GM's sales focus to get 'dramatic redesign' as gas soars

[DainBramaged]

http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080514/AUTO01/805140386/1148

After months of holding out hope that U.S. truck sales would rebound, General Motors Corp. is accepting that the market shift toward more fuel-friendly vehicles isn't likely to end.

The automaker, which has made billions off its hefty trucks and SUVs over the years, said Tuesday that it's been over-promoting its largest vehicles and plans to change course.

Instead, GM will implement a "dramatic redesign" of its marketing strategy that places a much greater focus on its high-mileage cars, new hybrids and other fuel-efficient vehicles.

"We've been promoting our trucks more than we should have," Mike DiGiovanni, the company's top sales analyst, (maybe they should fire this asshole because even a blind man could see the writing on the wall )told a bankers' conference in Warren. "We're going to shift our marketing toward fuel economy and hybrids." (it's about fucking time dimwits)

The automaker's new strategy will blanket the Internet with advertising to drive home a message that GM can compete with industry rivals on fuel economy. When speaking to the media, company executives will talk up GM's high-mileage vehicles and commitment to new fuel-saving technologies, such as hybrids and battery-powered vehicles.

Even in ads promoting trucks and SUVs, GM will focus on the fuel economy of its lineup relative to like-sized competitors. The Chevrolet Silverado pickup, for example, gets about one mile per gallon more than the Ford F-150 and Toyota Tundra, its top rivals, according to the car shopping Web site Edmunds.com.

GM's move comes as U.S. truck sales continue to spiral downward amid a weak economy and rising fuel prices. Jittery consumers are holding off on major purchases, while record oil prices have those who are buying vehicles searching for more budget-friendly options. Meanwhile, a slump in new home construction has eaten away at pickup purchases by contractors, who comprise a key part of the segment


It goes without saying, some of the worst dinosaurs in the American auto industry work in marketing. They should have been extinct years ago.

At least they see the light before going bust.

[Tikki]

1. They will not.....

They will string the last bastion of American:shrug:???!!! cars only crowd on for
years saying there is this great milage vehicle just around the corner...there won't be one...
They already are telling us they have 6 models that get great milage...they do not.


They could have been on our side years ago. They want to do things their way...and that is that.



Tikki

[cliss]

2. What the hell

is wrong with these people? What do they do all day in their executive suites, maybe play Solitaire? The facts have been in for A LONG TIME gas prices are not going down, they are only going up.
GM has been flirting with bankruptcy, and yet they refuse to wake up to reality.
Maybe this company needs to fall by the wayside for its inability to "get real".

[nels25]

4. Of course lets all root for GM to file for bankruptcy

I could give a tinkers damm about the GM executives, in fact I wish it was a crime to mismanage a company so completely in the last 30 years, then they would get some of what they deserve A LITTLE PRISON TIME!

BUT!! if they do go under than many americans (and more than a few UAW members) both working for GM and their parts suppliers lose their jobs. And ladies and gentleman that is not going to be a small number.

I live in a town that lost it's auto company (Kenosha, Wis - American Motors) and the after math is not pretty to behold let me tell you

[DainBramaged]

6. It's the same people who think Honda's and Toyota's are "American" cars

because they are made here. And they don't give a tinker's damn about Union members as long as they can buy their cheap imported crap. Look at the participation in the Labor forums, it's always the same small group of people, hoping DU members will someday Wake up. It isn't just the fault of the Domestic executives and marketing departments, it's the propaganda they believe from the Japanese auto makers that has us at this point. The Japanese line ups are equal in mileage to the Domestics, but all people want to See is the Peeus and nothing else they make. And Toyota and Honda have as many "silent recalls" as the Domestics have broadcast recalls, and our NTSB lets them get away with it.

Cheap crap, doesn't matter the cost to life or the economy. As long as the containers from China are full, America is happy.

[EmperorHasNoClothes]

3. As usual, GM leads the market

by figuring out what Japan figured out 10 years ago. :eyes:

[Name removed]

5. Deleted message

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[Javaman]

7. Thankfully the ICE SUV will go the way of the woolly mammoth soon. nt