General Motors retiree has this advice for Mary Barra

Glenn Sloan

Guest columnist

A heartfelt letter to Mary Barra and the GM Board of Directors:

I had a 40-year career with General Motors. I started out at an old Fisher Body Plant in Cleveland, Ohio, and ended up at the Tech Center in Warren, Michigan. I can honestly say that I bled GM blue throughout my career, and have nothing but positive thoughts about the Corporation.

That is what made the recent GM announcements about Plant closings and Product line discontinuations even more painful. The only Blue I felt, was sadness. The foundation of GM is that they are based on being a full car/vehicle company. In this philosophy, the entire family of GM buyers have a product choice. By substantially limiting consumer choice, you will not only sacrifice small car sales, but also lose entire families of GM buyers.

General Motors CEO Mary Barra speaks to reporters after meeting with the Michigan congressional delegation to discuss plans for the restructuring by the automaker, on Capitol Hill in Washington, Thursday, Dec. 6, 2018.

When both Chrysler (FCA) and Ford announced earlier this year that they were discontinuing many of their car lines, I immediately thought WOW, what an opportunity for General Motors. Rather than hand the car market to the Asian competition, I thought GM would aggressively pursue the share lost by FCA and Ford.

I have not purchased a non-GM vehicle since I bought a re-possessed Volkswagon back in college. My wife is in her 4th Cruze, and it has steadily improved to where it is a world class small car. Unfortunately this could change next summer, when she is due for a replacement, and GM does not have a small car.

GM relying on 1-word loophole to close plants

GM plant closures hurt more than auto workers

While the annual volume of the Cruze is down to near 100,000 units, this is still good volume, especially considering that GM has done little or no marketing of this carline for several years. I have talked to several Chevy Dealers, and they are truly dismayed that GM would discontinue the Cruze.

Recommendations:

Maintain the Cruze in the Chevrolet lineup.
Aggressively pursue increased market share (from Ford and FCA) with advertising and price strategy. Set a target of 180,000 annual units, up from the current 110,000.
Re-allocate the Cruze hatchback volume from Mexico to Lordstown to increase plant utilization and Market this great little “SUV”.
Re-enter the fleet sales (rentals, etc) market. This is a great opportunity to show off your products firsthand to a large number of drivers. Unlike years ago, when GM dropped out of the fleet market, have a well structured plan to improve residuals. Offer cars out of the Fleet market to Uber/Lyft drivers; establish re-sale opportunities with other nations, similar to the Asian competitors.
Don’t overlook the positive impact of the “volume is king” philosophy to spread out fixed/structural costs on a lower per unit basis.
Retain the Hamtramck Plant for future high tech assembly. The plant has extensive experience with new powertrain technology (Volt), and the high electronic contented Cadillac line-up. The plant’s location, near the GM tech center, makes it ideal for engineering launch support and/or tryout of new technologies in a manufacturing environment.

Charles Erwin Wilson is credited with the quote: “What was good for our Country was good for General Motors, and vice versa.”

Mary and General Motors, let’s apply this philosophy. Make decisions that strengthen American Car Companies. Make decisions that strengthen America.