Quote:
Originally Posted by Petrol Head
You know, a kid down the street from me walked by a few times when I had it in the driveway, right after I bought the car last year. He's maybe about 8-10 years old. The first time he told me what a cool car it is. And the second time he stopped to look I told him to come on up and have a seat in the driver's seat. His eyes got big, and he just looked around like he was in a trance.
When he got out I opened the hood and had him stand right there while I started it. I will tell you this kid reminded me of me when I was his age. He absolutely loves it. It was really cool to see.
I'm telling you this because when he gets old enough to be able to afford a new car, he most likely won't have a Camaro to choose from.
It won't be due to lack of interest. It will be due to stupidity from General Motors.
With all the degrees the people who make these decisions at General Motors have they completely miss the real world, where real people with emotion and spirit live every day. Not in some ivory tower full of pinheads in suits with spreadsheets and reports.
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I would bet you don't work for a large corporation like GM, Petrol Head.
Those that do become (no better word for it) "institutionalized" over time and increasingly desensitized to what you referred to as the real world, thought patterns, passion and desires outside their big corporate mindset ("culture"). Even when starting out as the wide eyed kid in your personal story, over time the more knowledge one absorbs and the greater network one builds within, the wider this gap becomes.
With absolutely no disrespect intended, you can easily see this in responses from Number 3 and (to a much lesser extent) Martinjlm. Nothing wrong with them per se, they are very civil and approachable, it's just that there will rarely be an acknowledgment of a different perspective from someone who knows too much about how the game is played, so there's little point in arguing with them as an outsider.
Things like recalling the A8 and telling the truth about a design flaw (or anything, really) are simply more expensive propositions to corporate decision makers than not doing so, and customers can shove their complaints where the sun don't shine as far as they're concerned. There will be fewer complaints and lawsuits than the cost of a complete redesign or an A10 replacement or any other comprehensive action. Shareholders are happy for a while, and short term thinking wins over vision nearly every time. Working for a very large company myself, I struggle with it just as well.
To me, the 5th and 6th gen Camaro felt like a welcome and unexpected exception to this rule, with a lot of passion going into making it the best possible affordable sports car with fewer constraints, but now it seems to have been allowed to wither. It's okay as it's "only" a car and not something that really matters from an eternal perspective, but a bit sad nevertheless.