack of leadership and their obsession with being PC.
It was bailed out once, without lessons learned.
Although my knee jerk reaction is "pull the plug", I can't but feel that too many would suffer as a result, and out of no fault of their own.
I had hoped that with the new ad campaigns for the CT4 -5 - Escalade - youthful and electric - with exciting music, environments and computer graphics - perhaps the word was getting through.
Maybe, just maybe - but perhaps too late.

Have fun,
Steve B.

[James Landi]

Lynn,

Thank you so much for your deeply felt and eloquent narrative;  it clearly deserves a much wider audience.  Gratefully,   James

[Scot Minesinger]

For any car company to succeed they must have good product and reputation.  Although, I would never buy a Toyota Corolla for example, they do enjoy a reputation for durability, reliability, efficiency, low cost, and are perfect for the "wants to get from point A to point B non-car person who wants to blend in.

I just do not get that Mary is much of a car person, and the products are shaping up to reflect that.

Lynn is right about the new GM trucks, I bought a Dodge Ram a few months ago after two decades and four Chevrolet trucks.  The Chevy is not visually appealing to me, and after suffering some reliability issues with GM I'm done for a while. 

When gas prices go back up, and they will, then economical sedans will be back in some form.

Things change...

I wish Cadillac was a stronger brand with better products.  I agree the V-8 CT6 is too complicated, and would only buy with a strong long term factory warranty.

[Bill Young]

I get the fact that 50 plus years ago America's auto manufacturers basically sold to Americans with the exception of offshore holdings. However now that we are in basically a global market I will repeat what I have said many times before. 1. GM discovered decades ago that styling and marketing of appeal sells cars. 2. In my opinion for American auto makers to survive they must build cars that are APPEALING rather than BORING. The imports have boring down to a science. There simply just isn't enough market share out there if everyone is going to build cars that are as exciting as toilets because you only replace a toilet when it is beyond justifiable repair. There is a large segment of Americans who buy only Honda , Toyota or the like , however if GM would build exciting cars it could turn the tables significantly . Look at the Dodge Challenger and Charger , why do they  sell in such large numbers? To the Public they look American and reminiscent of a 1970/71 but with all the modern safety features etc. What harm would it do to clad a modern Cadillac in a body that actually looks like a Cadillac rather than an Audi. They aren't selling now , who knows it just might do the trick?

[59-in-pieces]

Bill,
U R Right.
Looks is the primary and most important issue to increasing sales.
Have U ever been driving - particularly in traffic - and viewed the size of a current Cadillac - to the adjacent cars - pitifully under sized - and not at all stand-out.
The Chryslers R not pretty or unique in their looks.
Yet, they sell well on the marketing of POWER (smoke the tires) - which competes and is successful, at it = stands-out.

All the guts - gimmicks - electronics - engineering - are all on the inside, wrapped in a lack luster exterior.
The showrooms display the outsides - body designs - not the guts in neat piles on the floor for all to see, to inspire a buyer to buy.

Have fun,
Steve B.

[J. Skelly]

GM has become a tragedy.  They only have 3 coupes in the U.S. market.  The ATS is too small, the Camaro has slits for windows, and the Corvette looks like it came out of a video game.  Their sedans are bland, and look like pretty much every other sedan on the market (no trunk, no rear seat room).  They haven't been a styling leader for quite a while now.  The last, truly stylish family cars they came out with were the 1995-1999 Aurora and Riviera.  Mary Barra was trained as an engineer, but all she cares about is the latest electronic infotainment gadgets and self-driving vehicles, and they wonder why their cars aren't selling.  Maybe it's because they no longer produce cars that people want to buy.  The 2019 Motor Trend Car of the Year is the Genesis.  It's a Korean car with decent styling and a good powertrain (about all the magazine writers care about).  They complained about its harsh ride, and it only has a 10 cubic foot trunk.  Again, another totally worthless car for a family, but at least they tried to make it look different from other sedans.  GM better hire some decent stylists quickly, and ones who will eliminate blind spots that seem to infect all of their passenger cars (except the ATS coupe) and SUVs.  Also, all seem to have the same basic instrumentation pod that doesn't blend in with the rest of the dashboard.  GM is dying a slow death.           

