[Chevyrocker]

Edit - sorry for the super-long post.

Some good points here, some terrible...

I say have two types of dealers:

Cadillac/Buick (have to keep Buick for the foreign markets)

Chevrolet/Pontiac (kinda like Toyota Scion)

-side note, make pontiac a niche brand that is very cheap and performance/technology oriented.

say good-bye to Saturn, Saab, Hummer.

I know GMC has a huge market for commercial trucks, but let's be honest, they are all re-badged under Chevrolet and Cadillac. Come up with some incentives to transfer all GMC fleet truck buyers to Chevrolet. Plus, wouldn't it be cheaper not having to change the front end of Sierra's/Silverado's? If they were all just Silverado's, they would be building the same amount of trucks, only it would cost less.

I would then get out of the "let's buid a $2.5M concept and never consider building it" mentality. Granted it generates hype, and some ques are taken here and there for other vehicles, but this is a colossal waste of cash.

+1 on the two-mode hybrids accross the board. I bet if the Malibu were a full two mode hybrid, rather than a "mild hybrid" the fuel economy would be outstanding and Lord knows it's a better looking vehicle than a Prius.

Get more into small 4 bangers with turbos (I know they're starting to head in that direction) to keep fuel economy averages up so we can still get out V8's 5 years from now. Stick with the DI, it's doing some impressive things and making some great power plants! 29 mpg and 304 hp out of a V6 = homerun

-side note - current Impala SS has the 5.3L V8 and only gets 303 hp...

For the following vehicles, I would use up what parts I have remaining and axe immediately then replace with the vehicles I have listed after them:

Cobalt - Cruze (it's already ready for EU, can't be too hard to modify for US)
Impala - need a new body style here...let's get another neo-retro thing going or just try to make the Volt look more like the concept originally did and make it available as not only an EV, but a two-mode and a regular gas vehicle.
HHR - Groove or Trax
Aveo - Spark
Colorado - they just don't sell, but there is a need for a better mid-size truck
Corvette - Can we get a new body style for the centennial, please?

Rather than closing US plants, how about we keep them and close the plants in Mexico and others outside our country so we don't have to let go of so many American workers. I understand it may be cheaper to run those factories, but it hurts our image every time there are layoffs.

Get leasing back! Two years ago, almost half of the vehicles that we sold were leases. I understand GMAC lost the a$$ in the leasing game, but with better vehicles comes better resale value. In turn, GMAC will not lose thousands everytime a vehicle is returned.

Keep it up with the payment protection. This whole one month thing is bogus. From what I understand, it only costs about $140 - $160 a vehicle to have this coverage. This would not only give buyers peace of mind, it would drop the number of repos considerably.

Fire/"layoff" a lot of middle management/directors/supervisors/etc.

Come up with new standards for excellence (SFE) regulations. Get away from relying on flawed surveys from customers who will never be happy and move into the dealerships themselves.

I know my product. I can answer questions without having to look in a book or go ask for help. I can tell you the size/hp/fuel economy/trim levels/safety features/engine size/etc of every vehicle in the Chevrolet line up. The fact that there are guys that have been with Chevrolet for 20+ years and can't tell you the difference between a 1LT, 2LT, 3LT, and 4LT Corvette sickens me. Managers/salespeople ask me product knowledge questions on a daily basis. If we get phone calls about features, they go straight to me because almost nobod else can answer them. See, the old school way of selling cars does not work anymore with most customers. Right now, more than ever, salespeople/dealers need to be able to tell you why our vehicles are better than others on the spot when needed. Not every customer needs to know hp and torque and such, but every customer has a hot button whether it be technology, safety, performance, reliability, or whatever. We as dealers need to make sure that our staff really understand our vehicles. What better way to make sur ethis happens than to take money away from people if they fail?

Get some new technology that is exclusive to GM. OnStar is a few months away from being available on a number of different makes/models outside of GM, so it's time to build a new boat to get on. Ford got Microsoft Sync. Granted Ferarri got their hands on it too, but that's beside the point (different market). What I want to know is who's talking to Apple? We should be at their doorstep banging down their door everyday until we get something. The fact that you can get Nav in a Prius and not in a Malibu/Impala/HHR/Cobalt/Camaro is unacceptable. Yea, not everyone needs it, but many customers die for that stuff. Technology is very very very important and GM has dropped the ball numerous times, though they are showing promise with some of the upcoming vehicles and some that are already out (see 2009 CTS - that is one bad car)

Stop building vehciles with rear drum brakes.

Close a bunch of dealerships. Less dealers = less floorplan = less debt = smart move. I understand you can't close privately owned places, but all the GM owned stores would be a good start.

I understand the UAW is difficult to deal with, but it must be done. I'm not saying get rid of them, because that's unrealistic and a lot of people would lose their jobs and that's not what I want. But get realistic with the benefits and payscale. Their president needs to go (cough cough Obama fire him now cough cough).

I will openly admit I don't know every aspect of this industry and much of what I posted above could in fact be impossible, but I'm also sure some of it would help. I love GM and Chevrolet, and I support anything they decide to do. But times have changed, and I think they realized that over the past few years, but still they need someone or something to really push them into this century.