There is no automotive manufacturer that tries as hard as GM does, and continously comes up short. Recent history has given us the Oldsmobile Aurora, probably one of the best sedans to come from GM in a long time, showing the world that GM engineers have a passion for automobiles, and yet Oldsmobile followed the Aurora with several lackluster models, and Oldsmobile went the way of the Edsel.
Pontiac brings out the GTO, and the brand that at one time couldn't help but add pounds of tacky body cladding to every model brings out a car that is styled so plain no one even notices it. A few days ago I was driving behind one, the rumble of the V8 from the exhaust way more entertaining than any music on the rasio, yet no one around seemed to know they were in the presence of greatness. Sales are dismal, and the GTO can't be long from extinction.
Saturn was once a beacon for all the hopeful that GM could get it right, almost, but as Saturn's independance has eroded away, so has the brand. There's new product coming, we're told, that will revitalize the image, but time will tell.
Something always get's in the way, preventing GM from breaking through it's malaise and becoming the manufacturer we all know it can be. Market share continues to decline, The full-size pickups and SUV's that are it's bread and butter are under assault from many directions, but I still hold out hope for the old guy. I really, really, want to like GM, but whatever it is that knocks down their greatest achievements needs to be removed, post haste. Time is not on GM's side.
0 comments:
Post a Comment