CARBIZ

I remember Easter '98 it was 73 and gorgeous. We were at my aunt's farm and out with the horses. (hell, I'm starting to sound my my grandfather!) When I was young...............

Perhaps it will just take time. The P-B-GMC thing has always been a reality up here in the hinterland. I think a lot of GM stores that were used to being hugely profitable are now selling 1/4 what they used to and are making a lot of cut backs. I know this to be true in the Toronto area where stores barely sell in a month what they used to sell in a weekend! For example, we went without a shop foreman for a while and our service crashed. Everybody you meet in the dealership is on some form of commission, except maybe the receptionist (and they are now making minimum wage!) From the service advisor to the technician working on your vehicle, they are no longer "on the clock," so to speak. The pressure to "show me the money" is enormous. Remember when you used to be able to get a lightbulb changed for free if you bought it in the parts department? Good luck with that now. They certainly won't open a work order for $1, and what customer would pay $20 to have a bulb put in, so everyone is just "too busy" to deal with you when you arrive. Now that we have a shop foreman again (who is paid salary, so he is there to help everyone, including the customer) our satisfaction numbers have soared. Trouble, is, these guys don't come cheap if they are good. As to the Corvette guy: I hate to say this, but most guys who walk in chirping about Corvettes are dreamers and blow bags. Corvette sales in Canada have absolutely crashed. Everybody here would rather drive a Lexus convertible, not to mention how over priced the Corvettes are here. We have a $102,000 Z06 - any takers? Guys who used to sell 20 units a month are selling 12 and making "minimums" on each deal, so although I understand where you are coming from, you have to understand where we are coming from. I recently spent prehaps 20 hours over a period of six months with a previous customer who vacationed in Arizona while her Alero lease expired. From the long distance calls, to the faxes to GMAC and her vacation home, I did a lot of work for her. How did I get rewarded? I don't know, since she returned to Canada, she won't return my calls. The last I heard (two weeks ago) her 50 year old son wanted her to buy a Honda and she was shopping the Pontiac dealer in her town. I offered her a $50 gas card to come and see me, but no deal. I don't know what she is driving now; I am afraid of what I might say should I call her. So, some of us are trying, but it is a blood bath. The smart guys are the ones who can cut to the chase and see if the "buyer" is serious, then move on quickly. Chances are, if you aren't buying today, you will get stuck with a junior guy who is too green and too naive to separate the tire kickers from the serious buyers. I have long believed the entire dealer-manufacturer arrangements is a farce. I don't think salespeople should be commissioned. I think they should be salaried and trained to death. However, that is merely my opinion. There is no point in spending 3 hours with someone who will walk up the street and buy the car there because it is $100 cheaper. The manufacturers like it this way, because they can shrug and blame the dealers for everything. The price should be the price, but haggling is built in. The dealer loses, the customer loses and the manufacturer can stand back and look good. Another point about "older" dealers is that the true ownership of that dealer built up the dealership in a time when owning a GM dealership was a license to print money. NOw, the second generation is running a lot of those dealerships and times are tougher than they have ever been. I have heard the old timers say "oh, back in '91." Bull$h!. Back in '91, there was no internet, there was no invoice pricing on the web and there was no Mazda, Toyota, Honda, Nissan, Kia, Mitsubishi, ad nauseum. Customers were more honest back then and salespeople took more pride in their jobs.

LUXURY! It was - 14 with the windchill yesterday! That is about 8 degrees on the F scale! About an hour north of Toronto got 8" of snow, one of my co-workers was saying. Toronto got only a dusting. I think one of the NAFTA agreements is that Buffalo/Rochester gets all of Southern Ontario's snow duty free! Winter shifted a month for us. It was 45 degrees New Years Day, then winter hit with a vengeance mid-January and has been with us since. We had the coldest February in 10 years, apparently. But April is always kind of wierd. The Jet Stream doesn't know what it wants to do.

Interesting the divide. In my opinion, the Colorado is a great little truck. The problem is lack of advertising. The Silverado/Tahoe gets all the glory. GM is spread too thin. The ebony interior upgrade for 2007 makes a helluva difference to the interior. I want to know who okayed the $h!ty nylon material that pollutes the Cobalt/Malibu and Colorado and have this person shot. The Dakota does well because DCX hasn't screwed around with the name and because DCX only has to advertise the Dakota, not a Plymouth or Desoto or Fargo version, too! GM needs to flout the gas mileage numbers from the highest rafters, but doesn't have the money to do that. So, the 5 cylinder gets trashed by the "enthusiasts" and Dodge gets all the thunder with the gas guzzling hemi. Remember, folks: in places where gasoline is over $4 a gallon, nobody wants a V-8. Brace yourselves for the fall. Until Detroit gets that, Chevrolet and Ford are going to get their asses kicked. I can't wait to watch the Camaro flop. More Detroit stupidity. GM needs to find something to wrap its truck division around (like Dodge did with the hemi) and stick to it. Then fire everyone who had anything to do with the seats.

