GM to do PR right

Congratulations, Bob Lutz. You had the right idea on GM.

Most Americans think GM and Chrysler are still bankrupt. General Motors is running a series of ads to show that it isn’t, and that it still has a future.

A huge number of  Americans still seem to think that Chrysler is owned by the government or Fiat, or both (that is, depending on their mood, they say Chrysler is owned by the government, or they say it’s owned by Fiat.) Most of the rest think it’s directly owned by the UAW.

We’re not going to get into the problems with our news media and educational institutions, or the merits of teaching calculus instead of research methods, or of teaching about dates, names, and empty events, some of which were made up (which is sometimes referred to as “high school history”), instead of logic and reason. The problem here is mainly Chrysler’s fault — because they never managed the public and pundit reactions to their actions.

Many still believe Obama ordered Chrysler to close dealers due to their political leanings. Many still believe Chrysler had no justification for closing dealers. The company did release their rationale shortly after the firestorm began, but there would not have been one had they done what GM did — immediately released their rationale, and provided an appeals process in case the dealer relations people were not, shall we say, perfectly unbiased. Or in case they made a mistake. Daimler culture will take a long time to erase (especially since the arrogance of Daimler seems to be matched by the arrogance of Sergio — though at least the latter has something to be arrogant about.  Something he didn’t make up.)

General Motors is not just getting its message out, it’s doing it across a variety of media. You will find lots of GM ads on Allpar, because they’re targeting all car buyers. You won’t find ANY Chrysler ads on Allpar. That’s their choice, not ours.

Ford has made an amazing number of sales based on their whisper campaign that GM and Chrysler are going away. GM is fighting that, and I think they’ll be very effective in fighting it.

Unfortunately, due to the weakness of Chrysler’s own leaders, the average American will still think that Chrysler is owned by Fiat, not honoring warranties, and is still bankrupt. That’s pretty sad, especially since there’s no reason for it.

On “Government Motors”

The US Treasury now owns 60% of General Motors, which the pundits quickly dubbed “Government Motors.” It seems to have become a sort of joke for some peoples as seen in clips on Youtube, going further by called it “Pelosi motors” while others called for a boycott of GM. It’s time to think about it.

Conrail emerged from bankrupt companies who made a profit after some regulated freedom. But there was other cases like Amtrak and British Leyland; the latter didn’t turn out as well as they wished.

Renault’s nationalization happened at the end of WWII. The French government nationalized Renault because they suspected the president of Renault (Louis Renault) to have collaborated with the enemy during the occupation.

I’m glad to see Penske owning now Saturn, if only he had bought Pontiac as well….