Just saw the ad on TV-something called chevysurplus.com-apparently, GM is now bypassing their dealers to sell direct to the public. Aside from pissing of their dealers, this isn’t likely to generate a lot of money for GM-I guess its a last ditch attempt to clear their inventory out. Anyboy see the ad? I can’t imagine that their marketing has gotten so bad. Is this the pre-funeral sale? Or will they be able to pull it off and re-energze their sales. :smack:
Don’t know anything about it. Bypassing the dealers is a very big no-no. Courts have ruled the dealers have the manufacturers in a headlock legally.
Checked out the website. Apparently it requires you to enter your zip code and if no one is in your area then it wont talk to you. However, I entered the zip codes for houste, detroit, La, and all of them are without dealers.
How does that work/how did that happen? Everything else I know of you can buy direct from the factory (not that I really know for most things.)
I seem to recall that my Dad may have purchased a GM vehicle through USAA in the 1970s. My memory is hazy though.
Many people will tell you they bought directly from the factory, but in truth a dealer must deliver the car. They do some minor paperwork and take a bit of the profit.
Western Maryland also has no dealers participating.
I have a customer who supplies to the auto industry; obviously I can’t say who (though you likely haven’t heard of them) but this is a major international supplier.
Thier 5-year plan assumes the death of either GM, Ford, or both. They’re quite certain of it.
I opened this thread expecting a debate on the virtues of GM food.
At the bottom of the chevysurplus.com website:
This site is not affiliated with Chevrolet Motor Division, General Motors Corporation, or General Motors Acceptance Corporation.
Maybe the surplus division is a dummy corporation, set up to buy and resell GM cars? this would insulate GM from being sued by their dealers. As I say, maybe GM is trying to raise cash quickly-and selling their cars at a big discount might be the way to go. of course, if they go banrupt, the company can do whatever it wants-and the dealer contracts will be worthless! I once read that given GM’s accumulated debt ($300 BILLION), that there is no way they can be profitable. maybe this is the pre-bankruptcy agreement?
Much more important for GM’s future, IMHO, will be the resumption on Aug. 11 of court hearings that will determine whether former GM unit Delphi can void its labor contracts and impose pay cuts of up to 55%. The UAW has threatened to strike if the contracts are voided, and a strike at Delphi could shut down GM’s operations.
This has nothing to do with GM, and everything to do with “Killer Marketing Systems, LLC”
Check out Surplus Hyundai They also handle “ToyotaRepos”, “GMRepos”, “KiaRepos”, etc.
I think this website has the background you need.
Perhaps he just got financing through USAA.
IIRC, USAA has to deliver through a dealer.
I’m someone else who’s very curious about the illegalities of manufactuers selling directly to customers. Why would that be illegal?
Some sort of contractual thing I understand.
I just don’t see it happening.
I’ve never been a fan of GM automobiles, and GM almost deserves to go under, just because of how poorly it has been ran for so many years.
I’m not actually sure I want to see GM collapse, just because that could have very bad effects on the U.S. economy as a whole. But, I certainly wouldn’t say that GM didn’t have it coming.
Ford I’m more ambivalent towards, I’ve liked some of Ford’s products in the past and there are some out now that interest me enough that I don’t want to see Ford disappear from the market.
Personally it’s my opinion that both companies are too big and too important to fail, I think some companies become so large that they can never truly die.
Or is it that the government (through corporate welfare) doesn’t allow them to die?
That sounds plausible. It could have been a “no haggle” type of arrangement.
Again, the car in question was purchased in the mid 1970s.
As for GM/Ford, a national health care plan that took a chunk of their pension benefit liabilities off of their books would obviously do a lot for the bottom line. And there’s always chapter 11.
When GM goes under, I swear it will be one of the happiest days of my life. I’ll throw a party, tap a keg or three, possibly desecrate/burn the junked body of a Chevy HHR in the yard - it will give me more joy than I can possibly describe.
I am convinced that GM is deliberately trying to push automotive design in the shittiest direction possible. The Chevy HHR is the ugliest car on the American bricks. Its uneven lines, obscenely huge fenders, chunky door handles, ugly lights - it disgusts and repulses me. The new Suburban/Tahoe/Escalade body is too ugly for words with its feminine rounded edges. The new Impala looks like absolute shit. The Avalanche/Escalade EXT - what were they thinking?
The truck/SUV division of GM started going downhill as soon as they stopped making what was definitely their coolest model, the 2-door Yukon GT. As of now, they have hit rock bottom. They will burn in hell.