[Bill Young]

Personally I have considered Cadillac a fallen flag for a long time. Some time ago they announced that they had abandoned their traditional market customers. No , really ? , like we couldn't tell. I suppose that in a way I should feel grateful as I don't have that nagging , longing to buy a new Cadillac that is on the showroom floor that I had so many years ago. So thank you Cadillac for saving me all that money. Now I gleefully drive my 1972 Eldorado and when I go by the local Cadillac store it doesn't get a glance. What is there to see? ats,cts xlt,xyz , all in white,black,gray,or silver with a black interior and bucket seats when I Love bench. No one cares.

[Mike Josephic CLC #3877]

I live about 25 miles north of Pittsburgh and about 
a one hours drive from the Lordstown plant.

The local papers really bashed GM for the
announcement of the closing of that plant and
mentioned several reasons:

1) The ca. 1,500 people that will lose their jobs

2) The announcement of a new plant GM is
building in Mexico (in addition to those already there)

3) The $11.5 billion Dollars of bailout money that GM
has never paid back to the U.S. government

If that's how they repay us citizens for the bailout then
perhaps they should be left high and dry the next time
they need help.

Mike

[Big Apple Caddy]

Personally I have considered Cadillac a fallen flag for a long time. Some time ago they announced that they had abandoned their traditional market customers. No , really ? , like we couldn't tell.

I think the market basically forced Cadillac's hand as the bigger issue had been that "traditional market customers" were doing the abandoning of Cadillac rather than the other way around.  More and more of the new generation of buyers that would have otherwise chosen Cadillac in the past had grown up with imports and were more interested in and comfortable with choosing imports (which tended to be smaller) for their luxury car and old (BMW, MB, etc) and new (Acura, Infiniti, Lexus, etc) luxury import brands were right there to welcome them.  Even some older customers were now seeking out imports too.  A few classic enthusiasts here rave about the 1993-96 Fleetwood and yet when it was new sales were only mediocre e.g., Fleetwood sale for 1993 were less than half that of sales of the Brougham from 1987 and they only went down from there.  This also wasn't just a Cadillac issue as Lincoln was dealing with the same problem and both brands had to adjust or face even worse sales at least here at home.

[Cape Cod Fleetwood]

What's wrong with Goth lipstick?   

\m/
Laurie

[BJM]

Lynn,
Well written.
GM IS floundering from lack of leadership and their obsession with being PC.
It was bailed out once, without lessons learned.
Although my knee jerk reaction is "pull the plug", I can't but feel that too many would suffer as a result, and out of no fault of their own.
I had hoped that with the new ad campaigns for the CT4 -5 - Escalade - youthful and electric - with exciting music, environments and computer graphics - perhaps the word was getting through.
Maybe, just maybe - but perhaps too late.

Have fun,
Steve B.

Might be time to suffer.  What's the alternative? Another bailout for the Democrat that replaces Trump in 2 or 6 years?  No more bailouts GM!  Sink or swim.  Market share should continue to decline to reflect their products, as Lynn points out. 

I will never buy GM again.  I drive an F150, and likely will trade that in on a new Ford Ranger out in 5 months.  Daughter drives a Subaru, wife a Nissan. 

[BJM]

Lynn,

Thank you so much for your deeply felt and eloquent narrative;  it clearly deserves a much wider audience.  Gratefully,   James

I agree. As a professional writer myself I loved reading it.  Perfectly written with no obtuseness. 

[Lexi]

Bill is right. For some time I have also found new Cadillacs to be boring, which made it easy to pass them by when making a new car purchase. To me, when you buy a Cadillac, you are making a statement. You want to stand out from the crowd. There is a certain amount of prestige there, or at least there was. As I have said before they have lost their brand identity. To be fair the EPA regulatory measures have put restraints on how vehicles operate which has impacted design and appearance criteria.  I can't remember who posted on this Forum a year or so back, that they were "offended" by the sight of new cars on the road, (due to their appearance)! Still LMAO over that one, but I am also now beginning to feel the same way. The roads are populated by all sorts of hideous vehicles. On the plus side, at least they are more dependable than their vintage counterparts. Clay/Lexi

Laurie for the record I don't have any issues with goth lipstick  \m/

[Scot Minesinger]

Yes, in 2005 my RWD 1995 Fleetwood was ready for me to replace it (quarter million miles, just felt like it was best), and I dreamed of the day I could walk into the Cadillac dealer and buy what ever I wanted.  In 2005 that happened and Cadillac had nothing I wanted to buy, and they still don't.  The CT6 V-8 to be discontinued is a step in the right direction, but alas it is gone.

