First, there is the matter of General Motors taking the government bailout. And now, there is a candid admission by GM’s North American President, Mark Reuss that they really don’t care what their customers think.
From Henry Payne via Planet Gore:
The Government Auto Show
With four inches of snow blanketing Detroit outside Cobo Convention Center and flakes falling on 49 of 50 U.S. states (Florida excepted), GM announced at the Detroit Auto Show this week that it is developing an all-electric vehicle fleet to combat . . . global warming.
Americans are flocking to snow-covered dealer lots to trade in their compact sedans for four-wheel drive SUVs, but The General also rolled out a new Chevy subcompact and the first Buick compact.
GM’s North American president, Mark Reuss, made it clear what’s driving product development. “Forget about gas prices. The regulatory environment through 2016 is going to dictate what we do,” he said. “You got to plan your portfolio to be there from a CO2 greenhouse gas standpoint.”
In a rare candid moment, a major auto executive admitted that what motivates today’s auto production is not the consumer — it’s the government.
For complete auto show coverage, go to The Michigan View.com.
Emphasis added.
so what did anybody expect? when you (the Feds) buy a company you get the right to dictate the business strategy. We the people screwed up again. the same is happeing in the financial world. What’s next? Food, the internet – oh that is right Mrs. First lady and the FCC are taking care of those.
We’ve got our eyes on a nice big Ford (didn’t take the bailout) 4-door pickup. Even though Ford is forced by asinine government regulations to build and market hybrids and fuel efficient crap, we’re just not in the market for anything like that.
Which is why I will never, ever, purchase another GM vehicle again, and my first car was a 67′ Chevy Chevelle, 2 door, bench seats, 283 engine, rusted frame, but I loved it. That car took me everywhere.
But over the years of buying other GM cars, I finally gave up on GM after being screwed too many times.
I bought a Honda, and haven’t looked back since.
GM, and the Government OWE’s the American People Money. We’ll never see it. Sadly.
Wow, talk about a half-quote, out of context, wasn’t even there, squint to make a comment fit my perspective reference.
I work with Mark (who is incredibly customer focused BTW), I was there when the question was asked and it had nothing to do with government versus consumer – so don’t purport that it does.
US fuel efficiency standards are going to be an influence on what EVERYBODY sells, not just GM and not just the domestic automakers. Same thing happens in Europe and other parts of the world.
Jason,
Maybe you should take up the issue with Henry Payne who posted the quote on Planet Gore.
My main pain with GM and Chrysler is that they caved in and took the bailout instead of firing the UAW and going chapter 11.
And, yes, I understand the government’s war on US business and the overbearing regulations that break everyone’s pocket book.
Global warming is a scam – do the numbers.
With total respect (it’s your website after all), the comment “And now, there is a candid admission by GM’s North American President, Mark Reuss that they really don’t care what their customers think” is all yours, not Henry’s. Simply not true. Just saying.
They are run by the government and act like it.