Well, Secretary Peters is correct: 20 years ago when seatbelt laws were enacted (and I was a know-it-all kid), I deliberately refused to wear my seatbelts to fly in the face of authority. Now that I am a know-it-all adult (sort of), I wouldn't even think of driving without a seatbelt. Hell, I even leave my belt on for nearly all of the time during a flight. As I watched a show the other day about how many security cameras there are in London now, I couldn't help but wonder where this will all end. A decade ago, I would have fought news like this as evidence of us slipping into a police state. Now, (9-11 and all), I am not sure. There has been such a degradation in the level of people who genuinely give a $h! out there, not to mention the crazies, that the more Big Brother stuff we have, the better it is for all of us. Unless they figure out a way to legislate common sense. NOW THAT WOULD BE AN ACHEIVEMENT!

Like the profile Like the rear. Not too fussy on the front end.

Although I want to rejoice at the good standing the Cobalt received, I can't help but wonder about the total BS-factor of these tests. The friggin' Aveo has head rests that are adjustable for height and ratchet toward the head, so did they test all positions all driver's heads? PUHLEASE!!!

Depending on your timing, Aura or Malibu. If you can't wait until after the New Year, you will probably get a better deal on the Aura. By a year from now, the Malibu should be in sufficient quantities on dealer lots that you will be able to get better choice and deals.

The lawyers are driving this kind of legislation. More and more, people are suing to blame others for their own mistakes. If the technology is out there and it can be provent that it MAY have saved a life, ultimately the manufacturers can be held accountable. I don't have a big problem with air bags, seat belt laws, ABS, etc. Even the smartest driver makes mistakes, but the truth is most drivers that I have seen are totally hopeless. I wish they would toughen up the tests to get your license in the first place. We are sharing the roads with a lot of idiots. I mean how many drivers have you seen weaving in traffic while talking on their cell phone? What is with that? I rarely take a call while driving, but when I have, I don't have any problem signalling, looking over my shoulder, merging, etc. while driving and talking. Most drivers cannot. That is the point. If Stabilitrak keeps some idiot from crossing the line and slamming into me head on because THEY can't drive in freezing rain, them I am all for it.

Unless the client wants revenge, a well-written letter, email or a phone is generally a good thing for the company involved. The worst thing that can happen to them is that customers vote with their feet! But I am glad that you also compliment where deserved as well - that happens far too little these days.

http://clubs.ccsu.edu/recorder/editorial/p....asp?NewsID=188 That is what is printed across the bottom of the sheets that were passed around last weekend. Hope that helps.

Guerilla marketing can be very effective in instances where your competitor is lying. I think GM has been far too nice to Toyota in the past year or so. It has a few areas where it should be attacking Japan Inc. directly, but I guess the gentlman's agreement that Detroit has had for decades still holds for foreign competition, too. Years ago when I was the proud owner of a successful video store, my main competitor ran a series of ads claiming to have "over 5,000 titles." I had regularly counted his inventory and knew that with his small store he couldn't even have half that, so I took his ad, framed it on my counter, highlighted his claims and put my own caption: "Who do you think has more titles?" It worked. My sales were up every year. Customers loved it. It must have had effect on him (well, he did close up a couple years later!) because I had several altercations with his staff shortly after that (witholding movies that my customers had dropped there by accident). If you are on the side of truth and that truth is obvious, it is very effective. If it is nitpicking or trivial, then it can just come across as being petty.

I couldn't agree more. The TV ads that always catch my eye are decidely NOT GM's. However, clearly too many models to promote, not enough dollars to go around.

OHHHHHHHHHHHH do we HAVE to go down this tired road again? Do YOU not remember the New York Times declaring that General Motors is criminal because of its "addiction" to trucks? The media HAS given Toyota a free ride, even though they (justifiably) will sell every damned one of their big, gas guzzling SUVs and pick ups. Just becausse a bunch of idiots buy the Prius and the media goes along for the ride does not make Toyota automatically greener than GM - only greener in the eyes of select media. This debate is tired, Hudson. I guarantee you won't see the pics above on any of the major news services. That is the point. If it was GM being tarred and feathered it would be front page news. Oh, yeah, and just to finish off this tired argument..........GM hybrid buses.