So to keep the large RWD V-8 American sedan theme going, in Sept 2005, I bought a 2006 Dodge Charger with hemi and about every option.  Yes it was fast, but I liked the 1995 Cadillac Fleetwood better.  The Fleetwood did not drop to 4 cylinders at idle (making it not that smooth), and it seemed to have better low end grunt than the Dodge (not switching back to 8 cylinders).  Now the 2006 Dodge is gone and I wish there was a reasonable modern V-8 powered American car to buy.  I'm driving a 2015 Ram 1500 truck with hemi and a 2007 CVPI as my daily drivers.

I'm not up for pressing a low mileage 1994-96 Fleetwood into service as a 24 year old daily driver because rubber parts, plastic trim pieces and other low mileage issues is not what I want to do. 

[Bill Young]

I understand Scott what you are saying about concern over driving the wheels off an original car. Here is where I came out on it and why. In 2014 I bought my '72 Eldo for $5,000.00 and have put about $ 9,000.00 into it and now it has 102,000 miles on the engine and tranny but all the other running gear and rubber products are replaced. So I sold my 2011 Chrysler Town and Country this last week and now my '72 is my daily driver here in Central Florida. Gas is hovering just over $2.00 a gallon and my Eldo is reliable , so why pay all that money and insurance cost to drive a modern car loaded with computers etc. If we need to go on a longer driving trip we will rent a cheap car and turn it in after. Problem solved. Oh , so buy a classic to start with that isn't a LOW mileage original that you won't want to drive the wheels off of. Remember after our generation dies how many will really care about these cars even in the numbers that they survive in today?

[Big Apple Caddy]

The 2019 Motor Trend Car of the Year is the Genesis.  It's a Korean car with decent styling and a good powertrain (about all the magazine writers care about). 

Not "the Genesis" but specifically the Genesis G70 which is that brand's new compact sedan.  If Motor Trend Car of the Year awards are that meaning then GM should be pretty pleased as they've had five "Motor Trend Car of the Year" vehicles since 2008 including two Cadillacs (2008 and 2014).

Time will tell how the new G70 will do but Genesis certainly needs a sales boost right now as in the midst of its U.S. restructuring sales of their large G80 and G90 sedans are down 45% to 50% versus last year.

[Scot Minesinger]

Bill,

I have no problem consuming a low mileage original car.  It is just that I need bullet proof reliability, and cannot risk some of the issues that low mileage original cars suffer, nor am I that willing to eliminate them, as Wow!, that is a lot of work.  I'm still working a demanding career, driving my children back and fourth to college around breaks, park in city parking garages, plus live in a climate that salts the roads heavy.  I must have decent somewhat consumable very reliable car.  If my primary transportation was a 40 year old Cadillac, my rental costs would be very high and arrangements may be inconvenient.

Big Apple,

If I had to buy a new car right now, guess it would be a Chrysler Fiat RWD V-8 model 300, Charger or Challenger, and nothing else, unless decided to go for a German MB, Audi or the like (RWD V-8).  The MT awards mean nothing to totally unconventional me, either I like it or not.  In 1970 probably half the car models (properly optioned) made in America were what I wanted, now not so much.  Maybe from a car perspective I should have been born in 1930.

[Cape Cod Fleetwood]

Laurie for the record I don't have any issues with goth lipstick  \m/

LMAO!

\m/
Laurie

[Lexi]

LMAO!

\m/
Laurie

Laurie were my comments really that funny? Hmmm...maybe I should re-examine them in case I left the wrong impression. OMG! Now I get it. OK, lets try this... Just to be clear... black lipstick is super cool, even sexy on women,  BUT NOT ON ME! Clay  \m/  @ 150 testosterone driven dbs driven by stacks of Marshall amps