Originally Posted By: Jim 5
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I still bought 5 of their vehicles in the last 10 years.
Then I think your are sending the wrong message - unless of course, you are also complaining about the issues you find.
On a side note: The best way to complain about this is being specific. In this case, it is unclear what it was about the tires that you didn't like. For GM to fix it, they have to know WHAT, because they pretty much specify EVERY performance parameter of the tire.
Side note: It isn't the accountants - it's the management - and it isn't cost, it's the specified performance characteristics.
Starting at the upper management level, the message being sent down is not emphasizing the needs of the customer (vs the needs to the company). People get promoted by being pro-company.
At the supplier level, the message is: Build it the way we tell you, not the way consumers are telling you! In this case, it isn't cost so much as it is how difficult it is to make vehicle fuel efficient.
The easy way (and the least expensive way for the company) is to specify tires with low RR - and that results in tires that don't wear well or don't have a lot of traction - or both.
The difficult way would be to supply the same exact tire that sells in the replacement maket, and build the vehicle light (which takes a lot of engineering time to take out unnecessary weight) and fuel efficient (which takes away from horsepower) - and unfortunately, power is sexy and fuel efficiency isn't!