General Motors Test Drive

As I sit hear in my office, I just parked my Ford 150, the most popular truck out there, at the shop, I pondered the new campaign General Motors is pushing. You know the one, try one of our cars for 60 days, if you don't like it, bring it back.

Is this what General Motors has come too? After the government bailout, the bankruptcy and the hiring of a new CEO, is this the best they can hope for? Is it that they think we have lost faith in the product, or something more deep and concerning? These are a few of the questions that may be answered over the next few months.

With a portion of General Motors now owned by the U.S. government, people may be more reluctant than ever to purchase from them. Is GM now being pushed to do this by their government partner? It's hard to say what involvement the government actually has, but push toward a, so called, greener planet, it's not a far stretch to see that the manufactured may be forced to produce cars that the public really doesn't want.

What a lot of politician and others fail to realize is, that GM sales for their larger vehicles were strong, (Escalade, Yukon, Silverado) when the gas prices where stable at two dollars a gallon. Oil prices, not the housing market killed General Motors. A year ago, when gas was four dollars a gallon, soccer moms and the neighborhood car pool downsized. The people that wanted to trade vehicles then were almost forced to give the vehicle away. Where was the incentive to buy from GM then? The product line was far behind the curve, and people need a quick fix. Now, they think that because they have a few new products on the market that people will give them a second chance, we will see.

The biggest problem that I see with this latest program is; A) will they offered delayed financing, and if so, can they offer competitive finance programs to cover the lag? B) How will they cover the deprceiated value of the vehicles that are returned within the alloted time? C)Will they hold trade in's until the 60day trial is over?

I don't think the public is going to receptive to the new program as much as GM might think. I think there is going to be a lot fine print in this program that may turn people out the door and to other manufactures, that offer, not so much a better product, but, clearer and cleaner financing program.

Time will tell, for the workers in Detroit and around the nation, I hope it does. But, until the government gets out the automotive business, GM employees are really government employees, like it or not. Will the public buy a GM government bailout car or a glitz campaign by a new face? I'm sure a few will, but I don't think the numbers will give GM much of a boost.

I don't think that even if works for a short period, that other manufactures will follow suit. Ford, Toyota, Nissan and others will depend on their reputation and products, rather than a slick marketing tricks. Yeah, I know we will see some financing deals and cash back offers from all, until sales pick up. But, I don't think they will become rental car companies, as GM looks to be.