All Posts Tagged With: "gm car"
Ford suprises everyone by posting a big profit for the 3rd quarter
Jennifer McClelland | RSS | Mon, Nov 02 2009 | 1 Comment
Ford posted a third quarter profit of $997 million which equals out to 29 cents per share. Just a year earlier, the car maker posted a loss of $129 million.
Ford said that it attributed the success it saw in the third quarter to the Cash for Clunkers program.
I am personally glad to see that Ford saw a good quarter. As the only United States auto manufacturer that did not take any money from the government, I believe that a lot of people are preferring it to other US automakers. However, thanks to the Cash for Clunkers program, a lot of the automakers had pretty good third quarters. It is likely that the fourth quarter won’t be as nice to the auto industry.
Right now, Ford is really trying to promote all the features of its cars. This is compared to how GM is promoting how its improved quality in its cars. I believe that Ford has always had better quality cars when compared to General Motors anyway. While Ford has been talking about Sync features and awards, GM is left to compare its cars to Hondas and Toyotas. It is a difficult race that GM is competing in and I believe that it might be the wrong battle for the company. I just don’t see the people who are brand loyal to Toyota or Honda switching to a GM car.
I haven’t personally seen too many Chrysler ads. I have seen a lot of ads for Jeep, but none for actual Chrysler branded cars.
Related posts:Once Cash for Clunkers was finished, September auto sales plummeted.
Tags: united states auto, cars ford, auto manufacturer
GM is doing so well with the refund program that it will be continuing it
Jennifer McClelland | RSS | Sat, Oct 31 2009 | 0 Comments
General Motors will be continuing its money back guarantee into January of 2010.
In the program, someone can purchase a new GM car and after owning the car for 30 days they can return it, up to 60 days after the purchase (of course there are some stipulations as to what they can and can’t return).
A spokesman for GM said that only 15 cars have been returned since the program began in September. However, only one percent of those buying cars are actually choosing to have the refund option anyway. Here is what is going on: GM is offering a $500 incentive to opt out of the refund option. Many people (according to GM, 99%) are opting out and taking the cash incentive.
Of course, if you don’t opt for the cash incentive, and choose to return your car, then you have to wait 30 days after the time of purchase and make sure that you haven’t put more than 4000 miles on the car or done $200 worth of damage to it.
To give you an idea of how much $200 worth of damage is to a car, I recently had to take mine into the shop because some jerk hit my car with their door hard enough to make a small dent and take the paint off of my car. The repair bill (thankfully I didn’t have to pay for it) was over $600.
Racking up $200 in damage is easy on a car. So as soon as you know you want to return the car, park it in the garage and hope nothing happens to it (True story: A microwave fell on my old car when we were moving into our house while it was parked in the garage).
No related posts.
Tags: general motors, cash incentive, stipulations
GM to start selling cars on ebay?
Jennifer McClelland | RSS | Mon, Aug 10 2009 | 4 Comments
It looks like GM has found a way to sell some of its cars that may not have been able to be sold otherwise. Through a program with Ebay, GM in California only at this time, will begin selling new cars through the auction site.
The sale is set to start tomorrow on the site and GM is hoping to drum up some business.
Automobiles on the site will not be set up like an auction. They will be set up at buy it now fixed pricing with a “Submit Best Offer” button attached. You can submit your best offer for the car and the dealer can either choose to accept or reject it.
While the program is only for California buyers right now, it could spread nationwide as early as September if it is a successful venture for the company.
I think that this could be a good thing for buyers who are looking for a GM car. After all, it takes a lot of the pressure of going into a dealership and haggling away. Some people find haggling prices to be fun, I find it to be stressful and embarrassing. This way you can tell the dealership what you are willing to pay for the car and they can either accept your offer or not. I prefer this to having to hear a lengthy sales pitch about a car that I don’t want (this happened when I walked into a dealership wanting to ask about a smaller car and the salesman tried and tried to upsell me to the larger sedan. I want a smaller car because I don’t like large cars).
Of the GM brands left standing, Cadalliac will not be participating in the program. I suppose they find these cars to bee too valuable to go onto ebay? Buick will be participating, though. And even though it was supposed to die along with the “old” GM, Pontiac cars that are left overs will also be joining in on the program.
Related posts:Ebay ex-CEO Meg Whitman is going to run for the Governor of California? (Plus, an update to our eBay situation)
Another EBAY update
What are the best cars for your money?
Tags: ebay, sales pitch, large cars