I can believe it: I've lost several deals in the past couple months to Mazda. The Civic's sales are down 20% so far this year in the Toronto area and the Mazda 3 is eating its lunch. People who were hot on the HHR went and got a Mazda5 (which I am horrified about - the 5 is nearly as ugly as the Element). Yesterday, a woman dropped off her Cavalier lease and drove off in her new Mazda. Mazda has some very interesting product at this time. I think they are where Honda was a few years ago.

Did anybody else read Central Conneticut State University's piece on the Prius? It was hilarious. According to their study, the Hummer does less environmental damage than the Prius when the true cost of energy/materials are factored in the manufacturing and shipping process. They call it "dust to dust." It was great reading. But it proves the point that the media has run amok and Toyota can do no wrong, no matter how obviously wrong they are.

"most of us really do not know what is going to happen in CUV sales. It is a rapidly growing segment, and it is relatively new" Just to add on what 01LightningGal has said, and speaking as a Canadian, there is a big hole in the Chevrolet line up. We are losing tons of our Tracker people, who are defecting to the enemy BECAUSE they loved their CUV. Chevrolet NEEDS a credible minivan, a CUV and a 7 seater SUV that doesn't have its own zip code. The Equinox is trying to be all things to all people - and failing. I had very loyal customers look at the 'Nox and then the Torrent - guess what they want? With 24% market share in Canada (and a lot less than that in the Greater Toronto Area), GM is stretched too thin. Way too thin. Although great strides have been made in the look and quality appearance of vehicles in the past couple years, it almost seems like GM is plugging holes in the dike. They need to have the money to replace the dike, but won't be able to if they have to put patches across 8 product lines!

How many people here wouldn't love to hop in a time machine and meet up with theirself on their 15th birthday to have a little chat? I don't mean about which lottery numbers to pick or games to bet on (that would be too easy!), but what career paths to take, pitfalls to avoid and (probably) people to get involved with.

In view of the astronomical current account deficit that the U.S. is running monthly, it is absolutely shocking that the Yen would be cheaper. The Pound has been a relatively stable currency for a couple decades. The Euro may look good compared to the dollar right now, but against all of these currencies it is clear the Yen has been manipulated. I think continental Europe is in trouble, although their infrastructure looks good, there are some storm clouds gathering. I look beyond the car business and am concerned about a lot of internal and external political issues that are going to greatly challenge both the U.S./Canada and Europe in the coming seveal years.

You're very lucky, indeed. I am fairly certain that the mandarins in Detroit are aware of this, but my opinion of unmolested Opel product is very high. Even though I am also fairly certain that this is slitting my own future as a Chevrolet salesperson, I strongly believe GM needs to get this product here to both the U.S. and Canada - now. Unmolested. Not only will it put Saturn in a great position when $5 and higher gasoline hits these shores, but it will put GM ahead of Ford and certainly on par with Mazda and Honda in the fuel sipping/fun-to-drive category. Again, they may already be well aware of all this, but it seems that only very recently has Detroit/Oshawa taken Honda and Toyota seriously and in the mad scramble to produce great cars and trucks in North America, they already have said product in Europe and South America.

Is the Yaris not sold as-is in overseas markets? Although I am not a fan of it, keep in mind that in other markets (like Brazil) cheap, low-end vehicles have no instrumentation, no arm rests, not even power steering! Not only does it reduce the over all cost of the vehicle, it also cuts weight. For countries that are paying $9 a gallon - that is a big, big plus. Air bas, ABS, sound insulaton - all of those add weight, cost and complexity.

