GM Latest Strategy: Listen to Customers

Just barely a month out of bankruptcy, the new GM wants the American buying public to stop looking in the rear view mirror - holding the company liable for many mistakes they admit making prior to bankruptcy. Never before has GM really listened to or really welcomed customer feedback. Yet, in this day of Twitter and blogging, automakers and other businesses expected to survive in this recession realize they can no longer ignore their customers.

For years, the domestic automakers haven't quite given the American public the vehicles they really wanted to buy. With the exception of a few hits coming out of Detroit, the American automakers basically walked away from the car market.

However, the new GM wants to let everyone know that since we all have an ownership stake in the company, as a result of the government bailout, they're going be more responsive - building more than non-fuel efficient trucks and SUVs.

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To prove their renewed focus on customers, last week, the new GM invited potential customers, employees, analysts, dealers and the media, including JeffCars.com, to its Tech Center in Warren (Michigan) and its proving grounds in Milford (Michigan). At the event, the new GM unveiled a slew of new products, which were expected to hit the road within the next twenty-four months, and they gave us an opportunity to visit the pre-production plant of the upcoming 2012 Chevy Volt, GM's new electric hybrid.

In addition to viewing the vehicles, the new GM gave us a chance to test drive and/or ride in some of the products, too. While GM showed us many standout products, there was one which garnered a lot of attention - the Chevy Volt. Unlike GM's other vehicles, there was a long line for the Volt, which was reminiscent of being at a busy amusement park.

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The four-seater electric hybrid, according to GM, is expected to produce 230 miles per gallon. Surprisingly, GM allowed a small group of folks to take a ride in the Volt - before the vehicle needed to be recharged. While many found the ride to be uneventful, everyone seemed to be elated just to see the car in motion.

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If this excitement continues with the Volt, GM could have another winner on its hands, as long as the vehicle is affordable. While GM hasn't released pricing, one of their biggest concerns about the Volt is that folks, who reside in urban downtown areas, may have some difficulty finding an outlet to recharge the battery pack.

Yes, never before has the automaker given us a glimpse of what's coming beyond the typical focus groups or clinics where the products or name of the automaker is rarely revealed. The new GM is definitely more transparent. Ironically, while the new GM focused on cars and crossovers, hybrids and electric vehicles, they literally shied away from talking about trucks and SUVs, with the exception of discussing the GMC line up.

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GM wants the public to know they make cars and crossovers, too. While the invited guests were in awe over the design of the the refined look of the 2012 Chevy Malibu, a two-door CTS coupe, a smaller size CTS, which is expected to compete with the BMW 1 series, a convertible Camaro, a small Scion-like looking boxy GMC crossover and a new line of contemporary, but small Chevy cars, many of the new Buicks and Cadillac's new flagship gigantic sedan, which is replacing the DTS and STS, left some scratching their heads.

The great thing is that some of the designs we saw are not necessarily etched in stone. GM still has a chance to rework the flagship Caddy and some of the Buicks. Ironically, after getting some negative feedback from a number of the invited guests last week, GM immediately decided to kill its newest smaller crossover hybrid, which was basically a Saturn Vue disguised as a Buick.

While the new GM readily admits, this is truly the last opportunity they have to put the company back on track. From our assessment, we believe if the American public gives the new GM a second chance, they may realize this was a company that was worth saving. One of the current themes we heard over and over again from the new GM is that the company should provide value people don't expect. Keeping that philosophy in mind .... there is no way this company should veer off track again. So far this government ownership thing, may not be as bad as the critics projected.