Originally Posted By: Cardinal49
The initial quality gap is shrinking. Long term quality is still yet to be determined. I think GMs problems go way beyond quality. Even if their cars were proven to have short and long term quality on par with the best in the industry, people still would not make a move to GM. Their products are getting better but in many ways are still behind the competition (including Ford).
Years of terrible products and customer service have turned off generations of buyers. My father was a GM man for years. After years of horrible experiences he bought a Nissan in the 80s. He has made it very clear that he will never buy another GM in his lifetime. Many in my generation and younger have never even considered a GM product. The brand is completely irrelevant.
They don't need to close the quality gap, they need to blow past creating cars that far exceed industry standards. The need to make exceptional products far above what is being offered by the competition or they need to follow the lead of Hyundai and sell their cars for a huge discount with a big warranty to gain loyalty.
Many consumers have had years of great products and service from Honda, Toyota, Nissan, etc. Why would they change loyalty just because GM now claims to be just as good? GM got themselves into this mess (management and the UAW). I'm not sure they will ever get out.
Originally Posted By: Johnny
At one time, way back when, GM made some high quality vehicles. Not sure exactly when or why it happened (management, UAW, combination of both) but the quality went way down, and the same can be said about Ford (although I believe Ford in the past few years is trying harder to solve the problem). But, both of these companies should take a long hard look at Hyundai. Do you remember when Hyundai first came to America? What a piece of junk they were, and most thought they would not last. Well, look where they are at now. What ever they did, they did it right and the American car manufactures should take a long hard look at it.
+1,000,000
Originally Posted By: dishdude
Everyone mentioned what junk Hyundai, Toyota and Honda were when they first came to this market. How did they get a pass and were forgiven, but with GM and Ford it is too little too late?
Because Hyundai came along with a killer warranty, super nice looking vehicles that were practical, good on gas, what people wanted to drive, that you could fit in and that were affordable. They combined this with great service at the dealerships and strong advertising. They sought out high crash test scores for most models and quality awards to seal the deal! This is something that the other have failed at IMO.
Consumers will always vote with their wallets and take their hard earned cash and shrinking disposable income to where they perceive value to be the greatest! It's not about brand loyalty or where a vehicle is made anymore. It's about what gets the job done to my standards as a consumer, for the right price!
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