I want to elaborate on comments that Yellow Dart made about Toronto. I know Orangeville very well. I did extensive market studies there in 1995 when I was looking to open a second video store. (Very glad that I chose Orillia instead.) Great little town, but harkens back to the Old Ontario, certainly not what is happening south of Steeles Ave. I have travelled extensively, to many American cities like New York, Atlanta, Chicago (many trips), lived in Vancouver, driven across this continent 3 times, visited Buffalo, Rochester, Montreal many times, driven through Detroit (and been to the Auto Show there), and spent a great deal of time in Brazil, which has the 3rd largest city in the world. I can say categorically that the worst city I have seen in all these travels is Toronto. Sao Paulo works better! I am 46 and was born here. This city has changed in the past 15 years and it is shocking. Regent Park is a shining example of what is wrong. Why is the city paying nearly a billion dollars (with some federal and provincial help) for public housing? When poor Russian, Polish and Ukranian immigrants lived there 50 years ago, it worked fine. What has changed? The buildings are the same. I lived in Crombie Park (mixed use housing) when it first opened in 1980. I was robbed, had my laundry stolen twice and was terrorized by kids running through the halls (there was a school on the ground floor.) This is what Mayor Miller and his cronies want to do to Regent Park. Welfare people and professionals, living side by side. Look it up under notgonnahappen.com. The city admits is has $300 million in back road repairs it can't do. Remember the bridge that fell in Quebec last year? Tip of the ice berg. Taxes are going up 3.8% again this year, yet the city is nearly $2 billion in hock. Queen's Park and Ottawa get into huge snits every time the city goes to them, hat in hand. It is a mess. Crime. Well, that is everywhere in big cities now. Toronto is getting bad, but not as bad as some cities, to be sure. There are about 20 buildings 40 floors or higher being built downtown. An 80 storey building has been approved for the corner of Yonge/Bloor. I live two blocks from there. The density is insane now. The subway is 50 years old. Major streets are 4 lanes wide, choked with taxis and delivery vans. St. Jamestown has the highest population density in Canada. The fire trucks, police cars up and down the streets in that area are like a war zone. There are neighborhoods in the suburbs (Rexdale where my parents grew up) and Malvern in Scarborough where the police won't even go at night. Shootings in the schools? I could go on, but I will repeat something I wrote to the National Post and copied my local councillor recently when I discovered the 80 storey building was being built and financed by a Russian mogul. I said, if Russian (and Chinese) money is building condos, using imported labor from eastern Europe (because we are told there is a shortage of skilled Canadian labor) to handle the influx of immigrants to this city - what is in it for us long term residents? The constant noise, dust, jackhammers at 7 a.m., the taxes going up, services going down, roads are falling apart, all the lane restrictions while condo after condo is built. Who is buying these condos when the jobs are leaving the city? The city has no handle on what it is doing (unlike Vancouver, which has lots of controls). When all these people move into their shiny new condos, they will wonder what hit them. Kitchener, Waterloo, Cambridge, Barrie, London - these are the places to move to. They can feed off the carcass of Toronto when it implodes.

Born in Toronto, moved to Vancouver when I was 6 (my mother was dodging my father), moved back to just north of Toronto when I was 10. I went to 13 schools and highschool - yes, I did count them one day. Kinda makes me wonder if I'd be CEO of a company if my family had had it more together. Ran my own video stores north of Toronto for 11 years. Anybody remember National Video? They had 1,000 locations when Wayne Huizenga was still hauling garbage (he founded Blockbuster), but most of the stores didn't make it during the transition to "super stores" in the late '80s. I did very well, but I hated small town politics and an evil twist of fate screwed me out of my own company, then I ended back in Toronto and eventually in the car business. My partner is Brazilian and I would love to move to Brazil. Maybe we could retire there. The Canadian $ is nearly double, so a pension would go far. Great weather (well, ANYWHERE has better weather than Southern Ontario), great people and a country that is going places, I think. I definitely won't be staying in Toronto for very much longer. This city is falling apart. It will get ugly here in another 5-10 years, mark my words.

Frogger, if you truly believe that, then we are in deep, deep $h!. It is that kind of selfishness that is sinking all of us in North America. The general attitude and laziness that people suck up the party line, rather than investigating or at least thinking for themselves. For example, how many people know the truth behind the Datun/Nissan change? Investigate. Whatever happened to Philco, Magnavox, Electrohome and others? This sounds like a stupid example, but when I paid $20 for a toaster at Home Depot a few months ago, I was actually alarmed: I paid the same amount for one 25 years ago, but this one was made in China. HOw many manufacturing jobs do we have to lose before it starts to effect your income and mine? We may shrug it off and say,"Oh, well, general employment is steady and we have higher paying service sector jobs." That sounds great on paper, but without a viable manufacturing base we lose the ability to build things ourselves. What are the long term ramifications of becoming a nation of paper pushers? The storm clouds are gathering and there are some very angry, very jealous nations that would do anything to take away what we in the West have spent 100 years building. The only thing that has stood in the path of zealots in the past was our determination and our ability to outspend/outbuild our enemies. If we lose that, what have we left?

At the risk of raising the ugly spectre of Free Trade vs. Fair Trade again, it is not unreasonable for a German to buy an Opel or Ford because a lot of BMWs and VWs are sold on this side of the Atlantic. As far as I know, most European countries' markets are wide open (well, except maybe farming, but I digress!). Certainly, any American company is free to buy out a British (Vauxhall) or German company that it wants. Is that the case with Asian companies? Therefore, perhaps the Europeans are taking a little more pride in themselves and saying NO to unfair trade. If this was only about the car and truck industry, that would be one thing. But Japan Inc. blocks virtually EVERY industry from dealing on their soil, and China is following suit. I don't consider "alliances" and "partnerships" to be the same thing. To answer the last question, I am willing to cut Chrysler a bit of slack because they have had a long heritage in North America, but technically they are no longer an "American" car company. If Toyota or some other Japanese company bought Ford, for example, then Ford would no longer be an American company. Technically.