GM Plant Shutdown
- Thread starter JustN89
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A cash for clunkers isn't going to make a dent in a $60,000 to 80,000 truck.
Ford has had quality issues for decades....your point is ?? How many new vehicles have you bought in the last 30 years?
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Shuttering factories temporarily in order to manage inventory levels... this is simply taking advantage of the supply-demand equation where dealers will list higher prices because the customer's choices are forced to be "slim." This is all fueled by the greed for higher profits, executive bonuses and shareholder satisfaction. Screw the real customers. They could still make a reasonable profit with larger inventories and lower sticker prices, but they don't.
Reminds me of the Apple business model: Apple could pay higher wages to American workers and still make a decent profit, but instead they choose the highest profits possible by shipping labor overseas and not employing Americans. Just because you can doesn't mean you should.
There used to be a day when companies built up a very successful business by focusing on customer satisfaction and building a solid, reliable reputation for quality and value.
Reminds me of the Apple business model: Apple could pay higher wages to American workers and still make a decent profit, but instead they choose the highest profits possible by shipping labor overseas and not employing Americans. Just because you can doesn't mean you should.
There used to be a day when companies built up a very successful business by focusing on customer satisfaction and building a solid, reliable reputation for quality and value.
It would be nice if it were that simple, but it isn't. Attack the big guys, easy targets, but they still have healthy competition. "shareholder satisfaction"? Do you have an IRA or 401K? I won't ask about its value now.
Some years ago, Apple CEO Tim Cook was asked why they make in China.
His answer: Because if we took all the tool and die makers in the USA they would fit in this room (studio). He was exaggerating some but you see his point. We have minimalized and denigrated "blue collar" labor, even skilled types, to the point that we (the USA) are not competitive in this area. We don't teach it, don't value it, and now we are paying the price.
Enough for now. This subject is worthy of a new thread which I may start.
I worry even more about our military long term in this regard, but that is another subject.
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I watched a youtube video from Ray and Zack that Chevy has 80 to 90 days of pickup truck inventory - with 60 days being ideal - GM can't sell these trucks. So this morning I was in a part of town that has a large Chevy dealer and I drove through their lot. It was packed wall to wall with new Silverado's. I was actually pretty shocked - inventory circa 2019.
I guess they can't sell these, at least at the current price. The Silverado was the 2nd best selling vehicle in America last year, and the Sierra was 4th, and together they were 1st. Doesn't sound good. Not surprised though.
I guess they can't sell these, at least at the current price. The Silverado was the 2nd best selling vehicle in America last year, and the Sierra was 4th, and together they were 1st. Doesn't sound good. Not surprised though.
The Chevy dealer near me has about 30 Silverado 1500's with a solid mix of options including a couple of V8 Trail bosses. They also had at least 3 HD trucks with varying equipment. They are legit at prepandemic numbers for 1500 Silverado's. Still a little thin on other models including zero 23 Colorado's but popular new models have always been scarce so thats nothing new.
So having a 100 day's supply of a particular vehicle somehow doesn't justify a 2 week shutdown to some people???
Consumers are willing to order cars and wait or pickup the cancelled orders in a waitlist. Inventory on lot is thing of past or indication no one wants your product….
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I'm a Gen Xer, last generation before the world went mad. My last car was a factory order although that was more driven by timing lease return dates and being a limited run car anyway. I currently have a regular production vehicle on order as well. It's not limited run but it is limited inventory which means limited choice. I've never been one to take just anything that's sitting on the lot. I am not going to pay the cost of a new car and "settle" for only what's available now. That's a Gen Z attitude, ordering a car takes MONTHS, it's a patience and delayed gratification event. Definitely not things the younger generations thrive at. I waited 14 months for the TTRS, I've been waiting 2 months for the Allroad and they haven't even started building it yet LOL
I fully expect the Allroad to be the last new car I buy outside of some lottery winning event. New cars are not cobbled together by any means, but they are not exciting or most times attractive anymore. I have specific taste's that run counter to the average American and politics keep the good European stuff from being available here. Everything on my short list of cars to buy is at least 5-10 years old. It's really wrecking havoc with my desires for specific builds, can't factory order a 10 year old car. It's actually the reason I ordered the new Allroad, I would have much preferred the older Avant instead of the lifted and cladded Allroad, but finding a decent example of the Avant that wasn't silver or black and had the right options was impossible.
Many years of marketing analysis would argue otherwise. Some buyers will wait, others want or need it NOW or at least in a reasonable timeframe; days or a week, not 6 - 8 weeks. Made to order costs more for both seller and buyer.
Covid flipped the table on all that research and data. Car makers will choose the profitable path.
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Your talking about very special cars which I understand. However the last vanilla everyone has it family car we bought I had set up the deal completely remote, wife chose colors based on the website, and we got there and she didn't like the interior color. Fortunately it was a Rav4 so we simply switched to a different color interior - no fuss at all.
If I were ordering something special, sure - its not about waiting, Gen X myself.
Best comment. I retired from GM with over 32yrs and nothing has changed - your comment is still true today. This is just market adjustment. The old rule of thumb was to have a 60day supply of inventory available. That allowed enough variety for customers to find what they want, buffer any assembly down time issues and maintain decent profitability. When you climb above 90 days there are costs associated with that (rebates, inventory interest expense etc)....when you are below 30 days that means you're selling very well.
Not to mention lower carrying costs. I believe the days of tons of choices are waning. Simplicity saves manufacturing costs and errors.
And dealerships days are numbered. Pure overhed with little value added. The dealer markups have further soured customers.
Unless you want to keep your "number 1 selling truck in America" title. (F150)
That doesn't effect anything as there are still vehicles on dealer lots to sell with plants idled. It is not like they are shutting production down with no trucks to sell - they have too many so they can still get the sales numbers if people buy.
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